Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs! I am just going to make a quick comment and caution those interjecting. I've already cautioned the member for Isaacs a couple of times, and I haven't changed my attitude. I'm just going to say that, when a question has an element of irony in it, it can be ruled out of order. In the interests of free-flowing debate I have allowed that—and certainly the last part of that question did. If I'm going to allow that, really, you are going to get a response. If members really feel strongly about that, I would have to curtail the way that questions are being asked. I don't want to do that, because we have a very open question time.

The Prime Minister, I think, has been in order. He is certainly on the policy topic. I'm going to keep listening to him and, if I think he's straying away, of course I will pull him up. But a very short, sharp question really narrows the capacity of a minister—in this case, the Prime Minister—to answer it without adding lots of material. Something that has an element of irony to it does mean that it is a political statement that can be, I think, responded to within reason—and I stress 'within reason'. The Prime Minister has the call.

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