Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

It is about courtesy, Senator. It is about the courtesy of informing people whether the Leader of the Government in the Senate is going to turn up for question time. While the T3 launch may well be a shambles, normal courtesies require people to be informed. Neither the Manager of Opposition Business nor I knew. It seems to me to be appropriate, and it has always been past practice, that we are informed prior to question time if ministers are not to be in the parliament and be accountable. I express my disquiet at the fact that that was not done and indicate that today a number of questions were to be directed to Senator Minchin, given the fiasco that is the T3 launch.