Australia parliament sitting days commence for 2022

Australia’s parliament will begin one session of its 2022 sitting days.

During sitting days, Australia’s legislature debates and passes critical bills and policies. According to last year’s directives, Australia’s parliament only has ten sitting days this year, leading up to May’s presidential elections. Overshadowing this session is the recent text message scandal surrounding the Prime Minister.

Key policies up for debate are a religious discrimination law, changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and the pensions loans scheme. Also being debated is the establishment of Australia’s commonwealth integrity commission (CIC)—one of Prime Minister Morrison’s election promises which has yet to be fulfilled. CIC will reduce corruption within Australia’s government by centralizing public oversight into an independent statutory agency.

With only ten sitting days before the elections, and the recent scandal over Prime Minister Morrison, these sitting days are unlikely to be productive. Instead of passing legislation, the minutes will likely center on political posturing for the upcoming elections. Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition government is losing in polls due to Omicron and a stalling economy. Failing to pass the CIC may give Australia’s opposition the momentum it needs to win the upcoming election.