Mr DAVID SMITH (Bean—Government Whip) (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. How is the Albanese Labor government cutting costs for Australians so they can get the skills they need for the jobs they want, and is there any opposition to this? The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order. Mr Fletcher: This has been a pattern from the government in questions which I'd suggest to you are not consistent with standing order 98(c). Ministers can be questioned on matters for which they're responsible or officially connected. By definition, the minister is not responsible for opposition. The SPEAKER: The Deputy Leader of the House on a point of order? Mr Butler: This is a very common part of questions. The former government made an absolute art form of it, so it doesn't really sit very well in the opposition manager's mouth to object to it now, after nine years of it. The SPEAKER: I'm just going to listen carefully. The Leader of the House on a point of order? Mr Burke: If I can just refer to page 553 of Practice where it refers to what constitutes matters relating to a minister's public responsibilities, which includes public affairs, which that tag clearly goes to. The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business further to the point of order? Mr Fletcher: Mr Speaker, the question was clearly structured to deal with, firstly, what the minister's responsible for, and then opposition. It could not be clearer, on the wording of the question, that what the minister is being asked about is not within his responsibilities. The SPEAKER: Whilst compare and contrast has been a feature of question time for a very long time, certainly as long as I've been here, I'm just going to listen carefully to the minister to make sure. Obviously, he can't have an answer—the manager is correct—simply about alternative approaches, because he wasn't asked about alternative approaches. He was asked about opposition. I hope that's not just going to be one part of what the 'opposition' could be, so I'm going to make sure that his answer reflects on what he's doing and has responsibility for but also that it's not an answer simply about alternative policies or approaches, because he wasn't asked about that. I hope that's clear to everyone, in terms of what the minister can and can't do, and if he strays from that I will have to take action.