Parliamentary debate time squeezed
Today the Government has successfully moved a motion to clamp down on the amount of time allowed for debating matters of public importance. The House of representative’s conventions allow for matters of public importance or MPIs to be debated every day except Mondays. It’s an important platform for members of the opposition and independents to challenge governments of the day on issues effecting their constituents. But Tony Abbot, the Manager of Government Business in the House of Representatives today pushed through a motion halving the amount of time allowed for debating MPIs. Erica Vowles spoke with Peter Andren, the independent Member for Calare about the significance of the move and Phil Larkin from the Democratic Audit of Australia at the Australian National University.