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Standing Orders
Chapter 11 - Questions seeking information
72 Questions without notice
(1) At the time provided questions may
be put to ministers relating to public affairs.
(2) A question may be put to the President
in relation to matters for which the President has responsibility.
(3)
(a) The asking of each question
shall not exceed one minute and the answering of each question shall not exceed
4 minutes.
(b) The asking of each supplementary
question shall not exceed one minute and the answering of each supplementary question
shall not exceed one minute.
(4)
(a) After question time motions
may be moved without notice to take note of answers given that day to
questions.
(b) A senator may speak for not more
than 5 minutes on such a motion.
(c) The time for debate on all
motions relating to answers to questions without notice on any day shall not
exceed 30 minutes.
(amended
13 February 1997, 10 March 2009)
73 Rules for questions
(1) The following rules shall apply to
questions:
questions shall not contain:
(a) statements of fact or
names of persons unless they are strictly necessary to render the question
intelligible and can be authenticated;
(b) arguments;
(c) inferences;
(d) imputations;
(e) epithets;
(f) ironical expressions; or
(g) hypothetical matter;
questions shall not ask:
(h) for an expression of
opinion;
(i) for a statement of the
government’s policy; or
(j) for legal opinion;
questions shall not refer to:
(k) debates in the current
session; or
(l) proceedings in committee
not reported to the Senate.
(2) Questions shall not anticipate
discussion upon an order of the day or other matter which appears on the Notice
Paper.
(3) The President may direct that the
language of a question be changed if it is not in conformity with the standing
orders.
(4) In answering a question, a senator
shall not debate it.
74 Questions on notice
(1) Notice of a question shall be given
by a senator signing and delivering it to the Clerk, fairly written, printed,
or typed. Notice may be given by one senator on behalf of another.
(2) The Clerk shall place notices of
questions on the Notice Paper in the order in which they are received.
(3) The reply to a question on notice
shall be given by delivering it to the Clerk, a copy shall be supplied to the
senator who asked the question, the publication of the reply is then
authorised, and the question and reply shall be printed in Hansard.
(4) A senator who has received a copy of
a reply pursuant to this standing order may, by leave, immediately after
questions without notice, ask the question and have the reply read in the
Senate.
(5) If a minister does
not answer a question on notice asked by a senator within 30 days of the asking
of that question, or if a question taken on notice during a hearing of a legislative
and general purpose standing committee considering estimates remains unanswered
30 days after the day set for answering the question, and a minister does not,
within that period, provide to the senator who asked the question an
explanation satisfactory to that senator of why an answer has not yet been
provided:
(a) at the
conclusion of question time on any day after that period, the senator may ask
the relevant minister for such an explanation; and
(b) the
senator may, at the conclusion of the explanation, move without notice—That
the Senate take note of the explanation; or
(c) in the
event that the minister does not provide an explanation, the senator may,
without notice, move a motion with regard to the minister’s failure to provide
either an answer or an explanation.
(amended 13 February
1997, 8 September 2003, 9 November 2005, 14 August 2006: with effect from 11
September 2006)
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