The Hon. WALT SECORD: My question is directed to the Minister for Finance and Services, representing the Treasurer. Has New South Wales breached the debt level set by international ratings agency Standard and Poor's, triggering a downgrade in our triple-A credit rating?
The Hon. GREG PEARCE: No. But I am pleased to be on my feet talking about numbers. Some people might have missed the numbers that came out last week—the poll. What a wonderful position we are in. The Coalition is still at 63 per cent.

The Hon. Lynda Voltz: Point of order: Loath as I am to interrupt the Minister, I refer to relevance. The question asked specifically about the triple-A rating.

The PRESIDENT: Order! While the Minister had only just commenced his answer, he was moving away from being generally relevant. Entertaining and interesting though that may be, I remind the Minister of the need for him to be generally relevant.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: The Hon. Walt Secord understood in his previous jobs that the triple-A credit rating is one of the key measures for financial management for the reputation of a government and, particularly, a treasurer. We have the confidence of the community because it knows that we are managing the economy and the budget in a way that those opposite only dreamed about in their good years in government. They frittered away tens of billions of dollars. The people of New South Wales, as well as the ratings agencies, have made a decision. They have told us their thoughts. They think that Mr Robertson is now Mr 14 Per Cent. He has breached the lending covenant, has he not—Mr 14 Per Cent?

The Hon. Lynda Voltz: Point of order: I refer again to relevance. The question specifically asked whether New South Wales had breached the debt level set by the international ratings agency Standard and Poor's.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind the Minister of my previous ruling.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: As I was saying about the triple-A rating, it is an important indication of the performance of the Government as a financial manager. The fact is that members on the other side do not understand the triple-A rating. They do not understand the metrics.

The Hon. Eric Roozendaal: I won it back.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: The Hon. Eric Roozendaal interjects that he won it back. Who can forget the Hon. Eric Roozendaal's emergency mini-budget in which he tried to cancel school buses?

The Hon. Catherine Cusack: And the Pacific Highway funding.

The Hon. GREG PEARCE: And the Pacific Highway funding. The Hon. Eric Roozendaal then had to go out and reverse things within a couple of months because it was the most catastrophic mini-budget delivered by any Treasurer. The Hon. Eric Roozendaal gave New South Wales the gift of handling the electricity transaction.

The Hon. Eric Roozendaal: Point of order: The question was very specific about the triple-A credit rating that was restored under the Labor Government.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The member is making debating points, not taking a point of order. There is no point of order. The Minister has concluded his answer.

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: If members have further questions I suggest they place them on notice.

Questions without notice concluded.

Pursuant to sessional orders debate on committee reports proceeded with.