It took just six minutes for the fireworks to start.

Anthony Albanese, the nation’s newly installed Prime Minister, was among the last to arrive in the House of Representatives for his first grilling in Question Time.

Sitting opposite him was his new sparring partner, a stony-faced Peter Dutton, the man tasked with navigating the Coalition through its first stint in opposition in almost a decade. 

“I wish him well as Leader of the Opposition and I hope he stays there for a very, very long time," Albanese said as he took his first question from Dutton at 2pm.

Dutton picked the behaviour of a militant union, the CFMEU, and some of its officials as the focus of his opening questions and was quick to hit a nerve.

By 2:06 the gloves were off.

"If he wants to name someone and ask if I've met with them, he's perfectly entitled to," Albanese said.

"What he's not entitled to do is to engage in that kind of smear tactic which is what that question represents."

"Have you met with these officials who have been charged with sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape?" Dutton shot back. 

Just minutes into the new era and it was looking a lot like the Question Times that have come in the years before. 

The May election featured a teal wave of women independents being swept into the parliament, prompting calls that the hyper-masculine environment of the parliament needed to change. 

By 2:19, and after another question about the CFMEU, this time from deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, the PM’s volume hit a new level as he took aim at those opposite him.

Dutton, the ex-cop turned immigration, home affairs and defence minister, has long promoted himself as a strongman. Tough on the border and tough on China, he’s made a business out of having a spine of steel.

It’s why he once joked he was now able to smile when he first sought to be Liberal leader in the ousting of Malcolm Turnbull in 2017.

It was perhaps ridiculous to have thought Dutton would be anything but a fierce interrogator of Labor.

After all, old habits die hard.

You just needed to look in the parliament yesterday to see just that. 

Dutton needed some reminding that he no longer had a seat on the government benches.

Walking into the Senate alongside Albanese for the opening of the parliament, Dutton followed the Prime Minister towards the government seats.

Walking behind him was the Deputy PM Richard Marles, who gestured to the other side of the chamber for the Opposition Leader to find his new seat. 

There were, however, kinder moments in the first question time, including the new Nationals leader David Littleproud crossing the chamber to speak with Albanese's partner and son. 

After a decade of Coalition-rule, all sides are using these first days of the parliament to posture and set a path that the next three years will follow.

Labor has promised its new tone in parliament would be more family friendly and improve the treatment of women.

It is also introducing 18 pieces of legislation, picking those that put in lights its priorities — climate action, overhauling the aged and child care sectors and paid leave for people experiencing domestic violence. 

The climate push — to enshrine in law a requirement for Australia to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 — looks set to be the first contentious issue the new government will have to navigate.

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/anthony-albanese-faces-peter-dutton-in-first-question-time/101273362

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