planted question

18:06 Aug 21, 2017 

"In Australian politics, a Dorothy Dixer is a rehearsed or planted question asked of a government Minister by a backbencher of their own political party during Parliamentary Question Time
The term can be used in a mildly derogatory sense, but in common usage today is simply pre-arranged questions from a friendly audience member. 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."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Dixer