Mr CHESTER (Gippsland) (16:12): I'm sorry the Prime Minister is not here for the matter of public importance because, as you know, Deputy Speaker Claydon, I'm here to help. I don't want to be a dobber—no-one likes being a dobber—but he needs to know what's been going on as he travels the world. I've been watching those opposite very closely in the last two question times, and, I've got to say, it has been like watching a funeral procession over the last couple of days. The PM was at the dispatch box delivering his big zingers, and there's been a deathly silence amongst those opposite. They've got their heads down. They're looking at their mobile phones, all checking the latest Newspoll results, trying to figure out if they can win with a primary vote that is lower than it was at the last election: 'Can I still win? Is my great career going to end now?' I've seen this tragedy unfold before. Very soon they will start looking around the caucus room: 'Who can boost my chances? Who can invest in my greatness? Who can make me what I should be?' Let me assure you all: someone is ready for that tap on the shoulder. The ever-ambitious member for Rankin is already out there choosing the curtain colours at the Lodge. He's ready to tear down those Rabbitohs posters and insert his own Brisbane Broncos posters at the Lodge. The lad from Logan City is in a hurry. I've been reading a bit lately, and I was taken by that very famous quote by Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. At one point Caesar ponders: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. Then I read another piece—not quite Shakespeare but comedy and tragedy in equal measure. It was the 5,699-word puff piece on the Treasurer written by Deborah Snow. I'm not sure 'Deborah Snow' is not a pseudonym for Jim Chalmers, actually. It was glorious coverage of his fabulous fitness regime, his intellectualism and his good humour. It was 5,699 words of gushing praise. I was running around the lake this morning and I half expected to see the Treasurer walking across the lake, because it was such a stunning piece. But I was struck by this quote from the Treasurer in this gushing piece of fluff: You know, every career has an arc and I like reading about how people think about the end of the arc. Prime Minister, a word to the wise: he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. While the Labor Party have started plotting and scheming behind the scenes, they've already forgotten the people they were elected to represent in the first place. This Prime Minister said he would govern for all Australians. Tell that to the timber workers in my electorate of Gippsland and tell that to the irrigation communities within the Murray-Darling Basin, because this government and this Prime Minister are about to waste $22 billion of taxpayers' money buying back water from productive agricultural use. It is a plan that will force up the price of groceries for Australian families in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. What genius could ever support an idea that would involve forcing up grocery prices and making it harder to produce food in the nation's food bowl in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis? I can understand, though, why those opposite don't understand the Murray-Darling Basin, because none of them live in the Murray Darling Basin. Mr Birrell: And they couldn't care. Mr CHESTER: Not one of them lives there. The member for Nicholls points out they couldn't care. They couldn't care because they don't understand. They don't even understand that the food bowl of our nation is so critical to grow the food for our communities and for the rest of the world. So more than $20 billion of taxpayers' money is to be wasted to increase the cost of living. Ms Lawrence interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Lawrence ): Member for Hasluck, really! Mr CHESTER: You'll get your chance soon, but I tell you now: it's a long way from Western Australia to the Murray-Darling Basin, genius. Let me just talk about one other thing which reflects on this Prime Minister and his distraction from the issues which impact regional people. The issues that regional people are talking about are their jobs, the cost of living, good roads, good schools and health services. They're talking about things that matter in their lives while the Prime Minister is out there wasting more than $400 million on his vanity project, dividing the nation with his failed Voice proposal. It just demonstrates again the poor judgement and just how out of touch the Prime Minister is, and it's a reflection on the distraction and disengagement he has. He spends most of his time overseas, and I just say to the Prime Minister: get back in the country and do your day job, because I tell you now, Prime Minister, that, if you don't start understanding the issues that are impacting regional people and start keeping your promise to govern for all Australians, you need to realise that the Treasurer is very happy to do that job for you.