Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:01): The position of the Prime Minister is very clear in relation to this matter. What is also very clear is that, within the Liberal Party structure, an organisational body can put forward proposals, it will be debated potentially and a determination made. But, unlike the Labor Party, policy from the organisation is not binding on parliamentary members, because the Liberal Party acknowledge that our first and foremost duty is to the electors and the people of Australia as a whole, unlike the Australian Labor Party who know better but are bound by the Labor Party rules. If they do not abide by the rules they are automatically expelled. I could have got up with a stunt and asked the Leader of the Opposition in this place whether Mr Shorten supports the motion that came up at the national conference of the Labor Party to condemn a former federal president of the ACTU and a former minister— Senator Moore: Mr President, I rise on a point of order on direct relevance to the question. The minister had responded to the question at the beginning of his answer, but now he is going into areas that have no relevance to this question. The PRESIDENT: It has been traditional, as you know, Senator Moore, that if a minister answers a question, a minister can enhance his or her answer. That has been the tradition in this place for a long time. Senator ABETZ: The things that the Liberal Party may or may not discuss at its conference—of course, what the Australian Labor Party do not want to discuss at their conference—is the condemnation of a former ACTU president and federal minister, Mr Martin Ferguson. The government is strongly committed to pursuing recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution. The Prime Minister has made that clear. His personal commitment to the Indigenous community in this country is shown very clearly by the way, each year, he goes to an Indigenous community to work there as a volunteer on a regular basis, which he did well before he became leader. (Time expired) Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! On both sides. We will not proceed until there is silence.