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

Mr President, on the point of order: I ask you to rule on the point made by Senator Abetz. It seems to me that the proposition the opposition are now advancing—after having said that the ‘new’ question time is about homing in on relevance—is that they can in the same question ask a minister a question that goes to both their own responsibilities and responsibilities that fall to other ministers whom they may not represent. It seems to me that Senator Abetz has just advanced the proposition that one could be asked a question in one portfolio and that the supplementary question, or indeed the primary question, could be asked with both hats on. But fundamentally he has proposed that a supplementary could then be asked of a different portfolio. That is not my understanding of how we have operated over the years. Mr President, I would ask you to rule on that because it seems to me quite a departure from how we have operated in the past.