Labor's first sitting week in government for nearly a decade is set to be dominated by climate change and difficult updates on cost of living pressures.
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The new-look 47th parliament will open on Tuesday, with Labor tasked with navigating a muscular crossbench and severely depleted moderate wing of the Coalition as it pushes through its agenda.
Much of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's election pitch - a federal anti-corruption commission, a First Nations Voice to Parliament - could take months to thrash out, as policy nuances and the realpolitik of the new parliament are worked through.
But the government insists it will hit the ground running, with tougher action on climate change set to be the centrepiece of its first week in the chamber.
Labor edged past the 76 seats needed to command a majority in the House of Representatives. But it needs an additional 13 votes to pass legislation in the Senate, meaning it must convince the Greens and at least one independent on key legislation to bypass the Coalition.
ANU political expert Professor Frank Bongiorno expected drawn-out negotiations on integrity and climate to "absorb a lot of parliamentary negotiating time".
"Those key signature policies ... [will] really test the new government's good faith and resolve," he said.
"Their big challenge will be around environmental and particularly climate change issues, given that they're dealing with a very complex parliament, an upper house where they don't have control, and a dependence on the Greens for any issues where they're opposed by the Coalition."
Labor has pledged to legislate a 43 per cent mid-term emissions reduction target by 2030, while also requiring the relevant minister to report annually to parliament on Australia's progress.
The Greens remain undecided on the bill, having taken a 75 per cent midterm target to the May poll, and want the legislation to explicitly label the 43 per cent target a "floor not a ceiling".
Greens leader Adam Bandt, who claims his party has its own mandate after seizing seats in both houses, says he prefers to "improve and pass" the "weak" bill, but has not ruled out joining the Coalition in voting it down.
Independent senator for the ACT David Pocock, who will wield considerable leverage, is considered the likely additional ally Labor needs if the Greens ultimately come on board.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers also warned Australia's July economic update, to be delivered on Thursday, will project "confronting" downgrades to growth and real wages cut even further by inflation. The update will be delivered against a backdrop of rising cost of living pressures, influenced by COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Albanese has confirmed a pledge to enshrine ten days paid leave for women fleeing domestic and family violence will be brought to parliament this week.
Establishing an independent statutory body to tackle a national skills shortage has also been outlined as a priority.
Despite question time, which will not resume until Wednesday, coming under heavy criticism for the past decade, Labor will resist calls to install an independent as Speaker of the House.
Queensland backbencher Milton Dick will likely be formally offered the role this week, with Sue Lines expected to be appointed President of the Senate. Ms Lines would be the first woman in the role since ACT senator Margaret Reid in 2002.
An influx of new members will begin to make their first speeches to parliament this week. Crossbenchers have requested theirs be expedited, with lower house MPs unable to contribute to debates in the chamber until they have delivered their first speech.
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On Sunday, new Leader of the House Tony Burke revealed question time will include three questions from the crossbench, reflecting the largest number of independents and minor party MPs in Australian history.
Mr Burke promised to "change the demeanour" of question time, which he said had deteriorated into "sledging" under the Coalition.
But he ruled out scrapping 'Dorothy Dixxers' - softball questions from Labor backbenchers - which he said were necessary to highlight Labor's agenda.
"We're not going to create a situation where the opposition and the crossbench are the only people to determine what the issues of the day are," he told Insiders on Sunday.
But another key plank of the new government's agenda, a federal anti-corruption commission, will take a while longer.
Mr Bandt has flagged a willingness to back Helen Haines' pre-existing model, calling for a watchdog to be implemented before the October budget. The bill already has the backing of a number of crossbenchers in the lower house.
But Labor is eager to stamp its own authority, and has been circulating a draft of its own legislation to the crossbench over the past fortnight.