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) (14:16): I thank Senator Hume for the question. It is not uncommon from quarter to quarter for the per capita measure to move in that direction. In fact, it has gone backwards one in every four quarters since these records began about 50 years ago, or 48 times out of the last 199 quarters. There is no doubt, though, that in today's numbers—and the Treasurer dealt with this in his press conference earlier today—that we are seeing the impact of higher interest rates, high-but-moderating inflation, which is welcome, and some of the impacts of global uncertainty. We have been clear and upfront with people about those challenges and the impacts it is having on households, which is why our cost-of-living package, most of which those opposite opposed, has been so important to support households through this. But at the same time, we have seen a rebound in population growth which has been driven by the reopening of our economy post COVID and this very significant return of international students in particular, which is showing up in the services exports numbers and that is good news of course for our education and tourism sectors. While we are seeing international students are returning to more normal levels following the pandemic, we are still not expecting to see net overseas migration catch up to the level forecast by the coalition government prior to the pandemic until the end of the decade. I think, in short, the answer to the question is we have seen— The PRESIDENT: Senator Hume, on a point of order? Senator Hume: On relevance, I just asked how many quarters consecutively that Australia's GDP per capita has declined. The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister is being— Senator Hume: In a minute and a half, we haven't got there yet. The PRESIDENT : She has answered back to the time records were held, but I am happy to draw your question to the minister. Senator GALLAGHER: I have made the point in the answer to my question that it is not uncommon to see these numbers move around quarter to quarter. In fact, we have seen them move quite significantly. In almost a quarter out of all of the quarters reported, we have seen these numbers move around. You do see quarters of negative per capita growth since these numbers have been recorded. The PRESIDENT: Senator Hume, a first supplementary?