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

President, on a point of order—standing order 73(1)—can I please ask you to review the prelude to the question that was asked there. I'm noticing an increasing use by the government of making statements in their questions. In the rules for questions under 73(1), it says that questions shall not contain arguments and should not contain imputations and lists other factors that they should not contain. Whilst there is a latitude given, the government is starting to abuse that latitude with the extent of arguments that are made in the questions that are put. The opportunity to make those arguments exists in the answers that ministers get to make rather than in the questions asked by those opposite.