Senator ANTIC (South Australia) (15:27): After that hiatus, I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to all questions without notice asked by coalition senators today. Of course, there is plenty to talk about. We asked for answers in relation to a range of issues, all of which are central to the country today—child care, housing and the imminent unrealised capital gains tax among others. It caused me to pause and reflect upon the state of the nation as it generally stands. It seems almost inconceivable to me that a country as rich and as prosperous as Australia could be reduced to what it is today, such that we would have to sit here and ask questions in relation to those key issues, given the fact that we are talking about hundreds of thousands, now millions, of Australians who are homeless because of the reckless nature of the government's policies regarding immigration and housing. We've got a crippled energy market, we've got a decimated manufacturing base, and we've got a developing culture of self-loathing leading to some of the most unaffordable, unachievable societal cohesion we have ever seen. It caused me this week, as we returned to parliament, to give consideration to, for the sake of people outside this building, of which there are something in the order of 27 million—half their luck!—and reflect upon how it has happened. What is it that we can reflect on in this building that shows that? I think you could mount a very strong case that this is actually happening, because this building, as we walk around and look at the inhabitants of it, is now in danger of becoming nothing more than a coffee spot for union heavies, for lobbyists and for bureaucrats, who seem to be populating the entire building. It becomes something of a kabuki theatre, in which the actors in this building simply mill around and play their part. The laws in this building, the laws that have created those crises, emanate as a result of a thought bubble that occurred somewhere in a foreign land in a conference or a think tank—the kind of meeting where you get well-dressed, well-coiffed bureaucrats talking on a panel, wearing a wireless mic, sitting around with crossed legs, answering questions and sharing ideas about what would make a great Australia and then booking meetings later on with the minister's people. Of course, the minister, when they come back and talk to them, isn't paying attention, because the ministers in this building are now preferring self-aggrandising, delivering keynotes, talking at think tanks, going to dinners and having puff pieces written about them. This week we've seen the incredible spectacle—coming out of this side of the chamber exclusively, I would say—the invention of TikTok videos set to music, which has been an extraordinary development. There are a lot of dances coming out of your side of the chamber, Senator Wong. Senator Wong: I'm not on TikTok, mate. I wouldn't know. Senator ANTIC: That's much to your benefit! The reality here, though, is that this building is now populated by an incredible cast of characters. This building is like a great big party for the swamp, and no-one at home is invited. It's a party you're not invited to, because it's now completely, wholly owned by a different breed. You've got the career lefty politician person, who can't seem to walk around the building on his own. He's got to have two or three staff members behind him, talking about whatever busy work they're doing in the back room. This character, of course, made an impassioned speech 10 years ago about values and then forgot about them on the basis that we need to see the bigger picture. You've got the journalists, who don't get away scott-free, congregating in groups around the building, holding microphones, asking really important beltway questions about really important beltway issues—captive to corporate interests though, mind you, and at the whim of their editors—loving to drop a yarn, but in fact they're just writing whatever is deemed suitable by their private equity ownership. They have got 'journalist' on their tag, but if you read the business card, it should probably say 'Labor media adviser in waiting'. You've also got the lobbyists. You can see them milling around the building dominated by their orange lanyards. This is the lobbyist, sometimes known as the one-term MP, who told his family that he couldn't wait to get out of the building and now spends his days having coffees with MPs and reporting back to his board that he's influencing policy making. The staffers don't get off scott-free. You see them walking around the building in pants exposing the ankles, with a rainbow lanyard. They can't seem to walk without a coffee in their hand, talking about whatever the minister wants or whatever Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign is looking like. And who can forget the career bureaucrats with more letters after their names than the alphabet? They went to ANU in '93 to study human rights law and ended up in the diversity, equity and inclusion department of one our intel agencies. These are the cast of characters who are doing damage to this nation.