Senator LUDWIG (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister Assisting on Queensland Floods Recovery) (14:33): Mr President, I will try— Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Just wait a minute, Senator Ludwig. Those on my left, Senator Milne is entitled to hear the response of the minister. Senator LUDWIG: Thank you, Mr President. Clearly, the MRRT collections have been lower than Treasury expected, but anybody with an ounce of credibility can also see that the commodity prices have taken a big hit and that this is flowing through to the MRRT collections. The MRRT has only been in for six months, and mineral prices, particularly iron ore, have been incredibly volatile over that period. It takes months— Senator Milne: Mr President, I raise a point of order. My question went to the issue of the royalty credits, not the commodity prices, so can you please explain to me how much? Senator Jacinta Collins: Mr President, on the point of order: my recollection is that the question referred to the royalty credits as a 'design flaw', and the minister is referring to why that is not a good assumption. The PRESIDENT: That is a debating point. At this stage, the minister has 28 seconds remaining. I draw the minister's attention to the question. Senator LUDWIG: The premise of the question does go to whether there was a design flaw. We refute that. I am going through to explain, in fact, why it is refuted. It can take, as I said, months for higher spot prices to fully reflect the MRRT revenue, as trade can be conducted on a monthly or even quarterly basis. Resource rent taxes are by their very nature, as indicated, volatile, and— (Time expired)