Mr RIPOLL (3:32 PM) —Mr Deputy Speaker Causley, under standing order 150, I was wondering if you could write to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations about a question—

Mr Abbott —Mr Deputy Speaker, I raise a point of order and I do this with some hesitation. The time for questions to the Speaker has passed. A personal explanation can be taken at any appropriate time, but the time for questions to the Speaker is at the close of question time. We have already moved from question time to the presentation of papers.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon. I.R. Causley)—I take the point of the Leader of the House. That is the case.

Mr Latham —Mr Deputy Speaker, on the point of order: surely on an unusual day where the House suspended for half an hour at 3.00 p.m. a bit of indulgence and latitude could be granted to the member for Oxley. Does the government always have to be so miserable in its attitudes in the House?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER —The member for Oxley can do it tomorrow. I do not think it is that urgent, is it?

Mr RIPOLL —It is a case of urgency, because I have been waiting over 60 days for the minister to take notice of the question that I have put on the Notice Paper.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER —I note what the member for Oxley has said, but we can do it tomorrow. The time for questions to the Speaker has expired.

Mr Bevis —Mr Deputy Speaker, on the point of order: the House suspended at the end of question time. In fact, I think that, before the Prime Minister stood to end question time, the Speaker stood to suspend it. If we want to get technical we can check the record, but I am not sure that questions were in fact concluded by the Prime Minister prior to the House suspending.

Even if they were, the process was not available before the Speaker stood to suspend the House. We have just resumed now, immediately after that. This is exactly the time at which members of the House have the opportunity to ask questions of the Speaker. It is an important part of the process to defend the rights of all members of the parliament. It seems incongruous that the Leader of the House should seek to gag members of the parliament, not just the opposition, in raising questions with the Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER —I note the member for Brisbane's point. Further questions were placed on the Notice Paper by the Prime Minister. I would not have thought it was of such great moment. I would have thought that the matter of public importance was of greater moment to the opposition at the present time. I intend to move on to the matter of public importance.