Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, it was a very broadly introduced question, with a range of matters canvassed. The minister was clearly being directly relevant to the question asked and, as presidents of both political persuasions have ruled during the time that I have been in this chamber, the President is not in a position to tell a minister how to answer a question. The President can only require direct relevance, and the minister was being directly relevant to the question.