Matter of Privilege

Matter of Privilege, Speaker's Statement

The SPEAKER (16:47): Before I call the minister, I make the following statement regarding the matter of privilege raised yesterday in the house by the member for Florey. Before addressing the matter, I wish to outline the significance of privilege.

Generally speaking, any act or omission which obstructs or impedes the house in the performance of its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any member or officer of such house in the discharge of his or her duty, or which has a tendency, directly or indirectly, to produce such a result, may be treated as a contempt and therefore be considered a matter of privilege even though there is no precedent for the offence.

During the recent ballot to elect the Speaker, the member for Florey advised the house that members were showing their ballot paper to other members. As the Speaker had not yet been elected, the Clerk appropriately acknowledged the comment of the member for Florey. In raising the matter of privilege yesterday, the member for Florey has intimated that the actions of members in showing their ballots to one another is 'a flagrant disregard of the spirit of the secret ballot', and, further, any attempt to improperly coerce a parliamentarian to show their vote to another member may constitute a contempt of parliament.

In response to my invitation to the member for Florey to provide me with further materials, the member for Florey has very generously provided to me further information to assist me with my deliberations under cover of a considered letter dated today, which was handed to me this morning. In relation to the potential contempt, I note that standing order 8 provides:

Each member of the house then present delivers to the Clerk the name of the candidate he/she chooses to be Speaker of the House.

The standing order is silent on what members should or should not do with their ballot papers prior to delivering them to the Clerk at the table.

In the absence of a specific provision in the standing orders, the practice of this house has been one whereby staff collect the ballot papers and deliver them to the Clerk at the table. Confirmation of this practice can be found in Hansard of 8 December 1982 at page 13, and I quote the Speaker:

I will take the honourable member's point of order after the ballot papers have been collected.

This ballot related to the election of a chairman of committees, regarding which standing order 14 states:

If more than one member is proposed and seconded as Chairman of Committees, the election is as provided for the election of Speaker.

Further, on 14 September 2004, on a ballot being conducted for the appointment of a member to the Natural Resources Committee, I quote the Chair at the time from Hansard at page 18:

I direct the staff to collect the ballot papers and the scrutineers to come to the table.

I agree with the member for Florey's assertion that any suggestion that a member has been coerced by other members to show their ballot paper or impeded in the casting of their vote would likely constitute a contempt of this house. However, I have not been provided with any information or evidence of members being coerced during the ballot requiring them to show their ballot paper to another member or being impeded in casting their vote.

I thank the member for Florey for raising this matter and providing me with additional materials. However, I am satisfied there is no evidence to suggest that members were obstructed or impeded in the discharge of their duty to cast their vote to name their chosen candidate to be Speaker of the house. Accordingly, I do not propose to give the precedence that would enable any member to pursue this matter immediately as a matter of privilege.

However, my opinion does not prevent any member from pursuing the matter by way of substantive motion. If the member for Florey does have concerns about the operation of the standing orders in providing the necessary protection and safeguards to enable members to cast their ballot in private, I invite her to consider writing to the Standing Orders Committee so that the committee may consider the matter.

Further, and in relation to the process of election that occurred this week, it has been brought to my attention the publication of certain photographs from the floor of the chamber in published electronic media and social media. For the purposes of my noting that has come to my attention, it does not matter who the member or members involved were. However, I do take the opportunity to remind members that the ruling of Speaker Atkinson in 2013, as reiterated by Speaker Tarzia as recently as 3 June this year, is that there is to be no taking of photographs in the chamber.

That is especially with regard to members taking photos of other members in the chamber. That is now contrary to rulings of numerous Speakers. So I put members on notice, as Speaker for the first time myself, that if this happens again it will be a naming offence.