The 2024 Australian parliamentary year ended on a rather busy note.....

 

Last week mainstream media began discussing the "incredible number" of Bills before the Australian Parliament that week and how many "laws changed overnight".

Yes, there were a high number of bills before Parliament, but no, laws do not change overnight. While the amendments and provisions set out in the Bills mentioned below will have received the Governor-General's assent on or about 29 November 2024, some do not come into effect until 2025. 

Here is a breakdown of legislative business covering the progress of bills before the Australian Parliament in 2024.

As at 29 November 2024 the 47th Australian Parliament - commenced at the start of the first term of the Albanese Labor Government - had considered 428 Bills to date.

A total of 162 of these were introduced during 2024 - including 7 received from the Senate. A total of 100 received consent and passed into law.

In the week beginning 25 November 2024, both the House of Representatives and the Senate were particularly busy, as the Albanese Government sought to enter the 2025 federal general election year with fewer policy and procedural matters outstanding.

During that last sitting week of 2024 the following Bills were agreed to:

• Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Scheduling) Bill 2024 (Senate bill presented and agreed in the House this week)

• Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) (Consequential Provisions and Other Matters) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week)

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) Tax (Imposition) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week)

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024 (amended in the House this week)

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Charges) Bill 2024

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024 (amended in the House this week)

• Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week)

• Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) (Repeal) Bill 2024

• Health Legislation Amendment (Modernising My Health Record—Sharing by Default) Bill 2024

• Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Amendment Bill 2024

• Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2024

• Surveillance Legislation (Confirmation of Application) Bill 2024 (amended in the House this week)

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week)

The following Bills were returned by the Senate with amendments:

• Aged Care Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Better and Fairer Schools (Information Management) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week; the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Crimes Amendment (Strengthening the Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Family Law Amendment Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Help to Buy Bill 2023 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 (presented and agreed in the House this week; the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Taxation (Multinational—Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendment)

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Multinational—Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) (Consequential) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Reserve Bank Reforms) Bill 2023 (the House agreed to Senate amendments)

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the House agreed to Senate amendments).

On Thursday, 28 November 2024, the last sitting day of the year a total of 34 Bills were still before the House of Representatives.

Being read for the second time:

• Transport Security Amendment (Security of Australia's Transport Sector) Bill 2024

• Customs Amendment (Expedited Seizure and Disposal of Engineered Stone) Bill 2024

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Incentives and Integrity) Bill 2024

• Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill 2024

Being read for the third time:

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024

The following 27 Bills were passed by the House of Representatives in the space of 39 minutes as the House extended its last sitting day to the early morning of the next day, Friday 29 November 2024:

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) Bill 2024

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024

• Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024

• Sydney Airport Demand Management Amendment Bill 2024

• Aged Care (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) Tax (Imposition) Bill 2024

• Commonwealth Entities (Payment Surcharges) (Consequential Provisions and Other Matters) Bill 2024

• Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill 2024

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024

• Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Charges) Bill 2024

• Universities Accord (National Student Ombudsman) Bill 2024

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Fairer for Families and Farmers and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Superannuation (Objective) Bill 2023

• Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Communications Legislation Amendment (Regional Broadcasting Continuity) Bill 2024

• Crown References Amendment Bill 2023

• Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol

• Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024

• Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Amendment Bill 2024

• Treasury Laws Amendment (2024 Tax and Other Measures No. 1) Bill 2024

• Surveillance Legislation (Confirmation of Application) Bill 2024

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024

• Migration Amendment Bill 2024

• Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2024

By May 2025 will this particular Australian House of Representatives near, match or exceed the standing order suspension records of the parliaments which went before it?

 

On Wednesday, 21 August 2024 the Albanese Labor Government introduced a Bill to Parliament to establish the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) as, in the words of the Minister, an independent workplace investigation and sanctions framework that will enforce behaviour codes for Parliamentarians, MOPS staff and other people who work in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

On a first reading, the bill does not appear to intend to capture the type of disruptive behaviour common in the House of Representatives' Questions Without Notice (Question Time). Perhaps intending to leave it to The Speaker's discretion to decide if a referral to the IPSC is warranted.

According to The Guardian on Wednesday, 21 August 2024 new research shows that in the Australian House of Representatives elected members of parliament have been ejected from the Chamber by The Speaker a total of 198 times in the 47th Federal Parliament, as of 20 August.

It appears that:

• 161 of theses instances were as a result of bad behaviour on the part of Opposition Coalition MPs (103 being identified as Liberals, 9 as Nationals, 43 as Liberal-National, with another 51 not differentiated in published media articles);

• 36 instances were the result of Government Labor MPs behaving in similar fashion; and

• in a single instance one Greens MP also lost the plot and was sent out.

There are another nine months left before this parliament ends and, one suspects that the Coalition Opposition will become more vocal & disruptive as the 2025 federal general election draws nearer.

Will this particular House of Representatives near, match or exceed the standing order suspension records of the House during the eight of the nine parliaments between 1996 and 2022?

Recent history in the House of Representatives

Across four terms of the Australian Parliament beginning in 1996 with the 38th Parliament followed by the 39th, 40th & 41st (Howard Coalition Government), there was total of 513 instances where The Speaker named & suspended or sin binned members of the House of Representatives. Beginning with double digit numbers which grew into the hundreds by the third & fourth terms. [personal research]

During the 42nd Parliament (Rudd & Gillard Labor Government) there appears to have been 168 instances in which The Speaker named & suspended or sin binned members of the House of Representatives. [personal research]

During the 43rd Parliament (Gillard & Rudd Government) there were three Speakers, Harry Jenkins from 14.09.2010 to 24.11.2011 Peter Slipper from 24.11.2011 to 9.10.2012 and Anna Burke from 9.10.2012 to 5.8.2013.

In the period of their collective speakerships there appears to have been 278 instances where MPs were named & suspended or sin binned [personal research based on available data].

During the 44th Parliament  (Abbott & Turnbull Coalition Government) the Speaker ordered members to leave the House of Representatives on 524 occasions, an increase of 88.5 per cent from the 43rd Parliament when 278 members were ejected. On eight occasions members were named and suspended, 515 were ‘sin binned’ (ordered to leave the Chamber under SO 94) for one hour, and one was ordered from the Federation Chamber for 15 minutes. The 44th Parliament saw a record of 18 members ejected on a single day (Thursday 27 November 2014) and the ejection from the Federation Chamber was the first on record.....

The vast proportion of disciplinary actions were ‘sin binnings’, accounting for over 98 per cent in both the 43rd and 44th parliaments. Most disciplinary actions occurred during and after Question Time in the period from 2 pm to 4 pm...

Opposition members, irrespective of which party they belonged to, have always accounted for the largest proportion of disciplinary actions across all parliaments since Federation, at a rate of about 92.5 per cent.....

The 44th Parliament was presided over by Speakers Bishop and Smith. Under Mrs Bishop’s speakership, 402 members were ejected at a rate of about three per day, the highest of any speakership.

During the 45th Parliament (Turnbull & Morrison Coalition Government) the Speaker imposed sanctions against disorderly behaviour by directing members to leave the HoR on 415 occasions under SO 94(a). This is a decrease of 20 per cent from the 44th Parliament, when members were ejected from the House 515 times for one hour.

The 415 ejections involved disorderly members being ‘sin binned,’ or ordered to leave the Chamber for one hour but no members were named and suspended for 24 hours under SO 94(b). On two occasions members were directed to leave the Federation Chamber for 15 minutes under SO 187(b).....

the majority of suspensions (sanctions against disorderly conduct) occurred during Question Time.

During the 46th Parliament (Morrison Coalition Government) the format was changed to 28 periodic review reports produced between 10 July 2019 and 1 April 2022. These reports no longer included a section titled "Suspensions".

NOTE: My yellow highlighting throughout this post.

On the afternoon of Thursday 29 February 2029 seven Liberal Party members in pursuit of a 'gotcha' moment rose to their feet in what can only be seen as an organised racist dog whistle in the House of Representatives to question the government based on 'facts' they knew to be false

 

On Tuesday, 27 February 2024 a report of a sexual assault in the Richmond area was made to Victoria Police.

That night Victoria Police charged a 43 year-old West Papuan Richmond resident, a former immigration detainee released under a 2023 High Court ruling, with sexual assault.

The next day, Wednesday 28 February, he faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court sometime in the morning on charges of sexual assault of one woman, stalking and two counts of unlawful assault involving this woman and another in two separate incidents on the same day. He did not apply for bail.

Victoria Police held a press conference in the afternoon of the same day in which Commander Mark Galliot revealed that police had since interviewed another male Richmond resident in relation to the same offences and apologised for arresting and detaining the West Papuan man in a case of mistaken identity. This second man is not a person released from immigration detention under the High Court ruling and, does not appear to be a migrant, refugee or asylum seeker.

Within hours the charged man's case returned to the Magistrates Court where all charges against him were withdrawn due to "misidentification" and he was released.

Regardless of the relatively swift and public resolution of this incident, members of the Coalition Opposition rose in the House of Representatives on the afternoon of the following day Thursday, 29 February and began to ask questions of the Albanese Government along these lines:

Ms LEY (Farrer—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the Minister for Immigration,

Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. When was the minister first informed that a serial sex offender that the

Albanese government had released from immigration detention had been charged with sexual assault, stalking and two counts of unlawful assault in Victoria?

Ms McKENZIE (Flinders) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. I refer to the minister's previous answer and ask: why did the minister fail to use his powers to seek to redetain this serial sex offender and protect these two Victorian women?

Mr FLETCHER (Bradfield—Manager of Opposition Business) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for

Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Out of the 149 hardcore criminals released by the Albanese

government, how many rapists and sex offenders, apart from the one who has just been charged with sexual assault, remain at large in the community?

Mr CALDWELL (Fadden) (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. On 13 February the minister assured the House that all 149 of the hardcore criminals the Albanese government released were being continuously monitored. Was this serial sex offender being continuously monitored at the time he is alleged to have sexually assaulted and stalked two women in Victoria?

Mr SUKKAR (Deakin) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. When did the minister inform the Prime Minister that this serial sex offender had committed new crimes against the Victorian community?

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Leader of the Opposition) (14:52): My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime

Minister, the immigration minister is a disaster. His decisions have put Australians at risk—

Government members interjecting—

Mr DUTTON: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the immigration minister is a disaster. His

decisions have put Australians at risk, and women in Victoria are alleged to have been sexually assaulted. A hundred and forty-nine hardcore criminals—

Ms Thwaites interjecting— ......

Mr DUTTON: A hundred and forty-nine hardcore criminals have been released into the community. The minister has not taken a single application to redetain one of these criminals, and now more Australians are being harmed, with the likely risk extending to many more Australians. When will you show leadership, stop being so weak and sack this minister?

The Prime Minister's response.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:53): 'We are not in a position to defy an order of the High Court, and no-one is suggesting that they should do that.' Not my words—the words of Senator Paterson. 'Under the Constitution, you can't detain someone indefinitely. We accept that.' Not my words—the words of the Leader of the Opposition. 'The High Court made the decision. We respect that decision.' Not my words—the words of the shadow minister for immigration. I'll tell you what's not strong. I'll tell you what strength is not. Strength is not asking for responses that would endanger judicial processes. That is not strong. There is no strength whatsoever in that. What is appalling is that the Leader of the Opposition knows full well that that is the case because he has been in that position, including when he was responsible for the legislation which our legislation was based upon. It was his legislation that he presided over, and he knows that that is the case.

[House of Representatives, Hansard, 29 February 2024, pp. 19, 22, 23, 25, 27]

There is little chance in light of the scant two days until the Saturday 2 March Dunkley federal by-election in Victoria that these Coalition MPs - especially Ms. McKenzie and Mr. Sukkar - were not aware of the details of the case of mistaken identity by the afternoon of Wednesday, 29 February 2024. After all, Victoria Police calling a televised press conference 24 hours earlier to essentially admit a wrongful arrest was a notable event.

It appears Ms. Ley was so determined to poison the Dunkley by-election well that she sent this tweet 1:03 hours before she asked her question in the House.

Once the mainstream media began to pick up on these misleading statements being made under parliamentary privilege and on social media, Leader of the Opposition & Liberal MP for Dickson, Peter Dutton, was quick to further mislead and infer the Minister for Immigration was to blame. Presumably for not immediately alerting them to the fact that they were about to accuse the wrong person of sexual assault. 'How were we to know?'

However, despite such a juvenile excuse in front of the camera, the fact remains that in the House and elsewhere this was deceitful politicking and racist dog whistling at its worst.

By the evening of Thursday, 29 February Victoria Police had publicly released details of the second man who was identified as a person of interest for the same offences on Wednesday 28 February 2024.

Finally, two days later at approx. 9pm on Saturday, 2 March, three hours after the polls closed, the Dunkley federal by-election was called for Labor by Antony Green and the Liberal candidate publicly conceded.

So the Coalition's sordid attempt at political theatre had missed its mark.

In which Liberal backbencher & MP for Cook Scott Morrison once again seeks to rewrite his history over that period in which he was first Minister for Social Services, then Treasurer and finally Prime Minister of Australia

 

The following is a video of Scott John Morrison's Members Statement of 31 July 2023 on the floor of the Australian House of Representatives......

https://youtu.be/U4IPnkt75Xc

Video supplied

During his Member's Statement (Hansard 31.07.23 at 16:10, p.83) Morrison asserted in part:

•  “I do, however, completely reject the commission's adverse findings in the published report regarding my own role as Minister for Social Services between December 2014 and September 2015 as disproportionate, wrong, unsubstantiated and contradicted by clear evidence presented to the commission. As Minister for Social Services I played no role and had no responsibility in the operation or administration of the robodebt scheme.”

• “In relation to the commission's finding regarding untrue evidence, I also reject this as unsubstantiated, speculative, and wrong.”

• “Finally, the commission's allegation that pressure was applied to department officials that prevented their giving frank advice is wrong, unsubstantiated and absurd….How could I have pressured officials into developing such proposals while serving in another portfolio?”

• “Throughout my service in numerous portfolios over almost nine years I enjoyed positive, respectful and professional relationships with Public Service officials at all times, and there is no evidence before the commission to the contrary. While acknowledging the regrettable—again, the regrettable—unintended consequences and impacts of the scheme on individuals and families, I do however completely reject each of the adverse findings against me in the commission's report as unfounded and wrong.”

• “The latest attacks on my character by the government in relation to this report is just a further attempt by the government following my departure from office to discredit me and my service to our country during one of the most difficult periods our country has faced since the Second World War. This campaign of political lynching has once again included the weaponisation of a quasi-legal process to launder the government's political vindictiveness. They need to move on.”

This is the second time Scott Morrison has risen to his feet in 

the House of Representatives to self-servingly defend his 

personal politically indefensible actions.

That first time he was defending the fact that as then Prime Minister of Australia (24.8.2018 to 23.5.2022) and Minister for the Public Service (29.5.2019 to 8.10.2021) he secretly appointed himself to five additional key ministries, beginning this portfolio grab in March 2020:

 

• Minister for Health from 14.3.2020 to 23.5.2022;

• Minister for Finance from 30.3.2020 to 23.5.2022;

• Minister for Industry, Science, Energy and Resources from 15.4.2021 to 23.5.2022;

• Minister for Home Affairs from 6.5.2021 to 23.5.2022; and

• Treasurer from 6.5.2021 to 23.5.2022.

Bringing the total number of portfolios he had full governance over - if he wished to exercise this power - to seven by 7 October 2021 and six thereafter.

Covert actions which on completion of a formal independent inquiry by Honourable Virginia Bell AC which found: 

"As the Solicitor-General concluded, the principles of responsible government were “fundamentally undermined” because Mr Morrison was not “responsible” to the Parliament, and through the Parliament to the electors, for the departments he was appointed to administer.

Finally, the lack of disclosure of the appointments to the public was apt to undermine public confidence in government. Once the appointments became known, the secrecy with which they had been surrounded was corrosive of trust in government."

caused the House of Representatives on 31 November 2022 

by a vote of 80 to 56 to censure him with these words:

“Therefore [the house] censures the member for Cook for failing to disclose the appointments to the House of Representatives, the Australian people and the cabinet, which undermined responsible government and eroded public trust in Australia’s democracy.” 

At the moment he rose to his feet to make his 31 July 2023 statement to the House the Liberal MP for Cook appeared literally friendless, with very few members of parliament remaining in or returning to the Chamber to hear him speak.

IMAGE: Snapshot via @Terrytoo69, Twitter, 1 August 2023



However, lest anyone imagine Scott Morrison deserves pity,

I give the last words in this post to.....

Mr Morrison, you are a bottomless well of self-pity with not a drop of mercy for all the real victims of Robodebt pic.twitter.com/tdDiK6O6TK

— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) August 1, 2023

 

In which Liberal & Nationals MPs behaved badly in the Australian House of Representatives over three consecutive days....

 

Presumably at the direction of the Coalition Leader or the manager of Opposition business in the House at approximately 5:40pm on Tuesday 28 March 2023 Liberal and Nationals MPs began leaving the Chamber to avoid participating in one of the votes conducted during the passage of the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023.

During this piece of self-indulgent performative politics, Liberal MP for Wannon & former Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan, Liberal MP for Hume & former Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor, Liberal MP for Canning & former Assist. Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie, Liberal-National MP for Wide Bay & former Deputy-Speaker Llew O’Brien, Liberal MP for Flinders Zoe McKenzie, Liberal-National MP Ted O’Brien and, Nationals MP for Nicholls Sam Birrell, demonstrated disrespectful, juvenile, boorish and dangerous behaviour…..

Clips of the incident from yesterday, where Coalition members pushed their way our of the House of Reps after the speaker called for the doors to be locked (with about 6 minutes of inconsequential division time cut from the middle). pic.twitter.com/zfmEB3JRa0

— Michael Mazengarb (@MichaelM_ACT) March 28, 2023

House of Representatives Hansard, Tuesday 28 March 2023 at 5:41pm, excerpt:

The SPEAKER (17:41): Before we go any further, I wish to 

call the Leader of the House, and I want absolute

silence for this.

Mr BURKE (Watson—Minister for Employment and  Workplace Relations, Minister for the Arts and Leader of the House) (17:41): I am not in a position to name individual members of parliament, but we as a House cannot be in a situation—out of respect for the staff who work in this building—where, when you ask people to lock the doors, they have members of parliament physically pushing past them to get out of the room. There are standing orders that are quite specific in terms of people's obligation. Once you say, 'Lock the doors,' at that moment people have to move to the seats and pick a side or do as some members did, quite appropriately, and take the advisers' boxes.

Mr Speaker, regardless of Practice and standing orders, we cannot be in a position, as a House, where people are using their physical size to push past the members of staff after you have said, 'Lock the doors.' It would be

appreciated if you could review the video. It would also be appreciated if the members involved reported directly to you so that you can work out what the appropriate action is.

The SPEAKER (17:42): I shall be taking the issue very seriously. I will report back to the House.

And all seven were forced to publicly apologise on the floor of the House…...

https://youtu.be/q_8SWGJ5A0o?t=114

House of Representatives, Hansard, Wednesday 29 March 2023 at 9:01am, excerpt:

STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

Parliamentary Standards

The SPEAKER (09:01): Before we proceed with business today, I want to address a very serious and grave incident that occurred during a division yesterday afternoon. I thank the Leader of the House for raising this incident with me at the time. After the bells had been rung, I ordered that the doors be locked. After I gave this order, I am aware that a number of members exited the chamber while one of the attendants was attempting to close and lock the door to the opposition lobby, as directed.

As all members are aware, under standing order 129 after the Speaker orders the doors to be locked no member may enter or leave the chamber until after the division. It does not matter whether the doors have been able to be fully closed, the point at which the order is given from the chair is the point at which no member is allowed to enter or leave the chamber.

The most serious aspect of this incident is that members physically pushed their way past the attendant to get out of the chamber, resulting in the attendant getting hit in the doorframe and hurting their arm. I am particularly disgusted by this behaviour, and I will not tolerate it. For a staff member of this place to be treated in this way when they are simply doing their job is disrespectful and a very serious matter.

I have spoken to the parliamentary staff who were involved or who observed the incident and have reviewed a written report from them. I want to make it clear that I am committed to ensuring that this building and this chamber are safe and respectful places of work for all. No staff member should be hurt in the course of doing their work in service of this House. We all know that members are busy. However, I am sure we would all agree that no member's time is worth more than a staff member's safety.

In light of this issue and other recent issues raised with me, I will be writing to all members with a review to reinforce this and to ensure that members are in no doubt as to their obligations to treat this chamber and parliamentary staff with respect.

The Australian people expect members to maintain the highest of standards in terms of conduct and behaviour. We have been reminded of this in Set the standard: Report on the independent review into commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. For all members and staff, I remind them that the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, PWSS, supports people affected by serious incidents or misconduct in the parliamentary workplace. This service is available at all hours.

I am now going to give indulgence to members who left the chamber following my order to lock the doors to apologise to the House for their actions.

Mr TEHAN (Wannon) (09:04): Speaker, I left the House as you were saying close the doors, and I apologise for my conduct.

Mr TAYLOR (Hume) (09:04): I apologise to the House, Speaker, for leaving the house after your directions were given.

Mr LLEW O'BRIEN (Wide Bay) (09:04): Mr Speaker, I unreservedly apologise to the House and yourself for leaving after your direction yesterday. I also apologise to the staff, if they were involved in this. Our staff here in the chamber do an incredible job, and one of them is not crowd control. I apologise again for that.

Mr TED O'BRIEN (Fairfax) (09:04): Mr Speaker, I too unreservedly apologise to the House.

Ms McKENZIE (Flinders) (09:05): I apologise to the House, Mr Speaker, for seeking to leave after the Speaker had ordered that the doors be closed. I deeply regret and apologise for any impact caused to the staff member involved.

Mr BIRRELL (Nicholls—Deputy Nationals Whip) (09:05): Mr Speaker, I sought to leave the House after your

order and I unreservedly apologise to you and to the House for that. I have offered an apology to the attendant who was on the door at the time.

Mr HASTIE (Canning) (09:05): Mr Speaker, I also apologise unreservedly to you and to the House for

attempting to leave after the doors were to be locked. I particularly regret any issues with the staff member involved and I apologise to her unreservedly.

It should be noted that only Ms. McKenzie and Messrs. Birrell, L. O’Brien & Hastie offered apologies to the staff. Messrs. Tehan, Taylor & E. O’Brien were markedly less gracious in their apologies.

Let's not bother to go to the office today....

Liberal and Nationals MPs, not content with the performative display on Tuesday 28th decided to repeat their dummy spit for House of Representative cameras two days later.

This is a view of the House as The Speaker Milton Dick enters at 8:59am on Thursday 30 March 2023. The first item of business for the day was the second reading of the bill "Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023".

View of near empty Opposition benches at 9:02am as the Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus begins his second reading speech at 9:02am.

Another view of the House during the Attorney-General's second reading speech showing the Government benches on the near and far right of the image. The near left being sparsely populated Opposition benches (Liberals & Nationals) and far left Independents & minor parties benches. 

View of the House showing Labor, the cross benches and the visitors gallery clapping as the bill was listed as read and mostly silent members of the Opposition immediately leaving the Chamber at 9:21am.

It would appear that the Liberal MPs who did the right thing and were in their seats for the entire second reading process were predominately Opposition backbenchers:

Member for Longman

Member for Monash

Member for Sturt

Member for Forde

Member for Fisher.

They were in the company of three other Liberal MPs - one I took to be the Member for Bradfield, another the Member for Berowra and the third I could not identify.

One could be excused for suspecting that the handful of other Liberal and Nationals MPs who were in the Chamber by the end of the bill's second reading might have belatedly turned up just to avoid any accusation of non-attendance.