Points of Order — Withdrawal from Chamber—Hon Trevor Mallard

I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I want to raise with you the issue of Mr Mallard’s being asked to leave the Chamber. I have no difficulty or problem with your decision. You asked him to leave. I accept that he transgressed the rules, and that for that there should be an appropriate punishment. But what I would ask is for you, Mr Speaker, to think about the time for which Mr Mallard has to be out of the Chamber. There are things that some people know and others do not, and it will be a difficult week. The point I would like to raise, Mr Speaker, is that you contemplate setting a specific time for Mr Mallard’s return. It is not unreasonable for the Speaker to do so; it has been done on a number of occasions. Standing Order 85 says that the member can be excluded for a period “up to the remainder of that day’s sitting”. It does not mean that you are obliged to have the member excluded for the whole of the day’s sitting; you can impose a time at your will and at your discretion.

I would suggest to you, Mr Speaker, that it would be appropriate for Mr Mallard to be excluded until, say, 4 p.m. today, after which he would be free and able to return. I do so because I believe that there could be some unintended consequences and unforeseen consequences if he was left out of the Chamber for the whole day. To support this, I say the House has an agenda for this week, which I am sure everybody wants to get through. I would suggest to you the words of a former President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who made reference to the fact that it was better to have people inside the tent than outside the tent, because that made life a bit easier. So I would just suggest to you, Mr Speaker, that it would be very helpful if you were to set a particular time. I am sure that Mr Mallard is contrite, is remorseful, and would be sufficiently well punished if you said that he could come back to the House at, say, 4 p.m. today.

I accept the goodwill in which the member, the Hon Rick Barker, raises the point of order. Let me make it clear that up until now I have not asked many members to leave this Chamber—only three, in fact—and they have been out for the day. That is why the period is a sitting day of the House. I do not muck around. I tolerate a lot of what I consider to be unacceptable behaviour, but when the limit has been reached, so far every member whom I have asked to leave has been out for the day. That is why I warned members that the day may be a little longer—may—than they might have anticipated. I will reflect on the matter, because that possibility may have escaped the member’s attention. I will reflect on the matter, but I will not make any decision right now. At the moment the member is excluded for the day. But I will reflect on the matter and advise of any change to my decision in due course.