Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:07): Thank you, Senator Grogan, for the question and for your interest in how this is affecting Australians and Australian families. The reality is that Australians are feeling the pain in their hip pocket because of nine years of denial, nine years of chaos and nine years of failed energy policies, as well as the significant international factors that we are experiencing. Honourab le senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister Wong! Honourable senators interjecting— Senator WONG: You don't like it, do you? You don't like the fact— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister Wong! Interjections and yelling out at the top of your voice are absolutely inappropriate and disorderly to the point— Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! To the point that, when I tried to establish quiet, none of you could hear me. It is disorderly. It's your question time, your opportunity to ask questions, that's being interfered with. The level of noise has to be reduced. Senator WONG: The impact from the former government's lack of energy policy is being felt across the economy by Australian families and businesses. Skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices are putting pressure on budgets. They promised a gas-lead recovery and you had a gas crisis. Renewables, the cheapest form of energy, declined under you. The fact is the lack of policy certainty, the lack of any policy framework, the chaos—do you know what it did? It stifled investment. It slowed the uptake of renewables. Instead of being well placed to deal with this challenge, Australians were left vulnerable by a government that had 22 energy policies. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Minister Wong, please resume your seat. Seriously! It's not only disorderly; it's disrespectful. I will keep sitting the minister down for as long as it takes, because it's your time that is being wasted. Senator McGrath: Oh, good! The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator McGrath—calling out like that is completely disorderly. Minister Wong. Senator WONG: Well, they might not like to recall how a market operates but let me tell you this: your chaos stifled investment. Nine years, 22 energy policies, you took four gigawatts out of the— The PRESIDENT: Minister Wong, please resume your seat. Honour able senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson, I'll call you when it's quiet. Senator Henderson. Senator Henderson: Madam President, thank you. Could I ask if you could ask the senator to direct her comments through the chair? Thank you. The PRESIDENT: Thank you. Minister Wong. Senator WONG: They took four gigawatts of capacity out of the system, they put one in and then they wonder why that has contributed to the price increases that Australians are experiencing. Then they come in here and say: 'Oh, oh! It's really bad!' Well, maybe you should have thought of that in the nine years you were in government—the nine years you were in government! Australians are paying the price. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson? Senator Henderson: Madam President, Senator Wong has continued to refer to 'you' in her contribution. Could I ask you to again remind her that she is to make her comments through the chair and not directed at the chair? The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson, it is quite appropriate for anyone in the chamber to refer to me as 'President'. Senator Henderson: Meaning the coalition— The PRESIDENT: Senator Henderson, that's not a point of order, thank you. Please resume your seat. I'm not accepting that it's a point of order, so please resume your seat. A first supplementary, Senator Grogan.