Shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, is up at the despatch box next and asks the government why, on their watch, “median capital city rents have soared from $470 per week to $690 per week”

From a quick Google, according to the Domain March 2022 quarter report, the median unit price for combined capital cities was $460 per week, which rose to $680 per by the June 2026 quarter.

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, like the PM, says that anyone who owned a property on budget night can still negatively gear it, and that the changes should mean more renters become buyers.

75,000 renters will get that opportunity and more renters, we’re building more homes for renters. There’s going to be a lot of politics about this debate. The fact that the Liberal Party of Australia is expecting us to believe they care about renters is telling us about the politics here.

Albanese tested on reports of rising rents

Angus Taylor is back and asks the prime minister to guarantee that rents won’t go up by 30%, after media reports quoting NAB, which warned the tax changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount could see rents soar.

Anthony Albanese says NAB has since clarified its position, stating that “this was not a forecast and it’s important to note that we do not forecast rental yields”.

He adds that anyone who already owned a property up until budget night could still negatively gear that property now.

Taylor stands up to make a point of order on relevance because he wants the PM to provide a guarantee that rents won’t go up 30%, but Milton Dick says so far Albanese has been relevant.

Albanese continues and says that The Australian newspaper, which published the report, might issue a clarification tomorrow on their story. He then ends, saying:

I haven’t heard one person – perhaps the leader of the opposition might be the one – who thinks that the housing system is working. None. None. It is a broken housing system that we inherited and we’re fixing it, to give young people a fair time.

Marles hints at talks for Japan to use Australia’s missile ranges for tests

The Defence minister, Richard Marles, and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjirō Koizumi, have met in Canberra today and held a short press conference afterward.

Marles says that talks are progressing between the two nations which could see Japan use Australia’s missile ranges over the next decade.

We have agreed to progress a better and enhanced arrangement between Australia and Japan for Japan’s use of our missile ranges over the next decade across a range of missile capabilities, including Japan’s hypersonic missile program.

Marles also says the first Mogami-class frigate being acquired by Australia from Japan is expected to be in service this decade.

Read more:

‘We’ve lost the plot’ on gambling in Australia: Wallace

The Liberal MP Andrew Wallace has, for the first time, crossed the floor to vote against the gambling reforms agreed to by the Coalition and Labor.

He has already crossed the floor on the amendments, and says he’ll cross the floor to vote against the entire bill.

He tells News24 he wanted to see more block-out periods for gambling ads on broadcast television and stronger action on inducements.

I think that we have this unholy alliance between sport and gambling, where young kids are being preyed upon. I wanted to see much greater time frames, where there were bans on gambling ads, I wanted to see an hour before, no ads during, an hour afterwards, and not just on live sport but on replayed sport as well. I wanted to see an opt-in approach for inducements.

And in all good conscience, these reforms don’t go anywhere near enough to correcting those bad elements. We’re putting too much faith in the hands of the gambling companies. And quite frankly, they have not demonstrated that they deserve that faith.

We’ve lost the plot, $36bn a year we’re losing.

In pics: The House votes on gambling reforms

McLachlan, Scarr and Conaghan reserve the right to cross the floor on gambling

Two Liberal senators and one Nationals MP have reserved the right to cross the floor on the gambling legislation – that is, go against the Coalition’s vote for the changes – arguing the reforms don’t go far enough.

They are senators Andrew McLachlan, Paul Scarr and Pat Conaghan.

Conaghan has made his frustrations over the bill well known in recent days, telling reporters this morning he thought the changes were too “weak”. He was the deputy chair of the parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy that released the “you win some, you lose more” report.

The House of Representatives is about to begin voting on the amendments agreed to between the Coalition and Labor.

Before the vote, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese speaks:

I want to thank the parliament for coming together to deal with this issue and get a result that will work … this legislation concentrates on those who need our help the most, people at most risk of harm.

He says the changes will ban gambling ads being broadcast 15 minutes before sporting games, as well as stop gambling ads on jerseys.

It will allow people who want to opt-out of gambling ads to do so more easily, through a simple gambling ad register. Ad-stop to back up the previous bet-stop.

If you’re sitting in Parliament House right now I hope you like the sound of bells …

Because there are about 50 million amendments to the government’s NDIS legislation.

Before we can even get to the substantive amendments to the bill, there are a bunch of amendments to the motion for the “second reading” of the bill.

The second reading is where the bill as a whole is debated, and second reading amendments basically allow other parties to protest parts of the legislation or criticise the government before the formal debate begins.

For example, the opposition has put forward a second reading amendment, noting that the government was previously “unable to achieve” the target NDIS growth rate of 8% and subsequently “failed” to achieve a second growth rate target of 5-6%.

Senator Lidia Thorpe’s amendment to the second reading states that there was inadequate consultation on the bill with First Nations people and that the bill “will disproportionately and severely harm and breach the human rights of First People with disability”.

After that there are so far 23 amendments to the bill itself listed from the Greens and David Pocock – and more could well be added later.

Government pushes for Senate to vote on NDIS today

Over in the Senate, the government is moving to guillotine debate on four key bills to get them through this week.

Labor is proposing to debate and vote on the NDIS reforms tonight then bring on the widow tax legislation first thing tomorrow morning. The government agreed to the Coalition’s demand to immediately bring on the “widow tax” debate in exchange for support on the NDIS bill.

Labor is proposing for the gambling bill to also be debated and voted on tomorrow, after it passes the House of Representatives tonight.

On Thursday, the Senate will debate and then vote on the news bargaining incentive bill which also has been negotiated with the Coalition.

All of this means is that there’ll be a hard out time on all debate for the Senate to then vote on each of those bills and all the amendments.

The Greens, David Pocock and One Nation are voting against the guillotine motion.

Clive Palmer changing party name, once again

Clive Palmer wants to change the name of his political party, again.

Documents published by the Australian Electoral Commission reveal an application to change the name of the United Australia Party to Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party. The party logo is also mooted for a change.

It currently features a map of Australia inside a circle, with the words “United Australia Party” at the top and “save Australia” underneath; the new proposal is to change that to read “Clive Palmer’s” at the top and “United Australia Party” below.

The AEC, as part of normal processes, is notifying of the change and taking feedback until mid-September.

Opposition pushes for Bondi royal commission extension over ‘unfinished business’

Liberal MPs are seeking to suspend standing orders in federal parliament to call on the government to extend the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.

Launched in the wake of the Bondi beach shootings in December, the royal commission has entered its final block of hearings with its final report due to be presented to the government by 14 December.

Julian Leeser, one of the highest-profile Jewish members of parliament, has told the House of Representatives the commission’s 12-month timetable has imposed “severe constraints” on its capacity to investigate the causes, perpetrators and enablers of antisemitism in Australia.

He believes many significant voices will be left unheard on the current timeline, including leaders of arts and cultural institutions, public service chiefs, university bosses, protest organisations and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“The royal commission is, for many Australians, the only chance we will have as a nation to properly expose and address the antisemitism that has become so prevalent in this country and which diminishes us all,” Leeser said.

But it is a royal commission that finishes in a matter of days, and as it stands, it is a royal commission with unfinished business.

The window to debate the issue is closing. These issues deserve to be heard, and urgently.

The government is expected to vote it down.

Renters least likely to expect falling home prices

People who own their own home outright are twice as likely to believe property prices will continue to fall than renters, according to Westpac’s latest consumer confidence survey.

The monthly survey showed the Reserve Bank’s decision to hold its cash rate steady last week gave household confidence a bit of a bump, but that overall we still remain gloomy about the economy and our finances.

Westpac’s consumer sentiment index managed to lift by 6% to just shy of 90 points – where a score below 100 represents more pessimistic responses than optimistic ones.

Luci Ellis, the chief economist at Westpac, said “this is still a weak result and noticeably lower than the readings recorded last year”, pointing to “pervasive uncertainty” about the future.

Renters are the most sceptical that house prices will continue to fall, with 21% expecting lower property values, versus 44% of mortgage-free homeowners. For people with mortgages, the share was 27%, the survey showed. Ellis said:

These less negative views about future housing price moves are likely contributing to renters’ more downbeat views of whether now is a good time to buy a home, and more broadly, their chances of achieving home ownership in future.

Nearly six in 10 respondents said they expected another RBA rate hike after the central bank held its cash rate at 4.35% last week – similar to the previous month.

But the share of people expecting rates to stay steady or fall lifted to 28%, from 21% (the balance weren’t sure either way).

Carroll calls for Victoria to receive ‘fair share’ of GST distribution

Victorian premier Ben Carroll has responded to the Western Australia premier, Roger Cook, who labelled the authors of an explosive report into a GST distribution deal as “east coast clowns”.

The Productivity Commission interim report found WA received more GST revenue than it needed in 2024-25, and the deal has cost the federal government $23bn.

Asked whether Cook’s clown comments were an overreach, Carroll said “yes”. He went on:

The Productivity Commission has laid bare what every economist around the nation, every public policy expert has known for years. That WA does have a sweetheart deal when it comes to the GST, on top of all the mining royalties. What the Productivity Commission have shown is that this has been occurring since the GST agreement back in 2018.

Victoria’s always just wanted its fair share for our taxpayers and when I meet with the prime minister and when I meet with other ministers, every Victorian can know that I’ll be in their corner advocating for our fair share, we deliver so much for our nation from services, from education. We are a powerhouse by our people. It’s our people that deserve a fair share when it comes to the GST.

He said there needed to be a rethink – though it shouldn’t be increased. Carroll said:

Everyone knows that the GST is inequitable the way it is distributed. Everyone knows that to get the lasting reform, not just for Victoria’s future, but for Australia’s future, redoing the GST to make it more equitable in its distribution is critically needed, particularly for states like Victoria, that are fastest growing and have such big, strong population growth.

We know, as a state government, we’ve been doing the heavy lifting for so long, and we’ll continue to advocate for every single Victorian to make sure the GST carve out is equitable and sustainable for the whole of Australia, not just one particular state.

NDIS denies plans to use Palantir in fraud detection, despite meetings

Controversial data analytics company Palantir sought to sell its software to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in 2023, documents reveal, but the agency has denied it has plans to use Palantir in National Disability Insurance Scheme fraud investigations.

The documents were published on the freedom of information website Right to Know last week.

Palantir has insisted it is “just a software company” in the face of calls for bans on government contracts following the publication of a manifesto earlier this year described by one UK MP as the “ramblings of a supervillain”.

Members of the fraud taskforce in the NDIA and the agency’s chief operating officer met with a number of Palantir staff, including the company’s Australian president, former Labor minister Dr Mike Kelly, in 2023, according to the documents.

In one email from May 2023, Kelly said:

Over the past six months my team has had the pleasure of working with different folks from your department on how our software might enable workflows for the Fraud Fusion Taskforce and insider threat.

The meetings did not result in a contract, however, and a spokesperson for the NDIA said the agency had not used Palantir technology and has “no plans to do so”.

The Greens justice spokesperson, Senator David Shoebridge, said Palantir “should not have access to the records of disabled people” in Australia.

We know the budget allocated millions to the NDIA for fraud detection and a new digital enrolment and payment system, we need a guarantee from this government that not a cent of this will go to Palantir.

More than 100 workers leave BHP after sexually harassing colleagues

BHP has disclosed in its annual report that 109 workers lost their jobs, or resigned, after sexually harassing colleagues last financial year.

Many of the incidents involved indecent touching and sexualised jokes.

A further 22 workers had their jobs terminated or otherwise left the company after being found responsible for racial harassment.

The wider mining sector has faced increased scrutiny in recent years over allegations of systemic sexual harassment, violence and retaliation, especially at isolated mines.

There are at least three class actions currently in the courts against BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, alleging widespread sexual harassment, sexual violence and sex discrimination at work sites.

BHP said 113 reports of sexual harassment “were established” following investigations across the company’s global operations. The figure represents an increase on the 102 established reports a year earlier.

BHP has 44,254 employees and contractors in Australia, and 30,892 workers in Chile, representing the bulk of its global workforce.

Victorian government still working on terms of reference for construction royal commission, premier says

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, is holding a press conference to mark new graduate paramedics beginning their induction today.

But questions quickly turned to the royal commission into the construction sector Carroll promised to call when he became premier. Three weeks on, he is yet to release its terms of reference or announce the commissioner and special prosecutor appointments.

He told reporters:

We are working very hard in terms of [drafting a] broad terms of reference to shine a light on what occurred, getting the best candidate to be commissioner, and also making sure we have the lasting change, establishing an office for a special prosecutor, and also the work the special minister of state continues to do – not just on the royal commission but giving our integrity agency, in particular Ibac, the powers it needs and deserves.

Carroll also confirmed it was his intention to introduce legislation to strengthen Ibac prior to when the government enters caretaker mode in November.

His special minister of state, Ingrid Stitt, said:

My department has been working incredibly hard to bring forward a number of the key recommendations from the Integrity and Oversight Committee’s report, which the government had already agreed to in principle, and they go specifically to the follow-the-money powers and the definition of corrupt conduct.

Now, they’re not simple legislative changes, despite what others may suggest. It’s quite a complex and interconnected integrity agency system that we have here in Victoria, and we want to be careful not to have any unintended consequences with any legislation that we bring forward, but the premier has been very clear that he wants these powers to be in the parliament and hopefully passed in this term of government, and that is what I’m pulling out all stops to bring to cabinet very soon.

Albanese declares ‘launch edition’ wine from News 24 on parliamentary register of interests

Sky News recently changed its name to News 24 with a flashy rebrand, and it seems the TV channel was in the mood for celebrating, if Anthony Albanese’s latest update to the parliamentary register of interests is anything to go by.

The prime minister, in a new disclosure, has declared receiving a “Bottle of News24 Launch Edition McLaren Vale Shiraz – Vintage 2020”. No doubt going straight to the wine cellar.

Despite the protestations of Pauline Hanson last week, Albanese hasn’t declared the crown melons from the Japanese prime minister on his register – perhaps as they may fall below the disclosure threshold of $750 from official sources – but he has noted a number of other gifts from world leaders and well-wishers.

Alongside the News 24 plonk, Albanese has disclosed receiving an “ironwood carving”, woven mats from the PM of Fiji, a wood carving from Solomon Islands, and “framed traditional double pig tusks, coffee and independence book” from the PM of Papua New Guinea, among other gifts – most listed as having been “surrendered” or “donated” to his department or national collections.

Albanese also declared hospitality from the Canberra Raiders NRL team at a recent football match against his South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Hanson doing what ‘big tobacco have been lobbying her to do’, Greens leader says

Larissa Waters says Pauline Hanson’s call to cut the tobacco excise by 75% is at the behest of the tobacco lobby who she says are “haunting the halls of parliament”.

Speaking to the Today show earlier this morning, the Greens leader said by all means fight organised crime behind illicit tobacco but don’t do it to line the coffers of big tobacco:

Pauline Hanson is doing precisely what big tobacco have been lobbying her to do. We see them haunting the halls of parliament here … if you want to, fight crime, but don’t dress up fighting crime as just a premise to boost the profits of big tobacco.

Anything that Philip Morris wants to do primarily revolves around them boosting their own profits off the pain of humans and the cancer and the devastation that they will wreak. So I don’t have a lot of sympathy for big tobacco and I don’t think they should be influencing our politics.

The government has said it doesn’t want to change the tax settings, while some in the opposition have left the door open to an excise cut.

‘I’m up for that discussion’: Chalmers open to speeding up widow tax reforms

Jim Chalmers says he’s open to talking to the Coalition about speeding up legislation that would close the so-called widow tax loophole on Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes.

Speaking to reporters in the press gallery corridor this morning, the treasurer said the government had made it “abundantly clear” that it is addressing the issue, and has released draft legislation that’s currently still open for consultation.

Chalmers said:

Now, if the opposition’s main ask is that we pass the government’s legislation quicker, then obviously I’m up for that discussion.

For a recap on what the widow tax is: the government is grandfathering changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax meaning existing owners of a property using the tax incentives can still access them, but as soon as that property is sold or changes hands they’re no longer available. For anyone buying a property that isn’t a new-build, those concessions will no longer be available.

But it means that in the event of a divorce or death where a property goes from joint ownership to the single ownership of one spouse, the current rules say they no longer get the benefit. So the government is promising to change that.

Labor pledges $14.8bn to boost fuel security and increase domestic reserves

Labor has pledged to established a government-owned strategic reserve of one billion litres of diesel and jet fuel, and will consult on low carbon fuels.

The government has released two consultation papers and is pledging $14.8bn to boost fuel security following major international shocks from the war in Iran.

As part of this package, Labor has also committed to “increasing mandatory industry fuel stockholding requirements by an additional 10 days for diesel, petrol and jet fuel by 2030.”

The energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen and the infrastructure minister, Catherine King, are holding a press conference on the announcement.

Bowen says:

We’ve been pleased with the updates I’ve been able to give the Australian people every week about how many days we have, but strengthening it, not for this crisis, but for future geopolitical crises, which are inevitable at various points in coming decades, is very important for our fuel security.

Wilson leaves door open to tobacco excise cut

Tim Wilson says the Coalition wants to cut out the tobacco black market in Australia and that Anthony Albanese’s “pride” has led him to ruling out measures to do that.

The shadow treasurer is talking about the calls to cut the tobacco excise.

One Nation has said it would do so, as the illegal cigarette market has soared and the budget take from the excise has tanked in recent years.

Wilson, speaking to journalists this morning is asked about whether the Coalition would support One Nation’s plan to cut the excise by 75%. He says the party will “review this policy”:

In principle, we want to cut out the black market and the organised crime that the Albanese government has let fester. What we know is, through pride, the Albanese government is ruling out any measure that would stomp down on organised crime, which is literally handing over the trade to criminals that’s then going on to do things like finance terrorism and hurt the Australian community.

It’s time the Albanese government got past its pride, acknowledged, just like in their budget, that adding more taxes doesn’t always deliver, or definitely doesn’t deliver, better outcomes for the Australian people.

Others in his party, including MP Mary Aldred who is part of a parliamentary committee reviewing the excise, has argued for the levy to be cut.

Rent increase reports ‘don’t seem realistic’ says Charlton

The assistant minister for science, Andrew Charlton, has dismissed media reports of NAB warning that rents in Sydney and Melbourne could rise by up to 30% due to budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

Speaking to RN Breakfast earlier, Charlton says 99% of properties that people are in at the moment are grandfathered. Under the budget changes, anyone who currently negatively gears their property will still be able to do so, but only someone who buys newly built property from now will be able to negatively gear it.

Charlton says:

I’ve seen those reports on rental increases today, and they just don’t seem realistic to me … So the idea that you would have big changes to the properties that people are currently renting, when the overwhelming majority of them are in grandfathered arrangements, just doesn’t seem to make sense.

In the budget, the Treasury department modelled the impact of the changes and said rents would increase about $2 per week.

Charlton says he reckons that Treasury modelling is right and “that there’ll be negligible impacts of our changes on rents”.

Chalmers resists call for excise cut with focus on police crack down on tobacco black market

Jumping back to Jim Chalmers’ interview on ABC News Breakfast, the treasurer hosed down proposals to drop the tobacco excise, and said the government is focused on the law and order side of cracking down on illegal cigarettes.

The government has been under some pressure to reconsider the excise, as NSW premier Chris Minns has called for a review of the policy while others in the state Labor party have argued for a cut.

Chalmers says:

Our primary focus has been on providing hundreds of millions of dollars in extra resources for the police and other authorities to crack down on this big problem in our society and in local communities as well. Now, we’ve had some recent successes when it comes to that crackdown. We’ve seen some raids and some busts when it comes to some of this illegal supply. That’s a good thing. We want to see more of that.

Coalition offers ultimatum on widow tax and NDIS

Angus Taylor has said the opposition will only support the government’s NDIS bill if it first removes the so-called widow tax in the government’s budget changes.

This morning, Jim Chalmers told ABC News Breakfast that the government is working through those changes, and has released draft legislation (which we knew).

Last week, the opposition tried to suspend standing orders in the parliament to get Labor to bring the bill on immediately.

Chalmers says he’ll engage in good faith:

On the NDIS – this is all about saving the NDIS from itself, making it sustainable so it can continue to deliver a decent standard of care for Australians who need and deserve that. That’s our motivation here. And it should be supported, our changes should be supported in the Senate in that light and on its merits.

The government made it clear we were addressing [the widow tax]. We already released draft legislation. We have consulted on that. We made it abundantly clear that this is a change that we’ll be making. Now, if the opposition wants to do that quicker, of course we’ll engage with them in good faith.

Chalmers calls gambling amendments ‘very substantial changes’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the opt-out register on gambling advertising will be revenue neutral, because the gambling industry will have to cover the costs.

He also says there will be changes to curb some inducements – but not an all out ban on inducements like many have pushed for, and was recommended in the landmark “you win some, you lose more” parliamentary report that was handed down more than three years ago.

Chalmers tells ABC News Breakfast:

These changes that we’re proposing are very substantial changes. And they will make it much easier for people to opt out of this advertising. At the same time, as we make it easier for the regulator to enforce the rules around inducements.

I understand people’s concern about inducements. And the minister and the government does as well. I think primarily there’s an important role for the regulator to crack down on and enforce these inducements.

Ruston raises ‘serious concerns’ over automation in proposed NDIS changes

Anne Ruston says the changes the government has made to the aged care system, by automating parts of the assessment process has made the system worse.

Critics, experts and those in the system say that the algorithm tool has no human override function once a funding decision for an aged care package has been determined.

Ruston tells RN Breakfast:

There’s absolutely no doubt that the implementation of the reforms has made everything worse for older Australians … the government’s got a lot to do to fix the implementation of these once-in-a-generation reforms that should have and could have and still can be what they were intended to be, but they just aren’t being rolled out like that.

She says she’s very concerned about what automation might look like under the proposed changes to the national disability insurance scheme.

If the automation that we’re seeing in aged care is transferred over into the NDIS, yes I have very serious concerns about that. We saw 250,000 older Australians reassessed under aged care.

Are we talking over 750,000 Australians who live with disability who possibly need to be reassessed? If they’ve got an algorithm that’s as botched as the one we’ve got in aged care, well we would have very serious concerns and certainly we’ll be raising those matters.

‘Sensible, considered’ gambling package on the table, Ruston says

Anne Ruston says the deal on gambling reforms that will be considered by the Coalition party room today is sensible and considered, though not everyone gets what they want.

She tells RN Breakfast the shadow communications minister, Sarah Henderson, walks the line between protecting vulnerable people and allowing people to have “a bit of a flutter”.

There’s a wide range of views that sit within our party room, and I think what Sarah sought to do is to try and walk a line down the middle so that not everybody gets everything that they want. Certainly the package that I’ve seen so far looks like a very sensible package, a very considered package … I’m hopeful that the party room will accept that, but I’m not going to get ahead of my party room.

Asked whether she shares concerns that the opt-out model will be difficult to implement, she says these things are “never easy”.

Instead of actually talking about what the problems are, let’s all put our collective heads together and work out how we can actually put things in place that protect vulnerable Australians.

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.

It’s going to be a gambling reform-heavy day today, with a deal on the verge of being inked between the Coalition and government. We’ll have some more details shortly.

Let’s get stuck in!

The study also found that Peter Dutton was the least curious of opposition leaders covered by the study, asking just 15% of his party’s allotment of questions.

The paper opens with a contrasting case:

At 2pm on 4 July 2019, as the Speaker called on questions without notice, the then Australian Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, rose to ask the first question. He then asked the second, and the third. By the end of Question Time that day, he had asked all 11 questions from the opposition; 10 of them directed at the then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

So why this trend towards focusing on the PM in question time? The paper explains:

The growing focus on political leaders reflects a long-term process of increasing personalisation of politics – the idea that individual politicians’ behaviour and characteristics have become more important relative to the parties to which they belong.

However, it warns:

A more leader-centred Question Time may increase media visibility and sharpen political responsibility by clarifying who is being held accountable. At the same time, sustained concentration on party leaders (especially the Prime Minister) may crowd out effective parliamentary oversight of policy implementation and administrative performance.

Julia Gillard subjected to greater level of question time attack than other prime ministers

Julia Gillard is the most put-upon prime minister in question time in recent times, according to a new academic study reported by Australian Associated Press.

More than 21,000 question time questions from the opposition were tracked from 1981 to 2025, taking in the tenures of 10 prime ministers.

The study found prime ministers were asked just 26% of questions back in the early 1980s, but have fielded roughly half of all opposition queries in the past decade.

“It’s part of an overall pattern over time of politics becoming more personalised or centralised around party leaders,” the study’s lead author, Australian Catholic University political scientist Daniel Casey, told AAP.

Question time is increasingly becoming a heavyweight title fight … while ministers are being let off the hook.

Top of the pops – receiving 62% of all questions from the then Tony Abbott-led opposition – was Gillard.

Casey said a wealth of research showed female leaders were subjected to higher levels of attack than their male counterparts.

It was the period with the lowest [level of the] leader of the opposition asking questions, and instead they used their deputy leader, Julie Bishop … the opposition really went out of their way to get their women to ask questions.