Senator Ian Macdonald —I raise a point of order, Mr President, with regard to the behaviour of a senator who, just before the division, appeared to be making a threat to the Manager of Government Business in the Senate and, in a very menacing way, said, ‘This will be noted.’ This suggests to me that the day will be spent now on quorums and stupid points of order. Mr President, could you rule, perhaps on reflection, on whether the words of the senator were in fact an infringement of the rules.

The PRESIDENT —I do not believe they are. Like you, I did hear what was said. The words themselves were not unparliamentary, nor were they intimidating. I must admit there was a certain inclination in the voice, but I am not going to rule on that. I therefore cannot accept the point of order.

Senator Nettle —Mr President, on the point of order: when you are looking at this issue, I ask you to pay attention—

The PRESIDENT —I have already ruled.

Senator Nettle —You have said that you are not going to make a ruling on this and so—

The PRESIDENT —No, I just said there was no point of order. That is what I ruled on.

Senator Abetz —For the benefit of honourable senators, I do not feel overly threatened by the comment that was made earlier by a disgruntled senator.