China Trade

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): Further supplementary arising from the answer, where the minister informed the chamber and put it on the public record that the mayor of Shandong was in the habit of throwing out the cards from Australian businesses he has met with. My question is: does the minister understand the diplomatic significance of revealing this sort of information on the public record?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:33): I was explaining the—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition and the Hon. Mr Wortley, I cannot hear the minister responding to your own question. I am sick of repeating myself. I would like to hear the minister's response. Minister.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, do you want to hear the answer or not? Otherwise, I will not require the Hon. Mr Ridgway to answer. He has one last go at it. The Hon. Mr Ridgway.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President, for your protection. What I was demonstrating was that he was saying to me how these great big events are somewhat useless because you end up with this great stack of cards. I don't believe there's any diplomatic incident with the mayor of Shandong. It may not have been—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I can't hear the minister. We have had enough of this. The Hon. Ms Scriven.