Chapter 18 - Documents tabled in the Senate
Documents quoted in debate
A document quoted
by a senator may be ordered to be laid on the
table by motion without notice moved immediately on the conclusion of the
speech of the senator who quoted the document (SO 168). Ministers may refuse
to table a document under this procedure if it is stated to be of a
confidential nature or if it should more properly be obtained by address. Such
a refusal is subject to any subsequent order of the Senate that the document be
produced.
In practice, senators usually ask other senators if they will table
quoted documents. Ministers may table documents by right but may decline to
table on the basis that the quoted document is confidential. A senator who is
not a minister has no power to table documents under the standing orders, and
must obtain the leave of the Senate to do so. It is more appropriate therefore
for senators wanting documents quoted by private senators to follow the
standing orders and move that the document be tabled. That motion is open to
debate, subject to the rule of relevance, so that debate is confined to reasons
for tabling the document.
The Standing Orders Committee recommended, in the light of
contradictory precedents, that the standing order should be interpreted as
applying only to a document actually in a senator’s possession in the chamber
(Second Report, 61st Session, 20 October 1983, PP 111/1983).
This principle has since been followed.
The Standing Orders Committee also recommended (First Report, 62nd
Session, 15 October 1985, PP 504/1985), that the terms of standing order 168 apply only to a
document which is actually quoted by a senator and have no application to
speech notes used by a senator. There have nevertheless been cases of senators
tabling their speech notes.
The operation of these procedures is set out more fully in Chapter 10,
Debate, under Quotation of documents.
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