Senator NASH (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of The Nationals in the Senate and Assistant Minister for Health) (14:09): No, I cannot confirm that statement, because we will not be aware which clinicians will be charging a co-payment until the scheme starts. This government has been very clear in making sure that the Australian people know exactly why the changes to the budget took place. The changes to the budget took place because of the previous government's economic mismanagement. The budget mess that they left us meant that we had to make some tough decisions in the budget. It was under the previous finance minister that we saw net debt treble from $42 billion to $153 billion. Perhaps if the previous finance— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Moore, a point of order. Senator Moore: Thank you, Mr President. My point of order, surprisingly, is on direct relevance. The specific question is about the cost of the additional $7 GP tax to pathology laboratories and the requirement to send additional $7 accounts to patients. I would ask you to draw that to the attention of the minister. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Moore. The minister has just over one minute left to answer the question. I draw the minister's attention to the question. Senator NASH: Thank you very much, Mr President. I answered it directly. I said I could not confirm it. We did not know what the processes would be; therefore, we would not know what the costs would be to the pathology labs. I was very clear. I was also very clear in stating to the chamber exactly why the budget contained tough decisions. It was because— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: I will not call Senator Moore until there is silence. Senator Moore, a point of order. Senator Moore: Mr President, there were two parts to the question. The second part is about the additional $7 accounts being sent to patients. The minister has not addressed that part of the question at all. The PRESIDENT: The minister can address the question, and she has indicated in her previous response to a point of order that she did address the question. The minister can get to the second part of the question in her own time. Senator NASH: Thank you, Mr President. And, indeed, I answered it. We will not be able to determine what costs will be passed on until we determine whether or not a co-payment will be charged. It is very clear. I was indicating to the chamber that if it had not been for things like, under the previous finance minister, spending $34 million buying water from Tandou Station, which was supplementary water that actually does not exist except in a flood—it was the previous government's mismanagement that led to a tough budget.