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Thursday, 31 May 1979

The PRESIDENT -Supplementary questions must always be directly relevant to the original question.

Senator Lewis - I also raise a point of order. I ask you, Mr President, to look at Hansard tomorrow. I believe you will find that Senator Walsh has asked another question. By using this device, the Opposition is repeatedly taking away the opportunity of Government senators to ask questions.

Senator McLaren - Mr President,I wish to speak to the same point of order. While you are looking at what Senator Lewis has asked you to look at, would you also endeavour to calculate the time taken by Ministers in answering questions as opposed to the time taken by honourable senators on this side of the chamber when asking questions?

The PRESIDENT - I am very conscious ofthe time taken and the relevancy required in a question seeking further information. It is very difficult to reject the asking of a supplementary question because of certain aspects of it. I call the Leader ofthe Government in the Senate.

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