This week my mind is full of The Motels song “Total Control.” Not all the lyrics are relevant to the role of the Speaker in the ACT Legislative Assembly, but it is a great song and there is no doubt the Speaker plays a crucial role in maintaining order and ensuring the effective functioning of our small parliament.

All Members are guided by the Standing Orders of the Parliament — in effect, the rules for debate. During Question Time, which occurs after lunch on each sitting day, the Speaker’s role becomes particularly prominent as they oversee one of parliament’s most dynamic and politically charged periods. I say politically charged but it is obvious to anyone watching that Question Time in the ACT LA is a stroll in the park compared to Question Time in the federal parliament.

The Speaker determines which questions are in order, ensures ministers respond appropriately to questions, and maintains decorum amongst members. They possess the authority to rule questions out of order if they breach standing orders, contain offensive language, or seek information outside ministerial responsibility. The Speaker also manages supplementary questions and ensures the government remains accountable to the opposition and crossbench members through this important scrutiny mechanism.

In the past, a member (from the Opposition) would rise to their feet during an answer from a Minister to raise a Point of Order, often on relevance (specifically, lack of relevance to the question asked). This might happen when a Minister either deliberately does not want to answer a question or does not know the answer, so they start talking about something tangential to the question.

Of course, this is frustrating for the Opposition and has been so for a long time. In a recent, long overdue change to the Standing Orders (amazing, isn’t it, what can happen when the Greens take up a role in Opposition rather than in Government), the Speaker can now utilise a new standing order 118AA to determine if an answer is relevant, and if not, direct a Minister to come back with a “better” answer.

Actually having questions answered? What a relief for the Opposition parties. Last Assembly, one of the Greens’ Ministers was renowned for not answering questions, and if a Point of Order of relevance was raised, and when the Speaker asked her to be relevant to the question, she would resume with the words “As I was saying” and continue with the same answer. It was downright laughable.

The Speaker serves as the guardian of parliamentary democracy in the ACT, ensuring that the Assembly can fulfil its legislative and representative functions effectively whilst maintaining public confidence in the democratic process. Thank goodness that now the Speaker can determine if an answer is relevant. The new rule was used for the first time earlier this month, with Minister Steel claiming the dubious honour of being directed at the end of question time to come back with a written answer.

I can only hope this ensures better answers in the future.

For further discussion on this topic, head to Bite-sized politics (around 15 minutes easy listening) on Spotify.