Legislative Assembly 2165 29 October 1991 NOTE: There could be differences between this document and the official printed Hansard, Vol. 320 TUESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 1991 Mr SPEAKER (Hon. J. Fouras, Ashgrove) read prayers and took the chair at 10 a.m. ASSENT TO BILLS Assent to the following Bills reported by Mr Speaker— Supreme Court of Queensland Bill; South Bank Corporation Amendment Bill. QUESTIONS Statement by Mr Speaker Mr SPEAKER: Honourable members, the rules governing questions are outlined in chapter VII of the Standing Rules and Orders. Standing Order 67A, which refers to questions to Ministers, states— “. Questions may be put to a Minister relating to public affairs with which he is officially connected, to proceedings pending— that is, awaiting decision— “in the Legislative Assembly, or to any matter of administration for which he is responsible.” Standing Order 69 states— “In putting a Question, no argument or opinion shall be offered, or any fact stated, except so far as is necessary to explain the Question.” Standing Order 70 states— “The following general rules shall apply to Answers: (i) In answering a Question a Minister . shall not debate the subject to which it refers. (ii) An Answer shall be relevant to the Question. (iii) If, in the opinion of the Speaker, the Answer is too long, he may direct the Minister . to cease speaking.” On Thursday, 24 October, points of order were taken on the Treasurer and the Minister for Education when answering questions on the Budget and relating to the Education Estimates which were to be debated that day. Honourable members, I feel it is opportune to give to the House a statement on the rules governing questions in this context. Over the years, a number of rulings have been given by Speakers in the Queensland Parliament. On 13 November 1929, Speaker Taylor ruled that questions relating to orders of the day are out of order and are not permissible. On 28 November 1930, Speaker Taylor also ruled that questions on matters not before the House cannot be put to private members. Questions not referring to a Bill or motion before the House can be put only to a Minister. On 21 October 1971, Speaker Nicholson ruled that questions must not relate to legislation before Parliament. On 14 November 1947, Speaker Brassington ruled that the object of questions is to seek information on matters concerned with the business of the House or public administration or other public matters. On 3 August 1944, Legislative Assembly 2166 29 October 1991 Speaker Brassington ruled that questions relating to the subject matter of a motion on the business paper would be disallowed. There is obviously a degree of inconsistency with these rulings. According to Erskine May, 21st Edition, questions to Ministers must relate to matters for which Ministers are officially responsible. They must be asked for statements of their policy in relation to such matters, or for administration of legislative action. According to House of Representatives Practice at page 518, reference in questions to debates in the current session are out of order. This rule does not preclude questions on the subject matter of such debates but, rather, precludes reference to the debate itself and to specific statements made in it. It has also been held to be out of order to ask a question which refers to proceedings in Committee not reported to the House. However, no exception has been taken to questions merely coinciding in subject matter with respect to proceedings in Committee. Questions cannot anticipate discussion upon an order of the day. A clear distinction can be made between this rule and the rule which permits questions to Ministers on “proceedings pending in the House”. The principle established by rulings from the Chair is that questions seeking to elicit information about proceedings pending in the House are permissible provided they do not anticipate the discussion itself or invite a Minister to do so. The Queensland Legislative Assembly Standing Order 67A is similar to that of the House of Representatives concerning questions to Ministers and contains the similar phrase “proceedings pending in the Legislative Assembly”. Standing Order 67A was inserted in the Standing Orders in 1983 following a report of the Standing Orders Committee and must, therefore, override all previous Speakers’ rulings to the contrary. I therefore intend to allow questions to Ministers seeking to elicit information about proceedings pending in the House that are the responsibility of that Minister, provided they do not anticipate the discussion itself or invite the Minister to do so. ELECTORAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW COMMISSION Report Mr SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that today I have received from the Chairman of the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission his report on the protection of whistle-blowers. Ordered to be printed. PETITIONS The Acting Clerk announced the receipt of the following petitions— Child-care Legislation From Ms Warner (927 signatories) praying that the Parliament will support the Child Care Bill 1991 and promote the development of associated regulations. A similar petition was received from Mr Beanland (17 signatories). Child-care Centres From Ms Warner (57 signatories) praying for regulations to be introduced to ensure that directors and group leaders of child-care centres hold at least a two-year early childhood qualification and for a reduction in total group size in all age groupings. Legislative Assembly 2167 29 October 1991 Police Staffing, Mackay From Mr Stephan (20 signatories) praying for a review of budgetary allocations and staffing to ensure adequate levels of police services are maintained in Mackay. Public Assembly Legislation From Mr Beanland (209 signatories) praying that those aspects of the Public Assembly Bill allowing public demonstrations and “speakers corner” type activities in the Queen Street Mall be not proceeded with. Petitions received. PAPERS The following papers were laid on the table, and ordered to be printed— Reports for the year ended 30 June 1991— Queensland Electricity Commission Department of Environment and Heritage National Trust of Queensland Queensland Recreation Areas Management Board Board of Architects of Queensland. The following papers were laid on the table— Orders in Council under— Dairy Industry Act 1989 Fishing Industry Organization and Marketing Act 1982 Water Resources Act 1989 Canals Act 1958-1990 Fauna Conservation Act 1974 National Parks and Wildlife Act 1975 Supreme Court Act of 1921 Regulations under the Dairy Industry Act 1989 Report of the Queensland Hen Quota Committee for the year ended 28 June 1991. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Drink-driving Hon. D. J. HAMILL (Ipswich—Minister for Transport and Minister Assisting the Premier on Economic and Trade Development) (10.09 a.m.), by leave: Each year, many Queenslanders are killed on our roads because of drink-drivers. In the first six months of this year, 41 per cent of fatalities tested for alcohol use showed a positive blood reading. This Government is continuing its strong campaign against drink-drivers. It was just a month ago that, along with the Police Minister, Mr Mackenroth, I launched Queensland’s first booze bus. Booze buses not only increase the profile of the campaign against drink-driving but also improve greatly the utilisation of police resources. Legislative Assembly 2168 29 October 1991 Recently, the parliamentary Travelsafe Committee examined the issue of drink-driving offences and made a number of recommendations in regard to the issuing of on-the-spot fines for first-time drink- driving offenders. The Government is taking up a number of recommendations from the Travelsafe Committee’s report. We have decided to introduce traffic offence notices for first-time drink-driving offenders. Appropriate amendments to the Traffic Act are currently being prepared. Drivers detected with a BAC reading below 0.15 will be issued with a traffic offence notice. This will replace the necessity for first-time offenders to appear before the court. The penalties for offenders in this range will be standard for all offenders. The penalty will include a fine and an automatic disqualification from driving. This removes the present unfair inconsistencies in penalties being handed out to first-time drink-driving offenders, a problem that was highlighted in the Travelsafe Committee report. A report from the Department of Transport showed that, in 1989-90, out of more than 28 000 drink- driving offenders, 72 per cent were first offenders. This move will also save many thousands of valuable hours of police and court time presently involved in handling drink-driving offences. A first-time offender issued with a ticket for drink-driving will have the option of either paying the fine without a court appearance or contesting the matter before the court. This move is consistent with the Government’s strong stand on road safety, and our commitment maximises the use of police resources in the interests of the community. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Drought Relief Hon. E. D. CASEY (Mackay—Minister for Primary Industries) (10.13 a.m.), by leave: For the information of the House, I am pleased to announce the latest results of the Government’s ongoing review of drought relief assistance measures operating in Queensland. It is the Government’s view that the efficiency and relevance of drought relief programs should be kept under constant review to ensure they are reaching the people who need help. In respect of that aim, I can inform members of three revised concessional arrangements now available for Queensland primary producers. They are— increased rates for maximum fodder and water freight subsidies available to hired and private vehicles; the two-year lifting of a provision under the 1987 Commonwealth/State Sugar Cane Growers’ Adjustment Scheme which prevented recipients from seeking Rural Adjustment Scheme assistance for a period of seven years; and the introduction of a 50 per cent freight subsidy on all grain used as the major component in the production of stock feed.