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

I'll go directly to the standing order that the Leader of the House referred to. He referred to standing order 98, where the limitations on what you can be asked are found in subsection (c), where there's a list of three things: public affairs, administration and proceedings. Proceedings in the House is the first part of the question, because it references what the Prime Minister previously told the House. In terms of public affairs, I think it would be hard to argue that the government response to the reported sexual assault of Brittany Higgins has not become part of public affairs. In terms of administration, if there is any part of the administration of government that the Prime Minister should have a level of responsibility for, it is the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. We have previously had questions about all parts of the bureaucracy. If a question about the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is out of order, then there's actually not much you're allowed to ask about.

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