Rulings by the Chair
Questions on notice
The SPEAKER (14:49): We now move back to government business. Before doing so, I would just like to provide some guidance or a ruling in relation to questions on notice. I would like to remind members that standing order 57(1)(a) states that a member asking a question must not offer an argument or an opinion on the matter. Standing order 57(2) states that all questions must be direct and succinct. The rules for asking questions on notice further state that questions must not contain arguments, opinions, inferences or imputations. These rules can be found on the back of the ‘Notice of question’ form located at the end of the table or in the Procedure Guide.
I am concerned by the increasing number of members who are using questions on notice as an opportunity to make comment and add extraneous content to the question. This has also had the effect of making these questions longer than they need to be. Questions that include such content may be edited to ensure that they meet the criteria or may be ruled out of order.