Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to reports from Kate McClymont of the Sydney Morning Herald on testimony at the Independent Commission Against Corruption today that the former head of Sydney Water, Dr Kerry Schott, personally warned Senator Sinodinos that he should be careful of the company that he was keeping and suggested that Australian Water Holdings was dishonest. What steps has the Prime Minister personally taken to ensure himself that Senator Sinodinos has done nothing wrong?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, a point of order: yet again, the Labor Party's question is out of order. They cannot ask questions about matters that are not within the Prime Minister's responsibility. Otherwise, we will be having 'how long is a ball of string' questions in question time. They need to tighten up their questions and, if they do, they might well be in order. But they are not in the current form as put by the opposition today.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The issues that the Leader of the House raises are issues that go to the context in which the question was asked, not to the question itself. The question itself goes to the core of the Prime Minister's responsibility.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first part of the question is clearly in order; the second part of the question is not. But I give the call to the Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If meeting with Eddie Obeid somehow disqualifies people, then half of the frontbench opposite is disqualified. But these are matters that are, quite properly, before the New South Wales inquiry, and they will be dealt with by the New South Wales inquiry. Let me say again that Senator Sinodinos is a fundamentally decent man who has done the honourable thing by stepping aside while this inquiry is conducting its investigations.