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) (14:11): I can tell you what we will rule out. We will rule out spending $600 billion on nuclear energy plants that are going to get established in, what, 20 to 30 years and deliver four per cent of Australia's energy requirements. I will definitely rule out that additional spending. That is quite a bit of additional spending, and one might think that $600 billion may have an effect on the government budget, maybe on the spending side. Senator Dean Smith: You've broken the rule. The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Smith, you have asked your question. Senator GALLAGHER: So I can rule out that. That is the biggest threat to the budget. The biggest threat to the budget is this uncosted lack-of-detail plan from Mr Dutton to build nuclear energy plants that will at some time in future provide less than five per cent of Australia's energy needs. That is the biggest risk. You asked me about spending on the budget and its impact on inflation. Well, I am ruling that out. The PRESIDENT: Minister, please resume your seat. Senator Birmingham, on a point of order? Senator Birmingham: I rise on a point of order on direct relevance. Senator Smith asked a question very clearly about one-off payments. While it may be flattering the government is fixated with the coalition's policies, the reality is the minister has spent more than half of her answer now talking about opposition policies and going nowhere near answering the question asked by Senator Smith. The PRESIDENT: Senator Birmingham, the minister was asked to rule out additional payments. I believe she— Senator Birmingham: One-off payments. The PRESIDENT: Yes, that is right. I believe that the minister is being relevant. I'm going to invite her to continue and I will listen carefully. Minister Gallagher. Senator GALLAGHER: It might be a one-off $600 billion investment in nuclear energy. We don't know because you haven't told us. I can assure those opposite that our approach going forward will reflect the decisions that we have taken in previous budgets, which is to find savings where we can, to repair the budget where we can. Remember there is $80 billion less interest we're paying now because we repaired the budget. We have delivered two surpluses, which are helping with the fight against inflation. And where there are additional investments required, they will not add to the inflation challenge. As you have seen in the decisions we have already taken, it is a responsible approach that looks at the short term but doesn't take our eye off the longer term. That is the approach we've taken since October. It is the approach that we will continue with. The PRESIDENT: Senator Dean Smith, first supplementary?