MEDIA RELEASE - ALBANESE GOVERNMENT ANSWERING 43 PER CENT FEWER OPPOSITION QUESTIONS THAN THE PREVIOUS COALITION GOVERNMENT

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

4 December 2023

ALBANESE GOVERNMENT ANSWERING 43 PER CENT FEWER OPPOSITION QUESTIONS THAN THE PREVIOUS COALITION GOVERNMENT

The Albanese Labor Government is answering 43 per cent fewer questions from the Opposition during question time in the House of Representatives than the previous Coalition Government answered.

According to data from the House of Representatives Procedure Office, in the period from 31 July to 30 November 2023, the Albanese Labor Government answered 177 questions from the Opposition.

In the analogous period in 2021, the former Coalition Government answered 311 questions from the Opposition.

That’s a 43 per cent cut in the number of Opposition questions being answered.  

Anthony Albanese is desperate to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. He is consistently cutting question time as short as he thinks he can get away with.

And he is cutting it shorter and shorter as the months go by. 

In the Autumn sittings (6 February to 30 March 2023), Labor answered an average of 7.9 questions per question time from the Opposition.

In the Winter sittings (9 May to 22 June 2023), it dropped to 7.4 questions; in the Spring sittings (31 July to 30 November) it dropped to 6.3 questions. 

Of course this is on top of Mr Albanese’s more blatant actions to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, such as scheduling very light sitting timetables and cancelling sitting weeks from the timetable.  This has included:

• Upon coming to government last year, Mr Albanese issued a sitting timetable which saw the parliament sit for only 40 days in 2022, compared to 67 days in 2021.
• He has scheduled only 17 sitting weeks in 2024, a very light program by historical standards.
• He cancelled a sitting week in September 2022, citing the death of Queen Elizabeth II as his excuse.
• He cancelled a sitting week in October 2023, citing his overseas travel plans as his excuse. 

“Labor talked a big game before coming to office, with Mr Albanese saying he was committed to parliamentary transparency and scrutiny,’’ Manager of Opposition Business in the House Paul Fletcher said.

“But in Government he has been absolutely shameless in doing the complete opposite of what he promised. 

“The numbers tell the story. Mr Albanese and his Ministers answer 43 per cent fewer questions from the Opposition than under the previous Coalition Government.”

Media contact: William Sparling | 0416 628 276 | [email protected]