Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:38): It's gutsy to ask a question about Stuart and small business when they voted against helping small businesses with their energy bills. If you really cared about Stuart and his small business, you wouldn't have done that. Mr Speaker, they wouldn't have done that. So I think people see through these sorts of questions from those opposite. Those opposite couldn't give a stuff about people who are doing it tough. If they had their way, inflation would be higher, growth would be weaker and the budget would be in worse nick. I say to Stuart, I say to the small-business people of this country, I say to families and pensioners right around Australia: we recognise that the economy is soft and that times are tough, but, more than that, we're responding in the budget with cost-of-living relief and support for small business. I'm asked about small business, and it's a perfect opportunity to tell everybody here and everybody who might be tuning in at home that, every time those opposite have had the opportunity in the Senate to vote for tax breaks for small businesses, they've been voting against them. The thing about that which makes it particularly comical, from their point of view, is that on the same day that the Leader of the Opposition was giving his budget reply, talking about support for small business, they were in the Senate voting against helping small business by providing them a tax break. This is the kind of chaos and confusion and hypocrisy that we hear from those opposite on a daily basis. The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will pause so I can hear from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Ms Ley: On relevance—the question did not invite the Treasurer to talk continually about the opposition but to answer the question about his economic plan and the small business that I mentioned. Ms Swanson interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Paterson will leave the chamber under 94(a). The member for Paterson then left the chamber. The SPEAKER: It's highly disorderly. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is entitled to raise her point of order. She'll be heard in silence. And, if I'm dealing with a point of order, trust me—that is not the time to deal with the point of order. The question did regard the national accounts, the policy on small business and in particular an individual and some ratings about small business. So I'm just going to ask the Treasurer to return to the question. Dr CHALMERS: As I understand it, I was asked what I would say to Stuart. What I would say to Stuart is that we understand that the economy is soft right now. We've said that on a number of occasions, even before this week's national accounts. That's why we're responding in the way that we are in the budget. I'd say to Stuart that if he wants the parliament to support small business then he should tell those opposite to vote for small business in the Senate when they're given that opportunity. I'd say Stuart—I'd remind Stuart—that, when it came time to support small business with energy bill relief, this side of the House voted for it, and that side of the House voted against it. I'd say to Stuart that the approach put forward by those opposite to slash and burn in the budget would be diabolical for small business in this country. We are managing the economy in a responsible and a considered and a methodical way which is conscious of the conditions that small business and the broader Australian community are confronting right now. You can't say that for those opposite.