Page 4578 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 20 November 1991
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I had asked whether he had done his own, but he failed to answer. Once again, what is the use of questions without notice if they become questions without answers? It is very important that all members in this Assembly have the opportunity, on behalf of their constituents, to ask questions. To have an important question to ask and then to fail to get a reasonable answer is not okay.
Mr Kaine: It is also aggravating.
MR STEVENSON: It is particularly aggravating, Mr Kaine. Earlier, Mr Berry tried to stop this matter proceeding, and Mr Kaine mentioned why he felt Mr Berry tried to stop this matter proceeding - because he was the worst offender. I think that is something that most members of this house would agree on. Our standing orders say, on page 24 under the heading "Rules for questions":
A question fully answered cannot be renewed.
Unfortunately, it is not often that one would not want to renew a question, because many are not fully answered. Indeed, under the heading "Answers to questions without notice", standing order 118 states:
The answer to a question without notice
(a) shall be concise and confined to the subject matter of the question; and
(b) shall not debate the subject to which the question refers.
As far as being "confined to the subject matter of the question" is concerned, we know all too well that Ministers will wander off on some other political path, talking about everything but the question that was asked. I think it is fair to say that most questions that are asked in this Assembly are quite precise questions. There are very few questions that are vague and hard to understand; yet Ministers repeatedly fail to answer those simple questions. Also, they are likely to make ministerial statements, which they have an opportunity to do at other times without taking up the important time of question time in this Assembly.
I must say that it would be unfair of me to suggest that it was only Labor members that had done the things that I have said. It is only fair to say that the Alliance Ministers may, on one or two occasions, have committed similar transgressions. It is an important matter. It has come to the notice of members of this Assembly a number of times that questions are not being answered fairly and concisely. This is most annoying when we are trying to get something useful done or trying to get questions answered.
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