Question time
parliamentary procedures
Question time is a question-and-answer session on the floor of a legislature, whereby a minister takes questions from Members of Parliament. The practice exists in some form in most parliamentary democracies, but is particularly associated with the Westminster system; in such systems, it is usually a daily feature of the order paper, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances (usually only with the agreement of the opposition). The United Kingdom and some other countries have special question times for asking questions to the Prime Minister.
In practice, the questions asked in question time are sometimes pre-arranged by party leaders, although questions are usually without notice. Questions from government backbenchers are either intended to allow the Minister to discuss the virtues of government policy, or to attack the opposition. Question time is often widely broadcast on national radio and television, making it one of the main opportunities for MPs (particularly in the opposition) to get their views across to the public.
Westminster system
Australia
House Question Time, formally known as questions without notice, is an institution in the Commonwealth Parliament and in all state parliaments. Questions to government ministers normally alternate between government members and the opposition, with the opposition going first. Questions of ministers are generally asked by their counterpart shadow ministers (or in the case of a minister and corresponding shadow minister are each members of a different House of Parliament, then the shadow minister's representative in the other House asked questions to the relevant minister) in the opposition, and are always asked by backbenchers on the government side. In the House of Representatives, the first question is usually asked of the prime minister by the Leader of the Opposition.
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