Dr Scamps asked if Mr Albanese will commit to setting staffing numbers through an independent body, rather than having them awarded at the discretion of the Prime Minister of the day.
Mr Albanese dodged the question, referring back to how many staff the crossbench received under Prime Minister Scott Morrison (before Ms Scamps was in office), and says it was twice as many as members of the Liberal and Labor parties received. While this is true, the Government and Opposition received their own separate pool of staff – so he is not comparing like with like.
Mr Albanese also said that the Coalition did not vote for the FOI Bill “much to their shame”, without denying that he – unsuccessfully – tried to use the offer of personal staff as an inducement.
The Prime Minister has been arbitrary in how he allocates staff to the Opposition and crossbench. How this staff is allocated has always been at the discretion of the Prime Minister of the day.
However, the Australia Institute’s Democracy Agenda for the 48th Parliament recommends setting these staffing allowances independently as it is particularly worrying if Mr Albanese is dangling the promise of more resources in front of the Opposition, in order to change their voting behaviour. That is simply not an appropriate use of public resources, and highlights the dangers of the Prime Minister having discretionary power to decide the staffing allocations of the Opposition and crossbench.
