Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance, Leader of the Government in Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:16): I completely reject the premise of that question. Under our government, the Australian economy continues to grow. The Australian economy continued to grow at a time when other economies around the world—in the June quarter, for example—were shrinking. Our economy in the June quarter was growing at half a per cent, and here is the Labor Party saying that the sky is about to fall in! In the UK, in Germany, in South Korea and in Singapore the economies were shrinking. There are a few global economic headwinds that we are dealing with as a globally focused open-trading economy— The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Cormann. Senator Wong on a point of order. Senator Wong: A point of order on direct relevance. The question is not about the Labor Party. The question is about why the government is ignoring the RBA. Why is the government ignoring the Reserve Bank of Australia? That is the question. The PRESIDENT: While the minister did mention the Labor Party, I believe that for the point of order you raised just then, Senator Wong, he was talking about other matters which are directly relevant to the question. Senator Cormann. Senator CORMANN: Let me say it very succinctly for Senator Wong: we respect the— Senator Wong: You just ignore them! The PRESIDENT: I'm going to ask for some silence on my left and leadership from those along the front benches. Senator Cormann. Senator CORMANN: We respect the independence of the Reserve Bank to set monetary policy. We are responsible for setting fiscal policy, and the Australian people endorsed our agenda going to the last election. They rejected yours and you still can't get over it! The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, a final supplementary question?