Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Minister for Finance, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:48): We have absolute sympathy for the plight of many Australians overseas, and it is why we are working to increase those quarantine places, put in place more supported fights and provide targeted assistance in a range of different ways. In relation to support for candidacies, we think this is a thing Australian governments consistently should provide. Indeed, if we look back, I can see that Gareth Evans was provided with some $250,000 of support, in 1999 dollar terms, for his candidacy, by the Howard government, for UNESCO— The PRESIDENT: Senator Keneally, a point of order? Senator Keneally: My point of order is relevance. At no time did I mention 1995 or Gareth Evans. There are 37,000 stranded Australians. That number has doubled, and he hasn't— The PRESIDENT: Senator Keneally, resume your seat! If you want to keep showing this amount of disrespect to the chair on the first day of the final fortnight, it's going to be a very slow question time as I constantly interrupt questions and answers. I do ask, while it is a very vibrant chamber, for people to at least heed me and pay a little bit of respect to the chair when I'm calling people to order. On the point of order, Senator Keneally, your question contained a number of pejorative phrases in terms of quoting people. When questions contain pejorative phrases, I'm listening carefully. In comparison, for example, the first question asked today was very specific and there was no latitude for the minister to stray. But, when questions contain politically loaded phrases, I don't think it's out of order for a minister to be able to respond in kind. That said, this was a quotation and not an assertion on your behalf. I accept that. I'm listening carefully to the minister's answer. He has 15 seconds remaining to address the question. Senator BIRMINGHAM: We absolutely are giving all the support we can to get returning Australians home safely whilst not jeopardising the safety of people in Australia or our economy, in terms of the number of places that are available to get people back safely and securely. (Time expired)