Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:01): I thank Senator Bragg for the question. If you look at the data in annual terms, private demand grew faster than public demand, and it has been shown not only in the national accounts but in other economic data as well. I would also point out to Senator Bragg, considering that they were going to have deeper deficits and higher debt under their plan for the economy that they took to the election, that, if we take your concern and apply it to the policies you took to the last election, then we would be in a much worse position. The PRESIDENT: Minister Gallagher, please resume your seat. Senator Bragg? Senator Bragg: I have a point of order on relevance. The question was quite clear. Will the government stand by the claim or admit that they were wrong? The PRESIDENT: There was a preamble. I'll remind the minister to focus on the whole of your question. Senator GALLAGHER: Of course I support the comments by the Treasurer. As I have just explained, if you look at the data—not only in the national accounts but other economic data—and if you look at the contribution to growth that both public and private demand made, which in yesterday's data release was 0.3 for public demand and 0.3 for private demand, in annual contribution to growth, public demand was 0.7, and private demand in annual growth was 2.3. So, yes, the Treasurer is correct. So, I've answered the question directly. Senator Cash interjecting— Senator GALLAGHER: Well, I have, Senator Cash. The other point I made is that, that based on the economic geniuses of the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the plan they took to the election last year, which was overwhelmingly rejected, had deeper deficits and higher debt because— Senator Wong: And higher taxes. Senator GALLAGHER: and higher taxes, as Senator Wong points out—if people remember, they wanted to borrow to build nuclear power stations. Under your plan, they would be much worse off. The PRESIDENT: Senator Bragg, first supplementary?