Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have three minutes, the opposition had three questions for the Labor Party and we had three completely failed answers from this failure of a government. The first question, from my good friend Senator McGrath, was on the cost-of-living crisis that is facing everyday Australians, particularly small businesses and families. We've got a serious problem in our communities through that cost-of-living crisis, and this government's failure to address it in a meaningful way, to understand it and to do anything other than give lip service to it is an absolute disgrace.

The second question was a serious question on a national security issue—potentially the most serious terrorist attack on Australian shores, if it had been able to go ahead—and that was the discovery of explosives in a caravan connected to Jewish sites that were potential targets for this explosive. The Prime Minister couldn't answer a simple question about when he was briefed on it, even though, as Senator Paterson showed, time and time again in the past this Prime Minister has had no hesitation in revealing such information where it suited him. Yet, in this particular case, because it clearly doesn't suit him, he hasn't revealed this information. Why? I ask the Australian people who are listening: why is the Prime Minister running scared on this issue?

Finally, question No. 3 was on the decimation of our small-business sector under this government. There have been 27,000 insolvencies since May 2022. That is just extraordinary!

This is a failed government. I had three minutes. I outlined the three questions we asked—