Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

That is not exactly what I said. I said that I could not predict what the prices might be for either of the products in that period, because I cannot predict what the input costs are going to be for either of those products. If you want to make a direct comparison based on a baseline figure that might be the number today, that is a different matter. But there are differentials in a whole range of inputs, whether it be the cost of oil, whether it be the cost of grain or whether it be the cost of production of biodiesel or the cost of production of diesel—they are all variables which, if you have a crystal ball better than mine, you might be able to see. That was the point that I was making. I was not questioning a baseline figure as such. I was saying that the differentials between the inputs obviously vary. They have varied considerably over the last three or four years, given the base price of oil, to start with, on one side of the equation. Although I have made some inquiries I have not actually had the information passed back to me yet on the cost of inputs for biodiesel, say, through the cost of grain. I think we are talking at slightly cross-purposes.