Two thirds of Senators and half of federal MPs missed parliament
Most senators and almost half of federal MPs missed parliamentary sitting days last year. These are the pollies with the best and worst attendance records.
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Two thirds of senators and almost half of federal MPs did not attend every parliamentary sitting day under the Albanese government last year.
The lower house had 31 sitting days, while the upper house had 28 sitting days between July and December.
Anthony Albanese attended 29 days due to overseas trips, while Opposition leader Peter Dutton attended all 31 days.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison only attended 26 days, after skipping the first week to speak at a conference of conservative leaders in Tokyo.
Ten of the Prime Minister’s 23-member cabinet also recorded several absences amid other ministerial commitments.
Gippsland MP Darren Chester had the lowest attendance of the House at 10 days, followed by Dunkley MP Peta Murphy at 12 days.
This was because the pair were representing Australia at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Alarming parliamentary figures for the Upper House show only 32.8 per cent attended all 28 of its sitting days last year.
Outspoken One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had the highest number of days absent without leave at three, on top of a further two days absent with leave.
New Victorian Labor Senator Jana Stewart only attended seven days due to maternity leave.
Despite the low rate, political expert Dr Marija Taflaga said senators worked hard because they served on multiple committees.
The Australian National University lecturer said Australian politicians sat in parliament “considerably less” than say they do in the UK but that was because Australia’s landmass was larger so there were constraints on politicians.
But she said it was time to think about how parliament was run and whether there were other ways to participate.
“We’re better off sort of thinking about what we want out of parliament, and then how for how to achieve that,” Dr Taflaga said.
“Rather than, I suppose, holding everyone to a standard from the past era.
“We could afford to be a bit more innovative.”
Dr Taflaga said the pandemic showed that the federal parliament was “very conservative” around using other forms of other technologies.
But she said technology wasn’t the solution to all of its problems, adding she thinks parliament sits too infrequently which causes other issues.
Only seven of the sixteen crossbench MPs attended all 31 sitting days, with Greens leader Adam Bandt and Indi MP Helen Haines missing a few days after testing positive for Covid.
They include new Teal MPs Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender, Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps.
Senator Hanson was contacted for comment.
KEY ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Anthony Albanese – 21 days
Jim Chalmers – 31 days
Bill Shorten – 31 days
Peter Dutton – 31 days
Scott Morrison – 26 days
David Littleproud – 31 days
Bridget McKenzie – 28 days
Adam Bandt – 27 days
Zoe Daniel – 31 days
Monique Ryan – 31 days
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