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Ch14 Control and conduct of debate / MANNER AND RIGHT OF SPEECH / Manner of speech / Citation of documents not before the House



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House of Representatives                                Ch 14                                                 p 494

 

Control and conduct of debate / MANNER AND RIGHT OF SPEECH / Manner of speech

 

Citation of documents not before the House

I f a Minister quotes from a document relating to public affairs, a Member may ask for it to be presented to the House. The document must be presented unless the Minister states that it is of a confidential nature. 1 This rule does not apply to private Members.

A Member may quote from documents not before the House, but the quotation must be relevant to the question before the Chair. 2 It is not in order to quote words debarred by the rules of the House. 3 It is not necessary for a Member to vouch for the accuracy of a statement in a document quoted from or referred to, 4 but a Member quoting certain unestablished facts concerning another Member contained in a report has been ordered not to put those findings in terms of irrefutable facts. 5 It is not necessary for a Member to disclose the source of a quotation 6 or the name of the author of a letter from which he or she has quoted. 7 The Chair has always maintained that Members themselves must accept responsibility for material they use in debate, and there is no need for them to vouch for its authenticity. Whether the material is true or false will be judged according to events and if a Member uses material, the origin of which he or she is unsure, the responsibility rests with the Member. 8

Subject to the rules applying to relevance and unparliamentary expressions, it is not within the province of the Chair to judge whether a document declared to be confidential should be restricted in its use in the House. As the matter is not governed by standing orders, it must be left to the good sense and discretion of a Member to determine whether to use material in his or her possession. 9 However, the Chair has ruled that confidential documents submitted to Cabinet in a previous Government must, in the public interest, remain entirely confidential. 10



S.O. 201—for more detail see Ch. on ‘Documents’.



H.R. Deb. (29.5.31) 2446.



H.R. Deb. (20.9.22) 2488; H.R. Deb. (10.9.25) 2415.



H.R. Deb. (17.11.20) 6584.



H.R. Deb. (27.9.79) 1635.



H.R. Deb. (12.5.32) 671.



H.R. Deb. (28.5.31) 2399.



H.R. Deb. (25.11.53) 472-3; H.R. Deb. (26.9.79) 1550-1.



H.R. Deb. (2.5.57) 1000-1; VP 1964-66/597; H.R. Deb. (10.5.66) 1601; H.R. Deb. (11.5.66) 1673.



H.R. Deb. (20.5.42) 1440-1; see also H.R. Deb. (28.3.73) 767-8, H.R. Deb. (9.5.73) 1854-5, NP 80(13.12.73) 3480, and VP 1973-74/365-6 for other references relating to this question.