Australia politics live: PM says welcome to country a ‘powerful way’ to begin parliament; Coalition to back Hecs debt cuts

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

We have some more pics of the Smoking Ceremony outside parliament house this morning.

You can see new MPs including Ali France, who defeated former Liberal leader Peter Dutton, as well as our two tallest MPs (I believe), Matt Smith, the new Labor MP for Leichhardt in Queensland, and Dan Repacholi, the Labor MP for Hunter.

The bells are ringing!

For the first time in more than 100 days, the bells are ringing in the chambers.

The deputy of the governor general, chief justice of the high court and a justice of the high court are in the Senate.

The usher of the black rod is currently walking over from the Senate to the House to bring all the members over to the lower house (where it’s a tight squeeze to fit everyone).

As I said, lots of pomp and ceremony today.

Cash says Australian condemnation of Israel ‘disappointing’ and Hamas should be blamed for lack of aid

The shadow foreign minister says it’s “disappointing” that the government supported the statement overnight, with other countries including the UK and France, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Sussan Ley, after the ecumenical service this morning, told reporters the focus should be on Hamas and releasing hostages. Her colleague and shadow frontbencher Jonno Duniam went further on Sky News, criticising the government and calling the statement “alarming”.

The shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, has also released a statement, saying any “moral outrage” should be directed at Hamas.

It is disturbing but not surprising that Hamas has welcomed the statement signed by the Albanese government…

It is important that aid flows into Gaza, but unfortunately Hamas has not a been allowing this aid to flow freely. Proper quantities of food and other aid must be provided to the people of Gaza.

The Albanese government’s decision to blame Israel for Hamas’s disruption of the flow of aid is appalling.

Labor will have a (literally) sprawling majority in this parliament, and you’ll be able to see it most clearly in the House of Representatives chamber.

The government has released a seating chart showing which MPs will be desk buddies. You can have a little more of a read of that here:

Security measures at Parliament House remain egalitarian

Security is tighter than usual at Parliament House today, with much of the ceremonial welcome activities closed off to the general public and the main entry doors temporarily shut down due to the politicians filing in and out.

It meant that one main door downstairs was far busier than usual – and even famous faces didn’t get a shortcut. We spotted Julie Bishop, the former Liberal foreign minister and now United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, lining up quietly at the back of a long queue alongside other staffers and entrants to Parliament House this morning.

Bishop appeared to ask security if there was a quicker way in, but a visitor guide indicated it was the only door operating at the time. It’s an egalitarian building. The line moved quickly, and the UN envoy made her way in.

Coalition to back Hecs debt cuts

The Coalition will support legislation to cut student debt by 20%, the shadow education minister has confirmed, in a policy backflip since the federal election campaign.

Jumping back to his interview on Sky News this morning, Jonno Duniam, said it was “our intention” to back the bill.

It was ... one of the centrepieces of the government’s agenda at the last election and obviously we had a view that was not supported by Australians, so we’ll work with them. We have our concerns, they remain. We’ll talk about those, but I expect them to pass parliament.

The former shadow education minister, senator Sarah Henderson, said last year the policy was “profoundly unfair” and signalled Labor had “given up on the fight against inflation”.

Asked if the Coalition would be less of the “no-alition” this term of parliament, as Anthony Albanese stated yesterday, Duniam said backing education was in the national interest.

When you’ve got all of our metrics – standards in literacy, numeracy, science, history – all heading downward, funding going up, I’m not sure how arguing about stuff around the edges is going to help us deal with issues in the national interest. Education and educational outcomes are in the national interest, and I stand ready to work with Labor on good outcomes there.

Ceremonies continue with smoking ceremony outside Parliament House

The welcome to country has concluded in Parliament House, but the scent of eucalyptus smoke still hangs heavy in the air in the building’s main foyer.

Parliamentarians and their families are buzzing through the halls this morning, with a number of ceremonial activities to mark the opening of the 48th parliament.

As Krishani has been bringing you this morning, that included a welcome to country and a smoking ceremony on the front forecourt of Parliament House.

Dozens and dozens of MPs and senators filed from the Great Hall outside onto the forecourt, being invited to waft smoke over their bodies from a fire burning in a trough on the cobbled floor.

Many were accompanied at the start of parliament by their spouses, children or even parents, taking happy snaps and introducing their families to colleagues.

The ceremonies will continue through the day, and we’ll bring you more.

Welcome to Country ceremony: in pictures

We have pics of the Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony this morning at Parliament House.

The usher of the black rod led a procession including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, his partner, Jodie Haydon, his son Nathan and others from the front of parliament, through the marble foyer and into the Great Hall.

Greens to introduce climate trigger bill

The Greens say they’ll be introducing the first bill to be debated in the new parliament, to establish a “climate trigger”.

That means when considering whether or not to approve a new project like a coalmine, the government would need to think about the impact it would have on the climate. This isn’t a new idea, but one the government hasn’t committed to as yet.

Larissa Waters, the Greens leader, says it will be introduced in the Senate tomorrow as a private senators’ bill.

Our bill would force the climate impacts of projects to be considered by the minister, and it would also ensure mega-polluting projects can’t get environmental approval at all …

Dirty fossil fuel projects need to be properly assessed for their impacts and rejected, so our kids, and all the precious species we share this beautiful planet with, have a safe climate future.

Why is the speaker dragged into the chair?

Later this morning, a strange custom will take place in the House of Representatives: the newly elected speaker will get literally dragged into their chair.

It’s a tradition that began in the UK House of Commons, as the old speaker’s function was to communicate the opinions of the common to the monarch.

According to the UK parliamentary website, when the monarch didn’t agree with that opinion, it could result in the … early … death of the speaker, so it’s not really a job that many wanted.

Back then, it was custom for the speaker-elect to struggle and resist all the way to the chair as they were dragged into it.

That tradition continues today, and Milton Dick (who’s very likely to be re-elected speaker) has tended to enjoy that process more!

Albanese says welcome to countries not controversial – ‘nor should it be’

Going back to Anthony Albanese’s address to the great hall, he said the welcome to country is a “powerful way” to begin a new parliament.

Welcome to country ceremonies were politicised during the election campaign, but the PM says they are not controversial.

This ceremony didn’t take place until 2007 and was controversial in 2007. It is not controversial today. Nor should it be. It is a respectful way of us beginning our deliberations here in Canberra, which of course means meeting place. What a welcome to country does is holds out like a hand warmly and graciously extended. An opportunity for us to embrace and to show a profound love of home and country.

Albanese says Australia is a “beautiful set of contradictions”, being both a “youthful nation” as well as the “world’s oldest continuous culture”.

Sussan Ley addresses Great Hall after welcome to country

Following the prime minister, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, makes an address.

She says the work of “listening, acting and striving for better” is at the heart of reconciliation.

Ley says the 48th parliament must work to improve outcomes for Indigenous Australians, to improve access to education, healthcare, and address domestic and family violence.

Let us approach that work with resolve and with a shared commitment to real and lasting progress. That work of listening, of acting and of striving for better is at the heart of reconciliation and our national story. Thank you again Aunty Violet for your welcome for the opening of this new parliament. May it set the tone as we recommit ourselves to the taking of practical action to improve lives and expand opportunities for Indigenous Australians in every part of our great country.

PM addresses Great Hall after welcome to country

The prime minister is now addressing the great hall – we’ll have some pictures from the welcome to country shortly.

Anthony Albanese pays his respects to Aunty Violet Sheridan, as well as current and former ministers for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, Linda Burney and Ken Wyatt:

With every step, we feel the echoes through history, the footsteps nearly a century distant from us now of every First Nations person who trekked to the opening of the first Parliament House down the hill. The footsteps of the members of the Stolen Generations who came to this place 17 years ago now to hear the words that they needed to hear – “I’m sorry”…

In the 48th parliament, we write the next chapter. Let us do it with the same sense of grace and courage that First Nations people show us with their leadership.

Aunty Violet Sheridan delivers parliament's welcome to country

The Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan is giving the welcome to country in the great hall.

She welcomes the prime minister, his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, his son Nathan, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, and others:

I stand here as a proud Ngunnawal woman as I carry my ancestors in spirit. Walking into future teaching the next generations about the oldest culture in the world, my culture, the Ngunnawal Aboriginal culture. This land, its eels and rivers is always was and always will be Ngunnawal land. I honour my Ngunnawal ancestors who walked this country before me and who continue to guide me today.

Gaza statement ‘alarming’, Coalition MP says

Earlier this morning the Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam said the government co-signing a statement condemning Israel for depriving Palestinians of “human dignity”, was an “alarming move”.

Duniam told Sky News the letter “ignores” what Hamas was doing and turned a “blind eye” to how the conflict started:

I think it’s a rather alarming move by the government to have attached itself to this letter … This focus on what Israel is doing and to a degree turning a blind eye to how this conflict started on 7 October those years ago, and the continued holding of hostages, I know it mentions that but there is more to this issue than this letter portrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter. I think that it is not the right approach for the government to take.

Israel has rejected the joint statement and said it is “disconnected from reality”.

Sussan Ley this morning didn’t go as far as Duniam to criticise the government for signing the statement but also said the focus should be on Hamas and returning hostages.

The day’s parliamentary agenda

With the ecumenical service done and dusted, we’re getting ready for the parliamentary procedures that will officially open the new parliament.

Here are some of the main events:

At 9am, there will be a Welcome to Country in the parliament’s Great Hall, followed by a smoking ceremony just outside the front doors.

At 10:30am the deputy of the governor general will address all MPs and senators in the Senate chamber to formally open the 48th parliament.

From 10:50am all the new senators and members will be sworn in, and the new House and Senate presidents are elected (it’s all but guaranteed that Queensland MP Milton Dick will be re-elected House speaker and WA senator Sue Lines will be re-elected Senate president).

After a bit of a break between proceedings, the governor general, Sam Mostyn, will arrive at parliament at 2pm. She will receive a royal salute and see the new presiding officers of each house.

At 3pm all the MPs and senators will go back to the Senate chamber, where Mostyn will address the new parliament, and a 19-gun salute to mark the end of her address.

Parliament will begin sitting at 5pm, where the first couple of maiden speeches will commence, including Sarah Witty, the Melbourne MP who defeated former Greens leader Adam Bandt, and Ali France, the Dickson MP who defeated former Liberal leader Peter Dutton.

That means we’ll see the first question time of the new parliament (which I know we’re all super excited for) on Wednesday.

Ley promises to be ‘constructive’

We’ve already seen a departure by Ley from the political playbook of Peter Dutton, promising to be a more constructive opposition.

We’ll see some of that this week, with the Coalition saying it wants to work with the government to urgently pass reforms to childcare.

That certainly doesn’t mean Labor will be getting a free pass – there will still be plenty of debate, says Ley.

We’re happy to be constructive with the government, but I and my team will be critical where we need to be, and we won’t hesitate to hold the government to account, and that includes for the promises that it has made.

So in the last parliament, you would remember that Australians were promised a $275 cut to their power bill, which never eventuated. Now leading into this parliament, we saw the prime minister make promises about the number of homes that would be built, and in the lead-up to the election, he also promised Australians would pay less tax. But clearly there is work going on to increase the taxes on hard-working Australians, and we know this because of leaked Treasury advice.

That leaked advice – released to the ABC under an FoI request – advised the government to raise taxes and reduce spending to make the budget more sustainable.