Lower House MPs will have to seek House Speaker Wade Mark's permission in advance to display articles, objects and other "speech aids" to add impact to their addresses in the House. Putting MPs on notice of this during Wednesday's House session, Mark said articles of varying shapes and sizes have been brought in to the House and he was "left to wonder as to the MPs' intent in relation to the particular object." Mark said that in Parliament, members were permitted to display articles provided that were appropriate and in order. Mark noted that in New Zealand, MPs have been warned not to trivialise the House by introducing inappropriate objects into the Chamber and the Speaker has refused to permit any object which he believes will lower the esteem in which the House is held. In Australia, he added, visual aids were tolerated but not encouraged. He said the UK Parliament allowed MPs to display articles in a speech.
But the Speaker has said all MPs should be sufficiently articulate to express what they want to say without the aid of visual props.
In the absence of any fixed rules, Mark said he would be guided by the UK pattern and would continue to permit the use of articles provided they were "in order" and the use is reasonably necessary to assist the MP in expressing his arguments. "Therefore when MPs need to display articles and objects to add impact to speech in the House, the permission of the chairman must be obtained in advance," he said. "Such permission must be obtained at least two hours prior to the start of the sitting." He said permission would not be granted for any article of object which was likely to result in a offence any of the House's Standing Orders. Mark said that once approval was granted visual aids may be displayed only while the MP was speaking and must be removed from the chamber at the end of the member's speech.
