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Time to Cut Dorothy Dixers


Cassy O'Connor MP  -  Tuesday, 14 September 2021

Tags: Parliament, Governance, Transparency

Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader 

Questions from government backbenchers, which ‘ask’ Ministers to talk about how great they are take up at least 20 minutes, and four questions out of 14 every Parliament morning. 

This morning’s Question Time in State Parliament was a clear example of the need to cut self-promotional ‘Dorothy Dix’ questions.

Premier Peter Gutwein was asked two questions by the Opposition about support for businesses suffering due to border closures – a matter that is of deep concern to many. Instead of providing the information about his government’s support program, he played petty politics waiting for a needless Dorothy Dix to provide the information to Tasmanians.

Dorothy Dixers are not only a waste of the Parliament’s time, they show contempt for democracy. That was on clear display today. 

Anyone who had the misfortune of watching the Premier’s performance this morning will see it’s past time we axed Dorothy Dixers and cleaned up Question Time.