Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) (14:15): Thanks, Senator Paterson, for the question. As I have previously indicated, we know that the opposition has been determined to make this issue a highly political one, and we know— Senator Cash: That's not the question! The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Cash! Senator WATT: I'm sorry, Senator Cash. I'm answering the question. We know that the motivation of opposition is to make this a political contest. We also know that the background checks that were undertaken before the granting of any of these visas were exactly the same processes as those that occurred under the coalition. That is a factor that they seek to ignore every time they seek to make this into a political issue. I will search for the figures to answer the specific question. I'm sure they're here somewhere in my brief, but, obviously not being the minister responsible, they're not top of mind for me. Our focus in managing these visa applications, as is the case for all issues surrounding the current conflict in the Middle East, is to ensure that we maintain social cohesion at all steps along the way. Again, that is something that the opposition has had no interest in, and they have sought to make this a political issue at every step of the way, most recently in relation to these Palestinian visas— Senator Paterson: A point of order on direct relevance. Perhaps the minister now has the answer, but this was a straight question. There was no preamble. It was a question for factual information. If the minister doesn't know, he should take it on notice. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Paterson. The minister indicated that he thought he did have the figures. Let 's see if he has them at the moment. Otherwise, as you suggested, I'm assuming the minister will seek to take that on notice. Minister Watt. Senator WATT: What I can tell Senator Paterson is that the government 's position is that if a person supports an extremist ideology, their visa will be rejected or cancelled. That is something that Mr Burgess, the Director-General of Security with ASIO, has made clear as well. It's rather unfortunate that members of the opposition have consistently sought to misrepresent the words of the director-general of ASIO. They have completely ignored his request of politicians to mind their language around these issues and not inflame situations. The opposition continues to ignore it. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Paterson, first supplementary?