James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

ENT ( Senator McGrath ) (): The President has also received the following letter from Senator Dean Smith:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

The Albanese Labor Government has delivered a high taxing, high spending Budget that has no plan to address the cost of living crisis; predicts 140,000 Australians losing their jobs; slashes funding to regional and rural Australia; breaks Labor’s promise to the Australian people to reduce power prices by $275 annually, instead hiking power prices by 50 per cent; and that has left Australians poorer, with the average family being at least $2000 worse off by Christmas.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today's debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.