Senator McGRATH (Queensland) (17:10): When I look at those who are sitting around the cabinet table, I think there are a lot of villages missing their village idiots. You're looking at the hapless halfwits who are attempting to run this country at the moment. When I speak to my fellow Queenslanders, I think, 'I wouldn't trust these people to operate a toaster, a kettle, a remote control', because—guess what?—they wouldn't be able to do it. Senator Bilyk interjecting— Senator McGRATH: The interjections start like seagulls coming in for the chips. I'll throw out the chips to those Labor people over there, because that's all they can do. All they can do is shout and interject. It comes down to the simple fact that Australians do not have confidence in this government. They do not have confidence in this government, which is not keeping Australians safe, because—guess what?—the fourth person who was released 10 days ago has now been arrested. It's up to four! Congratulations, Labor. You're stuffing up the economy and now you're making sure that Australians do not feel safe at home because of your failure to— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Allman-Payne ): Senator McGrath, resume your seat. Senator Bilyk? Senator Bilyk: I've been told previously that 'stuffing up' is an unparliamentary term. I ask you to ask Senator McGrath to withdraw that. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator McGrath, it would assist the chamber. Senator McGRATH: I withdraw. Labor, in a ham-fisted way, are completely messing up the economy. They're like a bunch of toddlers who've been given a very expensive tractor and are just sitting there drooling, wondering what to do with it. Then, of course, they'll press a button and break it all up. This is the damage that the Labor Party are causing to the economy, and this is quite serious because we're in a cost-of-living crisis. What did the Labor Party do? They had a cunning plan. Like Baldrick out of Black Adder, it was a cunning plan that didn't really work. Prime Minister Albanese's cunning plan was to spend half a billion dollars on a referendum that would divide Australians on the basis of race. This was going to be the defining moment of Prime Minister Albanese's political career— Senator Scarr: His legacy. Senator McGRATH: His legacy. Everybody would come together. Like a Roman Caesar being crowned, he would be the one true ruler of this continent. Sadly, he forgot to think about what the Australian people might think of his quite bonkers plan to divide Australians on the basis of race, and they, sensibly, voted no to it. Like Ozymandias—from Tennyson, I think it was, Senator Scarr—in terms of 'look down and despair', we have a Prime Minister who bet everything on the Voice getting up. And when he woke up on 15 October with a political hangover, there was no plan B. There was no plan C, D, E, F or G. There was no other plan. What's clearly happened is that they've had to go to some focus groups. They've gotten Labor Party secretariats to do some focus groups to find out: What does middle Australia think? What are they thinking about? Three words have come in—three words that were not mentioned before 14 October—cost of living. You didn't need to spend money on focus groups. You didn't need to waste half a billion dollars on a referendum. The No. 1 issue since Labor has come to power has been the cost of living, because we've had 12 interest rate rises. We have high inflation and we do not have real wages growth in this country. This is happening under a Labor government who promised to make life better for people. But my question and my challenge to anyone who is listening to this today is: do you feel better off today than you did 18 months ago? You don't. Do you feel safer today than 18 months ago, knowing that this Labor government has released murderers, rapists, sex offenders and a contract killer out into the streets of this country? And the question people will be asking— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Polley? Senator Polley: My point of order is that the motion before the chair is not the issue that the good senator is addressing. We know we have a wideranging view on motions, but he's not speaking to the motion. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I've been listening to the senator. I believe that the senator is being relevant enough to the question. Senator McGRATH: I thank the senator for that interjection because it just proves Labor are a little bit touchy about this issue because they know the Australian people are turning on them. They know the Australian people have no confidence in those people who sit around the cabinet table and those people who sit on the Labor backbenches. Australians want a government who will deliver for them on cost of living and who'll keep them safe. What they have instead is a Prime Minister who prefers to spend his time overseas wheeling and dealing with the big deals rather than spending time in Australia understanding the concerns of middle Australia and acting on those concerns. So of course the Australian people have no confidence in this Labor government, and of course we should support a motion that sends a message to this government, which is, quite frankly: be better. Guess what their answer is? They want more politicians. No, we need better politicians and we need more common sense. (Time expired)