While there is no doubt the Albanese government believes it has both the power and good reasons to slash the number of personal advisers cross-bench members can have from four to one, the decision to cut so deep and so soon has many people scratching their heads.
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While the elimination of up to 54 existing and potential advisers is not going to have a dramatic impact on the cost of parliamentary staff across both houses it was always going to go down like the proverbial lead balloon with the MPs and senators - and the people who have voted for them - who are directly affected.
There is also a significant human cost. Real people, some of whom may have worked in parliament for years or even decades, are going to lose their jobs. And for what? A few headlines to the effect that Labor is committed to a dubious form of "equity" between backbenchers and to reducing costs where it can.
And, worst of all, well within the first 100 days of coming to office Mr Albanese has provoked a confrontation with the newly elected teal MPs - who would have almost certainly been in the government's corner on many of the key issues it wants to address - for no real political gain.
It also makes little sense to expect one person to do the work previously done by four given the evidence presented to the Jenkins' review about how parliamentary staff are already overworked and under constant pressure to do more and more.
While the parliamentary library is being touted as an alternative resource this has obvious limitations, especially outside business hours.
The fact the decision was apparently taken without any form of independent review or consultation with the affected MPs themselves just adds insult to injury. If Sir Humphrey Appleby were advising Mr Albanese at this juncture he would almost certainly be shaking his head and opining: "That's a very courageous decision Prime Minister".
While the crossbenchers aren't likely to gain much public support for the retention of their staff outside of Canberra and their own electorates that doesn't alter the fact they are right when they say they are in a very different position to party-aligned backbenchers and even junior ministers such as Andrew Leigh who make do with fewer advisers.
Party backbenchers don't have to conduct a rigorous review of pending legislation in order to decide how they are going to vote or, if necessary, what amendments they may feel it is politic to put forward. The whips will ensure that, except on the rarest of occasions, they will toe the party line. All they have to do is to be present for the divisions.
As for the junior ministers, whose relatively lower staff allocation has also been commented on, their portfolios are generally hived off from broader policy areas meaning they benefit from input from access to departmental staff and "advice" from the advisers serving the senior minister.
Senator David Pocock is right to be bemused about this move given Australian voters chose to support independents in unprecedented numbers on May 21.
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"Cutting three quarters of our parliamentary staffing resource removes transparency, hinders democratic process and reduces our ability to participate fully in the parliamentary process," he said.
Mr Albanese, who is often praised for the way he negotiated with the cross-bench during the Gillard minority government appears to have forgotten, or is deliberately ignoring, everything he ever learnt at that time.
It would not be surprising, once the unexpected consequences of this assault on the cross-bench become clear, to see the government forced to accept a face saving compromise on this issue.
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