Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Siewert, I have said before that I can't instruct a minister which part of a question to answer, which assertion to address or how to answer a question. If there are long questions with a lot of content in them, the minister is entitled to address any or all parts of it in the minute he has allowed, in this case. I've ruled repeatedly that tight questions have a very tight test of direct relevance.