(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
The new federal government's promise to introduce laws to repeal the carbon and mining taxes as its first act was delayed by more than an hour as fiery debate disrupted parliament's first working day.
The federal Opposition employed a tactic used by the Coalition when it was in opposition to try and force Immigration Minister Scott Morrison into the parliament to provide an explanation on the government's asylum-seeker policy.
The government used its numbers in the House of Representatives to block the move.
But as Amanda Cavill reports, it indicates that the stated hope by both parties that the standard of behaviour in the 44th parliament will be an improvement on the 43rd is unlikely to be realised.
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Legislation to repeal the carbon tax was delayed as parliament became bogged down in debates over the government's asylum policy and the Coalition's nickname for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
Labor started the day with a call for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to appear in the House of Representatives and explain negotiations with Indonesia over asylum-seeker policy.
The federal opposition is demanding the Coalition government provide a coherent explanation of conflicting reports about people-swap talks with Indonesia.
A senior Indonesian official is standing by her claims that Canberra and Jakarta are discussing a deal that would allow rescued asylum-seekers to be returned to Indonesia, if Australia takes an equal number of processed refugees.
Opposition Immigration spokesman Richard Marles says the Coalition has failed to deliver on its promise to be more transparent and honest in government.
"We now have the farcical situation where there is a state of confusion throughout this government and in Australia about the extent of negotiations between the Government of Australia and the Government of Indonesia on a people-swap arrangement and we will not hear a word of this from the Government in the parliament of our country. This is a situation which must change. This morning was an opportunity for the Government to do that and we have seen them fail the first test."
Coalition Education Minister Christopher Pyne says the opposition's actions make a mockery of parliament.
He says the opposition is merely using petty delaying tactics.
"The Coalition won the election two months ago and today we want to introduce the carbon tax repeal bill and on the draft daily program the carbon tax repeal bills are listed for debate. They they will do anything to stand in the way of lowering electricity prices in this country. Electricity Bill Shorten, as his first political act in the parliament, has desired to get his manager of opposition business to block the repeal of the carbon tax."
Speaker Bronwyn Bishop ruled the use of the nickname 'Electricity Bill' to describe Mr Shorten in the course of debate is not unparliamentary despite opposition claims to the contrary.
Manager of opposition business Tony Burke then tried to put a motion of dissent against the ruling.
"Every word we were told about what the standards of this Government would be in the dealings with this House means absolutely nothing if they can't even resist the cute name-calling. If they can't even get to stage one of referring to people by their appropriate title. You made clear your preference to be called Madam Speaker and we respect that. But to have no respect come to members of this House at all and for it to be cheap schoolyard name-calling that is going to be the order of the day in this House takes us to a new low."
Mr Abbott finally did introduce his promised laws although they face opposition in the Senate from Labor and the Greens.
He's urged parliament to support the bills.
"The Government is repealing the carbon tax in full. We are not playing word games. We are not playing tactical political games. We are doing what we were elected to do. Others have said they would terminate the carbon tax, but they were only renaming it. Well, Madam Speaker, we are not renaming it. We are not floating it. We are not keeping the machinery in place so we can dust it off in the future. We are abolishing the carbon tax in full."
Mr Abbott is also facing opposition to his plan to increase the amount of money Australia can borrow from 300 billion dollars to 500 billion dollars.
Mr Abbott is accusing Labor of trying to bring on a US-style debt crisis, likening Labor to the Tea Party movement which paralysed the United States for almost two weeks as they debated the same issue, leaving the country teetering on the edge of financial disaster.
But opposition leader Bill Shorten rejected Mr Abbott's Tea Party analogy telling the ABC Labor is a party of compromise and negotiation.
"What sort of opposition would we be if we just said, every time Mr Abbott said I want to practically double the nation's debt, and we just said, sure please go ahead. We are reasonable but we are not patsies and we will stand up for taxpayers to the Abbott government when they just want to blow the nations' credit card."
Mr Shorten says the opposition is prepared to consider the case for a 500 billion dollar cap, but only if the government can show why its needed and releases its mid-year budget review immediately.
The mid-year budget review is due in early December.
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