December 8, 2023
Kevin Rudd was re-elected leader of the ALP on June 26, 2013.
He was sworn in as Prime Minister at 9.51am on June 27. This is a recording of Question Time in the House of Representatives at 2pm that afternoon.
It was Rudd’s one and only Question Time in his second term as prime minister. The House adjourned at the end of the day for the winter break. It never met again and was dissolved ahead of the September 7 election.
The Rudd Government has faced its first Question Time in the new Parliament.
The Opposition Leader’s first question was about petrol and food prices. It required a Dorothy Dixer from the government’s backbench for the stolen generations apology to be raised.
Julia Gillard delivered the most assured and polished performance, emphasising the government’s mandate on industrial relations when asked about the legislation introduced today to dismantle the Howard government’s WorkChoices.
The Federal Opposition has itemised what it calls abuse of process, procedure and convention in the Senate since July 1, the date on which the coalition government assumed a one-seat majority in the upper house.
The ALP leader in the Senate, Chris Evans, has itemised a list of government actions concerning Question Time, censure motions, guillotines, gags and Senate Committees.
The Opposition argues these actions constitute “democratic abuses”.
Text of a media statement Senator Chris Evans, the ALP leader in the Senate.
John Howard’s Senate Abuses – Process, Procedure and Convention – the Story Since 1 July
Since gaining senate control, the Howard Government has rolled out what has become a very long list of democratic abuses.
More questions have been asked during Questions Without Notice during the six years and three months of the Howard Government than during the prime ministerships of Paul Keating, Bob Hawke or Malcolm Fraser, indicating a greater commitment to accountability and parliamentary democracy, according to John Howard.
The Prime Minister was responding to a question from the Liberal member for Casey, Tony Smith, during Question Time in the House of Representatives.
Howard gave figures which show that proportionally his government’s ministers have responded to more questions without notice than the governments of Paul Keating (1991-96), Bob Hawke (1983-91) and Malcolm Fraser (1975-83).
This is mainly because Question Time has been extended under Howard to allow for a minimum number of questions each sitting day. Question Time often lasts for up to 90 minutes, whereas for decades it was restricted to 60 minutes.
The Howard Government has cancelled the scheduled Question Time on Tuesday May 14th, citing the death of the Queen Mother as the reason.
The government claims it is the tradition to suspend Question Time in the event of a condolence motion for a member of the royal family.
The move has been met with criticism from the Opposition and the Australian Democrats, who each accuse the government of avoiding its obligation to be accountable to the Parliament.