Mr KELVIN THOMSON (2:43 PM) —My question is again to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware that the senior departmental officer responsible for developing his $400,000 loan offer to Beaudesert Rail advised the railway’s provisional liquidator on 8 October 2003: ‘We cannot allow this loan to become a precedent for the Australian government’s funding of payments to creditors when an enterprise is in financial difficulty’? Is it not the case that the Prime Minister’s loan offer was to pay out the railway’s creditors? Why did the Prime Minister ignore the misgivings of the senior officer responsible for managing his loan offer and have the Department of Transport and Regional Services operate as a lender of last resort?

The SPEAKER —Order! The member will resume his seat.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop —Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Under standing order 100, questions may not be debated. They may not contain arguments or inferences. That question offends on all three counts. It is out of order.

The SPEAKER —The member for Wills has raised a number of questions. I believe he has completed his questions and I suggest he try to keep his questions to the point.

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —I refer the member for Wills to the answer I gave to his previous question and the answer I gave to the Leader of the Opposition. I will treat his latest question with the same measure of respect that I do the previous two. In relation to the first part of the question, I do not specifically recall that. However, if there is anything further that should properly be made available to him or to the Leader of the Opposition, I will be very pleased to do so.