Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I won't call the Manager of Opposition Business, if that's alright. I hear what the Leader of the House is saying, but the practice makes very clear—and I won't take the House right through it unless they want to—that, yes, ministers can't be asked about any question at all, in fact, about their administration of previous portfolios, but they can be asked about their public statements. A public statement, as far as the practice is concerned, is simply that. Now, I understand the point the Leader of the House is making, but that doesn't preclude the minister being asked about it. What the minister says in response is his or her business. I call the minister.

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