Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We see that the number of Australians who think our country is more divided today than in the past is at 45 per cent. Again, it was in November 2022—on your watch. The number in Australia who say that the lack of civility and mutual respect is worse than they've ever seen—this is a good time for more interjections please—is at 61 per cent. It has never been worse. The number for those who say that the social fabric that once held this country together has grown too weak to serve as a foundation for unity and common purpose is at 54 per cent.

Australians are sick of the ideology, of course, because—let's be honest—no-one in this place is earning a salary that means that when they open a bill for their electricity or other utilities they have to think twice, or that when they're standing in the queue at Coles, Woolworths or the IGA they have to put things back on the shelves. None of us earn a salary that makes us ask those questions, but most Australians do. They're not just making those sorts of sacrifices; they're lining up in Foodbanks across the country. In my electorate, there are six of them. I've visited them, and the queues are longer than they've ever been. They're mostly full of women who are in broken relationships and have children sitting in the back seat of their car. So you can jest, but this is a serious matter and we hope that there is some action from those opposite.

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