AN UNPRECEDENTED SCENE
A MEMBER "COUNTED OUT." A remarkable scene, and one that is entirely without precedent in the Federal Parliament at any "rate, was wit-' nessed in the House of Representatives on December 21. The adjournment of the House until early in the new'year had been moved by the Prime Minister, and it was on 1 the p'oint of being agreed, to just f before the dinner hour, when the member for. Fawkner (Mr. Han,nan) rose to speak; The aim all the afternoon had been to avoid another sitting in the. evening, and Mr. Hannan was urged' not to jeopardise the position. Desiring to meet the convenience of his fellow members he immediately resumed his seat. Hardly : . had he done however, before- the member for Melbourne r (Mr. Jlaloney) ; was on his feet with ' a 'grievance against the Defence Department for its treatment of/soldiere on the question of pay.. From all quarters he was urged to show similar consideration ■ to members, but the appeals were unheeded. • Eventually the Speaker, was . , compelled to adjourn the House until the usual hour jri the evening. ■ ' When the sitting was there were only two members present in addition' to Mr. Maloney,. members delib- ( erately declining to enter the Chamber and ' 'make a House" for him. Two or ■ three others walked in a minute or two later, and the member for Henty (Mr. BoydV sarcastically remarked that thero oughb'te be a quorum"to hear "this im- ' portant utterance." -This was "simply ' an informal method oT calling the at- . tention of the Speaker to the fa&t that . the House was not properly constituted, therenot being a quorn'm of mem-' bers in attendance. .The bells therefore ' were fang, but,although several members were just outside the Chamber: none of them'entered, and when the time limit of- three minutes had expired, the "Speaker "had .to declare the sitting at an end. ■ Even tho "Hansard" reporter then left, and Mr. Maloney promptly adopted the. extraordi- ' naTy course of directly addressing his. remarks to a few men in the strangers' galleries. For the most part his speech was an abuse of the Prime Min- • ister, and he urged them not to forftet "the bounder who has disgraced the position he occupies." The ocenrrpneo created -some indignation amongst ■ steadfast supporters of Parliamentary etiquette, but, at the samo time, it was not without its amusing aspect.
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2966, 2 January 1917, Page 5
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393AN UNPRECEDENTED SCENE Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2966, 2 January 1917, Page 5
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