Katina Curtis: Turn up and tune in to 48th season of Parliament, will it be a blockbuster or bomb?

West Australian

4 days ago

Settle in folks, the 48th season of Australia's Parliament is about to air its debut episode.
Same sets, same lead character, new actors in key roles, new drama and hopefully some new plotlines.
This first parliamentary sitting after the election will set the tone for what's to come.
Sussan Ley has been telling everyone on her listening tour that she knows the Liberals got smashed. The reality of just what that means will sink in once everyone gathers in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Labor MPs are set to sprawl across the chamber's aisle — Perth's Patrick Gorman is among five assistant ministers seated in what's traditionally crossbench territory.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Coalition fit into about two-thirds of the space they previously occupied.
The Government's key challenges are twofold: not to succumb to the hubris of the thumping victory, and to work out what it will do once it delivers its election pledges.
Anthony Albanese's opening lines to his colleagues on Monday were a reminder that Labor has more often sat in Parliament's opposition party room than in the government one.
Despite the humble rhetoric, Labor is sticking the knife into its opponents in sly ways.
Ali France (who defeated Peter Dutton) and Sarah Witty (who beat Adam Bandt) will kick off more than 11 hours of speeches by new MPs this week.
Not coincidentally, both are also seated within TV shot behind the Prime Minister. And of the 24 backbench MPs in those positions that routinely end up on the nightly news, 16 are women, in stark contrast to the Coalition.
The fresh season also gives Tony Burke and Albanese another crack at rewriting the standing orders. Last time they laid several traps for new players and they're keen to test anew how Ley and her lieutenants manage parliamentary tactics.
As for a full term's worth of stuff to get done, Jim Chalmers setting up the economic reform roundtable next month is a good base from which to build an argument for hard tax changes.
That point is grudgingly conceded among his opponents, although they're waiting to see if Albanese has the same enthusiasm for tough changes as his Treasurer.
There is even a growing openness from some in the Coalition to a move to increase the GST rate or broaden its base in exchange for lower income taxes amid a grand package to make the budget bottom line more sustainable.
For Ley, the plotlines ahead could contain treachery and she needs to show steel to her own ranks.
Not everyone is content with the tone of constructiveness struck since she took over as leader — although Ley warned the PM on Monday that 'we won't be getting out of the way' on everything — and already questions are being whispered about her tactical nous.
Whether you stay tuned or switch off until early 2028, there will be plenty going on.