The 48th Parliament officially gets underway today. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Federal Parliament is back and it seems like forever since politicians from around the nation flocked to the capital ready to get down to business.
Parliament House is buzzing with MPs and Senators preparing for the starter’s gun on the 48th Parliament.
Tuesday (22 July) is a largely ceremonial day, kicked off with a Welcome to Country in the Great Hall, followed by a smoking ceremony on the forecourt.
The Deputy of the Governor-General, Chief Justice of the High Court Stephen Gageler, addresses the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, all gathered in the Senate where he will formally open the 48th Parliament.
The swearing-in of Senators and Members, and the election of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, will then take place in their respective chambers.
Proceedings will recommence in the afternoon with the arrival of Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who will receive the royal salute and inspect the guard on the forecourt.
The newly elected presiding officers of each House will be presented to the Governor-General in the Members’ Hall close to 3 pm.
The Governor-General will then proceed to the Senate chamber and summon the Members of the House of Representatives and address both Houses to declare the cause of calling the parliament together.
At the conclusion of her address there will be a 19-gun salute on the forecourt of Parliament House.
The Governor-General will attend a short reception in the Members’ Hall with invited guests.
She will depart Parliament House via the forecourt just before 5 pm and both houses will resume sitting.
That all adds up to a pretty eventful first day and it sends a message loud and clear that the resumption of parliament is serious business.
That’s also the message party leaders gave their teams gathered in their respective party rooms on Monday.
There are plenty of new faces (especially for Labor), many returning and some who haven’t.
Labor now enjoys a 94-seat majority in the House of Representatives, while the Coalition has only 43, with 13 on the crossbench comprising minor parties and independents.
That’s a big ask for the Federal Opposition hoping to make an impact under new leader Sussan Ley.
It was a point not lost on the Liberal leader when she addressed the joint party room on Monday.
“We know that we’re in the Opposition party room, but we also know that we are an incredibly strong and talented team, and when I look around this room it just brings that smile to my face to see what amazing quality we have with the colleagues in both the Liberals and the Nationals who are out there fighting the fight, prosecuting the case and taking it up to the government,” Ms Ley said.
“But the real work in the Parliament of Australia will start this week and I’m up for the job. I’m excited, and I know all of you are too.
“Now 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.
“Our job is to represent the millions of Australians who voted for us but also the millions who maybe didn’t, but still expect us to be the strongest, best Opposition that we can be and we will be.”
Fighting words indeed.
They were followed by a few sobering points from Nationals leader David Littleproud, who repeated the obvious, that the Coalition is back on the Opposition benches.
“We hope that it’s only for three years. The hard work starts today,” he said.
“We can sit in the corner in the fetal position and give up before we can come back. And I can tell you what we will do is come out swinging.”
Meanwhile, in another part of the building (the government’s), later in the day, Anthony Albanese was all aglow as he welcomed his team.
“It’s good to be at this end of the corridor,” the Prime Minister said with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Whether you’re one of the 24 new Labor members of the House of Representatives, or one of the seven new Labor senators, take a moment to really think about the significance of it.
“A lot more people try to get here than do get here. And more often than not, Labor has been at the other end of the corridor. Which is why we should never, ever, ever take it for granted …
“The fact that not a single member of the Labor Caucus in the last parliament has not been returned here is due to the hard effort of you individually.”
With both sides duly revved up, the new parliament is a different animal from the last term and holds the promise of a whole new set of adventures and challenges.
Let the games begin.
