Please be seated. Good morning, colleagues. Welcome back to the House.
Colleagues, yesterday during oral questions, I disallowed a supplementary question on the grounds that it alluded to documents that were not before this House. In addition, the Chair was concerned about references to in-camera committee proceedings. While it was an oral question that ultimately led to my intervention, a number of similar references from both sides of the House preceded the oral question. I, therefore, wish to take this opportunity to remind all Members of my previous rulings on matters such as this.
On October 21, 2004, I delivered a ruling on a point of order that clarified what is and is not acceptable in terms of referring to discussions at standing committees. In this ruling, I stated that neither Ministers nor Regular Members are permitted to allude to proceedings in standing committees until the committee has addressed these proceedings in a report to the House. This does not mean that the government is precluded from disclosing information in the House that has not been made public, even if this information has been discussed with standing committee.
However, specific reference to the in-camera proceedings of standing committees by either committee members, ordinary Members who are not members of the committee, or Ministers, is strictly prohibited until the details of such proceedings have been reported to this House.
Of course, as Chair, I am not always aware of what has or has not been discussed in standing committee. As such, I am reluctant to intervene unless a perceived breach is brought to my attention by way of point of order. However, the debate in the House yesterday that led to my intervention dealt with the contents of a legislative proposal and the ensuing discussions that occurred between the sponsoring Minister and the responsible standing committee. Legislative proposals are, by definition, matters subject to committee confidentiality. Therefore, I am unable to think of any circumstance where either a Minister or a Regular Member should discuss the details of a legislative proposal in this House, or the specifics of any standing committee meeting dealing with a legislative proposal.
I remind and encourage all Members to refrain from divulging any part of the proceedings of an in-camera committee meeting until it has been addressed in a report to the House. Failure to do so may not only constitute a breach of order, it may also constitute a prima facie breach of privilege.
Thank you for your attention, Members. Orders of the day. Ministers' statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.