Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance) (14:22): I thank Senator Di Natale for that question. The Commission of Audit is doing some very important work for the government as we set out to repair the budget mess that we have inherited from the previous government. It is important to remember that we inherited a budget situation with $123 billion worth of cumulative deficits over the forward estimates—$123 billion worth of deficits. The previous government inherited a budget in very good shape—no government net debt, a budget surplus of $20 billion, cash in the bank—and in six short years they turned that into a situation where debt is now heading for $667 billion without corrective action. The previous minister for finance presided over $107 billion worth of budget blow-outs in just the three years that she was minister. I will outline what we have done so far. We took $42 billion worth of— Senator Di Natale: Mr President, I raise a point of order. My question went specifically to the issue of industry subsidies such as the fossil fuel rebate. I did not ask for a lecture on the state of the budget position. The PRESIDENT: You are now debating. You have taken your point of order. Senator Di Natale: It is a point of order on relevance. We are now over a minute into the answer and we have not had any discussion on the question, which related to industry subsidies such as the fossil fuel rebate. The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order at this stage. I am listening to the minister's response. The minister still has 56 seconds remaining to address the question. I call upon the minister. Senator CORMANN: Senator Di Natale asked me about the work being undertaken by the Commission of Audit, and I was providing a very direct answer to exactly what is happening there. We did inherit a budget in a mess after six years of bad Labor government. We do have to turn a very serious situation around. What we have already done so far is implement the savings that we took to the last election. The work of the Commission of Audit will build on that. We have asked the Commission of Audit to look right across government for opportunities to improve the efficiencies of the government's operation. Senator Di Natale: Mr President, I raise a point of order on relevance. I asked very specifically whether the National Commission of Audit or the government would be taking action on the question of industry subsidies, such as the fossil fuel rebate. It was a simple question and it deserves a simple answer, and we have not got it yet. The PRESIDENT: As I have said on numerous occasions from the chair, I cannot tell the minister how to answer the question. I believe the minister is addressing the question at this stage, and he still has 20 seconds remaining. Senator CORMANN: I say it again: the government has inherited a budget in a mess, and right now the Commission of Audit and the government are looking right across government for opportunities to improve the efficiency of government, to identify savings and to build a stronger, more prosperous economy, which will drive improvements in revenue. (Time expired)