We’re back for another sitting week, the Senate has been in estimates mode, but the House was in full swing.

Here's the 5&5:

BEST

The House passes once-in-a-generation tax reforms
May the odds be in your favour
A pay rise for millions of Australians
Australia’s new treaty with Solomon Islands
Doing what it was meant to do

WORST

Déjà vu
It takes a little bit of moxie
Temu Abbott from the Liberal One National Party
Shooting the messenger
Pauline wants the top job

1. After 20 divisions, right before Question Time on Thursday the House passed our once-in-a generation tax reforms. We’re one step closer to a tax cut for every Australian and a fair go for first home buyers. Help with cost of living is our number one priority, as the PM said to the House during QT on Thursday “Today, every Labor member in this House voted to deliver another two income tax cuts—$250 for every worker plus a $1,000 automatic tax deduction, making sure that there's reform there as well. Every Labor member voted for aspiration for all, not just for some, and we did that by making sure that Australians can have a crack at owning their first home. Every Labor member voted for Australians to earn more and to keep more of what they earn, which is why, on Monday, we welcomed the fact that those on the poorest pay—those people on the minimum wage, the people who clean our offices here in Parliament House, the people who do that hard yakka going to work each and every day to make a difference for their family—could get a decent pay increase.”

2. For too long, buying a first home has felt like a contest young people were never meant to win. Channelling some Katniss Everdeen, Ali France told the House this week why that’s finally changing: “First home buyers have been playing the housing hunger games, where only investors survive and thrive — first home buyers in the arena, armed with a deposit and hope, up against dozens of cashed-up investors. Only one house, one winner — until now. Over the last week I have spoken to many ‘tributes’ in my electorate of Dickson… Our tax reforms finally changed the game. The odds are finally in their favour.” Louise Miller-Frost, Jodie Belyea, Tom French and Renee Coffey also gave great speeches this week on why our reforms back young Australians.

3. On Tuesday the Fair Work Commission announced an increase of 4.75% to award wages and 6% to the National Minimum Wage from 1 July. That’s 2.7 million workers better off in real terms, and the first time the minimum wage has cleared $1,000 a week. It’s also the fifth year in a row the Albanese Labor Government has gone into bat for low-paid workers at the Review, with the minimum wage now up 30.1% since we came to office. Asked about it in the House by Cassandra Fernando, Amanda Rishworth explained: “This represents a real wage increase, supporting workers with cost of living. Many of these workers are low paid. They are predominantly women and work casually and in industries like retail, health care, accommodation and food services. It's been this government that's advocated for these workers, to the commission, for an economically sustainable real wage increase. We welcome the commission's decision as a win for working Australians.”

4. This week the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Matthew Wale chose Australia as his first international trip since taking office. It was a privilege to have Prime Minister Wale present for Question Time on Wednesday. Our PM explained the significance of the visit: “At the request of Solomon Islands, our two nations will commence negotiations on a new, comprehensive treaty… as equal partners in the pursuit of peace across the Blue Pacific that we proudly share.” Later in Question Time, Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy added: “If it’s good enough to fund projects in the Pacific, it’s good enough to trust Pacific companies and Pacific workers with that work.” The rest of Question Time was less orderly, but I hope Prime Minister Wale enjoyed the show.

5. At the end of last year Labor’s landmark social media age laws came into effect. Media outlets and the Opposition were saying the world was going to cave in. Surprise...it didn’t. Anika Wells shared a great update to the House on how the new social media age laws are doing exactly what they were meant to do “Our social media minimum age law has so far seen the accounts of five million under-16s removed, deactivated or restricted. We are already seeing the green shoots of what the world looks like for young people without the pervasive and persistent pull of social media. They are playing more sport, they are reading more books and they are reconnecting with their friends and their families in real life.”

1. This week the Coalition decided to vote against tax relief for millions of Australians. Again. Tim Wilson stood up on Tuesday and asked the Treasurer about tax cuts — hours after his own party room had voted to oppose them. Jim Chalmers couldn’t believe his luck: “If anybody is looking for evidence that the Member for Goldstein is not the sharpest tool in the shed, how about him asking about tax cuts on the day that their party room decided to vote against tax cuts for 13 million Australian workers?...Only a few hours ago in the coalition party room—that meeting of minds down that end of the building—they decided to repeat the same mistake that they made not that long ago: to vote against tax cuts for Australian working people.” Same movie. Same ending.

2. Liberal MP Leon Rebello is fairly new to Parliament, and with less than a year under his belt, he thought it would be a good idea to ask Clare O’Neil about housing inequality. You know, the inequality his party helped to create. Clare O’Neil wasn’t having it: “It takes a little bit of moxie to be coming into this parliament and asking me, as Housing Minister, questions about the housing crisis that those opposite played a very significant hand in creating for our country. There's a really simple and inarguable truth here. Had those opposite not sat on the Treasury benches for nine years doing absolutely nothing about this problem, we would be much better positioned to address it.” Yeah, it really, REALLY wasn’t a good idea to ask that question.

3. You probably know by now that Tony Abbott has returned from the abyss to become Liberal Party Federal President. The less said about that, the better. Disappointingly, Angus Taylor has decided to channel his former leader and oppose everything in sight. Fortunately for us, the PM came up with one of the lines of the week. I thought about putting it in the BEST, but for obvious reasons it lives here: “We have Temu Abbott over here, trying to press buttons and divide Australia, as they always do, when the fact is: as a result of this week, we have an economy that's growing. We have private sector investment which is growing substantially and driving that economy. We have higher wages, as a result of the 4.7 per cent increase— something that those opposite, those in the Liberal One National Coalition of the three parties, speak about: they speak about battlers, from time to time, but give a battler a wage increase and they hate it.” For Angus’ sake, I hope he stays away from the onions. And it didn’t stop there. On Thursday the PM added “They've brought Tony Abbott back to run the Liberal Party—a bloke who was dumped by his own party and then dumped by his own electorate. They've made him party president. At least when they resurrected the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park they chose a species that had been successful.”

4. During Estimates on Wednesday morning, Jane Hume and Maria Kovacic thought they discovered a grave injustice. The two claimed officials from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations hadn’t tipped them off about a bill the government was bringing in. Jane and Maria know that’s a Minister’s job, not the officials’ but decided to have a go at the Department officials anyway. The bill — which helps a swamped Fair Work Commission clear disputes faster — was introduced that very morning, by a Minister, at a despatch box, in the same building they were sitting in. Case closed.

5. While we’re talking about Estimates, this week Pauline Hanson decided to finally show up to work. I guess it's understandable for someone who earlier this week signalled she thinks she’s up to the top job as PM. The Australian took a look at the CV: since 2016, the Senator has made it to estimates on just 28 of 239 days, and since the election she’s fronted less than a third of divisions. As Murray Watt warned this week “If you want lower wages, more expensive medicines and less housing, One Nation is the party for you. ” Noting her record opposing workers' pay rises, let's hope she withdraws this application.

Parliament is back again in two weeks for our final sitting fortnight before the winter break

‘til then,

Tony

PS. With Tony Abbott’s ascension to the Liberal Party presidency on the back of Angus Taylor’s endorsement, the song of the week has to be ‘I Want You Back’ by Hoodoo Gurus from their album Stone Age Romeos.

5&5: Jurassic Parliament