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

The point of order is on relevance. We did not ask what the Attorney's opinion as to the nature of the letters was, which is the aspect of the statement to which he is referring. Senator Sterle, as is his wont, asked a very direct question: will the Attorney-General tell the Senate yes or no—was there any such deal or understanding between the governments or any of their representatives? We did not ask about the letters. We know what he said in his statement. He tries to avoid answering the question by referencing the letters—we are not referencing the letters at all; we are asking him to tell the Senate was there was a deal or understanding or not.