Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I just have to ask the minister to pause for a second. Obviously, as I've said, when a question is very tight without a preamble, that makes the subject area much narrower. For the guidance of members, I'm just going to say that ministers answering need to be directly relevant to the question asked. When it has a number of components, the answer can be very broad. Where it's a very tight question, things are much narrower. Ministers need to be on the policy topic. Equally, questions can't demand yes/no answers and ministers can't stray beyond the question. So it is up to the minister to bring himself to the substance of the question or wind up the answer.

Honourable members interjecting—

No, I don't need any interjections.

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