Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Minister for Finance) (14:21): I thank Senator Whish-Wilson for that question. As he rightly points out, this government is committed to ensuring that multinational businesses who operate in Australia, and indeed who operate in other parts of the world, pay appropriate levels of tax in relation to the profits that are generated either here or in other parts of the world. As Senator Whish-Wilson also indicated, it is appropriate for these sorts of issues to be resolved at an international level, because if we were to take unilateral action then of course we would put at risk our capacity to grow our economy more strongly. Unilateral action would potentially impact our international competitiveness, which is why the Treasurer, Mr Hockey, is pursuing the issues that Senator Whish-Wilson has raised very proactively and energetically through the G20 fora. As you would be aware, Australia right now has the privilege of chairing the G20. We had a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Sydney earlier this year, and that will be followed up with a leaders' forum in the great state of Queensland later this year. I am confident that we will be making— Senator Whish-Wilson: Mr President, I rise on a point of order on relevance. Perhaps Senator Cormann was going to get around to it, but I asked if they were going to sign an information-sharing agreement which has already been signed by countries such as Germany and Britain. The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order at this stage. Senator CORMANN: I was directly relevant to the question that was asked. This government will continue to progress its commitment to ensure that multinational companies pay their fair share of tax in relation to profits generated here in Australia in an orderly and methodical fashion, including through the appropriate international fora, such as the G20. That is ultimately the only way that we can conclusively make progress in relation to these sorts of issues.