Senator PAYNE (New South Wales—Minister for Human Services) (14:53): It is worth noting that, unfortunately, I had leave yesterday afternoon because I was ill and I was unable to attend the breakfast this morning. So, if you would like to withdraw that, Senator Cameron, be my guest. Senator Ketter, thank you very much for your question. It is also worth noting that, in the 11 months since the parliament resumed last year, in over 12 sitting weeks, 46 Senate question times and 193 Labor Senate questions without notice, I still have not been asked a question by the shadow minister for human services, so it is a great pleasure to receive a question from Senator Ketter today. A government senator: Who is it? Senator PAYNE: You might well ask. What did I say? One hundred and ninety-three questions were asked by Labor; not one asked by the shadow minister for human services. Senator Moore: Mr President, I rise on a point of order on direct relevance. We are now into 1.8 of this answer. The question was about the Deafness Forum of Australia and the privatisation of Australian Hearing. I do not believe we have got anywhere near that yet. The PRESIDENT: The minister has more than half the time left to answer the question. Senator PAYNE: It is worth noting that the slogan for Hearing Awareness Week is: 'How loud is too loud?' The Department of Finance has commenced— Senator Kim Carr: Not loud enough for you! Senator PAYNE: I think I may have got the answer. The Department of Finance has commenced a scoping study into the future ownership options for Australian Hearing. That is correct. We, as a government, are committed to ensuring that all eligible Australians, particularly the most vulnerable, have access to funded hearing services. What the government has announced at this time is a scoping study. No decision has been made by the government on the future ownership of Australian Hearing. As anyone who observed the provisions of the budget for 2014-15 would have seen, the Department of Finance was funded in that budget to undertake the scoping study. Senator Moore: Mr President, I rise on a point of order on direct relevance in terms of the particular question, which was about the response to Deafness Forum. We now only have 14 seconds. The PRESIDENT: The minister has become directly relevant to the question. Minister, I remind you that you have 14 seconds left to answer the question. Senator PAYNE: What the scoping study will assess is capability and competition in the market, which of course has diversified significantly in recent years, with advisers providing independent advice and recommendations about possible future ownership options. (Time expired)