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

I thank the senator for his question. I am aware that the senator wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on 22 September in relation to 33 questions he was seeking an answer to. I can advise the senator that, of those 33 questions he wrote to the minister about, five have been tabled and 28 remain under consideration. The questions asked by the senator require complex consultation with many overseas posts as well as time-consuming data collation. Accordingly, a number of these questions have required significant effort to address. It is important to ensure that answers to these complex and technical questions are correct. I appreciate the senator's concern. The minister has indicated to me that he expects outstanding Foreign Affairs Senate questions on notice to be tabled shortly.