Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

This minister is accountable to the Australian people through this chamber. We are not asking her questions about what discussions occurred with Ms Higgins, although Ms Higgins's statements can speak for themselves. It is a very straightforward question: when did you first see the advice and what action did you take? Mr President, I would ask you to ask the minister to come back to the question. Otherwise, really, one wonders about the purpose of question time if ministers are allowed to obfuscate and duck in this way.