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

As the Senate would know, I am on top of all of those answers. I understand the senator gave prior advice to Mr Smith's office that he would be asking for a follow-up to his questions on notice. I thank him for doing us that courtesy. I am also aware that he wrote to the Minister for Defence on 22 September in relation to 32 questions he asked on notice which have not yet been answered. These are in addition to 101 questions taken on notice following the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade budget estimates hearings on 30-31 May 2011.

Of those 101 questions, 93 answers have been provided. I can advise the Senate that of the 32 questions he referred to in his correspondence, 13 have been tabled and 19 remain under consideration. Some of the questions asked by the senator relate to complex and highly technical matters and others to national security issues. Accordingly, a number of these questions have required a significant effort to address. Obviously, it is important to ensure that answers to these questions are competent and deal with the complexity of the questions asked. I appreciate the senator's concern. The minister has indicated to me that he expects that outstanding Senate defence questions on notice are to be tabled by the end of this week.