Hon members, in the course of a response by the hon Deputy Minister of Transport on 10 March 2011, two points of order in similar vein were raised about ministerial responses to members' statements.
Hon M J Ellis asked whether it was in order for the hon Deputy Minister of Transport to respond to a statement that had already been responded to by the hon Minister of International Relations and Co-operation. He contended that the Rules prohibited two members of the executive from responding to the same statement.
Hon J D Killian then asked for clarity on the application of Rule 105(6) which determines that a Minister who is present made be given an opportunity to respond to any statement directed to that Minister or may in respect of that Minister's portfolio.
I at the time undertook to look into the matter and return to the House with a ruling. Having done so, I now wish to rule as follows:
Hon members, Rule 105 that governs members' statements and ministerial responses is in actual fact quite clear and detailed. The rule initially sets out the manner and time of members' statements and then proceeds to set out with the same attention to detail the manner and time of ministerial responses.
It also makes provision for instances where a Minister may not be present to respond. It even determines in which order of preference a colleague may respond on behalf of an absent Minister. Rule 105(6) says that if a particular Minister was present in the House and the member's statement was directed at that Minister, or that Minister's portfolio, the Minister may respond to that statement.
If the Minister at whom the statement is directed or in respect of whose portfolio the statement was made is not in the House, then in terms of the Rules the relevant Deputy Minister may respond, to the statement or another Minister may respond, in that order.
Prior to 2005, the guidelines for members' statements and ministerial responses determined that only a Minister from a particular Cabinet cluster could respond on behalf of his or her absent colleague from the same cluster. However, the Rules were then adjusted to provide that any Minister may now respond on behalf of an absent colleague if the relevant Deputy Minister does not respond.
The same Rule should ensure that a member's statement dealing with a single matter is not responded to twice, as it would either have been directed at a particular Minister or it would have been made in respect of a particular Minister's portfolio.
I wish to appeal to hon members of the Cabinet to assist the Chair by adhering to the prescriptions of the Rule and to respond only to those statements as I have indicated. I am, however, referring the matter to the Rules Committee for further discussion, during which time parties will have an opportunity to give their input. Thank you. [Applause.]
Order, order! It's not a cricket match or a rugby or soccer match, hon Ellis!