Acting Speakers
The SPEAKER (17:01): The Manager of Opposition business took a further point of order to express concerns about the impartiality of Acting Speakers. Any member is entitled to give notice of a motion of dissent in the Chair’s ruling, which is the appropriate mechanism for dealing with those concerns rather than a point of order. However, I point out to all members that the panel of Acting Speakers receive detailed and ongoing training with the Clerk’s office and with the Deputy Speaker and Speaker. We have regular meetings about issues that arise in the chamber and will do so again in the next sitting week. I remind members that chairing a debate can be challenging, particularly in a debate with many interjections and points of order. We have all had moments at the footy of thinking the umpire got it wrong about our team, but I am sure it feels different from the umpire’s view – and I say that as a Collingwood supporter.
Business interrupted under sessional orders.