MPs ridicule Coalition’s push for more family time

The NSW government is attempting to cut short its working schedule so MPs can spend more time with their families.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the plan would give Nationals MPs a chance to return to regional communities by Thursday night. Picture: AAP

The NSW government is trying to cut short its working schedule in the Legislative Council so MPs can head home and spend more time with their families, a move that has been criticised by crossbench MPs and the opposition who say the parliament is barely sitting enough already.

The push, led by Special Minister of State Don Harwin and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, has been ridiculed by Labor, Greens and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MPs, who say there is ­already a paucity of joint-sitting days — just 45 days, compared with 56 when the ­Coalition was elected in 2011.

Mr Harwin and Ms Mitchell approached upper house MPs last week requesting that private members’ statements and general business, which can see debates run late, be moved from Thursdays to Wednesday, with the upper house sitting an hour earlier on Wednesdays.

Ms Mitchell, who has two children, said the plan would give Nationals MPs, including her, a chance to return to regional communities by Thursday night.

Neither house of parliament routinely sits on a Friday.

“These changes would not ­reduce the time spent in the chamber. In fact, we are proposing an increase to sitting hours and an earlier starting time,” she said, responding on behalf of Mr Harwin.

She added that family-friendly changes made last year allowed children up to the age of four to be present in the chambers with a caregiver, a move supported by all parties. These changes were being proposed in the same spirit, she said. But several upper house MPs condemned the plan.

Labor’s Adam Searle said the opposition was still considering the proposal, but queried why it was being elevated to such a matter of priority for the government.

Greens MP David Shoebridge said: “I find it remarkable after this dreadful fire season and all the ­issues facing the state that this is top of the government’s agenda.”

Shooters MP Robert Borsak also ridiculed the proposal, saying it did not make sense to change the sessional orders to accommodate those with families who could use pairing arrangements if they wanted to be absent from the chamber if necessary.

“I really, honestly, believe that’s not the primary reason. They want to skive off because they’ve got nothing to do,” he said.