5&5: Parliament: Inside & out

This was a week where the events happening in meetings outside of the Parliamentary chambers were as important as what happened in the House of Reps and the Senate. A series of meetings with the First Nations Referendum Working Group with the PM, Linda Burney, Patrick Dodson, Malarndirri McCarthy and Mark Dreyfus came to a really important conclusion by Thursday.

Here’s the 5&5:

BEST

  1. The wording of the referendum question

  2. Linda Burney explained the importance of the Voice

  3. 100 days until cheaper early childhood education and more flexible paid parental leave

  4. Julie Collins brought the House to complete silence

  5. First piece of Revive legislation through Parliament

WORST

  1. Sussan Ley's Dorothy Dixer to the PM

  2. Once again Fletch happened 🤦‍♂️

  3. 'Stop trying to make Fletch happen'

  4. Peter Dutton being MIA during the NSW election campaign

  5. The opposition trying to gag debate once again

1. This week the Prime Minister announced the wording of the referendum question that will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by establishing a Voice to Parliament. The referendum is about two things: recognition and consultation. The PM captured the significance of the moment during his press conference: "If not now, when? This is an opportunity that doesn't belong to the [politicians], it belongs to every Australian equally … All of us can own an equal share of what I believe will be an inspiring and unifying Australian moment."

3. On the 1st of July Australian families will have access to cheaper early childhood education and more flexible paid parental leave. During Thursday’s Question Time – exactly 100 days before both of these important Government reforms kick in – Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly, Education Minister Jason Clare and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth answered back-to-back Dixers reinforcing the difference these reforms will make to Australian families. As Anne Aly told Parliament: “This is an investment not just in the future of our country, not just in our economy, but in the future of Australian children, something I know that every member in this House is committed to.”

4. On one of the rowdiest days in the chamber this week, Julie Collins brought the House to complete silence during Question Time as she explained the importance of our Housing Australia Future Fund. “I say seriously to members in this place that I know our housing reform agenda is ambitious. It's ambitious because it needs to be. We all need to do more. All of us in this place have a responsibility to make sure that more Australians have a safe, affordable place to call home.”

5. This week the Parliament passed the first piece of our legislation implementing Revive, Australia’s new National Cultural Policy. There’s more to come. Watch this space.

1. It’s pretty unusual to receive a Dorothy Dixer from the Opposition during Question Time. But that’s exactly what Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley did on Monday. She began her question to the PM by announcing “Tomorrow marks 10 months since the 2022 election.” The Prime Minister was more than happy to fill Sussan in on all the Government’s achievements since May 21.

2. Once again Fletch happened. The Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher, is expected to organise the Opposition to put forward a Matter of Public Importance, that gets debated straight after Question Time. On Tuesday the 21st of March he struggled with that job, proposing the debate go ahead on … Thursday the 9th of March. The Parliament’s capable of a lot of things, sadly time travel isn’t one of them.

3. Poor Fletch. It wasn’t his week. During Wednesday’s Question Time the Manager of Opposition Business jumped on a point of order just as the PM finished an answer and took his seat. The Speaker always checks that that’s the end of the answer. Very generously the PM was happy to allow it, telling the Speaker, “I want to hear what he has to say”. And then Jim chimed in “That’s the first time he’s heard those words!” You could almost hear the Coalition backbench saying “Stop trying to make Fletch happen!”

4. The New South Wales election is this weekend, but as Member for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton, pointed out – there’s been one notable absence during the campaign … Peter Dutton. As Andrew put it: “The Leader of the Opposition has been so conspicuously absent from Sydney that New South Wales tourism is thinking of hiring Lara Bingle to ask, 'Where the bloody hell are you?'” The whole speech is well worth a read.

5. During the life of the last Government 60 hours was spent voting on motions that the member be no further heard, or that the question be put. I was pretty happy that there had been no divisions on either of those resolutions since we won office. Although that came to an end this week. What I hadn’t anticipated was after spending nine years gagging debate, now in opposition they wanted to keep doing it. Although they didn’t quite know what to do when, after we’d voted against the member being no further heard, I then successfully moved that the members be given an extension of time.  

Parliament’s back next week. That’ll be the last sitting before the Budget in May.

We’re back in a couple of weeks.

Tony

PS In honour of the Coalition’s obsession with trying to silence debate, here’s the Black Eyed Peas with “Shut Up”.

Tony Burke