Question Time

Question Time (questions without notice) is held most sitting days in both chambers. Members ask ministers questions without giving notice, and ministers answer on the spot. It is the main daily opportunity to hold the government to account in public.

• Each question and answer is summarised in plain language as reported speech, with interjections and points of order left out
• In the Senate, a senator may ask up to two supplementary questions after the minister's first answer
• The Speaker or the President usually gives the call to non-government and government members in turn
• Every summary links to the official Hansard so you can read the exact words