Points of Order — Oral Questions—Wording
Point of order, sir. Thank you very much. At the end of question time last Thursday, I requested that you consider the use of—I guess—context and commentary in the lead-up to the asking of a question. There have been some discussions, through points of order and in other ways in the House, around what actually is an appropriate format for a question. Some Speakers, notably Speaker Mallard, required the use of what he termed a “question word” at the start of a question.
Now, no problem that you haven’t got back to us—I consider that you’re still thinking about this. In that vein, I would like to point out an example from today from the Rt Hon Winston Peters, who started with, “Can I ask the Minister”, a period of commentary, and then the actual question. So my question to you, sir: simply asking if he can ask the Minister—does that warrant a question and the commentary that comes after it? Is that appropriate? No problem either way, just some clarity so that that will guide us in how we approach it in the future.
Look, I thank the member for raising it. It is something that I’m still wanting to come back to the House on. It’s also a matter that I’m going to refer to the Standing Orders Committee, because if you think about how our question time works, it is largely an unequal competition, because the concise nature of questions required by the questioner is not matched, in all cases, by the answer that might come.
Now, that may not be necessary. If the member reflects a little bit on the structures that other parliaments have, it’s not uncommon for a questioner in other parliaments to actually speak for a period of time before finally asking a question. Westminster is a perfect example, and there are many others. So I think it is a matter that the Standing Orders Committee should consider. The current format for questions was devised in the Parliament between 1981 and 1984 and came into effect in 1984. It’s quite some time—40 years, effectively—since this particular format was reviewed. But thank you for raising that. It is under active consideration.
Thank you.