Anthony Albanese has called for discipline from his team as Parliament returns, promising to deliver on election commitments that will “make a real, practical difference to people’s lives.”
The Prime Minister urged his expanded party room to stay focused for the next three-year term so it can go on to repeat the 94-seat majority they gained in Labor’s thumping victory at the May election.
He and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley sought to enliven their colleagues and strike a fresh tone in meetings in Canberra on Monday ahead of the first sitting of the 48th Parliament.
While Mr Albanese was focused on his majority, Ms Ley’s party room pep talk needed extra energy following opinion polls that showed the Coalition fell further than their diabolical election primary under her predecessor Peter Dutton.
Privately, Liberals were downbeat about the 29 per cent primary in the polls, although Ms Ley’s backers said her “likeability” rating, higher than the PM’s in the Resolve survey, gave her something to work with in winning over voters.
In a morale booster to a disenfranchised party room, the new Opposition Leader declared the Coalition wouldn’t be walked over or deterred in the face of Labor’s super-sized majority against their historical low of 43 seats.
Ms Ley vowed in her first address she would support “constructive policies” but warned Labor her team would fight “every step of the way” against them if they weren’t in the national interest.
“We won’t be judged by the headlines of the day, what we will be judged by is what we offer the Australian people at the next election, and Australians deserve the strongest possible opposition,” she said.
“Mr Albanese is giving interviews and he’s suggesting that we should just get out of the way. Well, we won’t be getting out of the way.
“It’s going to be a big week, it’s going to be a big fortnight, and we’re taking the fight up to the government every single day, right across this country, every minute.”
Despite the Canberra winter chill, Mr Albanese had a spring in his step as he walked to work yesterday from the nearby Lodge, accompanied by his son Nathan.
The show of humility will contrast with his dominance of parliament that will become starkly clear when a wave of red takes over more than half the House of Representative seats on Tuesday.
He lauded the hard work of each individual to get there but cautioned that everyone needed to continue to pull together.
“If we maintain that sense of discipline, sense of purpose, clear idea about why we are here — to represent people in our electorate, but also represent the national interest in promoting the Labor values of fairness, of aspiration and opportunity for all — there is no reason why every single one of you can’t just be returned to the next Parliament but can’t be added to as well,” he said.
Mr Albanese said his government was determined to implement a “positive agenda”.
“Part of that is standing up for Australia’s national interests, progressive patriotism,” he said.
Although Ms Ley has a less unwieldy party room in terms of size, she has a tougher job than the Prime Minister to keep the Coalition from fracturing.
Nationals veteran Barnaby Joyce told breakfast television the Opposition should be looking for “binary issues” to pick fights over — including the net-zero emissions commitment.
“If you try and work on nuances and ameliorations and sort of views of a different issue, that’s not good,” he told Sunrise.
“And that’s why such issues such as net zero, I say, look, find a point of division.”
Labor’s agenda will be bigger than publicly flagged when official business kicks off on Wednesday after formalities on Tuesday, with ministers putting forward 14 bills for approval in caucus.
Top of the agenda will be a 20 per cent cut to student debt, tougher action against childcare providers, and laws to protect penalty rates.
Mr Albanese promised the cut to university and vocational debts in his first pre-election headland speech in November and the policy was popular among younger voters.
The Coalition is yet to decide its position but several shadow ministers believe given the clear mandate — and conscious of the need to win back younger people — it should wave the bill through.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said there was a “sense of urgency” to passing the childcare reforms after shocking allegations of abuse across centres in Melbourne, but admitted with a short parliamentary timeline it would be a challenge.
“The Prime Minister has made clear he would like legislation through this fortnight, and that will be one of my jobs to try to do that,” she told ABC.
“We only have two (full) sitting days — not many. On Wednesday and Thursday, and not much of that is Government business time.”
There’s also a raft of first speeches, with the planned timetable pushing through 19 of the 32 new lower house members this week and the rest next week, taking up at least 16 hours of debating time. The Senate has 10 first speeches to get through, mostly scheduled for next week.
Other legislation on the agenda includes rule changes for Defence Housing to allow the agency to help house American submariners based in WA during the roll out of AUKUS, a bid to make ASIO’s compulsory questioning powers permanent instead of sunsetting in early September, changes to the new aged care system before its delayed start in November, and the easing of tariffs on UAE products to implement the free trade deal struck earlier this year.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/albanese-prepares-to-walk-into-94-seat-majority-after-labors-landslide-win-as-parliament-resumes-c-19426020
