David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, Australians are facing a cost-of-living crisis. The government has wasted $450 million on the Prime Minister's Voice referendum and $250 million on monitoring hardcore criminals that did not need to be released. So will the Prime Minister rule out wasting more—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, members on my right! The Minister for Skills and Training is warned.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! The questions are going to be heard in silence, just as they were on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and today. They're all going to be heard in silence. The minister for skills is warned. If anyone else interjects, they'll be warned. I have to hear the question. The Leader of the Nationals will begin his question again.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, Australians are facing a cost-of-living crisis. The government has wasted $450 million on the Prime Minister's Voice referendum and $250 million on monitoring hardcore criminals that did not need to be released. So will the Prime Minister rule out wasting more taxpayers' money on creating up to 53 new federal politicians and 200 or more staff who would come with them?

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left will cease interjecting.

The member for Barker will cease interjecting.

Opposition members interjecting—

Members on my left will cease interjecting immediately. The question was heard in silence. The Prime Minister will be given the same courtesy, and he has the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the National Party for his question, which goes to an attack on the existence of politicians. And on the suggestion that some politicians are a waste of money, I think he's right. Over there you could have one of those buttons that you press and it just says no in different ways: no, no, no, no, no. You could set that button up over there, and no matter what the legislation was, you could press the button and there it would be: no, no, no!

You know you have really hit the bottom of the barrel, when it comes to desperation, when a politician who's the leader of a political party thinks it's okay to just say, 'Oh, we want less politicians.' This is the mob, across the Liberal and National parties, who recently had the largest international parliamentary delegation since Federation. Fifteen of them went to a conference in London: the members for Cook, Hume, New England, Wannon, Fairfax, Mallee, Bowman, Berowra, Canning and Groom—and that's before you get to the senators.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Nationals on a point of order.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance: the question was very tight, about whether the Prime Minister will—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat. I don't think anyone could argue that that question was tight. It contained the issues of the cost of living, the referendum and immigration and also the issue of new politicians and the cost that comes from that. The Prime Minister has one minute to continue about the broad-ranging nature of that question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Almost as many people as they have in their shadow cabinet were at this cooker-fest in London. And what was it about? It was the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, paid for by billionaires and global hedge funds.

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting. I can't hear a word that's being said. If this level continues, another general warning will be issued and people won't be here today.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a conference about the future, with guest speakers such as John Howard, who went along to say, 'Multiculturalism is a concept that I've always had trouble with,' and Tony Abbott, saying that climate change was both 'ahistorical and utterly implausible', peddled by a 'climate cult'. That's what they see as the future. They went all that way to bag multiculturalism and to bag climate change.

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my right will cease interjecting, as will members on my left.

Order, the member for Hume and the Leader of the Nationals! I am going to wait until the House settles.

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy is not assisting.