Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Finance and Deregulation) (14:15): I thank Senator Sinodinos for his question and I thank him also for his past support for a price on carbon when working with then Prime Minister Howard. I wish someone with his understanding of public policy could put paid to some of the ridiculous propositions such as those we saw from Senator Brandis and as we see consistently from the shadow minister. In relation to the electricity price issue, it is the case that IPART has released its determination, which shows that the impact on electricity prices by the carbon tax is a shade under what the Treasury modelling advice at just over nine per cent—the Treasury estimate was 10 per cent. All of this has been factored into the government's assistance package, including the tax cuts, which the opposition will roll back should they ever win government and which the opposition will roll back because they want people in this country earning under $80,000 per year to pay more tax not less tax. It is very clear from what the regulator has said that the main reason for rising electricity prices is the billions of dollars being invested in poles and wires for the network. In many Australian states, there have been very substantial increases over past years, which have nothing to do with the carbon price. These increases are all about investment in the network. We know that those opposite— Senator Brandis: I rise on a point of order, Mr President. On the question of direct relevance, the minister is more than three quarters of the way through her answer. The principal question she was asked is, but how much does the government expect demand to fall? She has not come close to addressing that issue. The PRESIDENT: That was part of the question, Senator Brandis. The question was broader than that. The minister is addressing the question and the minister has 24 seconds remaining. Senator WONG: I can say that certainly whatever impact there is on demand, it will be more efficient and cheaper than the impact on reductions in emissions that the opposition's policy would have, which would cost Australian households of $1,300 a year—a very inefficient policy being proposed.