Lost in space as questions call for answers

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has introduced a strategy of short questions in question time. Picture: Kym Smith

Question time used to be fun. ­Admittedly, it was rarely that new information was imparted, but political tragics who tuned in at 2pm each sitting day were willing to let that slide as long as the heckles were loud and the jibes biting.

Under Anthony Albanese, ­Labor­’s question time strategy ­re­volves­ around short questions. Forgo the rhetoric of the zinger-heavy Shorten opposition in an ­attempt to trick the government into actually answering or ­accid­entally providing information that can come back to bite it.

Albanese believes he’s got Speaker Tony Smith, and the standing orders, on his side. But it’s unlikely to ever happen. Instead we’re stuck with another three years of question and not answer time.

“Fine. I’ll say it publicly,” Labor member for Bruce Julian Hill tweeted during a particularly dull answer from Cities Minister Alan Tudge, shortly before he was booted from the chamber. “Bring back Christopher Pyne — at least QT was more ­interesting.”

Anika Wells and daughter. Picture: AAP

Instead, we continue the dance: Labor asks a short question; Scott Morrison begins his ­response; one minute in, Labor interrupts and asks for him to answer the question; the Speaker exasperatedly points out Labor can’t demand one- or two-word answers and the Prime Minister is welcome to a preamble.

“He’s all preamble,” Labor MP for Lyons Brian Mitchell heckled from the backbench.

Hard to believe this was only the second question time of the 46th parliament.

Morrison aims to project a confident, serious government. But instead­ it appears as though the government benches have taken their catchcry about “quiet Aust­ralians” a tad too literally. Gone are the days of one-liners and ­retorts, replaced instead by a series of yawns by Barnaby Joyce.

A Tasmanian forest’s worth of paper are stacked high on the laps of the government frontbenchers, who prefer to peruse their folders and highlight an occasional paragraph in yellow — only yellow, not green — than to watch their own leader speak.

There’s no such rule on Labor’s side of the chamber, as Albanese flicked through photos on his phone as the questions and non-answers dragged on.

David Littleproud. Picture: Kym Smith

The afternoon was all but saved by a dismal non sequitur from Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack who — when asked by Labor about the point of the ­independent Infrastructure Australia making recommendations to government on projects when there was no money in the fund — replied thus: “Well, I thank the shadow minister (Catherine King) for her question and note the presence in the chamber of the American ambassador — one small step for man, yesterday was one giant leap forward for Parkes, which will play an integral part on the inland rail $9.3 million investment ­because we get on and do things.”

“Armstrong was an astronaut. You’re a spaceman!” Labor MP Rob Mitchell bellowed.

The out-of-this-world theme continued when Science Minister Karen Andrews boldly stated: “Space has long been called the final frontier but, under the Morrison­ government, space is the new jobs frontier.”