Page 5344 - Week 12 - Thursday, 28 October 2010
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These amendments correct two minor drafting errors in which reference is made to “chapter” rather than a “part” in the act. There are no chapters in this act, and I commend the amendments to the Assembly.
Amendments agreed to.
Amendment 1.44, as amended, agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken as a whole and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
Document—tabling
Ruling by Speaker
MR SPEAKER: I would like to come back to a matter arising from question time today. Earlier today, Ms Burch was ordered to table a document she quoted from pursuant to standing order 213. At the time Mrs Dunne raised whether a single page tabled by Ms Burch fully complied with the order to table. Ms Burch stated she had tabled the relevant part, as she had only quoted from that page.
At that time I ruled in support of that but I did undertake to review the Hansard and report back to the Assembly, and I wish to do that today, given the timeliness of the matter. The Companion to the Standing Orders, at paragraph 13.16, observes that the intent of the standing order is to enable all members to have access to the material quoted from in a document so that they may judge its validity for themselves.
Having reviewed the Hansard and the document that was tabled, I am of the opinion that the material tabled is incomplete. Accordingly, I invite Ms Burch to table the remainder of the document. I have flagged with Ms Burch that this is the ruling I intend to make, so I trust she is returning to the chamber. But while she is doing that, as has been demonstrated this afternoon, I believe the application of this standing order does raise some practical difficulties.
On the broader question of what constitutes a document for the purposes of standing order 213, I do not propose to return to that point today, as I would like to give it some further consideration. I also believe it is appropriate for it to be considered and discussed further by the administration and procedure committee. Certainly, the Companion indicates that there are quite some matters on this. So I am seeking for Ms Burch to table the rest of the document.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services): Mr Speaker, I will certainly ensure that Ms Burch is aware of your ruling. With your indulgence, if I may, can I simply make a comment in relation to your ruling?
MR SPEAKER: Certainly.
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