Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

The first piece of advice I would give you is: don't always believe the Labor Party talking points, because they're not always accurate. If you look at the parliamentary sitting calendar that was put forward, what you will see is that, in the first eight months, we didn't schedule 10 days; we scheduled 11 weeks. Now, as it happens, everybody knows there's going to be an election due by the end of May, so the timing of the election will interfere with the parliamentary sitting calendar, as it always does every three years. Guess what else happens? Because the last election was a double dissolution election, we have to have the election in time to replace the Senate by 1 July 2019, which means that we've had to bring the budget forward by six weeks. When you bring the budget forward by six weeks, that also has implications for your parliamentary sitting calendar. That is all there is to it. Again, are these really the big issues for the nation? Why don't you ask questions about the economy and opportunities for Australian families to get ahead?