THE House of Representatives is expected to ban the wearing of jeans, mini skirts and sleeveless clothing in the public gallery as part of its first ruling on dress codes for persons entering Gordon House.

The ban is likely to be extended to all sleeveless clothing, cropped pants, halter tops, tube tops, tank tops, T-shirts, slippers with thongs, and "flip flops". Women must wear clothing not exposing any body parts, or looks indecent, and men must at least wear a buttoned shirt.

Members of Parliament and media personnel will be required to wear business suits and neckties for the men, and a sleeved business dress or skirt suit of modest length or pants suit for the women. Students and members of the security forces must wear their uniforms

The information is contained in a report from the House's Standing Orders Committee, chaired by the Speaker Michael Peart, and triggered by a motion tabled by Opposition MP Everald Warmington in February.

Warmington had criticised the lack of a dress code for Gordon House and its reliance on Sir Erskine May's "Parliamentary Practice", considered the "Bible" of Westminster practices in the UK, for guidance.

The committee said that it was during its deliberations on Warmington's motion that it recognised that there were no written rules guiding the dress code for parliamentarians and persons visiting Gordon House.

"Your committee felt that the dress code developed should

set a standard of respect and respectability to the House," the committee said.