16 September | Federal Sitting Period Review

Federal Parliament has concluded its latest two-week sitting period, during which tempers flared as the Government batted away questions over its decision to deny extra flights to Australia by Qatar Airways, and polling on the Voice revealed the lowest support for the ‘Yes’ vote yet.

Read below PremierNational’s insights into these issues and more in our wrap-up of Parliament this fortnight.

With Australia’s first referendum in nearly a quarter-century now less than a month away, the Yes and No campaigns have become increasingly visible and vocal. Support for a Voice, however, has sunk to an average of 43% according to RedBridge polling published last week.

That figure helped fuel an Opposition barrage in Question Time, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton repeating the Coalition’s claim that a Voice would divide Australians and damage efforts for reconciliation. On Monday, following the release of the RedBridge polling, Dutton called for the referendum to be cancelled entirely, drawing a defiant refusal from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who accused the Opposition Leader of unnecessarily prolonging debate.

Labor also called on the Coalition to condemn claims by the No campaign suggesting a successful referendum would lead to reparations paid to Indigenous Australians, though Nationals Deputy Leader, Bridget McKenzie, argued ambiguity surrounding the Voice’s structure should render such concerns valid. Subsequently, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus accused Dutton of spreading misinformation and disinformation on the Voice.

The Prime Minister and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, were quizzed intensely on the Minister’s decision to reject an application from Qatar Airways to operate an extra 28 weekly flights to Australia. The Opposition accused the Minister of prioritising the profits of an embattled Qantas over a more competitive aviation market which could reduce airfares amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The decision, alongside “any [other] proposals” made to the government in the past year concerning additional flights in Australia, will now be the subject of a parliamentary inquiry handing down a report in October.

In response to questioning, the Prime Minister confirmed he did not meet with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce or other senior Qantas executives regarding Qatar Airways’ application before the decision was made.

Minister King did suggest, however, that a 2020 incident in which several Australian women were subjected to invasive strip searches at Qatar’s Al Hamad airport was “context” to her rejection of the Qatar Airways bid.

The Government’s signature housing progressed through the Senate on Wednesday after the Greens gave the Government’s legislation their support. The Greens and the Coalition had united in the Senate in May to block the Housing Australia Future Fund, which entailed $10 billion to support the construction of 30,000 social and affordable homes within five years.

According to the Greens, the party will now support the legislation after securing an extra $1 billion for public and community housing as part of the Bill. However, the negotiations failed to net the Greens their greater goals of a national freeze on rents and future rental caps – ambitions the party is unlikely to abandon any time soon.

The Bill’s successful passage has seen the prospect of an early double-dissolution election averted.

Source: The Guardian

The Government introduced its Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 on 4 September, which pertains to pay rules around labour hire, conditions for workers in the gig economy, a new definition of casual employees and new measures against intentional underpayment of employees.

Alongside the Coalition, members of the Senate crossbench have supported a call by Senator David Pocock for the Government to remove uncontroversial elements from the bill – particularly relating to workers’ compensation and anti-discrimination – so that they can be legislated quickly and separately to the Bill’s more contentious elements. Supporters of this proposal stressed the importance of those provisions to emergency services workers.

Minister Burke promptly rejected those calls and restated the government’s intention to pass the whole bill by the end of the year.

The first sitting day of the past fortnight was jolted to life by a contingent of 200 pharmacists protesting the Government’s 60-day dispensing policy, whose disruption of Question Time resulted in their ejection from the gallery.

Members of the Community and Pharmacy Support Group, which is unaffiliated with the Pharmacy Guild, interjected and shouted during answers given by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler. The incident followed an agreement between the Government and the Pharmacy Guild days earlier, which saw the Guild drop its campaign against the 60-day dispensing policy and the Government commit to talks to ensure the sustainability of local pharmacies.

The House and Senate return on Monday 16 October, two days after the National Referendum on the Voice.