Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) (14:49): Thanks, Senator Paterson, for the question. I have no intention of announcing a minister's decision—especially when it's a different minister, not me—about a particular immigration matter, in the middle of question time. It would be highly inappropriate to do so. And that's clearly a decision to be made by Minister Burke. I'm not aware of whether he has made that decision yet, but of course he'll evaluate that. But it's an opportune time to remind the chamber of the absolutely disgraceful record of Mr Dutton as the home affairs minister on these matters. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator WATT: I know you don't want to hear it. I know you don't want to hear it. But the problem when you raise this— The PRESIDENT: Order. Minister Watt— Senator WATT: He definitely doesn't want to hear it. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator Paterson: A point of order on direct relevance—the minister helpfully signposted that he had no intention of answering the substantive question and has now moved on to unrelated matters. I ask you to draw him back to the question or sit him down. Senator Wong: On the point of order, it has been the practice in this place for ministers to be clear about what their response is to the substantive and then to be permitted to make broader comments in relation to the subject matter. That still has been considered by presidents to be directly relevant. The PRESIDENT: The minister is being relevant, but I will direct him to confine his remarks to government matters. Minister Watt, please continue. Senator WATT: What I can say is that the minister, Minister Burke, has been very clear that he will use his powers to remove people from this country who shouldn't be here. We've also been clear that there have been issues with the AAT process that we have been addressing. But the bottom line is that anyone who is being considered by the AAT has already had their visa cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs. That stands in great contrast to the behaviour we saw from Mr Dutton as the home affairs minister. In May— Opposition senators interjecting— Senator WATT: Oh, we're touchy! The PRESIDENT: Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Paterson. Senator Ayres interjecting— The PRESIDENT: I have a senator on his feet, Senator Ayres. I expect there to be silence. Senator Paterson. Senator Paterson: On your ruling from just a moment ago, President, the minister is now openly defying your direction to confine his comments to government policy. The PRESIDENT: The minister is being relevant to the question that you asked, and I will expect him to remain substantially on government policy, which is exactly what he was doing. Senator WATT: I think we all know that Senator Paterson's chief job in the opposition is to protect the honour of Mr Dutton, and he's doing a very good job of that today. Unfortunately for Senator Paterson, the truth is that, while the Leader of the Opposition was the home affairs minister, two men convicted of being accessories to murder were released on his watch. And 102 convicted sex offenders, among them 64 child sex offenders, were released on Mr Dutton's watch. How come you never talk about that? How come you never talk about the fact that when Mr Dutton— Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister Watt, I do remind you to confine your remarks to the government policy. Senator WATT: Well, the government's policy is significantly different to what we saw from Mr Dutton, who, while he was the home affairs minister, released a man who was born in the UK in 1947 and was convicted in 2016 of being an accessory to the stabbing of an associate in a cannabis operation. You never want to talk about that, do you? But we— The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Minister Watt. The time for answering has expired. Senator Birmingham: President, on a point of order, you were very clear in your instructions to the minister, who then wilfully disregarded your instructions and ignored them completely. The time has all but expired but for a second. But I would urge you to caution the minister to ensure that, in the remaining question, he is actually relevant to the question and adheres to the rulings that you are making. The PRESIDENT: I believe that the minister was being relevant to the request that I gave him. He was using government policy and contrasting it with other policies. I'm not sure, Minister Watt, what you might say in one second, but you can give it a shot if you're so inclined, or I will move to—Senator Paterson, first supplementary?