Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order relating to the requirement for the minister to be directly relevant. Question time is rapidly descending into an absolute waste of time. If ministers are asked a specific question about a topic that they should be right across, and having been obviously subject to some decisions in cabinet where this would have been specifically looked at, it is reasonable to ask the minister for what the government’s estimate is of carbon dioxide that would be emitted in the manufacture and distribution of the insulation that forms part of the package. The minister should be required to be directly relevant. We would certainly ask that you remind her that she has not addressed the question that has been put in a perfectly reasonable and straightforward way.