Mr FRYDENBERG (Kooyong—The Treasurer) (15:25): I can confirm that non-mining investment is growing 1.4 per cent through the year compared to negative 8.4 per cent through the year in which Labor left office. The record there is that, when it comes to non-mining investment, we have overseen a better result than the Labor Party did. In terms of the mining sector, we have seen a transition from the investment stage to the production phase. One of the positive points out of the national accounts for the June quarter is that mining investment is actually up. The reality is that under the coalition we are creating more than 1.4 million new jobs, we are lowering taxes and we are bringing the budget back into surplus. The question I have for the member for Hotham and for all those opposite is: why do they continue to talk down the Australian economy? The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order. Mr Albanese: The standing orders don't provide for him to ask questions. The SPEAKER: No, they don't. Mr Albanese: They provide for him to answer the question he was asked. The SPEAKER: I've got to correct the Leader of the Opposition—I'm sort of loath to do so. The standing orders don't make provision for members of the opposition to answer them, but there is a long history of rhetorical questions being asked. I know it's frustrating, but I have a different issue with the Treasurer: I think he's straying off the subject matter of the question. I'd like him to confine himself to what was a specific question. Mr FRYDENBERG: Our record of investment is better than that of the Labor Party when it comes to the non-mining sector. We've created more jobs, we're lowering taxes and we're bringing the budget back into surplus.