Fulfilling an election promise, the Victorian Government has introduced new sessional orders in both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council to improve the accountability of ministers to parliament. The most significant change is to end the charade of government MPs from asking Dorothy Dixer questions during Question Time; ministers will instead be given time to make a short statement. Time limits now apply to answers, non-government MPs are allowed to ask follow-up questions to clarify answers, and if the Speaker or President believes a minister failed to answer a question they can be required to provide a written answer by the following day. While proceedings under the new rules have still been rowdy, they have already been used to force a minister to provide an answer.
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