Cost of living and inflationary pressures continued to dominate the first half of this week’s sitting of Parliament, with another mid-Question Time interest rate hike on Tuesday.
Following the fanfare of last week’s Jobs and Skills summit, the Opposition attempted to pin the Government over it’s relationship with trade unions while ministers used Question Time to talk up the summit’s outcomes.
For the first time since 2019, the Parliamentary Press Gallery hosted it’s annual charity midwinter ball on Wednesday night, giving MPs and Senators the opportunity to frock up and kick up their heels with select business heavyweights.
On Thursday, the Government’s climate change bill passed the Parliament – a largely inconsequential piece of legislation that nonetheless marked a significant win for the Prime Minister in navigating the Senate’s Greens-dominated crossbench.
Find out what else happened in Parliament this week below.
Labor establishes new government agencies to implement their agenda
After the skills summit last week, the Government prioritised debate on it’s legislation to establish Jobs and Skills Australia, a new government agency that will provide advice on labour markets and replaces the National Skills Commissioner established in 2020.
The Government introduced legislation to enact another new agency, the High Speed Rail Authority, and on Wednesday moved to implement a key election commitment by tabling legislation to slash the cost of medicines listed on the PBS.
At Tuesday’s Joint Party Room meeting, the Coalition decided not to support the Government’s electric car tax cut, which passed the House of Representatives on Thursday. The Government used Question Time on Wednesday to attack the Opposition over it’s stance, but will have a harder time getting the legislation through the Senate after the Greens and crossbench raised their own concerns about the proposed changes.
The Government’s paid domestic and family violence leave bill also passed the House of Representatives, with some concerns raised by the Opposition over the workability of the new laws for small business.
Government questioned over transparency and integrity
The Government was grilled by the Opposition in Question Time early in the week over it’s economic support measures, still hampered by a commitment made during the campaign to slash energy bills for Australian families.
The Opposition also increasingly ramped up pressure over the week on the Prime Minister over his ministers’ financial interests, after multiple ministers were forced to rapidly offload shares and interests found to be in breach of the ministerial code of conduct. The code bans ministers from owning shares in companies that could be perceived to present a conflict of interest with their ministerial responsibilities.
As of QT on Thursday, six ministers had been caught up in the drama.
Queen’s death postpones Parliament
As the world reacts to the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime Minister has announced Parliament will not resume as scheduled next week.
The PM and Governor-General will travel to London to attend official events and offer Australia’s condolences on the death of the monarch.
It will be at least a fortnight before Parliament returns