Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Rulings from the Chair

Questions without notice

The PRESIDENT (12:05): Following the last sitting week I have reflected on some recent questions without notice to ministers that have requested very specific information or statistics. There is a ruling by President Grimwade from 1981 that questions without notice should not be so detailed that they make it impossible for the minister to answer at the time. This ruling was given prior to the current sessional orders allowing the Chair to direct a written response.

It is challenging for the Chair to assess whether a minister answering a question without notice or supplementary question is responsive to a question in accordance with standing order 807 when the question seeks a level of detail that a minister cannot reasonably provide orally or without notice. I remind members that the requirement of the standing orders is that the minister is responsive to the question. The requirement is not that the question is answered in a way that the member asking the question wants. There are numerous previous Presidents’ rulings that the Chair cannot direct a minister how to answer a question.

One option for me is to require the minister to provide a written answer in these situations. However, this is then requiring a minister and their department to prepare and provide very detailed information within one sitting day. In my view this is not the original intention of the standing order. The intention of the standing order was to seek to improve the quality of responses given by ministers but that answers should still normally be given orally in the house. I do not want to create a situation where questions without notice are effectively taken on notice and answered in writing.

Going forward, my expectation is that members will phrase questions without notice so they can reasonably be answered by a minister orally in the house. Members can still choose to ask a question to seek detailed information or statistics. For those questions, if the minister has made a genuine attempt to respond to the question and provide as much detail as they can at the time, I will consider the requirements of the standing order have been met and not require a written response.

It remains open to a minister to choose to provide a written response to any question. Members seeking detailed information or statistics can submit questions on notice. I recommend members consider this ruling when framing their questions without notice.