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Standing Orders
Chapter 31 - Conduct of senators and rules of debate
184 Order maintained by President
(1) Order shall be maintained in the
Senate by the President.
(2) Whenever the President rises during
a debate, a senator then speaking or offering to speak shall sit down, and the
Senate shall be silent, so that the President may be heard without
interruption.
(3) When the President is putting a
question a senator shall not walk out of or across the chamber.
185 Conduct of senators
(1) A senator shall acknowledge the chair
on entering or leaving the chamber.
(2) A senator shall not pass between the
chair and a senator who is speaking, nor between the chair and the table.
(3) A senator on entering the chamber
shall take the senator’s place, and shall not stand in any of the passages.
186 The call to speak
(1) A senator desiring to speak shall
rise and address the President.
(2) Subject to the practices of the
Senate relating to the call to speak, when 2 or more senators rise together to
speak, the President shall call upon the senator who, in the President’s
opinion, first rose in the senator’s place.
187 Speeches not to be read
A senator shall not read a speech.
188 Right to speak
(1) Unless otherwise provided, a senator
may speak once:
(a) on a question before the
Senate;
(b) on an amendment; and
(c) in reply, where a reply is
permitted.
(2) In committee, senators may speak
more than once.
189 Time limits on speeches
(1) Subject to other time limits
specified, a senator shall not speak for more than 20 minutes in any debate in
the Senate. A senator may move that that time limit be extended by not more
than 10 minutes, and such a motion shall forthwith be put without debate.
(2) Where a right of reply is allowed in
a debate a senator speaking in reply shall speak for not more than 20 minutes.
(3) In committee a senator shall not
speak for more than 15 minutes at a time on any question, but where the speech
of a senator is interrupted by this provision, and no other senator rises to
speak, the senator so interrupted may continue to speak for a further 15
minutes but no longer continuously on a question.
(amended 13 February
1997)
190 Personal explanations
By leave of the Senate, a senator may
explain matters of a personal nature, although there is no question before the
Senate, but such matters may not be debated.
191 Explanation of speeches
A senator who has spoken to a question may
again be heard, to explain some material part of the senator’s speech which has
been misquoted or misunderstood, but shall not introduce any new matter, or
interrupt any senator speaking, and no debatable matter shall be brought
forward or debate arise on such an explanation.
192 Reply
(1) A reply may be made by a senator who
has made a substantive motion to the Senate on which debate is allowed, but not
by a senator who has moved an amendment or the previous question.
(2) The reply of the mover of the
original question shall close the debate.
193 Rules of debate
(1) A senator shall not reflect on any
vote of the Senate, except for the purpose of moving that the vote be
rescinded.
(2) A senator shall not refer to the
Queen, the Governor-General or the Governor of a state disrespectfully in
debate, or for the purpose of influencing the Senate in its deliberations.
(3) A senator shall not use offensive words
against either House of Parliament or of a House of a state or territory
parliament, or any member of such House, or against a judicial officer, and all
imputations of improper motives and all personal reflections on those Houses,
members or officers shall be considered highly disorderly.
194 Relevance and anticipation
(1) A senator shall not digress from the
subject matter of any question under discussion, or anticipate the discussion
of any subject which appears on the Notice Paper.
(2) This standing order shall not
prevent discussion on the address-in-reply of any matter, or of any matter on
the Notice Paper and not discussed during the preceding 4 weeks.
195 Question may be read
A senator may require the question to be
read by the Clerk at any time during a debate, but not so as to interrupt a
senator speaking.
196 Tedious repetition
The President or the Chairman of Committees
may call the attention of the Senate or the committee, as the case may be, to
continued irrelevance or tedious repetition, and may direct a senator to
discontinue a speech, but that senator may require that the question whether
the senator be further heard be put, and then that question shall be put
without debate.
197 Interruption of speaker: points of order or
privilege
(1) A senator shall not interrupt
another senator speaking, except:
(a) to call attention to a
point of order or privilege; or
(b) to call attention to the
lack of a quorum.
(2) A senator may draw attention at any
time to a point of order or a matter of privilege arising in the proceedings
then before the Senate.
(3) A question of order or a matter of
privilege so raised suspends the consideration and decision of every other
question until determined.
(4) On a question of order being raised
the senator called to order shall sit down.
(5) The President may hear argument on
the question, and may determine it forthwith, or at a later time, at the
President’s discretion.
(6) Time taken in
raising and determining points of order during a debate shall not be regarded
as part of the amount of time allowed for a senator to speak in a debate or ask
a question or for a debate.
(amended 13 February
1997)
198 Objection to ruling
(1) If an objection is taken to a ruling
or decision of the President, such objection must be taken at once and in
writing, and a motion moved that the Senate dissent from the President’s
ruling.
(2) Debate on that motion shall be
adjourned to the next sitting day, unless the Senate decides on motion, without
debate, that the question requires immediate determination.
199 Closure of debate
(1) The motion that the question be now
put is not open to debate or amendment and shall be forthwith put by the
President and determined.
(2) If the motion that the question be
now put is carried, the Senate shall vote on the question immediately before it
without further debate or amendment.
(3) A motion that the question be now
put may not be moved by a senator, other than a minister, who has spoken in the
debate or who has previously moved that motion.
200 Putting of question ends debate
A senator may not speak to any question
after it has been put by the President and the vote commenced.
201 Adjournment of debate
(1) A debate may be adjourned on motion
or by the granting of leave for a senator to continue the senator’s speech,
either to a later hour of the same day or to any other day.
(2) A motion to adjourn a debate is not
open to debate or amendment.
(3) When a debate is adjourned, by
motion or by the granting of leave for a senator to continue the senator’s speech,
the resumption of the debate shall be made an order of the day for the next day
of sitting without any question being put, unless a motion is agreed to fixing
another time for the resumption of the debate.
(4) The senator on whose motion a debate
is adjourned shall be entitled to be first heard on the resumption of the
debate.
(5) If a motion for the adjournment of
the debate on a question is negatived, the senator moving the motion may
address the Senate at any time during the debate.
(6) A motion for the adjournment of a
debate may not be moved by a senator, other than a minister, who has spoken in
the debate or who has previously moved the adjournment.
202 Interruption by adjournment of Senate
If a debate is interrupted by an adjournment
of the Senate, the debate shall be an order of the day for the next day of
sitting.
203 Infringement of order
(1) If a senator:
(a) persistently and wilfully
obstructs the business of the Senate;
(b) is guilty of disorderly
conduct;
(c) uses objectionable words, and
refuses to withdraw such words;
(d) persistently and wilfully
refuses to conform to the standing orders; or
(e) persistently and wilfully
disregards the authority of the chair,
the President may report to
the Senate that the senator has committed an offence.
(2) If an offence has been committed by
a senator in a committee of the whole, the chairman may suspend the proceedings
of the committee and report the offence to the President.
(3) A senator who has been reported as
having committed an offence shall attend in the senator’s place and be called
upon to make an explanation or apology, and then a motion may be moved that the
senator be suspended from the sitting of the Senate. No amendment, adjournment
or debate shall be allowed on such a motion, which shall be immediately put by
the President.
204 Suspension of senator
(1) The suspension of a senator on the
first occasion shall be for the remainder of that day’s sitting, on the second
occasion for 7 sitting days, and on the third or any subsequent occasion for 14
sitting days, where such suspensions occur within the same calendar year.
(2) A senator who has been suspended
shall not enter the chamber during the period of the suspension. If a senator
enters the chamber during the senator’s suspension, the President shall order
the Usher of the Black Rod to remove the senator from the chamber.
205 Quarrels between senators
The Senate may intervene to prevent the
prosecution of a quarrel between senators arising out of debates or proceedings
of the Senate or of a committee.
206 Disobedience of orders
If a senator wilfully disobeys an order of
the Senate, that senator may be ordered to attend the Senate and may be taken
into custody.
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