Rulings from the Chair
Scope of debate
The SPEAKER (14:54): I would just make a ruling on a point of order raised by the Leader of the House on Thursday 23 March 2023. The Leader of the House raised a point of order at the end of a procedural debate. The debate was on the motion moved by the member for Malvern to adjourn debate on the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2022. The motion itself was simply to adjourn debate on the bill and the member for Malvern was clearly within his rights to move the motion. There may be any number of reasons a member of this house may seek to adjourn debate on a bill. The ensuing debate on the motion allows the member moving the motion and subsequent members to put their views as to why the motion should or should not be agreed to. Such procedural debates often have a very narrow focus. Having reviewed Hansard, it is clear that many members across the chamber tried to raise matters outside the scope of the debate. Some points of order on this issue were taken at the time and dealt with at the time. I therefore rule the point of order out of order. However, I remind all members that their contributions to any matter the house is considering need to be within the confines of that debate. All debates are different, and the remarks members make will need to be considered by the Chair in the context of the debate. However, members do not have unfettered ability to raise matters extraneous to a debate at hand.