The Hon. LYNDA VOLTZ: My question is addressed to the Minister for Roads and Ports. Given that Treasury has provided advice that the average impact of a carbon price to public transport commuters will be 0.49 per cent, does the Minister still support the Premier's indication that commuters will face a 3.6 per cent price rise?

The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: I thank the Hon. Lynda Voltz for her question. Sometimes I wonder why members opposite lead with their chins in that manner. We thank the Hon. Eric Roozendaal because he supported the Federal carbon tax and the cost that would impose on New South Wales. What I have not told the House—I was saving this for another day because every time I read about it I get depressed—is the cost of the carbon tax on the provision of New South Wales infrastructure and particularly roads. The provision of roads in New South Wales involves heavy equipment: earthmoving equipment, trucks, graders, rollers, bulldozers and steel. Each of them uses diesel or petrol. What do we put on roads? We put bitumen on roads and we use concrete to construct roads.

The Hon. Lynda Voltz: Point of order: My point of order is on relevance. We are one minute into the Minister's answer and he has not got anywhere near telling us the cost to public transport commuters and the impact of the carbon price based on Treasury's figure of 0.49 per cent.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind the Minister of the need for him to be generally relevant when he answers questions.

The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: I should not have to give remedial lessons to members opposite. I thought it would have been obvious, even to members opposite, that buses and cars travel on roads. When we are talking about a carbon tax that affects the construction of roads and rail, that is directly relevant. Members opposite do not understand that a carbon tax will be a cost to our country and our State. It is a cost that will be put on exporters and industry that, frankly, they do not need at the moment. Earlier members opposite cheered when a question was asked about giving work to BlueScope in the Illawarra, but now their heads are in the sand as they pretend not to understand that the Federal Labor tax is almost directly the reason that jobs have been lost in the Illawarra.

The Hon. Lynda Voltz: Point of order: The question relates directly to the Treasury advice that commuters' fares will increase by 0.49 per cent and the Premier's indication that they will increase by 3.6 per cent. I am asking the Minister to clarify that, but he has not come within a bull's roar of doing so.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I refer the Minister to my previous ruling.

The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: I have been talking about carbon tax all the way through my answer. There is a difference between not answering the question and the answer that I am giving to the question. It is the appropriate answer. I am reminded that when we are talking about the cost of a carbon tax, we should remember that one of the major elements of road construction for the transport network in New South Wales is bitumen, which is an oil- and carbon-based product. Every day, in every place and in every way this horrible tax will hurt this State, and members opposite should hang their heads in shame. This is just another indication of why the members opposite need to form a question time committee—so that they do not ask questions like this one.