Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (16:09): Thank you for the question, Senator Sharma. I think it might be your first question in this chamber. The issue that you've asked about is something that I addressed in some media comments this morning as well. The government's practices as to the cancellation of these visas have been on the record. As we have made clear repeatedly, this government is following exactly the same process as the former government in the granting of visas and the consideration of visa applications and has applied exactly the same security tests to those applications as has occurred previously, including under the former government. Decisions were made to award visas to some applicants, not all, and those decisions were based on information that was available at the time those decisions were made. Further information, in some cases, came to light, and, on the basis of that information, the security advice was that some visas should be cancelled, and that action was taken. Then, as time progressed, additional information came to light which required the reinstitution, if you like, of some of those visas that had been cancelled. That is ordinary practice for any government of any political persuasion—to make visa decisions based on information that is available and that is based on security advice from security agencies. And of course— The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Watt. Senator Paterson? Senator Paterson: I have a point of order on direct relevance. Senator Sharma's question was very direct, very factual. It just asked for a series of numbers. The minister has not yet provided them in one minute and 30 seconds. If he doesn't have them, he should take them on notice and provide them afterwards. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Paterson. I will remind the minister of the question. Senator WATT: As I was saying, the way that the government has approached this issue is exactly the same as it was approached under the former government. The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Paterson? Senator Paterson: On direct relevance. The minister is now openly defying your ruling to return to the question. The PRESIDENT: To be fair, Senator Paterson, the minister had just got to his feet, but he is aware that I have redirected him to the question. Senator WATT: What I was attempting to say was that of course the way the government is approaching this is to ensure that the Australian community's safety is foremost in the decision-making process. The opposition has asked about numbers, and what I can say is that, when Mr Dutton was the Minister for Home Affairs, he granted more than 500 visas each week to Syrians fleeing the country in 2015. The PRESIDENT: Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Paterson, I suspect you are jumping on a point of order. Unfortunately, the time has expired. Senator Sharma, first supplementary?