Senator SHELDON (New South Wales—Chief Government Whip in the Senate) (15:51): I take questions that were raised by Senator Bragg but also the questions regarding the economy. What Senator Bragg failed to mention in his comments about the economy and his comments regarding the Reserve Bank is a very important report that was on 2 March 2026, this year. Shane Wright, in the Sydney Morning Herald, exposed what the consequences were for Tim Wilson to turn around and prioritise inflation rather than inflation and employment. The Reserve Bank said in a report by Sarah Hunter, the chief economist from the bank—I'm using my words—that, on the basis of battling inflation the way that Shadow Minister Wilson was suggesting, there would be over 200,000 more people that would be out of work and mortgage holders would be hit with much higher repayments as it more aggressively hiked up interest rates. Here we've got the Reserve Bank calling out the shadow Treasurer for a proposition that would have had 200,000 more people lose their jobs and interest rates actually be higher. That's the recipe that those opposite have. That's the strategy they have to deal with the cost of living: throw people out on the scrap heap and have no effect except a negative effect by driving interest rates up. When you start looking at the sorts of things that the opposition have with regard to cost of living and the sorts of issues that they raise on cost of living, you see not only that they want more people sacked, not only that they want more mums and dads without jobs, not only that they want to have ghettos across our economy, but the consequences of what they want on a whole series of other fronts. When it comes to the cost of living, you have to look at some of the comments. I'll use what the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, told David Speers and the ABC. He said—and we'll all remember this one: The best indicator of future performance is past performance. Well, as a backbencher, Angus Taylor, the opposition leader, advocated for raising the GST from 10 per cent to 15 per cent while championing a GP tax and cuts to public health funding. As energy minister, he ran the energy grid into the ground; 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations announced they were closing, and he did little or nothing to replace them. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Sheldon, resume your seat. Senator Canavan on a point of order? Senator Canavan: This is a time to take note of questions that were asked in the chamber today. It is hard for me to understand how this could be relevant when he's talking about the record of someone in the other place. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, there is generally wide latitude given in these debates. However, I will bring Senator Sheldon back to the questions asked by coalition senators, which is the matter before the chamber. Senator SHELDON: They don't want to hear about cost-of-living issues, but I respect your position, Deputy President. Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson's idea of economic management plan is to repeatedly call for higher interest rates. In fact, in 2018, in parliament, he said: … we need to create the policy settings to progressively increase interest rates. For those out there who want to read it, it's in Hansard, 27 February 2018. Again, in 2020, the same shadow Treasurer turned around and said: Nobody wins from low interest rates. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, on a point of order? Senator Canavan: I don't want to repeat myself, but I am concerned that my colleague is almost flouting your ruling. You did ask him to come back to the question, and he moved on from one member of the other place to another member of the other place. I'm not sure he's come back to the question due to your ruling earlier. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Sheldon, again, I remind you that, whilst wide latitude is given, it does need to be related to the matter before the Senate, which is the questions asked by coalition senators of members of the government. Senator SHELDON: Thank you, Deputy President, I'll follow that. I know those opposite don't want to hear. I'll use unnamed sources when talking about the economy because what we have had from those opposite and from their parties constantly turns around. There have been questions asked about interest rates, and this is what has actually been said by those opposite. These are the positions of those across the way about economic management, and this is how they look after the interests of all Australians. They are always undermining opportunities to make sure that the cost of living is properly dealt with for Australians. Let's not forget the previous shadow finance minister, the now deputy opposition leader, Jane Hume, calling out our tax cuts for millions of Australians as a 'travesty', or when she said that Labor investing in essential services was 'utter nonsense'. Those are the statements by those opposite about economic management and how to manage the cost of living. No wonder they want to shut it down! No wonder they don't want to have these conversations in this place. Apparently they also say that we shouldn't be investing in essential services. (Time expired)