Parliamentary Procedure

STANDING ORDERS SUSPENSION

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (15:38): I move, without notice:

That standing and sessional orders be and remain so far suspended as to enable the speaking times for the debate on the motion of the Premier to be limited to 30 minutes each for the mover and the lead speaker for the opposition; and 10 minutes for any other member and the mover in reply.

The SPEAKER: A quorum not being present—ring the bells.

A quorum having been formed:

The SPEAKER: Quorum present.

Mrs REDMOND: Madam Speaker, I am a little puzzled; my reading of standing order 399 is that:

When it is moved without notice to suspend any Standing or sessional order or orders, the Speaker counts the House and if a majority of all of the Members is not present, the bells are rung for up to three minutes, during which time no Member may leave the Chamber...

You allowed the Premier to read the entire motion before counting the house.

The SPEAKER: No, the Premier read the motion and then went into the suspension of standing orders. So, he did read the motion. I am not sure whether you were here; you might have been on your way down. The motion now is that standing and sessional orders be suspended to enable speaking times for the debate on the motion of the Premier to be limited to 30 minutes each for the mover and the lead speaker for the opposition, and 10 minutes for any other member and the mover in reply. I think you were actually here, but I think you were busy.

Mrs REDMOND: Madam Speaker, the other part of it was that you spoke about a quorum, when in fact it is a majority of the whole house.

The SPEAKER: Yes; we had an absolute majority. We waited until we had an absolute majority, so I have accepted the motion now. Is there a seconder to the motion?

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Yes, ma'am.

Motion carried.