| Related Orders, Precedents and Rulings |
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| Notes for the Chair | Incorporation of Material in Hansard (SO 271) A Member may seek the leave of the Speaker to incorporate material in Hansard. Leave to incorporate material should be carefully considered and is not readily given because Hansard is a verbatim record. The presumption is not in favour of granting leave. It is bad practice to have second reading speeches made in the Legislative Council incorporated as the second reading speech in the Assembly. Factors that the Chair has taken into consideration in the past are: cost of having the material printed; usually only for graphs and other material that may be difficult to explain; whether material is publicly available (that is, already in the public domain); whether it would be sufficient for the Member to leave the material on the Table for the information of Members. Key rulings: Relevant material of a statistical nature may in special cases with the approval of the Speaker and provided there is no objection from any Member, be incorporated in Hansard. Before being tendered, the material should be produced to the Speaker in his room for examination by him. The material to be incorporated is restricted to brief material of a statistical nature. Graphs and photographs and lengthy material will not be allowed. Ellis, PD 18/03/1969, p. 4669
Kelly, PD 01/03/1978, p. 12214
Rozzoli, PD 03/06/1988, p. 1551 Leave is not readily given by the Chair for documents to be incorporated in Hansard. Factors include whether it is sufficient for it to be placed on the Table for the information of Members, the cost of having material incorporated and whether the material is already available. In most cases it is sufficient for Members to quote from documents, after identifying them, thereby making the document part of the parliamentary record. The type of material that may be considered for incorporation is usually limited to material that cannot be readily explained such as sketches or graphs. Torbay, PD 06/12/2007, p. 5279 |
| 2009 Precedent | 1. The Leader of the Opposition made a private members' statement in relation to the retirement of Dr David Clune, a member of staff from the Parliamentary Library. The Leader of the Opposition was granted leave of the Chair to have a list of Dr Clune's publications incorporated in Hansard, after which the Leader of the House and the Speaker also made statements paying tribute to Dr Clune's years of service to the Parliament. PD 25/6/2009, 16887-16889 |
| 2008 Precedent | 1. During a take note debate on a committee report a member sought leave to incorporate the text of two bills into the Hansard record. Leave was not granted. PD 16/5/2008, 7803-7804 |
| 2007 Precedent | 1. During debate on a matter of public importance a member sought leave to incorporate a document (a legal opinion) into the Hansard record, which was subsequently denied by the Acting Speaker. The Acting Speaker explained that the incorporation of material into Hansard was by leave of the Chair and that he had based his decision on the fact that legal opinions were not in the usual category of documents sought to be incorporated. The Acting Speaker undertook to raise the matter with the Speaker. PD 14/11/2007, 4148-4149 2. The Speaker made the following ruling in relation to the incorporation of documents into Hansard: “During discussion on the matter of public importance on 14 November 2007 the Member for Tamworth sought leave of the Chair to incorporate a document from the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office into the Hansard record. The document had already been laid upon the Table for the information of Members by the Member for Port Macquarie earlier in the discussion. The Acting Speaker, the Member for Baulkham Hills, in denying leave for the incorporation of the document said that he would raise with me the matter of the incorporation of a “legal opinion” in Hansard. A number of factors need to be considered in relation to whether a document should be incorporated in Hansard or whether it is sufficient for it to be laid on the Table for the information of Members. These factors include the costs to the Parliament of having the material incorporated and whether the material is already publicly available. Members are reminded that leave is not readily granted by the Chair for documents to be incorporated in Hansard. The reasoning behind this principle is that in most cases it is sufficient for Members to quote from documents, after identifying them, thereby making their contents part of the parliamentary record. The type of material that may be considered for incorporation is usually limited to material that cannot readily be explained, such as sketches or graphs. The document in question was a dis |
| 2007 Cons. Ruling | SPEAKER TORBAY: During discussion on a matter of public importance on 14 November 2007 the member for Tamworth sought leave of the Chair to incorporate a document from the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office into the Hansard record. The document had already been laid upon the table for the information of members by the member for Port Macquarie earlier in the discussion. The Acting-Speaker, Mr Wayne Merton, in denying leave for the incorporation of the document, said that he would raise with me the matter of the incorporation of a legal opinion in Hansard. A number of factors need to be considered in relation to whether a document should be incorporated in Hansard or whether it is sufficient for it to be laid on the table for the information of members. These factors include the costs to the Parliament of having the material incorporated and whether the material is already publicly available. Members are reminded that leave is not readily granted by the Chair for documents to be incorporated in Hansard. The reasoning behind this principle is that in most cases it is sufficient for members to quote from documents, after identifying them, thereby making their contents part of the parliamentary record. The type of material that may be considered for incorporation is usually limited to material that cannot readily be explained such as sketches or graphs. The document in question was a discussion paper on the WorkChoices decision in the High Court which is publicly available on the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office website. While this paper is not a legal opinion and it would be unusual for legal opinions, particularly Crown opinions, which are generally confidential, to be incorporated in Hansard legal opinions can, however, be laid on the table for the information of members. Accordingly, I agree that the request to incorporate the document in Hansard should have been denied. PD 06/12/2007, p 5279 |
| S.O. 312 of 1994 (Repealed) | 312. The incorporation of material into Hansard shall be by leave of the Speaker. |
| 2003 Precedent | 1. During the Minister's reply to the second reading debate a member asked for the Minister to table a document he was referring to which listed the funding to be given by the Government in relation to the Cancer Institute (NSW). The Minister, by leave, tabled the document for incorporation in Hansard. PD 20/06/2003, 1799 2. When a motion was moved to suspend standing and sessional orders the Leader of the Opposition argued that the Opposition had been denied an opportunity to read into Hansard a statutory declaration. The Speaker warned the Leader of the Opposition that he would be grossly out of order if he proceeded to read the statutory declaration into Hansard during the course of the debate. The Leader of the Opposition did, however, attempt to read the statutory declaration but was prevented from doing so when a majority of the House agreed that the Leader of the Opposition should be not further heard. PD 18/11/2003, 5134 - 35 |
| 2002 Precedent | A Parliamentary Secretary obtained leave to incorporate the second reading speech of a bill in Hansard. PD 15/11/02, 6891; 15/11/02, 6893 |
| 1999 Precedent | 1. Minister, by leave, tabled for incorporation in Hansard, a schedule for Olympic Security Licence Training. VP 18/11/99, 269
PD 18/11/99, 3332 |
| 1998 Precedent | 1. Minister obtained leave for the incorporation in Hansard of a list of 100 companies and contractors associated with the building of the new Sydney Showground. VP 02/04/98, 466 2. Minister moved, pursuant to notice, That leave be given to bring in a bill for an Act to make miscellaneous amendments to certain State revenue legislation; and for other purposes. VP 14/10/98, 929 3. Minister obtained leave for the incorporation in Hansard of background information and a summary of the provisions of a bill. VP 14/10/98, 930 4. Minister obtained leave for the incorporation in Hansard of additional information relating to the bill. VP 21/10/98, 973 5. Minister obtained leave for the incorporation in Hansard of a list of sponsors and organisations involved in the 1999 Western Sydney Industry Awards. VP 22/10/98, 983 6. The Leader of the House obtained leave for the incorporation in Hansard of a letter from the Acting Co-ordinator of the Suggestion Award Scheme of the NSW Police Service to Senior Constable D.R. Lagats of the Ermington Patrol. VP 17/11/98, 1084 |
| 1997 Precedent | 1. Minister (by leave) tabled a second reading speech for incorporation in Hansard. VP 29/05/97, 289 2. Minister obtained leave for the incorporation of a letter into Hansard. VP 23/09/97, 78 |
| 1996 Precedent | 1. Leave granted for incorporation. VP 17/4/96, 38 (parts of a letter); VP 21/5/96, 151 (table); VP 24/9/96, 432 (list); VP 20/11/96, 624 (aboriginal version of the formation of Jenolan Caves); VP 26/11/96, 662 (schedule of State forests) |
| 1995 Precedent | 1. Leave of Speaker obtained for material to be incorporated. VP 6/6/95, 125 2. Leave of Speaker obtained for incorporation of statutory declarations previously tabled. VP 16/11/95, 402 |
| 1994 Precedent | 1. Minister tabled detailed explanations of a bill and leave granted for their incorporation into Hansard. PD 3/5/94, 1760 |
| 1993 Precedent | 1. Point of order upheld that visual material which could not be incorporated into Hansard should not be used excessively in the House. The Speaker added, however, that it was in order for the Minister to quote from printed material on a poster, but asked him to refrain from further reference to the poster. PD 9/3/93, 456 2. Member submitted a table for incorporation into Hansard. The Speaker ruled that the member could read the table, but could not have it incorporated. PD 10/3/93, 616 3. Leave granted for balance of Minister's second reading speech to be incorporated into Hansard. Leave also granted for the incorporation of two supporting documents prepared by Parliamentary Counsel which provided a detailed summary of the significant changes made since the first introduction of Local Government Bill and cognate bills. PD 11/3/93, 725 |
| 1992 Precedent | 1. Member sought leave to incorporate letter into Hansard for deliberation by the legislation committee. The Acting Speaker ruled that there was no provision for doing that, but that he may read the letter on the record or choose to make a submission to the legislation committee and tender the letter. The Minister subsequently indicated that he did not mind if the letter was tabled, however the member attempted to again seek leave to incorporate the letter into Hansard. When the Acting Speaker replied that he had already ruled adversely on this, the member asked if the procedure could be reviewed. PD 27/11/92, 10472-3 |
| 1991 Precedent | 1. Premier tabled Memorandum of Understanding signed between Government and Independent Members for incorporation into Hansard. PD 31/10/91, 4004 |