Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I inform the Senate that Senator Wong will be absent from question time from Monday to Wednesday this week on account of ministerial business overseas. Senator Gallagher will be absent from question time for the same period, for personal reasons. In Senator Wong's absence, I will be the acting Leader of the Government in the Senate, and in the absence of Senator Wong and Senator Gallagher, Senator Watt and I will represent portfolios at question time in accordance with the letter circulated to the President, party leaders and independent senators.

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

by leave—President, these are quite farcical arrangements outlined by the government. It's a farce of the Prime Minister's own making in the way in which he chose to structure his own ministry. There are just four Senate ministers here. There are just four Senate ministers in the Senate. The last time a government had only four ministers in the Senate goes all the way back to 1940. Back then, the Senate had only 36 senators in total, not the 76 there are today. There were only 16 ministers back then, not the 30 there are today.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ask a question!

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

I do have a question, Senator Watt, that relates to the ministerial statement: why doesn't the Prime Minister have any faith in the other 22 Labor senators to have made any of the rest of them ministers? On a serious point—it's all serious, but this is particularly serious—because there are only four ministers and the Prime Minister chose to put the foreign minister and the trade minister in the Senate, we've now had the unfortunate situation where Senator Farrell as trade minister has had to return early from China, rather than see out the mission he was undertaking. To finish the farce of these arrangements, Senator Farrell, who was just in China, is sworn to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio but is apparently not the minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs. So, not only does Mr Albanese not seem to trust any of the 22 other Labor senators to sit as ministers, but—Don, why doesn't Penny trust you with Foreign Affairs?

Honourable senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order across the chamber! Just a moment—

Senator Bilyk, I have already called you once. I am very reluctant when leaders of parties—

Senator McKenzie, I also called you on numerous occasions. I am always reluctant to ask leaders of parties to sit down when they are making an address. I would expect when party leaders on their feet that the chamber behave accordingly, and that is with respect and in silence.