Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:00): Thank you, Senator McGrath, for the question. What is it about the opposition that all they want to do is talk about conflict? What is it about them? The simple concept— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister, resume your seat. We will just wait for quiet so we can all hear the minister's response. Senator McKenzie interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator McKenzie! Minister Watt. Senator WATT: As I say, what is it about these people? They were in government for nine years. They delivered a wages and bargaining system that is completely broken. They had low wages as a design feature of their economic policy. The PRESIDENT: Minister, please resume your seat. Senator McKenzie? Senator McKenzie: What is it with this minister that he refuses to answer the most basic of questions? Honour able senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind senators, if you are seeking to make a point of order, that you stand and you indicate to the Senate that you are making a point of order. That is not a point of order. Please continue, Minister Watt. Senator WATT: It really is a shame, after an election, after a jobs and skills summit which saw the country brought together by a new government, that the only group that doesn't want to accept that people want to cooperate is the opposition. We know what it's like to be in opposition; we were there for a few years. The approach we took was that you pick your fights—you actually look for constructive opportunities when you can, and you pick your fights when you really have to. But this opposition—all they seem to do is: whatever the idea, they're against it. Honourable senators interjecting— Senator WATT: They'd be against the sun rising in the east and they'd be against the sun setting in the west because they want to oppose everything that happens. Now, the opposition want to continue fighting, just as they did for nine years. They want to continue delivering lower productivity and lower wages through a conflict driven IR system. But it's not just through an IR system that they want to maintain the conflict. I was very interested to see— The PRESIDENT: Senator Watt, please resume your seat. Senator McGrath? Senator McGrath: President, I raise a point of order on relevance. The question was very tightly worded, and the minister has come nowhere near answering the question. In fact, he has gone anywhere but near answering the question. I would ask you to get the minister to come back and answer the question, please. The PRESIDENT: I would remind senators that question time should be conducted in relative quiet. It has been very hard for me to hear Senator Watt, despite Senator Watt being able to project his voice. But I will remind Senator Watt of the question and that he has 37 seconds left to answer the question. Senator WATT: The government have made very clear that we will be consulting employers, unions and a range of other people as to how this agreement will be implemented and will deal with all of those issues. But, again, I was very concerned to see some reports this morning in The Australian that, in response to COSBOA's comments about reaching an agreement on these matters, coalition backbenchers were 'out for blood' on the issue. Now, we've heard a lot about thuggery and intimidation from the other side when it comes to industrial relations. Well, who are the thugs now? Who's doing the intimidating now? In fact, some coalition MPs argued that COSBOA had betrayed small business owners, likening it to a snake. That's the kind of behaviour— (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator McGrath, a first supplementary?