Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I just say, before I rule on this, the point about whether the Prime Minister would be capable of knowing or not is irrelevant, because questions are asked and either ministers have knowledge or they don't. That's just the way it is. There's no reasonableness test in that regard. I've have been very liberal—very liberal, indeed—in terms of questions so far relating to a private member, that being the member for Hughes, and those questions have just been on the right side of the line because they have related to the member for Sydney's questions. In particular, they've related to previous answers, and, because they've done that, that has broadened things to quite a degree, and it's broadened it for the Prime Minister to deal with those matters. The fundamental issue is the question of ministerial responsibilities, and the writing of references goes to the working relationship people have had. Ministerial responsibility, at that point, in a technical sense, wouldn't exist, I don't believe. I'm still happy to hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

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