Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:37): The government's position is well known and well understood, and that is that we support effective action on climate change. Indeed, we committed ourselves in Paris to an overall emissions reduction target of 26 per cent to 28 per cent. If you assess and consider that target on a per capita basis, given our relatively small population in a big continent, we are committed to reducing emissions by half. On the basis of emissions intensity in our economy—that is, emissions per unit of GDP—in fact, we are committed to reducing emissions by two-thirds. That is more ambitious than the European Union, than Japan, than Canada, than New Zealand—you name it—and it is an entirely appropriate commitment for us to make. But, of course, our government is focused on an agenda that is environmentally effective and economically responsible. The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Cormann, have you completed your answer? Senator CORMANN: No. The PRESIDENT: Senator Waters, on a point of order? Sena tor Waters: Yes, thank you; on a point of order. My question was very precise. I don't want the waffle that we get every time; I want an answer to whether the Prime Minister accepts that we're now in a climate emergency. The PRESIDENT: Senator Waters, I appreciate the question was quite specific. As long as the minister's directly relevant to the subject matter of the question—and I can't instruct him how to answer a question, but I believe what he is describing is directly relevant to the question you asked, with respect. So I'll call on him to continue. Senator CORMANN: Climate change is a global challenge and Australia is doing its bit to help address that global challenge. We are one of just a handful of countries around the world that are not just meeting but beating our emissions reduction targets agreed to in Kyoto. Indeed, we are leading the world when it comes to investment in renewable energy. I was in Germany the other day, and they were stunned when they learnt that, even in nominal terms, in aggregate terms, we are investing more in renewable energy than Germany, even though we have a much smaller population. On a per capita basis, we are investing more than three times as much in renewable energy here in Australia, under our government. I would have thought that you would celebrate our commitment to world-leading investment in renewable energy. But what we won't do is we will not be driven by the politically motivated, opportunistic Greens scaremongering. We will continue to make calm and considered and methodical judgements on how we can best address this issue. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Waters, a supplementary question?