The PM and Treasurer were out promoting their first budget this week, but it was what wasn’t in the budget that dominated the fallout.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton stepped up last night to deliver his first Budget-in-Reply speech, which was as much about framing himself as the Coalition’s new leader as it was responding to Labor’s budget handed down on Tuesday.

A short but busy week in Parliament House – catch up on the week’s news below.

Treasurer feels the pressure at the Press Club

The Coalition has spent every sitting week in this new Parliament reminding the government of their election commitment to deliver a $275 cut to Australian households’ energy bills, so it was hardly a surprise they came out swinging after budget.

While the Treasurer maintained the government was delivering sensible and measured cost of living relief in the form of childcare subsidies, cheaper medicines and increased paid parental leave, the huge jump in energy prices foreshadowed in the budget was the bigger talking point of the week.

Asked directly about the $275 promise at his Press Club address on Wednesday, Chalmers misspoke and said the measure was in the budget – later claiming he had misheard the question and answered another one. It was an unusual stumble in a week of otherwise polished performances from a Treasurer selling his first budget. 
 

Dutton says opposition will fight government on familiar fronts 

In his first Budget-in-Reply, Peter Dutton attacked the government’s broken election promise and said Australians would bear the brunt of Labor’s delay in tackling rise cost of living and inflationary pressures.

It was a speech heavily focused on Dutton’s personal experiences and achievements, in an attempt to shake the Opposition Leader’s hard-line public image – although he made no excuses for decisions he made during his time as immigration and, later, home affairs minister.

Setting up a political fight over energy prices, Dutton used his speech to condemn the government’s renewable energy agenda – claiming it’s undeliverable and will cause too much short-term economic damage.

While promising he would not be an obstructive Opposition Leader, signalling the Coalition’s support for a number of measures including Labor’s childcare and cheaper medicine plans, Dutton warned the government any changes to the legislated stage three tax cuts would be robustly opposed.

He also outlined plans to challenge the government’s proposed industrial relations reforms and leaned on the Coalition’s familiar attack that Australians ‘will never be better off with Labor’s hands on the budget’.
 

Privacy laws get a refresh in wake of Optus, Medibank cyber attacks

Having copped criticism from the opposition for a slow response to major cyber security incidents over the last few weeks, the government introduced legislation this week that will see the most significant update to Australia’s privacy laws in over a decade.

The new laws will increase penalties for serious and repeated data breaches, and strengthen companies’ obligation to communicate quickly with their customers after an incident. 

Parliament this week also passed the government’s bill to introduce paid domestic and family violence leave, which will be able to be accessed by workers from next year. 
 

PM apologises over Parliamentary spray but denies bullying claim

An unexpected end to the sitting week, with Queensland Nationals MP Michelle Landry claiming she had been bullied by the PM during Thursday’s question time.

Landry had asked a question about a local infrastructure project in her Central Queensland electorate leading to a fiery response from the Prime Minister, blasting the former government’s record of delivery in the region.

A ‘distressed’ Landry called a press conference after question time to call out the ‘bullying behaviour’ and revealed she had taken a call from the PM during which he had apologised to her, but insisted he hadn’t meant to upset her.

Parliament resumes on Monday, November 7 for Senate Estimates.