Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Finance and Deregulation) (14:13): I can confirm that the Treasury modelling shows that Australia can continue to grow with a carbon price, that GNI per capita will continue to grow at about 1.1 per cent per year, that average incomes will continue to grow strongly and that jobs will grow strongly, and that carbon pollution will fall by about 160 million tonnes by 2020 from what it would otherwise be. Senator Brandis: Mr President, my point of order goes to relevance. The question could not have been more specific or more narrow. The minister was asked to confirm a single fact, identified by reference to the page and table number in an identified document. She cannot respond directly to that question by asserting other facts. She has to confine herself to the only fact about which she was asked. The PRESIDENT: I cannot instruct the minister how to answer the question. The minister has been going 28 seconds and has one minute 32 seconds remaining to address the question. Senator WONG: Those on the other side should actually listen to the argument. I was asked about economic growth and I spoke about the GNI figure and the annual growth rate. The reality is that we have two approaches to this issue. We have the Labor Party's approach and, in the great Labor tradition of caring about the future, we are on the side of pricing carbon. Again we see the coalition on the wrong side of history. They opposed Medicare, they opposed superannuation, they supported Work Choices—always on the wrong side of history. Today, again, in the House of Representatives they showed us they are the party which is not interested in the future. We on this side of the parliament take our responsibility to the next generation seriously. We want to ensure this economy changes to one that pollutes less. We want to ensure that Australia contributes less to climate change and we want Australia to be part of the growth in goods and services that a low carbon— Senator Cormann: Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The minister has now spoken for a minute and 40 seconds and she has gone nowhere near answering the very specific question, which was whether the minister could confirm that, according to the Treasury's modelling, Australia's GDP will be 2.8 per cent lower in 2050 than it would be without a carbon tax. The minister has gone nowhere near answering that. While I appreciate that as President you cannot direct the minister how to answer the question, you can, according to our standing orders, direct her to be directly relevant to the question that was asked. With all due respect, the minister is not being directly relevant to the question. The PRESIDENT: The minister has 21 seconds remaining to answer the question. I call the minister to complete the answer. Senator Abetz interjecting— The PRESIDENT: I am asking the minister to answer the question. You would know that is what I said if you listened. Senator WONG: I made the point, and I expect that he may not have heard it, that I opened the answer with a response on GNI, which is directly in response to the issue raised. Senator Cormann: I asked about GDP. Senator WONG: Okay, GDP— Opposition senators interjecting— Senator WONG: Perhaps we can have a discussion about GNI per person. GDP— (Time expired)