Senator PAYNE (New South Wales—Minister for Defence) (14:25): I am, I must admit, slightly bemused by the opposition's approach to this. Usually, traditionally, they would have a firm commitment to matters concerning national security, but that is glaringly absent in this case, for what appears to be the sake of puerile local politics, as far as I can tell. There is not a lot more to it than that. In fact, the government has been quite clear in saying that the concerns which were raised by landowners and the process of planning that has been underway by the Department of Defence are what led to the decision that I announced last week in relation to the acquisition of land. The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Gallagher, a point of order? Senator Gallagher: A point of order, Mr President, on relevance. The question was very specific. It was: on what date did the minister's department first advise of the possibility of compulsory acquisition as part of the expansion of Shoalwater Bay? It was a very specific question. The PRESIDENT: The minister has just over a minute to answer the question. I remind the minister of the question. Senator PAYNE: It is very disappointing that those opposite have not been able to take a strategic view of the comprehensive strategic partnership and military training initiative which sits underneath it. As we know, the Prime Minister announced the comprehensive strategic partnership in May of last year, which includes a strengthening of the defence partnership and the joint development of military training facilities in Northern Queensland. Following the announcement of the comprehensive strategic partnership in May, the Department of Defence commenced— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Wong, a point of order? Senator Wong: Mr President, the minister is manifestly avoiding the question. She was asked one question: on what date did her department first advise of the possibility of compulsory acquisition? It is a very simple question. She ought to answer it. The PRESIDENT: I will again remind the minister of the question. Minister, you have 44 seconds. Senator PAYNE: As I said, following the announcement of the comprehensive strategic partnership in May, the Department of Defence commenced detailed planning for the joint development of military training facilities. I, as the Minister for Defence, was preliminarily advised about the potential requirements for training area expansion in June. Detailed planning continued, which led to the finalisation of and signature of the memorandum of understanding with Singapore on 13 October 2016, which formally set out the agreed parameters of the increased training access that Australia would offer and represented the formal agreement by both countries to the scale of the increased access Singapore would be offered. Following the signing of the MOU— (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, a supplementary question?