Professor David Farrell:

It may not be physically manifest that there is somebody there whispering but there would certainly be an entourage supporting the Minister behind the scenes, so in that sense it would not be that uncommon. What is less common is the notion that the parliamentarians are more or less on their own in responding to the Minister. There is not the resource base to help one to respond or interrogate that Minister in a way that we see in other parliaments.