Ms GILLARD (3:06 PM) —Mr Speaker, further to the questions put to you by the member for Wills: are we to understand your ruling to mean that Deputy Speaker Causley—and indeed all occupants of the chair—should be applying the standing orders and House of Representatives Practice? I would put it to you, Mr Speaker, that that is not what Deputy Speaker Causley was doing last night.

Secondly, in the interests of the efficient conduct of the House, I suggest that there may need to be some discussion of these matters amongst the Speaker’s panel to get some consistency of rulings so that members of the House who are exercising their rights at any time of the day or night, including after dinner, can have some certainty as to what to expect in how the standing orders and House of Representatives Practice are to be applied.

The SPEAKER —I thank the Manager of Opposition Business. I make the point that it is not the Speaker’s role to give guidance on the application of standing orders, nor would I suggest to the Manager of Opposition Business that she should reflect on the Deputy Speaker. I made the point very clearly in my answer to the member for Wills, in my response to the points raised, and I refer her back to that answer.