Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Official Report 1030KB pdf

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Presiding Officer’s Ruling

Before we come to decision time, I have something that I wish to say.

During portfolio questions today, a member—while putting a question to the Government—carried out a stunt by holding up a newspaper. The newspaper clearly had advance notice of the member’s intention as it had a photographer in the gallery to capture the moment.

That was discourteous to the Parliament and to the cabinet secretary who was answering the question. It appeared that parliamentary proceedings were secondary to the potential for good coverage in a local newspaper.

This is not the first time that a similar stunt has been staged. I acknowledge that the member concerned subsequently apologised to me and gave an assurance that there would be no repeat, but let me make it clear to all members that such blatant stunts are a matter of discourtesy and disrespect to other members and to the Parliament as a whole.