Prime Minister Tony Abbott is on a collision course with Labor and the Greens when the 44th parliament sits for the first time this week over plans to scrap the carbon tax.
But Mr Abbott is promising that debate will be courteous and respectful.
The parliament will be formally opened by Governor-General Quentin Bryce on a mainly ceremonial Tuesday before the political battle kicks off in earnest on Wednesday.
Mr Abbott will be flanked by 89 coalition colleagues, having reduced Labor to 55 members at the September 7 election.
Over on the crossbench, eccentric billionaire Clive Palmer and Victorian farmer Cathy McGowan will join Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie and Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt.
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If Mr Palmer shows up that is: he cancelled a media appearance on Sunday because he had a cold.
The government will propose veteran MP Bronwyn Bishop for Speaker and Nationals MP Bruce Scott for deputy speaker. Labor's Rob Mitchell is set to take up the second deputy speaker role.
Climate change will be the key battleground, with the government expected to introduce its carbon tax repeal bills first thing on Wednesday morning.
The Greens oppose the bills while Labor says it's open to scrapping the tax if the government replaces it with an emissions trading scheme - something the coalition is not going to do.
Mr Abbott said on Saturday the new parliament would be "respectful".
"It will be a parliament which discusses the issues rather than abuses individuals," he said.
"We will not impugn the motives of our political opponents. We will not trash the reputations of members of parliament. And if any of us are tempted to go a little bit over the top, we have the most formidable parliamentarian of her era, Bronwyn Bishop, sitting in the chair to keep us honest and fair."
Greens Leader Christine Milne said it was a bit rich for Mr Abbott to call for a more respectful parliament.
"I think it's extraordinary for someone like him to say that when he has been the chief driver of a lot of the nastiness and vilification of the last period of the parliament," she said.
The government will also introduce laws to increase penalties on corrupt union officials, set up a Registered Organisations Commission and reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Also slated are bills to take the debt ceiling to $500 billion and repeal the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT).
A number of parliamentary committees will be set up, including the joint standing committee on electoral matters, which will examine the conduct of the election and could recommend changes to the Senate voting system.
A federal police investigation is already underway into how votes went missing in the WA senate election recount and there are concerns preference deals between so-called micro parties distorted the overall Senate result.
Question time on Wednesday afternoon is expected to be dominated by the budget and economy, as well as climate change.
And Labor is likely to take aim at the coalition over fresh tensions in Australia's relationship with Indonesia, most notably over asylum seeker policy and espionage claims.
