It's normal that the opposition leader comes in on Thursdays at the end of a sitting and takes the MPI to send the troops home with a buzz, but, obviously, he's playing to the gallery. That was objectively terrible. In case he wants to rewatch it on the camera, the backbench looked dejected, despondent and definitely downcast at that performance.

It is important to read the topic. The topic, word for word, says: 'The need for the government to clear with Australians as to why they are worse off.' I presume the opposition leader read the topic before he signed it—attention to detail. It's missing a word. Is that an accident or is it a cunning plan? We can presume he has attention to detail; he was a minister for energy. He had great attention to detail before the 2022 election, when he literally changed the law to cover up the electricity price rises that were coming down the pipe to Australians; that took attention to detail. He presumably had great attention to detail when he was a McKinsey consultant selling those multimillion-dollar PowerPoints to the big corporate clients. Presumably, he was very focused on detail when he set up a company in the Cayman Islands that booked a $52 million profit from selling overpriced water to the Commonwealth taxpayers. Presumably there was a lot of attention to detail with the Eastern Australian Agricultural Company. So we can presume that he left the word 'be' out on purpose—to be or not to be? Well, it's pretty obvious from that performance in the last few weeks that they are choosing not to be—and they're right on track to not be there after the next election as they sell their soul to One Nation.

I'm very happy to have a debate on the economy, on the cost of living and on standards, rather than the smears and the cuddles with One Nation which have constituted their question time for the last two weeks—more than that. Golf clubs. Melons. Is the member for Canning a traitor or is he not? I say he's a patriot—I don't agree with him on policy, but I can say that without hesitation or qualification, unlike some of his colleagues in the One Nation party. But this is a serious topic. This is a difficult time.

Over the last few years, the world has thrown a lot at Australia. There was the global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East and Iran, which rolls on with the rolling oil shocks through the global economy, and, of course, the threat of climate change, which is the single biggest cause pushing up insurance premiums around the country for small businesses, for consumers, for farmers, for all parts of the economy. I know the member opposite would be hearing from his constituents in the farming community about the fear of a drought to come with El Nino. This is a difficult time. It feels like, just as Australians start getting back on their feet, there's another global shock coming at us, and that is what has happened in recent years.

The government is shielding Australia from the worst of the crisis, but we are not immune to global inflation pressures. Things don't stop at the Australian border like in the magical fantasy world that we hear about in question time, for those opposite. The truth is they don't. And it's about time that MPs, politicians and so-called leaders, including the opposition—the opposition has an important job. They're not doing it, but it's to hold the government to account for its exercise of power and to actually put forward costed policies and behave like an alternative government so people have a choice at elections. They weren't a very good government, and they're no good at opposition. But I genuinely hope they improve.

The single biggest thing putting pressure on Australians and household budgets is inflation. Prices are rising too fast. People feel it when they go to the shops—it feels like things are dearer than they were last month, and, in too many cases, that's the case. When we came to government, the mess we inherited was big. Inflation was rising at over six per cent and galloping away. It peaked at over eight per cent. It's now down to 3½ per cent. It has moderated every month for the last four months. But it's still too high. No-one's denying that. But this is a global problem.

The single biggest factor hitting household standards and the single biggest risk next month, next quarter and into next year is the war in the Middle East. The end of the war can't come soon enough, and the parties to the conflict need to bring it to an end. The longer it lingers, the more concerned global markets become. We heard in question time and you can see in the media growing speculation about interest rate rises in the next few days in the United States and every major economy. The oil price is an especially pernicious thing.