Reading speeches from scripts
Senators debate whether Members should read from prepared scripts, while the Chair says the issue will be considered by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
On a point of order, I did not like to interrupt my good friend Senator Bill Lawless, but I wonder if it would be timely, in the light of what I said earlier to Senator Catherine Ardagh and given that there are 42 new Senators, if the Chair were to remind the House of the tradition that continuous reading from manuscripts or typed material is not encouraged.
Comment on this
The Senator made those comments previously and they did not go unheeded. I will return to him on this issue which is on the agenda of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and will be dealt with shortly. I gave Senator Billy Lawless a couple of minutes of latitude, with the indulgence of the House, because I did not let him in on a previous occasion, because he has been absent owing to illness and because it was his maiden speech.
