Senator CONROY (Victoria—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Digital Productivity) (14:19): Mr Tony Abbott when he was interviewed not that long ago by Kerry O'Brien said, 'Never believe anything I say unless it is written down.' You have to write it down. He did actually write down that he would not cut Medicare. I remember watching the interview. I remember that then after the election he was asked, 'Did you consider resigning because clearly you have broken a promise, Mr Abbott?' What did he say? 'I did think about it but in the end— Senator Brandis: Mr President, on a point of order, as you know this question was directed only to the question of the government 's broken promise to deliver a budget surplus and each of the words that I have quoted to the minister—as he knows—were words used by members of the government to characterise their own promise to deliver a budget surplus. With respect, an answer to this question on anything other than the broken budget surplus commitment is not directly relevant to the question. Senator Wong: Mr President, on the point of order, if Senator Brandis is going to ask a highly political question, it is to be anticipated—and we are very democratic on this side, with team work—he might get a political answer. He also made the mistake of using the same words Mr Abbott used in relation to the Medicare promise which was subsequently broken. The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no point of order. I am listening closely to the answer of Senator Conroy at this stage. Senator Conroy still has 33 seconds remaining. Senator CONROY: Thank you, Mr President. Let us be clear. This economy is one of the strongest economies, if not the strongest, in the OECD. It has— Senator Brandis: Peter Costello— Senator CONROY: Peter Costello has dumped you. It is time for you to give him up. The PRESIDENT: Order! Ignore interjections. Interjections are disorderly on both sides. Senator CONROY: My apologies, Mr President. I should ignore Senator Brandis's bleatings on behalf of Mr Costello. But let us be clear: unemployment would be at 5.2 per cent if it was not for the 17,000 jobs being lost in Queensland because of the Newman government. Unemployment has gone up because the Victorian government has stalled the Victorian economy. (Time expired)