A big week in Parliament with some really important figures coming through late in the week showing unemployment down to 3.7 per cent. It means that since we came to office 790,000 jobs have been created.

Unemployment is down, inflation is down, wages are moving and Australians will get to keep more of what they earn with our tax cuts.

In case you’ve missed it - there’s also a 5&5 Live Podcast these days. My guest this week is the Labor MP, Sam Rae, you can listen and subscribe here.

Here’s the 5&5.

BEST

Welcoming Jodie Belyea
Expanding Paid Parental leave
Katy Gallagher’s Senate smash hit
Andrew Leigh’s boot-worthy comment
Aged care worker, Kylie

WORST

Saying goodbye to Linda White
Dutton’s nuclear mess
They moved that the member no longer be heard…again
We’re not mad, just disappointed
The scared, weird little guys

1. On Monday we welcomed a new member to the House of Representatives, with Jodie Belyea sworn in as the Labor MP for the seat of Dunkley. It was a by-election nobody wanted following the death of Peta Murphy but as the PM said:

“Peta Murphy did some fantastic things as the member for Dunkley, including recruiting Jodie to the Labor Party. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber when I say it is hard to imagine a greater compliment than being selected by Peta Murphy to serve the community that she loved so deeply."

2. A big win for families this week with our expansion of Paid Parental Leave passing the Parliament. Paid Parental Leave is a proud legacy of the Gillard Government. This change – which expands the scheme to six months – strengthens that. As Amanda Rishworth told the House:

“From day one, this government has been working hard to improve paid parental leave for working families … This week we took another significant step forward. With the successful passage of our legislation in the parliament, we are delivering the largest expansion of paid parental leave since Labor established this back in 2011".

3. It’s not too often the Senate gets a mention in this email - but this from Katy Gallagher was great. Over the weekend the South Australian Liberals sorted out their Senate ticket for the next election. Frontbencher Anne Ruston was knocked off the top of the ticket by the extremely conservative (male) backbencher Alex Antic. On Monday Katy answered a question from Jess Walsh about the importance of having women in politicS.

“I'm very proud, along with all my colleagues here and in the other place, to be a member of the first federal government that has a majority of members who are women. That of course hasn't happened by accident, and we know that there are still some political parties that struggle with the role they want women to play in their political party."

4. It’s rare I’d nominate a Labor MP getting booted from the chamber under 94a in the best things that happened this week. But the reason Andrew Leigh was booted on Tuesday (and the way he dealt with it) was worth a mention. This might be the first time since Federation that someone has interjected with the word “divest".

5. In Parliament I love it when you hear people tell stories of people they’ve met and how it fits in with policy changes. On Thursday Anika Wells did that – giving the example of Kylie, an aged care worker she’d met, and what our changes had meant for her.

“I recently met with aged-care workers and they told me about their colleague named Kylie. Kylie is a single mum, living, working and raising her family in Penrith, in the member for Lindsay's electorate. Before the 15 per cent increase in the award wage minimum, Kylie was trying to get approved for a mortgage, in order to buy a house for her and her kids. But the banks wouldn't lend to her, because, despite doing this incredibly valuable work, she wasn't paid enough. But under the Albanese Labor government that changed, and, after the pay increase on 1 July last year, Kylie has now been approved for a mortgage and been able to buy an apartment for the very first time. How amazing is that!"

1. On Monday the Parliament said goodbye and thank you to our friend and colleague Linda White who passed away recently. Linda had only been in the Senate for a short time - but her time there built on a career spent fighting for Australian workers. Linda leaves an extraordinary legacy. The PM described her as possibly the most senior new backbencher to have ever existed. On Thursday there were also condolences for Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon – the son of former Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon – who died in a parachuting accident. The PM, Opposition Leader, Deputy PM and Shadow Defence Minister all spoke – reflecting the grief you could feel in the chamber.

2. On Tuesday the PM highlighted the absolute mess that Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy policy is in.

“The Leader of the Opposition's media team were around the gallery yesterday saying they were going to make a decision last night and were going to announce their nuclear policy. Today he went to the party room and said, 'Well, there were a few details that were outstanding—just four: safety, disposal, cost and location.' So apart from safety, apart from the disposal, apart from the cost, and apart from where they're going to go, it's all sorted out for those opposite: 'Good news, team, good news.' Other than that, everything is ready to go, ready to rip. You just need to buy the land, pour the slab, build the walls and put the roof on, then we have a new house. Unbelievable! In fact, nuclear power is a lot like the Liberal Party: no help to anyone today, completely wrong for Australia's future, and notorious for waste that takes forever to clean up."

3. In Government the Liberals and Nationals spent a decade shutting down debate in Parliament and stacking the Administrative Appeals Tribunal with their mates. Now, even in Opposition they’re addicted to shutting down debate … about the AAT. Both Michael McCormack and James Stevens moved that members be no longer heard when Labor MPs were talking about our Bill to establish a new Administrative Review Tribunal. I’ve had it moved against me more times than anybody since Federation, but now Peter Khalil and Matt Thistlewaite have entered the race.

4. Joe Hockey. Arthur Sinodinos. George Brandis. Alexander Downer. All former Liberal MPs who went on to serve as ambassadors – with support from us. On Wednesday the Opposition used Question Time to criticise Kevin Rudd’s role as Ambassador to the United States. The PM summed it up at the end of Question Time on Wednesday:

“One of the things that I have never seen happen before in 28 years in this chamber is an attempt to politicise Australia's representative overseas in an important nation such as that. I've never seen it before."

5. A great Gen X reference from Catherine King in Question Time on Wednesday – referring to the Opposition as the “scared, weird little guys of Australian politics”. Less comedy, more calamity from Peter Dutton than the Scared Weird Little Guys.

Parliament is back next week for the last sitting before the Budget.

‘til then,

Tony

PS. When I got back to my office and said “How funny was the reference to the Scared Weird Little Guys?” about half the staff looked back blankly and I realised there was a generational issue. So if you haven’t heard of them - check them out.

5&5: Scared weird little guys