Parliamentary standing orders (rules)
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- Members wishing to address the Parliament should stand and wait for the Speaker to invite them to speak. The member remains standing while speaking and only that person speaks.
- Members should address all comments directly to the Speaker, who should be referred to as “Mr Speaker” or “Madam Speaker”, accordingly.
- Members shall remain in their seat in silence while the Speaker is addressing the Assembly.
- Members shall refer to all other members as “Mr/Ms [name]”.
- Members may only debate matters that are relevant to the question before the Speaker.
- Members shall not use any language which is disorderly or disrespectful of another member. Coarse language is not acceptable.
- Members shall not interrupt another member, and may not converse or make any noise or disturbance while another member is speaking.
- If a member is persistently disorderly they may be “named” by the Speaker who says, “I name “Mr/Ms [name]”. If a member of the parliament is named, the Clerk will record their name. If a member is named three times the Speaker will call on the Serjeant-at-Arms to remove that Member from the chamber. If a member is removed they cannot return for the remainder of the sitting and are unable to vote on any matters being considered by the parliament during that sitting.
- After debate, voting is conducted using a simple method of choosing “Aye” or “No”. The Speaker decides on the voices who has won the vote by saying either “I think the Ayes have it” OR “I think the Noes have it”.
- If the result is doubtful or a member disagrees with the Speaker’s ruling there is a division, the vote goes to a show of hands and the Clerk counts the votes and records the results. The Clerk gives the result to the Speaker to announce.