Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:15): What I can assure Senator Smith about is that the Australian industry content building the next generation of submarines is going to be massively higher than it would have been under Labor. The PRESIDENT: Order. Senator Wong on a point of order. Senator Wong: I know he's very excited, Mr President, but direct relevance. This is a serious question about the largest procurement in the nation's history. It is asking this minister representing the defence minister what the actual level of Australian content will be. I know he's very excited and wants to play politics but if he could answer the question about people's jobs, I'm sure South Australians and Western Australians would appreciate it. The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong, you have raised your point of order. The minister was halfway through a sentence. I'm not going to rule halfway through his first sentence on direct relevance. You've reminded the minister of the question; I'll call him to continue. Senator CORMANN: It is our government that has committed to build the next generation of submarines. It is our government that has made the necessary decisions and put on the table the necessary investment. And it is our government that is absolutely committed to maximising Australian industry involvement. Let me tell you the reason why my opening remarks were entirely relevant, directly relevant, to the question. What we are looking at now, in the level of Australian industry content on the back of our decisions to build 12 new submarines for Australia, is— Senator Kim Carr: Pyne promised 90 per cent. What happened to the 90 per cent? Senator CORMANN: What was there in the six years under Labor? Nothing. Did they decide to build a single submarine, even half a submarine? No. Nothing. Zero. Like Otis. This is what we get from the Labor Party. The people in South Australia and the people in Australia generally know that this is a government that is committed to not only ensuring that our defence forces have got the capability they need but that our— The PRESIDENT: Order. Senator Wong on a point of order. Senator Wong: The point of order is on direct relevance. I think the Australian people do want to know what the level of Australian content is. This has been asked by Senator Patrick and Senator Griff; today it's being asked by the Labor Party. We would ask the minister to respond to the question. The PRESIDENT: On the point of order, you've restated the question, Senator Wong. When the minister was talking about Australian content and the building of the project, I do consider that to be directly relevant. I cannot instruct him how to answer a question. Senator Cormann. Senator CORMANN: Under our government, we have committed to building 12 new submarines and we are committed to maximising Australian industry content. The Australian people know that under Labor not a single cent was invested in our future submarine capability. The PRESIDENT: Senator Smith, a supplementary question.