The Albanese Labor Government’s decision to have the House of Representatives sit for only 17 weeks in 2024 continues this weak Prime Minister’s practice of seizing every opportunity to minimise the number of parliamentary sitting days.
Excluding election years and the COVID affected 2020, the average number of sitting weeks each year under the previous Coalition Government was 18.6.
The average number of sitting weeks since Federation has been 20.
But Prime Minister Albanese has shown a very clear pattern – to have parliament sit as little as possible.
Shortly after coming to government, he announced a sitting timetable which saw the parliament sit for only 40 days in 2022. This compared to 67 days in 2021 and 58 in 2020.
Even across the three previous election years – 2013, 2016 and 2019 – the average number of sitting days was 48.
Then in September 2022 he cancelled a week of parliament, citing the death of Queen Elizabeth II as his excuse.
In September 2023 he cancelled a week of parliamentary sittings from 24 to 27 October 2023, citing his overseas travel calendar as an excuse.
Now he has just announced a sitting calendar for 2024 which is extremely light on. Again, he is citing international commitments as an excuse, with three days of the calendar marked ‘ASEAN’.
On Mr Albanese’s 2024 timetable the parliament will sit for just 65 days. This compares to an average of 69.4 days under the previous Coalition Government, excluding election years and the COVID affected 2020.
“Labor came into office promising greater transparency and parliamentary accountability but the exact opposite is happening,” Manager of Opposition Business in the House Paul Fletcher said.
“Why is the Prime Minister so scared to bring the parliament together?
“The 2024 sitting calendar tabled today confirms that Mr Albanese is desperate to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.”