MPs are their own worst enemies. This is consistently evident when Federal Parliament is sitting, which it is for the second time this year.
Yet again, the public face of Australia's sovereign institution, question time, is on display. Sadly, it is best described as a disheartening spectacle of too many MPs behaving badly. Not only is the distasteful conduct of some an insult to those who pay their salary but the rules surrounding question time are deeply flawed.
They allow for approximately half of question time to be squandered on "Dorothy Dix" questions asked by government members to elicit flattering, pre-prepared responses from other government members. This procedure is all about trying to make the government of the day look good. They don't; as "Dorothy Dixers" are blatantly self-serving and the public knows it.
The opposition spends most of its time asking predictable questions which rarely get to the core of the important issues facing the nation. Their members prefer to ask questions designed to embarrass the government and/or particular ministers.
The speaker is forced to spend too much time trying to bring a disorderly House to order.
They continually have to ask ill-mannered MPs to behave, requests repeatedly ignored in favour of continued shouting over and interrupting other MPs from different political parties. In some cases, the most truculent repeat offenders are told to leave the chamber.
The speaker is eventually compelled to treat these repeat offenders in much the same way a parent or guardian treats an unruly child. Children are often told to go to their room and not to come out until they can behave properly and are prepared to apologise for their unacceptable conduct. Perhaps a similar apology rule should be applied before any MP who has been ordered to leave the chamber is allowed to return.
These days there is no other workplace that promotes and condones colleagues shouting at and over each other, and publicly trading insults. So why is it the norm during question time and why do the majority of the 151 members of the House of Representatives consider such behaviour acceptable?
It is virtually impossible to find anyone, other than MPs, who believe in and willingly practice this type of workplace behaviour. It is only MPs who laugh at insults and loudly thump tables in approval when something untoward is said about other work colleagues. I say colleagues, as aren't MPs parliamentary colleagues? And therefore don't they deserve to be treated with respect by other colleagues?
The only people with the power to bring about the long overdue changes needed to lift the standards of behaviour in question time are those who are guilty of bringing it into disrepute. It seems they don't intend to introduce the reforms required to improve the situation.
Early in the life of the 46th Parliament (July 2019-April 2022), the house standing committee on procedure conducted an inquiry into the practices and procedures governing question time. In May 2021 the committee tabled its report, A Window into the House. It made 11 recommendations.
Most of them related to procedural issues. The first nine recommendations were not supported by the Liberal-National coalition in government at the time. Its response to all nine was to state: "The government does not support the recommendation, considering the current arrangements for question time is working well."
Recommendation 10 related to statements of indulgence and motions of condolence. While the response was not identical to the previous nine recommendations it concluded the "current arrangements" were "working well".
Working well for whom, one wonders?
The final recommendation related to "improved promotion of the other work of the House, including resources for members and/or asking the department of the House of Representatives to develop additional public information products". This is the only recommendation that gained qualified approval. The response said: "While the government agrees in principle with this recommendation it is a matter for the Speaker."
Why wasn't there one recommendation in the committee report that addressed MPs yelling at each other across the chamber and trading insults? There should have been, especially as many public submissions to the committee commented negatively on the behaviour of MPs, the uselessness of Dorothy Dix questions, the unacceptable culture that infests question time and the people's disgust with it.
The oft repeated but unconvincing response from parliamentarians to the nonsense that goes on in question time is to claim the other work of parliament is conducted in a much more civilised manner. The conduct of some MPs in televised parliamentary committee hearings calls that claim into question.
It seems MPs are happy to pass legislation that makes inappropriate, disrespectful and bullying behaviours in other workplaces unacceptable, but not their own. Yet again, it is a case of "do as I say and not as I do". This hypocritical attitude adds further weight to the proposition MPs are their own worst enemies.
The approach adopted by too many MPs to their role will not vary until the electorate forces change. It is time it did.
- Dr Colleen Lewis is an honorary professor at the Australian Studies Institute, ANU and an associate of the Centre for Public Integrity.
