MEDIA RELEASE: Parliamentary early marks reward truant Liberal MPs

Overnight, Christopher Pyne put new changes to Standing Orders on the Notice Paper. They mean Parliament will finish at 8:00pm instead of 9:30pm, so they don't have to keep any MPs in the building after dinner because they’re likely to wander off and not return. The adjournment only gets voted on if a Minister wants a vote.

After the last sitting week was such a shambles for the Government, we now see their desperate attempts to give the impression of order. What they’re doing is like trying to solve a truancy problem by giving everyone an early mark: changing the rules because they cannot follow them.

They claim to have a working majority, but what they’ve got is a majority of people who don't want to work.

This comes after Christopher Pyne yesterday instructed staff to stand sentry at all eight parliamentary exits to prevent MPs from going home early. Their responsibility to the Australian people is so easily forgotten, they need to be reminded to not clock off before their work is done.

The Turnbull Government is going to great lengths to give the appearance of discipline but the message from this is clear - this is a government in chaos.

TUESDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2016