After just a fortnight of Parliament, MPs and Senators are returning to their electorates today for the winter recess, and it has been an undeniably good Parliamentary start for the Prime Minister.
The Government’s climate change bill has passed the lower house and has been given safe passage in the Senate by the Greens, enshrining a 43 per cent emissions reduction target in legislation.
Securing the Greens’ support was essential, given the Leader of the Opposition made it clear the Coalition would oppose the legislation – with both the Prime Minister and Greens leader Adam Bandt claiming the win.
While Labor celebrates their Parliamentary victory this week, the Greens have signalled their support comes with major conditions – the end of the coal and gas industries in Australia – and will block the Government’s agenda in the Senate unless their demands are met.
It was relatively smooth sailing for the PM and his new ministerial team this fortnight, but the challenge of navigating the Greens’ demands will only become more problematic when Parliament returns.
Opposition presses PM on cost of living pledge
A pre-election pledge to cut power bills by $275 has been seized on by the Opposition as they attempt to convince Australians the Government is losing control of the inflation crisis.
Peter Dutton and his shadow ministers used Question Time this week to repeatedly put pressure on the Government to reveal whether they would deliver the commitment, amid rising cost of living pressures and spiralling energy costs.
The Government had wanted to focus on the Prime Minister’s weekend announcement about the referendum on an indigenous voice to Parliament and it’s clean energy agenda, but faced four days of questioning from the Opposition over cost of living.
Other issues raised included rural and regional healthcare, with the Opposition accusing the Government of drawing GPs out of rural areas as an unintended consequence of their Distribution Priority Area changes, and clashes over Labor’s superannuation changes.
In a fiery final Question Time yesterday, Nationals leader David Littleproud was booted from the Chamber by Speaker Milton Dick as Health Minister Mark Butler attempted to defend the Government’s rural healthcare changes.
Aged care and welfare changes pass Parliament
The Government’s first bill to pass through the lower house this week was their aged care reform legislation, arguing it symbolised the importance they had placed on progressing their election commitments on aged care.
In a much more controversial move, the House of Representatives also passed legislation to abolish the cashless debit card, with the Opposition claiming the change will devastate regional indigenous communities battling alcohol and drug abuse issues. It looks set to pass the Senate on Parliament’s return although a Senate committee will examine the bill in detail this month.
New committee chairs line up
Speaking of committees, most new committees have been finalised this week with a just a few outstanding ahead of the Parliamentary break.
This has included, most notably, the influential Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security – the Government’s members have yet to be nominated, preventing the Opposition from being able to determine their own representatives.
With committee chairs and deputy chairs frequently seen as next in line for ministerial promotions, appointments to high profile committees are coveted by backbenchers hoping to boost their profile.