Parliament is going to be boring, and more productive, without decoys and scandals

Productivity over props (no more Muppets!) is the new government’s mantra. Is Australia ready for a Parliament that aims to be collegial, not combative?

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the opening of the 47th Federal Parliament (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

Australians were used to turning to Parliament for a bit of entertainment — politicians with props, cleverly-worded insults, dissent amongst parties. But the 47th Parliament promises something different — and something much more boring. 

For democracy, this is of course a good thing. For entertainment purposes and TV grabs, less so. 

This morning, Leader of the House Tony Burke introduced new standing orders to address long sitting hours and the useless gridlock on debate. To make Parliament more family-friendly, there’ll be no votes or quorum checks after 6.30pm and no sitting days during school holidays. Parliament will start half an hour earlier at 9am on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Question time questions will be kept under 30 seconds, and Burke is pushing for debate to be more frequent but kept shorter and controlled.