Senator COLBECK (Tasmania—Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians and Minister for Youth and Sport) (14:55): Unfortunately, the youth unemployment rate is too high at the moment, at 15.6 per cent. So, as we have done through the budget process through the period of COVID-19, we have put in significant measures to support young Australians. In fact, it's interesting that the Labor Party were only a few weeks ago criticising the government for the range of measures that we have put in place to support young Australians to get back into work as the economy recovers from COVID-19. So significant resources— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Green, on a point of order? Senator Green: A point of order, Mr President: my question didn't have a preamble and it was directed at how many young Australians are unemployed. That's a question about a figure, not a rate of unemployment. The PRESIDENT: With respect, I don't think it's within my ability to decree that a rate is not directly relevant. There's a time to debate answers to questions. The minister's entitled to— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister is entitled to answer in that form. It was a very specific question and I will maintain a tight test of direct relevance because of that. As long as the minister is talking about youth unemployment, I do think that is directly relevant. Senator Colbeck. Senator COLBECK: I believe I was being directly relevant to the question, because I actually quoted the youth unemployment rate of 15. 6 per cent as part of my response to the question, and I've also said that the youth unemployment rate in this country is too high. The work that this government continues to do to support young Australians to get back into work is because we are concerned that young people who stay out of work too long have significant lifelong effects with respect to their futures, their careers and their financial circumstances, so we have, through our budget processes and through the pandemic, been supporting people with JobKeeper, supporting young people with JobSeeker, to keep them connected to their workplaces, and then supporting them to gain new jobs through our JobMaker programs— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong, on a point of order? Senator Wong: Direct relevance. The minister's been asked for the number. I understand he's now been given the brief; perhaps he could advise the chamber. The PRESIDENT: As I said before, Senator Wong, I cannot say that answering in this form is not directly relevant to the question. What I'm being asked to do is to rule on the substance of an answer, which I cannot do. While the minister is talking about issues directly related to youth unemployment, I do think that is directly relevant. Senator Colbeck. Senator COLBECK: And so this government will continue to do everything that it can to get the 337,200 young Australians who are unemployed back into work, and we'll continue to do that. The PRESIDENT: Senator Green, a supplementary question.