BUDGET

Senator FARRELL (South Australia—Minister for Trade and Tourism, Special Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) (15:05): I wonder if the Senate could indulge me for one second because, in the last hour, Miss Ellen Nimfa Farrell Ben was born at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide. Ellen is the daughter of Emily Farrell and Lawrence Ben.

She is our fourth grandchild, joining her cousins Edward, Flora and Leo, and mother and baby are doing well. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I'm happy to say congratulations, Senator Farrell, but we probably should return to the matter at hand. Senator FARRELL: I thank Senator Henderson for her indulgence.

The Albanese government is delivering a higher standard of integrity, transparency and accountability. I make the general point that the numbers of Senate estimates questions on notice, parliamentary questions on notice and orders for the production of documents all skyrocketed in the 47th parliament, and this trend is continuing in the 48th parliament. There were 14,404 questions on notice submitted for the budget estimates round in May.

That is the highest figure in a single round since the database was established. As I'm sure the senator appreciates, there have been high volumes of questions across various committee inquiries in the communications portfolios since questions the senator refers to were lodged. We always endeavour to answer all questions as per the timeframe set forward by the Senate and will work to finalise outstanding responses.