Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:04): What a devastating assessment of somebody, to say that they have a lot of opinions! I would have thought that would be a requirement of any first-class chief of staff—to have a lot of opinions, to have a lot of ideas, to be able to assess agendas and submissions made to the prime ministerial office. To say that somebody has a lot of opinions is somehow a criticism, I would have thought that was a compliment— The PRESIDENT: Stop the clock. Point of order, Senator Wong. Senator Wong: Mr President, I rise on a point of order of relevance. The question simply was: does the Prime Minister's chief of staff retain the Prime Minister's confidence? Senator Abetz: That is untrue. Senator Wong: That was the only question. The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no debate about this. Senator Wong: I am sorry, I am responding to the leader. The PRESIDENT: Order! It is not a debating point. There is no point of order. The minister has half the time left to answer his question, and he was addressing the content of the question. Minister, you have the call. Senator ABETZ: Yet again, we have the Australian Labor Party, having been embarrassed by their own question, trying to reword the question. Everybody that heard the question would have heard the Leader of the Opposition say 'the withering assessment', and that is what I was addressing. Senator Wong: Go on, back her in—Mathias will back her in! Does the PM maintain confidence in his chief of staff? Senator ABETZ: And, of course, the continual interjections of the Leader of the Opposition— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Moore. Senator Abetz interjecting— Senator Wong interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, and Senator Wong. Senator Abetz interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order, Minister! Point of order. Senator Wong interjecting— The PRESIDENT: The clock was paused when asked to be paused, Senator Wong. Senator Ian Macdonald: Sit down! Grow up! Senator Wong: He loves telling people—women, particularly—to sit down, in this place. Government senators interjecting — The PRESIDENT: Order on my right! Senator Wong: I appreciate the courtesy, Mr President. Before you deal with Senator Moore's point of order, there have been a number of occasions when you have called another senator, and the microphone is not switched off, and the minister simply continues to speak. So can we at least have, if the minister is no longer supposed to be speaking, the microphone switched off when you direct so? The PRESIDENT: I paused the clock, so the time clock is correct, when the point of order was taken. I appreciate your point, but I can tell you that the noise in the chamber is usually when Senator Abetz is on his feet and it is a loud amount of noise, and it is very difficult for me—let alone the minister—to hear. All senators need to exercise some restraint when the questions get a bit excitable. Senator Moore, you have the call, on a point of order. Senator Moore: Thank you, Mr President. My— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong, Senator Ronaldson and Senator Collins! Senator Wong: I am being yelled at. The PRESIDENT: And you are yelling. Senator Wong interjecting — The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, I do. Senator Moore: My point of order is on direct relevance. There was only one question asked by Senator Wong, and that was: does the Prime Minister's chief of staff retain his confidence? We could check the Hansard. That is the only question that was asked. The PRESIDENT: The minister has been directly relevant to the question. Minister, you have seven seconds left if you wish to continue. Senator ABETZ: When there are preambles to the question, it is appropriate to respond to that preamble. And, yes, the Prime Minister has full confidence in his chief of staff, for the second time in my answer. (Time expired)