Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Siewert, I'll say again: when questions contain a preamble, the minister can be directly relevant to part of a question. That was the second part of your question. The minister is being directly relevant to other parts of your question, in my view. A minister can be directly relevant to assertions and a preamble to a point made at the end of a longer question. That is within the standing orders. I can't direct a minister how to answer a question, nor which part of it to answer.