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

Mr President, on a point of order: I know we are trialling this new system, but it seems to have become the habit of the opposition firstly to slur the minister on starting their supplementary questions and then, often, to ask supplementary questions that have nothing to do with the primary question. I appreciate that we have this trial, under which you indicated that you would take a fairly liberal approach to see how things transpired and to learn from those things. I appreciate and respect that, but I think that the sort of behaviour that is developing ought not to be permitted. It is not appropriate for senators to disparage the ministers at the start of their supplementaries, nor is it appropriate for them to fail to address the broader question even vaguely in their supplementaries. I ask you to give consideration to that, even though we are having a fairly liberal interpretation of the new system.