The government faced it’s first parliamentary defeat this week, signalling the relatively smooth sailing it’s enjoyed in the Senate might have come to an end.

As the Coalition secured a win on the referendum, it cost the Greens a senator, with Victoria’s Lidia Thorpe splitting from the party over differences on their position.

With a heavy legislative agenda this year, the government hit the ground running in the first week back. All the week’s major developments below.

PM forced to make concessions on Voice

In his bid to secure majority support from Australians for the Voice to Parliament proposal, the Prime Minister has been reluctant to provide the level of detail demanded by the Coalition and Voice opponents.

The government had, until this week, refused to commit to mailing voters a pamphlet outlining both sides of the campaign – as has been the case for past referendums.

It has now agreed to provide funding for the pamphlet, but will not provide public funding for the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns.

Senator Thorpe’s resignation from the Greens, which enabled the Party to commit it’s full support to the ‘yes’ campaign, means she will lead the left’s opposition to the Voice on the basis it cedes Indigenous sovereignty and ignores calls for a Treaty.

The referendum will dominate parliament this year as the government seeks to put the question to Australians in the last quarter of the year.

First rate rise for 2023, government weighs cost of living relief

Nearly halfway through question time on Tuesday, the Treasurer was on his feet outlining the government’s plans to bring down the cost of living after the Reserve Bank had just hiked interest rates for the ninth time in a row.

Just as they had last year, the Coalition focused it’s parliamentary attacks on the Prime Minister over his broken campaign promise to reduce power prices for Australian families and small businesses. 

The Treasurer has foreshadowed the May budget will contain direct energy bill relief for households, but faces calls to bring forward the package to help Australians struggling with rising prices now.

Government’s manufacturing fund in doubt as Greens, Coalition withhold support 

The Coalition this week announced they would not support legislation to enable Labor’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, it’s signature manufacturing policy it took to the election.

And it looks like the government will have to make concessions to the Greens in order to pass the bill, after the balance of power Party aired concerns over the use of the investment fund to support new fossil fuel projects.

In case the government wasn’t already aware they were facing a more hostile senate, this week the Greens and crossbenchers voted with the Coalition in the senate to disallow government regulations that overrode the former government’s superannuation fund transparency measures.

With Senator Thorpe joining the crossbench, the government now needs the support of the Greens plus two crossbenchers if the Coalition votes against legislation in the senate – instead of just the vote of Senator David Pocock, whose support passed key government bills last year.

Another senate showdown brews over the government’s overhaul of the safeguard mechanism, after the Coalition announced, as expected, this week that it would not support Labor’s proposal. The Greens want the government to rule out new coal and gas mines before it waves through the legislation.

In the first sitting week back, Labor prioritised legislation to establish it’s Housing Australia Future Fund, strengthen paid parental leave and tackle the gender pay gap by forcing companies to report their gender pay gap publicly.

By-election looms as Alan Tudge quits 

In news that would not have been comforting to opposition leader Peter Dutton, controversial Liberal frontbencher Alan Tudge announced his retirement from politics – triggering a by-election in his volatile Victorian seat of Aston.

Although governments normally head into by-elections as the underdogs, Victoria’s lagging support for the Coalition and the former MP’s lingering personal issues (having resigned from Cabinet during the Morrison Government over a well-publicised affair with a staffer), the Liberals will hold grave concerns about their ability to hold onto the marginal seat.

Former Treasurer Josh Frydnenberg, who lost to Teal Monique Ryan at last year’s federal poll, has ruled himself out of contention. Senior Liberals are said to be in favour of a female candidate to replace Tudge.