Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Finance and Deregulation) (14:06): I know that Senator Joyce must be very upset that someone else has got preselection from the seat of New England despite the fact he is such a genius that he should have been parachuted into the lower house— Senator Brandis: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I know you were distracted, Mr President, but all parts of an answer are required to be directly relevant. The opposition entirely accepts that a minister may provide context. The opposition entirely accepts that the early part of an answer may— Government senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Brandis is entitled to be heard in silence. Senator Brandis: The opposition entirely accepts that a minister may build up to an answer by addressing the topic in the broad. We acknowledge that that does not breach the direct relevance principle. However, for a minister to address the question that was asked by Senator Williams by talking about another senator's disappointment at allegedly missing out on preselection for a seat cannot possibly have even a contextual bearing on the question asked. Senator Chris Evans: Mr President, on the point of order. I would have thought it was questionable whether or not the supplementary question was in order, but the senator went directly to the question of polling, political activity in the seat and the chances of Mr Windsor in the next election. Effectively, it was an attack on Mr Windsor—a member of the other house. Quite frankly, the senator answering the question, Minister Wong, responded in kind, which was in a political context about the issues involved in the primary question. If you ask a political question, you get a political answer. It is a bit hard to then squeal if you do not like the answer. The PRESIDENT: You did note correctly that I was, unfortunately, distracted by something that needed to be raised with me. I was not therefore completely listening to everything that was proceeding. The minister has 48 seconds remaining. I draw the minister's attention to the question and I will now listen closely to the answer that the minister is giving. Senator WONG: Thank you, Mr President. I am certainly not offended by the fact that you were not listening to me with your full attention. I understand. The PRESIDENT: I did not say I was not listening. Senator WONG: I accept that maybe it did not merit it. But I make this point: the entire point of the question was a political point about the member for New England. The National Party should be upfront about that and not pretend that there was any point to this question other than a political point. There is a bit of sour grapes over the fact that Senator Joyce, who is demanding a lower house seat, does not have one.