Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

President, we did have a matter last week where a minister—and it may have been Minister Watt or a different minister—behaved in the same way, which was to say, 'I've answered the question therefore I can talk about anything I want.' As was raised in a point of order at that stage, ministers need to be directly relevant throughout their answer. There has been acknowledgement from the chair that they can make glancing references to other factors, but it's not within the standing orders for a minister to say, 'I've addressed the question, now I can make whatever points I want.' If they've given the answer, or they believe they've given the answer, it's time to sit down.