Senator AYRES (New South Wales—Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science) (14:46): It is a pleasure to get a question from the known environmentalist, who's passionate about the modern future of the electricity system, Senator Canavan. It is the case— Opposition senators interjecting— Senator AYRES: That's right. Senator Canavan says he's mates with Bob Brown on these questions. That's nothing to be proud of, in terms of the renewable rollout. That's nothing to be proud of, because on this side—you interjected, and I answered! The PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, on a point of order? Senator Canavan: It's on relevance. The minister has spent 30 seconds denigrating me, and the question is about his government's renewables rollout. The PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, I believe you interjected, and, as you know, the minister is entitled to take your interjection. If it wasn't you, I apologise, but it was certainly someone in that direction. I beg your pardon; it was Senator Cadell. I would happily draw the minister back to the question, but you need to keep your side quiet because the minister is entitled to take interjections. Senator AYRES: We have an enormous task in front of this government and in front of Australia. It is a task that is in the national interest. It's a task that has been made so much harder by two things that your side of politics could have made a patriotic national contribution to, and that is by spending the last ten years of the miserable arc of the Morrison-Turnbull-Abbott inaction period actually building a little bit of generation capability and building a little bit of transmission capacity—doing a little bit of work and lifting a bit in the national interest. Instead, what happened? Nothing. Four gigawatts went out of the electricity system, and only one gigawatt went in. Off that base of inaction, we are working hard as a government to deliver 99 projects. They have been approved by this government to deliver energy for Australia and electricity for industry. But, of course, we started ten years behind because of the failure there. Secondly, wandering around in regional communities using the kind of hyperbole and misinformation generated mostly from internet offshore extremist politics is not in the national interest. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, first supplementary?