Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

On the point of order, two matters. Firstly, the minister had been speaking for eight seconds. I find it hard to believe that, unless there is an egregious breach, I can call the minister to a point of direct relevance after eight seconds. I need to allow the minister to complete a sentence or two. With respect, to my memory, in the statement immediately prior to the point of order being raised, the minister made an observation referencing a comment earlier by the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I believe that making that observation can still be directly relevant. The point of order goes to the merits of an answer, which is not in the capacity of the chair, nor is it the capacity of the chair to direct the minister how to answer a question as long as they're directly relevant. I'll call the minister to continue, noting she has 52 seconds remaining.