NICOLA SMITH: Labor won the election with a huge majority and is letting the Opposition know it

The post-election hiatus is over, a fresh buzz has filled Parliament’s corridors, and the chambers are alive again with the ring of jeers and political jibes.

The Labor Government has returned to the first sitting of the 48th parliament with a new bounce in its step, and subtle digs in every Question Time that it won a thumping 94-member majority, and it wants the depleted Opposition ranks to know it.

Beyond the pomp and ceremonial theatre that belongs to the opening of every new term, Anthony Albanese’s Government has focused in the inaugural two-week parliamentary session on delivering election pledges as early legislative wins.

On Thursday, it got its first major reform across the line, passing the HECS debt bill to slash 20 per cent from existing university and TAFE debts, which cleared the Senate unamended with the help of crossbench and Greens support.

New laws allowing the Federal Government to block funding for childcare centres that fail to meet safety thresholds marked a second, although sombre, victory after horrifying allegations of sexual abuse in Victoria spurred Labor to prioritise an overhaul of the sector in the first days of the new term.

The legislation mandating tighter checks for centres receiving the Federal Childcare Centre Subsidy and targeting childcare operators with a bad record from opening new facilities, is a significant step towards reassuring alarmed parents after the recent scandal.

The reforms received bipartisan support after newly-elected Opposition Leader Sussan Ley vowed a constructive approach to back and not block legislation in the national interest.

The “back-to-school” vibe of the past two weeks has given Labor the opportunity to pick low-hanging fruit as it eases into the new parliamentary term, but the resumption of the boisterous daily Question Time has offered a glimpse of more meaty battles to come.

The visibly reduced Opposition has co-ordinated its question quota to aim fire at the Government’s health, taxation and energy policies, attempting to cast doubt over Labor’s hefty cornerstone $8.5 billion Medicare funding election promise to ensure 9 out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030.

Coalition frontbenchers have ripped into Labor’s tax policies, signalling a fight ahead over the Treasurer’s goal to impose an additional 15 per cent tax on the earnings of superannuation balances above $3 million, which controversially targets unrealised gains.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has been pulled multiple times to the despatch box, indicating the nation’s future energy mix, household power bills and Labor’s quest to generate 82 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 may produce some of the fiercest clashes of the new term.

But although the Coalition, led by veteran frontbencher Dan Tehan, has attempted to land several blows over the impact of Labor’s energy policy it has overshadowed its own attack strategy, and a solid inaugural performance of new Leader Ms Ley, with fierce in-fighting over whether to abandon the global “net zero” goal.

The Government for its part has, so far, avoided tipping into hubris as its plentiful ranks spill across both sides of the chambers, although it has needled the Opposition at every opportunity with subtle reminders of seats lost in Labor’s resounding win.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged his colleagues to remember humility, but Labor will need to constantly keep its enlarged majority in check.

A long string of softball “Dixer” questions allowing the Government to spruik its achievements is already threatening to stifle the life out of robust scrutiny and debate.

Mr Albanese also faces pressure use his historic electoral win to move beyond his traditional steady-as-she-goes approach to seize the moment to make much bolder reforms.

Next month’s much-awaited productivity roundtable, billed as a moment to turbocharge economic reform, may offer him some political cover to do so as business, union and civil society leaders converge on Canberra to offer the Government real-world advice.

They are expected to tackle some of the nation’s biggest headaches from the challenges of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence to advancing environmental protection laws and the Government has promised to remain open-minded about the summit’s bold ideas and how to progress them.

But the biggest winners of the first few weeks of Australia’s most diverse ever parliament are the influx of new MPs — 32 in the House of Representatives and 10 in the Senate — who have brought a fresh wave of energy and purpose to the building.

Behind the bluster of the more headline-grabbing Question Time, a flurry of impressive maiden speeches has set the tone for a new cohort of politicians who mean business.

The 48th parliament has welcomed the highest number of elected women, making up more than 55 per cent of Labor MPs and senators, and a step-up in multicultural representation.

New members, struggling — like much of the nation — to balance family life and the demands of work, have spoken of their drive to get things done, with one of the 2025 intake pointing out that politicians did not leave their children behind at home to “have nice dinners in Canberra”.

Ali France, who ousted former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from his seat of Dickson, was afforded the honour of making the first speech that launched a raft of emotional and motivated addresses by new MPs and Senators who spoke of their personal journeys to parliament and ambitions to make a local and national impact.

Senator Corinne Mulholland made a heartwarming debut with baby son Auggie, who wriggled as she spoke about the “full, lived reality of working parents” and her aim to fight for other Queensland families.

“Mums are masters at turning chaos into order and making the impossible possible, and I hope to bring just a bit of that mum energy to everything I do in this place,” she said.

Many spoke about striking the balance between finding their role in pushing for national change while remaining grounded in the needs of their local communities.

Their speeches were a reminder that the nuts and bolts of national politics is not found in the more visible and quick-witted put-downs of parliamentary debate but in the hard graft of tackling real life issues of the people who put them in office, and who can also remove them.