Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.

Honourable members interjecting—

Members will cease interjecting. I'll just make a couple of points from the Practice that are relevant for the Leader of the Opposition—even for the question that was asked, I have to say. The Practice makes very clear that questions can elicit a yes/no answer, and that's a classic example of it, but that that can't be demanded of the minister. I'm listening to the minister. He's not 30 seconds into his answer yet. If you need me to pull out the page of the Practice, I will, but it's very clear in there. There's a long history of questions inviting a yes or no answer. Invite as you may, you can't demand a yes or no. I need to listen to the minister to check that he's being relevant. I appreciate the question. Obviously there are other sections of the Practice that relate to not identifying constituents, but we're not at that point. The Leader of the House, on a point of order.

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