Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

It relates to standing order 184. Standing order 184(1) requires:

Order shall be maintained in the Senate by the President.

Guides to Senate procedure No. 23 makes it clear that it is not an instruction to the President but an instruction to senators to give assistance in upholding normal procedure and behaviour in the Senate. Standing order 184(2) also indicates that a senator—

An opposition senator: Are you telling the President the answer to the question?

No, I am making a point of order. It indicates:

… the Senate shall be silent, so that the President may be heard without interruption.

During the course of this question time, a number of senators have not complied with that. I am bringing this to your attention, President, and more broadly to the attention of the chamber because I think 184 is an important rule that speaks to the good order of this chamber, and I think it is something that people may wish to think about in the way that they are interacting with the President.