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) (14:32): Once again those opposite seek to misrepresent the facts to the Australian public. Those opposite continue with their fear campaign. They deliberately misrepresent and overstate the impact of the carbon tax. The carbon tax, according to those opposite, was going to wreak havoc across the economy. What have we seen? Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order, on both sides! Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: When there is silence on both sides we will proceed. Order on my right and on my left! Senator CONROY: Those opposite have no end to their misleading and deceptive discussion on this issue. As the Council of Small Business Australia data shows, the electricity cost of a typical small retail business makes up less than two per cent of total costs—less than two per cent. So a 10 per cent price increase would be less than 0.2 per cent of total costs. For a typical small business using 10 megawatt hours of electricity per year, this is around $5 per week. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator CONROY: In most cases, business electricity costs are expected to be passed on, and have been taken into account in the design of the government's Household Assistance Package, which is delivering tax cuts, higher family payments and an increase in pensions. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator CONROY: And we have put in place a range of programs. The PRESIDENT: Order! It is not much use, if you are asking for an answer to the question, debating it whilst the question is being answered. There should be no-one interjecting from the other side as well. Senator Conroy, continue—you have 15 seconds. Senator CONROY: We have put in place a range of programs to support small business. For example, we have increased the instant asset write-off to $6,500. So, for those opposite to continue— (Time expired)