Senator O'NEILL (New South Wales) (14:31): The deputy leader of the Victorian Nationals, Steph Ryan, has said: I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I think Barnaby Joyce's previous actions didn't really make him eligible for the top job. Which previous actions is Ms Ryan referring to? Does the minister agree with Ms Ryan? The PRESIDENT: I'm going to make a statement on this question before I call the minister. A minister can be asked about public statements that they themselves have made that are outside their portfolio or on matters relevant to the minister they represent. That particular second supplementary question refers to a quote claimed to be—I'm not disputing it—from a member of the state parliament in Victoria that doesn't directly link, in my view, to the minister that Senator Reynolds represents. The minister can answer it to the extent that she's able to, because it doesn't draw, in my view, to a matter here. Senator Wong, on the point of order? Senator Wong: On the point of order, Mr President, I simply make this point. This is a question to a person representing the Deputy Prime Minister. There's obviously a much broader remit when it comes to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. It actually goes to the suitability of the person now occupying the job. If it is your ruling that that is not relevantly a matter to be addressed to the person representing him, we accept that. I would submit it is entirely reasonable for the opposition to put to the person representing the Deputy Prime Minister whether or not the Deputy Prime Minister is in fact suitable to retain that role. The PRESIDENT: I take your point, Senator Wong. I'm not ruling this out of order; I'm just pre-empting what I anticipate might be a point of order. If the question was phrased in the way that you put it, I would not make this observation. My badly hand-written notes here refer to a quote from a Victorian state member of parliament that doesn't ask for the minister or Deputy Prime Minister's view on the matter. It just simply asserts—it didn't use 'Does the minister agree,' did it? There was another part? Senator Wong: If I can assist—I understand you ruling in respect of which actions Ms Ryan is referring to. You may not have heard that Senator O'Neill went on to say, 'Does the minister agree with Ms Ryan?' The PRESIDENT: I heard the first part and I viewed the second part in the context of the first. I'll ask the minister to respond to the question if she deems it appropriate, given what I've just said. Senator Reynolds.