Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

That is exactly right, I think it was just a question mark on the end. I have already answered that question, Mr President. I said our ambition was to sign by March and I was not going to be commenting, as Senator Minchin will realise if he reviews the tape, rather than just getting distracted by Senator Coonan’s point of order—Senator Minchin has just demonstrated it was a point of order that had nothing to do with the question that was asked. We have made it clear: asking us ongoing questions while the process is still afoot undermines and is deliberately intended to undermine the Commonwealth’s position, and we will not be answering questions while we are engaged in these sensitive commercial negotiations.