Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:00): I thank Senator Hume for the question, even though I am a little bit surprised at the way it was framed. Will we end the uncertainty? We ended the uncertainty with the election of an Albanese government. We ended a decade of energy policy uncertainty. How many times did you try and land a policy? Twenty-two and counting. You didn't land any of them. You didn't. Everywhere we went, the private sector was saying: 'Can you provide certainty? We want investment certainty. We want to understand the approach that government policy will take so that we can make investment decisions.' And Senator Hume asks me about the uncertainty. I will tell you what we have done since coming to government. Minister Bowen left the swearing-in ceremony to deal with the fact that the lights were going to go out. We then uncovered a 20 per cent increase in the price of electricity that Mr Angus Taylor had taken the unprecedented step of covering up and hiding before the election so it didn't become an election issue. Guess what? They were told that electricity prices were going to go up and they weren't honest with the Australian people. What we have done is put in the budget the information we have about the increase in energy prices. What the Australian people have is a government that's working hard to look at what options are available for us to deal with it. Senator Birmingham: President, I rise on a point of order— Government senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Birmingham, just a moment. I will wait until there is silence from those on my right. Senator Birmingham: on the question of direct relevance. Senator Hume's question was quite specific to the matters of intervention in the gas market and quoted the Treasurer as saying the government would act with 'some urgency' on that. Senator Hume purely asked whether the government would clarify its position by the end of this sitting fortnight. I ask you to draw the minister, who's had ample opportunity to traverse a whole range of other energy policy questions, to the specific direct question that was asked. The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, on the same point of order? Senator Wong: President, on the point of order, I would refer you to some of the rulings of Senator Ryan, who made the point that opposition senators should not be surprised, if there's a political statement in the opening of the question, if the response to the question is somewhat wider. The senator chose to frame her question in terms of certainty or lack thereof. I put it to you, President, that, consistent with past rulings, the minister is entitled to pick up the issue of certainty, which she is doing. The PRESIDENT: There was a preamble to the question and it did deal with urgency. I believe that the minister is being relevant. To the question of direct relevance, because there was a preamble there, I think the minister is entitled to canvass both the preamble and the specific question. Senator Birmingham: Can I ask you to review the Hansard of that question, President? The only preamble related to quoting the Treasurer. Then the question—it wasn't a preamble—off the back of the Treasurer's statement around urgency went to uncertainty in the gas prices and the gas market. I advise you to look. It was a very tightly worded question, President. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Birmingham. There was a preamble to the question, however it's phrased, and the minister is entitled to go there. I will review the Hansard, but my ruling remains. Minister, you've got 22 seconds. Senator GALLAGHER: The second thing we did was deal with the supply shortfall that we were advised about by the ACCC, and what we're doing now is to sensibly work through options to deal with ensuring we get reasonable prices into the market. That's what the government are doing right now. The PRESIDENT: Senator Hume, first supplementary?