Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on the point of order. The Leader of the House raises two issues: (1) whether it is within the responsibility of the minister being asked, and (2) whether it is reasonable for the minister to know the answer to the question. On the first of those issues, there is no doubt the minister has responsibility for these cards—absolutely no doubt. It is squarely within his responsibility. On the second part, as to whether it is reasonable for him to know, I draw two things to your attention: (1) the question actually says at the end, 'If you don't have that information, will you undertake to provide it to the House?' And (2) yesterday we had a question on these exact cards with respect to another country, and the minister for immigration would have easily known that a question of this nature was coming—

Mr Whiteley interjecting—

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