Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is another far-fetched hypothetical question we get from the opposition, which stated over the last few days that its object this week was to create chaos in the House of Representatives. That was what they wanted to do. They wanted to do it this week: at a time when we face the gravest threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula; at a time at home when we have Australian families and businesses bearing the brunt of higher and higher electricity prices; and at a time when the Labor Party have finally made the stunning admission that it was their complacency, their neglect and their wilful recklessness that resulted in there being a shortage of gas on the east coast of Australia—when, in other words, they put their hands up and said that they were guilty of the high electricity prices we're currently facing and that are putting tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs at risk. At a time of all of that, the Labor Party's goal is to create chaos and mayhem. They threatened that they were going to create disorder in the House. At one point, they said they were going to walk out.

The Australian people expect this House, this parliament, to focus on their security: their national security, their energy security, and securing their jobs and the opportunities for the future. That's what the government is focused on. I know the opposition has no interest in taking advice from me, but I would counsel them to focus on the same real issues themselves.

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