Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee
10 March 2026
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Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee Australian Parliament
12:27 - 14:46
Speaker 9
Okay. Okay. Well, good evening, everyone. I declare open this meeting of the senate foreign affairs defense and trade legislation committee. I wanna begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
The senate has referred to the committee the particulars of the proposed expenditure for the year twenty twenty five twenty six and other related documents for the foreign affairs, defense, and trade portfolios. The committee may also examine the annual reports of the departments and agencies appearing before it. The committee is due to report to the senate on the March 31 this year. The committee has set the March 13 as the deadline for senators to submit written questions or notice for the purpose of this hearing. The committee has also set the April 24 as the date for the return of answers to questions taken on notice for the purpose of this hearing.
Under standing order 26, the committee must take all evidence in public session, and this includes answers to questions on notice. I remind all witnesses that when given evidence to the committee, they are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee, and such action may be treated by the senate as contempt. Please. It's also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence.
The senate has endorsed the following tests of relevance of questions at estimates hearings. Any questions going to the operations or financial positions of the departments and agencies which are seeking funds in the estimates are relevant questions for the purpose of estimates hearings. I remind officers that the senate has resolved that there are no areas in connection with expenditure of public funds where any person has a discretion to withhold details or explanations from the parliament or its committees unless the parliament has expressly provided otherwise. The senate has resolved that an officer of a department of the commonwealth shall not be asked to give opinions on matters of policy and shall be given reasonable opportunity to refer questions asked to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution prohibits only questions asking for opinions or matters of policy and does not preclude questions asking for explanations of policy or factual questions about when and how policies were adopted.
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