After a bruising last week of federal parliament dominated by the Coalition poking holes in the Voice to parliament proposal, the government is back in the hot seat for the second sitting week of the block.
Question time this week is expected to again be dominated by questions around the Voice, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese edges closer to announcing a date for the referendum.
The opposition is also set to question the government on its cost-of-living measures.
Follow along here.
Labor to harden Palestine position
Before Question Time gets under way – earlier, the government party room heard from Foreign Minister Penny Wong that Labor will look to harden its language on the Palestinian territories.
After fielding a question from a member concerning the Israeli government’s settlements in the West Bank, Senator Wong told the caucus that Labor will begin officially referring to Israel’s settlements in the West Bank as “illegal” and the territories as “occupied”.
The hardened position will bring it into line with that of previous governments.
Voice questions for the PM
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is the first to field a question to Mr Albanese on Tuesday, and as expected it concerns the Voice.
He asked: “Why is the Prime Minister only releasing Voice legislation after Australians have voted? Why does the Prime Minister continue to be deceptive and not provide the information millions of Australians are asking for?
Mr Albanese accuses Mr Dutton for “completely walking away from even pretending they are concerned about cost of living issues”.
Mr Albanese then went on to attack the Coalition’s push for a legislated Voice, rather than a constitutionally enshrined one as the referendum question poses.
Mr Albanese said the opposition “are simply not being fair dinkum”.
“If they think the Voice is a bad idea, why are they going to legislate it?” Mr Albanese said.
After a government dixer, Coalition backbencher Colin Boyce gets the second opposition question, and has to ask it three times due to interjections and then time constraints.
He asks the Prime Minister if he is aware that the Uluru Statement from the Heart does not “literally fit on one page”, but is instead 26 pages long, and that three of those pages are dedicated to a Makarrata Commission.
He adds, “why does the Prime Minister continue to be deceptive, and not give millions of Australians the answers they’re asking”.
Mr Albanese held up a single A4 page, and read the first and last sentences of the Statement before accusing the Coalition of peddling a conspiracy theory.
“There were over 1000 meetings held around the country – big and small – in a dialogue leading up to the constitutional convention (at Uluru) … It came up with what is an eloquent Statement from the Heart. One that not only fits on an A4 page, but one that was signed by the delegates to the constitutional conventions. Signed by the leaders who were there at Uluru,” he said.
“What we have here is a conspiracy theory colliding with each other. They are struggling … This is absolutely nonsense.
“Those Opposite do not want to debate the facts … This is absolute nonsense and conspiracy.”