Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

The minister has been speaking for nine seconds. It is difficult to rule on direct relevance nine seconds into an answer.

Senator Jacinta Collins interjecting—

Senator Collins, please remain silent while I'm ruling. On that ground, I think the minister needs to be given time. On the second point, you restated the second part of the question. The minister is also allowed to address the earlier part of the question that was asked. So, at this point, I'm not going to say the minister is not being directly relevant nine seconds into his answer.