Coronavirus: Scaled-back parliment to get wages work done

A drastically scaled-back federal parliament could sit as early as next week to pass the government’s coronavirus wage subsidy.

Australian senators practise social distancing in light of the coronavirus outbreak guidelines on March 23. PIcture: AFP

A drastically scaled-back federal parliament could sit as early as next week to pass the government’s coronavirus wage subsidy, with as many members and senators driving to the nation’s capital as possible in a bid to prevent further spread of the disease.

While plans for the sitting are still being finalised, a virtual sitting will not occur. “We put in place the mechanisms last Monday to ­enable that to be done in a much smaller arrangement and that will be done in person, here in the parliament in Canberra, to enable this legislation to be progressed,” Scott Morrison said. “It would be important to ­ensure that if there was agreement reached on the legislation even ­before the parliament were able to sit. That would create greater certainty and clarity.

“Some of this legislation could be a bit complicated and so we need to ensure that we get that legislation right when it comes into the parliament so it will be convened at a time when officials can appropriately draft that legislation and we can share that with the opposition.”

A minimum of 31 members and 19 senators (out of a total of 227 MPs) will be required to make a quorum in the respective chambers.

The Coalition and Labor last week agreed the House and Senate could sit, if necessary, sooner than the next sitting scheduled on ­August 11 “in a manner and form not otherwise provided in the standing orders”.

Australian Medical Association ACT president, ­Antonio Di Dio, said a virtual sitting would be ideal but he was confident if there was any health risk for travelling parliamentarians the Prime Minister would act accordingly.

There are no coronavirus border restrictions in the ACT, NSW or Victoria.

“(Parliament House) is outstandingly well run,” Dr Di Dio said.

“The people in charge of the logistics of running that building are really good. I’m pretty confident they will be as safe as they possibly could be because the measures they’ve taken to date appear to me to be very responsible, very prudent.

“They were actually on top of the hand sanitiser, the social distancing as quick as any administration around the world.”