Senator O'NEILL (New South Wales) (16:22): I rise today to speak on this matter of public importance moved by Senator Hughes on the economy. I have to confess how bitterly disappointed I am—and continue to be—by the coalition's repeated failure to bring anything of genuine substance into this chamber for a discussion. The attitude of this opposition is well evidenced in what has been brought to the chamber today. It's an opposition not defined by ambition or aspiration or good will. Those are the values which we on this side of the chamber very much hold dear. But today's MPI reveals an opposition defined by their relentless drive to undermine progress, to diminish hope and to dance on the struggle of Australians who are responding to challenges in our economy and who are working very hard to do that. Instead, what we see is a gleeful opposition coming in here, pretending that they care but crying crocodile tears and actually delighting in every moment that they can say that Australians are doing it tough. And that's all they do. They say the words, and then they say: 'But don't give them any assistance. Don't give Australians assistance. Don't spend.' We heard it through Senator Hughes's contribution: 'Yes, Australians are doing it tough, but do not spend. The government should not be spending. The government should not be helping Australians. They should not be spending.' So what we've seen is the reality of many challenges to families. High interest rates are the legacy of 10 years of economic mismanagement under the coalition, and certainly that has left Australians with less than they deserve. We do know that Australians are doing it tough, and they need a government that will acknowledge that and respond to it, and that is what we're doing. If Senator Hughes genuinely cared about supporting Australians, and, if the terms in her statement here before the Senate mattered in reality— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Polley ): Sorry, Senator O'Neill. Senator Scarr, do you have a point of order? Senator Scarr: Point of order: impugning the motives of a fellow senator in terms of saying, 'If Senator Hughes genuinely cared', as if she didn't. I think that should be withdrawn. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Scarr, there is no point of order. Senator O'Neill, please continue. Senator O'NEILL: I can only wait for Senator Hughes to bring forward some dollars to go with the profession of care, because at the moment all we hear from the opposition is: 'Don't spend. Don't support Australians.' The affectation of care and the reality of responding are two different things. We need actual policies to be advanced in this place, to be put on the record by the coalition, instead of these hollow talking points. The reality right now for Australians, who we are governing for, is that inflation absolutely is still higher than we would like it, but it's less than the six per cent that it was when we came to government, which was what was inflicted on Australians under the Liberal-National coalition. We can absolutely say that underlying inflation is moderated and the momentum of inflationary pressure is actually going downwards. That is a good thing. It is worth celebrating, and it is worth saying to people that, if you're struggling, hold on. We see that struggle, and that's why we want to assist you with things that you need, such as your electricity. We know that, under the coalition, they didn't deliver a surplus and they didn't manage the economy well. We know that, under the opposition, people's electricity prices really became a problem, and today we had questions in question time where Senator McAllister was explaining what the chaos of energy policy under the Liberal-National coalition determined in terms of the market's reaction. It's into that chaos that we have brought order. Of course, we've made commitments to assist families in real terms with what they need—to assist every single household under every roof in this nation. Australians can expect $300 to help them, not to pay their bill in its entirety but to help them. That's $300 per household to make sure that they get a bit of relief from the energy costs that we know are part of why Australians are doing it tough. We know that the challenges facing small businesses are significant as well, and that is why we have a small business package to assist. Over a million businesses are going to get the benefit of support from Labor. Making rent cheaper for a million households is a great commitment to help people. We've delivered tax cuts for every working Australian. All of these things are indicators of support for— (Time expired)