Operation Shelter

Ms KELLIE SLOANE ( Vaucluse ) ( 11:35 :48 ): My question is directed to the Minister for Police and Counter‑terrorism. On 15 December 2025, the day after the Bondi terrorist attack, New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon said to the media, "This morning we commenced Operation Shelter," and he also said, "It is an operation that we have previously run". Yet the Minister has told the House twice today that Operation Shelter never ceased. Are the commissioner's comments inaccurate or has the Minister misled the House?

Mr Ron Hoenig: Point of order: In breach of Standing Order 128, the question contains an imputation and a suggestion of fact that the Minister misled the House. The Minister prefaced her answers, on each occasion, to tell the House what she was advised. Unless the Opposition has credible material to suggest that that is not what she was advised when she answered the question, then the question contains a clear imputation that should not be allowed to be put.

The SPEAKER: Members will come to order.

Mr Ron Hoenig: If Opposition members have available to them a credible fact to suggest that the Minister was not so advised, then they must put that fact to the Minister, otherwise the question contains an imputation and an inference that it is not open to the Leader of the Opposition to make. I know that considerable flexibility is given to the Leader of the Opposition in respect of questions and the interpretation of the standing orders. But this is not a question that she should be permitted to ask, unless she puts an actual fact to the Minister.

Ms Kellie Sloane: To the point of order: These are statements of fact about a matter of significant public importance that I am asking the Minister to clarify, to determine which facts are correct. I am happy to rephrase the last line of the question, if that is helpful, but this is an important question that deserves an answer.

The SPEAKER: I believe the Minister is prepared to answer the question. I call the Minister.