Not a moment to waste: Albo to hit the ground running with 18 new laws this week
Almost 20 pieces of legislation will be introduced this week by the federal government as parliament returns, with Anthony Albanese pledging not to “waste a day”.
The prime minister said 18 bills will be put forward in the first week of the 47th parliament, which begins on Tuesday.
āAustralia has had a decade of neglect and drift. We want to make sure we get on with the reforms that are necessary in order to advance Australiaās interests in order to create a better future,ā he told Sky News on Sunday. āWe donāt want to waste a day.
āI want parliament to be able to legislate properly, and I want it to function much better.
āI want governments to be accountable as well, and thatās the approach that Iāll take.ā
Albanese defended his governmentās decision to cut staff for the crossbench, with the independents set to lobby for its reversal.
āThis was a matter of of fairness,ā he said.
āWe have a trillion dollars of debt, we need to make sure that thereās equity in terms of the way that staff are allocated.
āBut that also we donāt see government expenditure continue to climb at the time when weāve had cutbacks in permanent public service.ā
Labor Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Sunday the crossbench will get three questions each sitting day.
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In the last parliament, only one question from the six-member crossbench was permitted per sitting day.
Climate change, cost of living and a āconfrontingā budget update are set to dominate the first week of Australiaās new parliament.
Tackling the aged care, labour and domestic violence crises are also high on the agenda.
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