Parliamentary Procedure

MEMBER'S REMARKS

The PRESIDENT (15:24): I feel impelled to refer to a contravention of standing orders which occurred yesterday in this chamber. The Hon. D.G.E. Hood moved the following motion:

That this council notes that fair and accurate debate is important to the parliamentary process.

The subsequent debate by Mr Hood was a subterfuge in that it was turned into additional debate on a matter before this council, that is, the Statutes Amendment (Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and Regulation of Research Involving Human Embryos) Bill, on which the honourable member had already spoken.

The motion which the Hon. D.G.E. Hood moved yesterday became a mechanism for him to decry what the Hon. I.K. Hunter had said previously in debate on the bill.

Standing order 174 does not allow members to speak more than once during the debate, and standing order 177 gives a right of reply to a minister or member who moves the original substantive motion. I also remind members of standing order 187, which prohibits members from alluding to any debate of the same session upon a question or bill not being then under discussion. This rule is to secure finality; otherwise, a debate might be interminable, and the standing order which prevents the same question being twice offered would be rendered nugatory.