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) (14:20): It is unfortunate that the question was based on a false premise and that Senator Sinodinos sought to put words into the Secretary of the Treasury's mouth and then draw implications from them. It is unfortunate. Clearly the MRRT collections have been lower than Treasury expected. As Mr Swan said last month, there is no doubt that when you look at the data the PRRT and MRRT will both be down substantially. But the MRRT is only six months old, and mineral prices, particularly iron ore, have been volatile over that period. Resource rent taxes are by their nature difficult to forecast, and some volatility in revenue relative to the estimates is to be expected. This is similar to the PRRT, a profits-based tax that has been around for over 25 years and is also a volatile but important source of revenue. The volatility of the PRRT collections exceeds that of any other revenue. Senator Brandis: Mr President, I rise on a point of order on the question of relevance. The minister was not asked about the PRRT; he was asked about the MRRT. I ask you to direct him to the question. The PRESIDENT: The minister is answering the question. The minister still has 35 seconds remaining. Senator CONROY: As I have already stated clearly, the MRRT collections have been lower than Treasury forecasted, but anyone with an ounce of credibility can also see that commodity prices have taken a huge hit and that is flowing through to the MRRT collections. The MRRT, as I have said, is only six months old, and prices have varied and have been incredibly volatile. As I have also said, in answer to the earlier question, it takes months for higher spot prices— (Time expired)