Rulings by the Chair
Stopping the clock
The SPEAKER (16:58): At the end of yesterday’s grievance debate the Deputy Speaker referred to me a point of order from the member for Burwood. The member sought clarification on the circumstances in which the Chair can stop the clock so that a member does not lose speaking time while points of order are resolved. I remind the house that the discretion to stop the clock rests entirely with the Chair, and there are many factors to take into account. It is not normal practice to do so other than during question time. Chairs are reluctant to stop the clock, as while this restores time to the member speaking at the moment, in reality time is taken away from a member speaking later in debate. I refer members to rulings on pages 150–51 of the June 2020 version of Rulings from the Chair about this.