Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Arts and Attorney-General) (14:11): Senator Conroy, I am aware that the royal commissioner, Mr Heydon, was schedule to deliver the Garfield Barwick address at a function arranged by the New South Wales Legal Practitioners Branch of the Liberal Party. That function is a public function; it is not a political function. Senator Conroy, the fact that it is inconceivable to you that a function organised by people from the Liberal Party could be anything other than a purely political function shows the one-dimensional world in which you live. Let me give you an example. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Just a moment, Attorney-General. Pause the clock. Senator Conroy, you have asked the question. You have been interjecting, as has Senator Carr. The Attorney-General shall be heard in silence. I will not call him until you are silent. Senator Lines interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Lines, that applies to you, too. Senator BRANDIS: Senator Conroy, do you know who gave the Sir Garfield Barwick address last year? The Hon. Murray Gleeson, a former Chief Justice of Australia and a former Chief Justice of New South Wales. The fact that this function was organised by members of the New South Wales bar, associated with the Liberal Party, is hardly the point. And frankly, Senator Conroy, for an $80-a-head dinner in Sydney, it would not have been much of a fundraiser. In any event— Senator WONG: He is running the royal commission. Senator BRANDIS: Senator Wong, I think it is a good thing that political parties on occasion invite eminent Australians to them. I think it is a good thing for a political party to provide a platform, particularly branches of political parties that operate within professions to provide a platform— Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Pause the clock. Senator Ian Macdonald: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I am not two metres from the minister and I cannot hear him over the screeching of Senator Carr, Senator Conroy, Senator Lines and the Leader of the Opposition. Could you ask either Senator Brandis to speak up or can you shut up those who continually screech? Senator Cameron interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cameron, let us have a little bit of order. Senator BRANDIS: I think it is a good thing that political parties sometimes do provide platforms for eminent Australians to deliver addresses.