No More "Please" Please

No More "Please" Please

Ananova - Australian MPs ordered to not say please

A South Australian MP has been told not to use the word please in parliament because it is akin to begging, and that the word has been banned for 300 years.

After Question Time in the House of Assembly, National MP Karlene Maywald said she thought she was being polite by including the word please while asking a question about water restrictions.

She asked: 'Can the Minister please advise the House when he will make public the framework?'

But Speaker Peter Lewis took exception to her language, says ABC News Online.

'The word 'please' is to beg, no honourable member in this place needs to beg any minister for anything, least of all an answer,' he said.

Ms Maywald then sought a further clarification. 'I spend most of my time outside this house (parliament) insisting that my daughter use the word please when asking a question,' she said.

'And I wonder whether or not is it against standing orders to use the word please?'

'Explicitly,' Mr Lewis replied. He said that had been the case for 300 years of parliamentary practice.