Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:51): I thank Senator Sheldon for the question. Unlike the previous government, which didn't have an economic plan—it just had a Prime Minister who wanted to grab any portfolio he could; that's the only plan that you guys had; you each didn't know what the other was doing—our economic plan is a deliberate and direct response to the economic circumstances that were left by those opposite. Honourable senators interjecting— Senator GALLAGHER: You hate hearing about it, don't you, because you know it's true. The PRESIDE NT: Minister, please resume your seat. Order! The minister needs to be heard in silence. Minister, please continue. Senator GALLAGHER: We inherited an economy characterised by high and rising inflation, flat and falling real wages and productivity paralysis. That is your record. We also inherited a budget with a trillion dollars of debt, deficits as far as the eye can see and billions of dollars trapped in the way of the National Party—and I hope that that keeps your coalition together. That's your record. We're not going to stand here and be lectured by you guys about any cost-of-living prices, considering we're the ones dealing with the mess that you left us, and you abandoned Australia in the process.