‘Part-time parliament' sitting for fewest days in 20 years
MPs will sit in the House of Representatives for fewer days this year than any other in the last two decades, limiting time for scrutiny of the government's agenda and debates on legislation.
Analysis of parliamentary sitting calendars from 2004 to the draft 2025 calendar revealed MPs in the lower house will spend 40 days this year passing laws, two weeks less than the average of 48 sitting days during previous election years.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock accused the government of presiding over a 'part-time parliament' that will not sit again until late July, when the makeup of the Senate will change to reflect the recent federal election, making it more favourable for Labor.
'It's pretty light on this year, I would have thought Australians would want parliament to crack on,' Pocock said.
Each year, and after every election, the government decides how many days each chamber of parliament will sit.
In 2025, the total expected sitting days, including the Senate, will be 76, the second-lowest number of days in parliament for all MPs in the last 20 years. The lowest was in the previous election year, 2022, which had 75 sitting days.
The current MP's base salary of $233,660 equates to about $5840 per sitting day this year. Sitting days are when parliament debates and passes legislation, and the government is scrutinised via question time, but MPs do extensive work outside sitting days, such as meeting with constituents and drafting policy.
Labor's leader of the house Tony Burke, who is responsible for the party's tactics in that chamber, defended the calendar by saying the government had made structural changes to parliamentary procedure to make things more efficient.
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