Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:10): Senator Cameron, as all Australians know the Australian Labor Party cannot bring itself to acknowledge that, at the time you were elected to government in 2007 at the end of the Howard government, you inherited the best financial conditions and the best set of public accounts of any incoming government in Australian history. But over six years— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Order, Minister. Senator Cameron, a point of order. Senator Cameron: Mr President, a point of order on relevance. The question was clear and concise: does the Turnbull government have a revenue problem? The minister should address the question. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Cameron. I will remind the minister of the question. Attorney-General. Senator BRANDIS: Thank you, Mr President. I am just trying to contextualise it for you, Senator Cameron. Over six years of a Labor government Australia went from the best financial position it has ever been in and the best set of public accounts it has ever enjoyed to an unprecedented level of debt and deficit, and that is what this government has been grappling with under the prime ministerships of Mr Tony Abbott and Mr Malcolm Turnbull. The PRESIDENT: Order! Pause the clock. Senator Cameron, a point of order. Senator Cameron: Mr President, again, a point of order on relevance. We are now halfway through the time allocated for the answer. That was a simple question: does the Turnbull government have a revenue problem? The minister has not gone anywhere near that question. You have reminded him and he should go in the question. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Cameron. The Attorney-General did indicate that he was contextualising his question or the answer to the question. I am listening carefully. It does relate to finance and it does relate to revenue. Attorney-General. Senator BRANDIS: So that is the context, Senator. When we came into power and Mr Hockey was the Treasurer, and now under Mr Morrison as the Treasurer, we have to attack the budget deficit and the structural deficit in the economy, and that has both revenue and spending implications. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator BRANDIS: Mr President, I can barely hear myself speak. Senator Cameron, that has revenue implications and it has spending implications. We have tried to tackle government spending. Senator Wong and Senator Macdonald interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! A point of order, Senator Cameron. Senator Wong and Senator Macdonald, both. Senator Cameron: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I did not ask how hard the government was trying; I asked a simple question: does the Turnbull government have a revenue problem? The minister has still not answered that question. The PRESIDENT: The Attorney-General did refer to the revenue in his answer since your last point of order. Attorney-General. Senator BRANDIS: You seem, Senator Cameron, to be unable to grasp, which is perhaps one of the problems with Labor economic management, that these things are related to one another, Senator Cameron. Revenue and spending are related to one another, Senator Cameron. So as a result of the decisions made by the Abbott and Turnbull governments, government spending is now significantly less than it otherwise would have been. (Time expired). The PRESIDENT: Before I call Senator Cameron, the level of noise is unacceptable on both sides of the chamber and particularly those close to the Speaker. Senator Cameron, a supplementary question.