Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:12): Senator Sterle, I am sorry if I did not make myself clearly enough understood, because I did address the issue in my statement. This is what I said: … the only written record of those dealings— between Mr Hockey and Dr Nahan; that is, the exchange of letters of April 2015— does not in my view constitute or evidence such an agreement. 'Does not constitute or evidence such an agreement.' The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Wong, a point of order. Senator Wong: The point of order is on relevance. We did not ask what the Attorney's opinion as to the nature of the letters was, which is the aspect of the statement to which he is referring. Senator Sterle, as is his wont, asked a very direct question: will the Attorney-General tell the Senate yes or no—was there any such deal or understanding between the governments or any of their representatives? We did not ask about the letters. We know what he said in his statement. He tries to avoid answering the question by referencing the letters—we are not referencing the letters at all; we are asking him to tell the Senate was there was a deal or understanding or not. The PRESIDENT: My understanding of what the Attorney-General has been indicating is that there was no such deal. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: On my left! A point of order has been raised and I have been asked to rule on it. At this stage I am listening to the Attorney-General's answer. The Attorney-General has indicated, in my view, that by inference there was no such deal. But I will allow the Attorney-General to continue answering the question. Senator BRANDIS: Through you, Mr President, the way I try to approach these questions, Senator Sterle, is to develop premises to a conclusion but for your sake I will state the conclusion first and then explain the premises: no there was not—not in my opinion and not to my knowledge. I do not believe there was a deal, I have no knowledge of a deal. The only evidence I have seen does not support the proposition that there was a deal. The PRESIDENT: Senator Sterle, a supplementary question.