Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said:

The only tax policy we're implementing is the one we took to the election.

However, when asked about possible tax changes, the Treasurer was open minded, saying:

… it's a matter for Cabinet.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that, having successfully eliminated the members for Chifley and Isaacs from cabinet, the Treasurer is now working on eliminating Australians' savings with a fresh round of taxes?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll give credit where credit's due. It takes some guts to talk about division in a party room—from people who have just come from a room over there where they were queuing up. The leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate led the charge to abolish net zero in the party room today, and they were queuing up one after the other. They are all over the shop. We have two former deputy prime ministers getting together. It's one of the great romances we've ever seen in this place—the member for Riverina and the member for New England.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unsurprisingly, this is on relevance. Every answer, the Prime Minister is not addressing anywhere near the subject matter of the question. He seems obsessed with the coalition and its happenings, but he's been asked about matters affecting the government and its policy. And he refuses to answer. In the last answer he didn't even get to the question. This time he's following the same pattern.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I agree with the manager. But when there's a pretty broad political brushstroke through a question, as this one had—it wasn't a fact, a figure, which I know sometimes is the theme of a question. This one was, in any objective terminology, a very broad, politically structured question. So I'm just going to invite the Prime Minister to, now that he's had the preamble, perhaps not focus on the opposition's policy; he can also compare and contrast, but that can't be his whole answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I missed the question; I just heard the sledge. I'm responding to it as I responded to sledges across the chamber. What it boils down to—it's hard to follow the plots over there. The Liberals fighting each other, the Nats fighting each other, and the Liberals then fighting the Nats. When they go to their party conferences, it's everyone fighting the leadership of the Liberal Party and the National Party. They go to a party conference up in Queensland, and they say that you should argue in favour of modernisation and we should support net zero. We need to learn the lessons of the past, but what we see is just division—no policies being put forward—and now we're reduced to just sledging.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From you.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When the member for Hume finishes, the manager on another point of order.

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister is defying your ruling—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I invite the Prime Minister to continue his answer. Resume your seat.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! When the House comes to order, we're going to hear from the honourable member for Macquarie.