Page 1659 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 3 May 2011

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Tuesday, 3 May 2011

The Assembly met at 10 am.

(Quorum formed.)

MR SPEAKER (Mr Rattenbury) took the chair, made a formal recognition that the Assembly was meeting on the lands of the traditional custodians, and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Legislative Assembly—warnings

Ruling by Speaker

MR SPEAKER: Members, I wish to make a Speaker’s ruling regarding warnings given by the Speaker and dissent from Speaker’s rulings motions. Members will recall that twice this year, on 10 March and again on 7 April, there were motions moved by leave expressing dissent from Speaker’s rulings. Both of these motions were moved after the chair warned a member. I would draw members’ attention to page 188 of the Companion to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, which states:

In naming a Member, the Speaker is not making a ruling; thus there is nothing before the Chamber to dissent from.

Further guidance on this matter can be found at page 189 of House of Representatives Practice, which states:

It is not in order to move dissent in relation to the allocation of the call, which is a matter for the Chair’s discretion.

It follows from those statements that, if a naming of a member is not a ruling, neither is a warning. In fact, there is no requirement in the standing orders for a warning to be issued to a member; rather, it is a practice of the chair extended to members to facilitate the conduct of the chamber and signal the chair’s expectation. On this basis, the two incidents this year should not be seen to have created a precedent, and I advise members to have regard to the fact that warnings issued by the chair do not constitute grounds for a dissent motion.

Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee

Report 2—government response

MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10.04): For the information of members, I present the following paper:

Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee—Report 2—Inquiry into the Crimes (Murder) Amendment Bill 2008—Government response, dated May 2011.


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