[LINK] It is Time for Parliament to Follow the Rest of Australia Online

[David Lochrin]

On 2020-08-25 09:01, Tom Worthington wrote:

> There is no law preventing the Parliament meeting online, just a lack of will to do it. It is time for MPs and Senators to follow the example of tens of thousands of other Australians and make the minor changes to their routine to work online.

Why?

The theatre of Parliament is one place where our Representatives are publicly held to account.  Online meetings would make the business of government even less accessible and less accountable than it is now by creating a sense of remoteness, by drawing a veil over body language and party dynamics.  The nature of the technology would reduce the impact of the stirring policy speech to that of an SMS text.

And where do you draw the line?  Would Senate Estimates be held using Zoom?  I want to see incompetent ministers and public officials squirming in their chair under close questioning.

The incident where Scott Morrison produced a lump of coal in Parliament (presumably supplied by a coal lobbyist) and the reaction of those on the front benches said more about the Coalition's attitude to coal than could possibly be conveyed in a zoom meeting.

David Lochrin