Dorothy Dixer

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Dorothy Dixer is a term used in Australian politics.

[edit] History

American writer Dorothy Dix's name has given rise to a widely-used term in Australia, where a "Dorothy Dixer" is an obvious or easily-answered question. It comes from Dix's reputed practice of making up her own questions for advice columns to allow her to publish more interesting answers. "Dorothy Dixer" has been used in Australian politics since the 1950s and has become increasingly common in everyday usage. However its Australian origin is unclear; the term is virtually unknown in other countries where Dix's column was equally popular.

The term is most commonly used in a derogatory sense in politics, to describe a 'planted' question asked of a minister by a backbencher from their own party. Often the question has been written by the minister or their staff rather than by the questioner, and is used to give the minister a chance to promote themselves or the work of the government, or to criticise the opposition party's policies, to raise the profile of the backbench member asking the question, or to consume the time available for questioning and thereby avoid tougher questions. It is a common and widely-accepted tactic used during question time in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In his book An Introduction to Australian Politics Dean Jaensch observed on page 229:

"A growing number of questions are of the 'Dorothy-Dix' type (from the government backbench) and attempts to win political points (from both sides of the house)."

Similarly, Don Aitken and Brian Jinks observe in their book Australian Political Institutions on page 67:

"It is common practice for a minister to have a government backbencher ask a pre-arranged question which can be answered in such a way as to praise the government or exploit a weakness in the Opposition. Such 'Dorothy Dix' questions (after the syndicated 'advice' column which once appeared in popular magazines), are in effect occasions for ministers' speeches, rather than for parliamentary criticism of the executive."

[edit] References

Don Aitken & Brian Jinks, Australian Political Institutions, 3rd ed (South Melbourne: Pitman Publishing, 1985). ISBN 0 85896 156 3.

Dean Jaensch, An Introduction to Australian Politics, 2nd ed (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1984). ISBN 0 582 68475 7.