Dorothy Dixer - History

History

The term references American advice columnist Dorothy Dix's reputed practice of making up her own questions 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, although the term is now frequently shortened to "Dixer". However, the term is virtually unknown in other countries where Dix's column was equally popular.

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 Aitkin 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.