Cost-of-living relief can't come fast enough for Albanese, Payman's new precedent, and cheap jokes fall flat

Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where political correspondent Brett Worthington gets you up to speed on all the big and small happenings from Parliament House.

The electoral cycle rollercoaster has Labor holding on for dear life, with the federal party going through its lowest of ebbs this term.

After two years in power, the government is feeling the full force of a frustrated electorate that's shivering through a cold start to winter and bracing for the bills that could come from cranking their heaters. 

The top ranks of the party argue voters don't blame Labor for the cost-of-living crisis, but they're also aware those same voters want to see more relief flowing their way. 

Those cries for help grew louder this week amid heightened speculation the Reserve Bank could lift rates within months after higher-than-expected inflation numbers. 

Even before those numbers landed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made it clear to his caucus on Tuesday what he expected from them when the parliament rises for the winter break next week.

He wants his MPs and senators shouting from the rooftops about the cost-of-living measures that will start rolling out from Monday.

Tax cuts for all taxpayers, cheaper medicines, energy bill relief, greater rent assistance, higher pay for award workers and an extra two weeks of paid parental leave will all come into force on July 1.

Labor also hopes the deal it cut with the Greens to ban the sale of vapes outside pharmacies will go some way to alleviating parental concerns about the ease with which their children can get hold of them.

The PM has a lot riding on those changes to help to drag his party from the funk it is currently in, with concerns over recent polling trends that have Labor in a tight battle with the Coalition.

Hard heads in the party remain optimistic that the low point Labor is enduring in the published polls can turn around when the cost of living measures kick in.

Beyond that, they look west and see an electoral map that has been independently drawn in the party's favour, with the newly created seat of Bullwinkle notionally a Labor gain. While Labor expects it will face losses elsewhere, the party remains confident that the re-election of teals in once safe Liberal seats will go some way to keeping the Coalition from government. 

But if Labor wants to govern in the majority, insiders have their eyes firmly locked on at least six seats in Queensland, knowing the party needs to bolster its representation in the sunshine state if it is to offset losses elsewhere.

Voters not the only ones getting a pay rise

Struggling Australians won't be the only ones with more cash in their wallets come Monday.

For just the second time, Australia will have a female governor-general, with Samantha Mostyn becoming the King's representative Down Under.

Ahead of her swearing-in, there was no shortage of hyperventilating as the government rushed through the parliament a more than 40-per-cent pay rise for the position, taking the salary to more than $700,000 a year.

Those outraged that she would be earning more than her predecessor seemingly overlooked that the Commonwealth that paid incumbent Governor-General David Hurley his salary was at the same time also forking out for his military pension.

"Where, in the past, a governor-general has been the recipient of other Commonwealth entitlements — such as a judicial pension — the annual salary has been adjusted accordingly. Ms Mostyn is not a recipient of any such entitlements," a government spokesperson said. 

It's also not like the government set Mostyn's pay, which is based on a formula that considers the pay of the Chief Justice of the High Court.

Also getting a pay rise on Monday will be federal politicians, with Albanese set to earn more than $600,000 a year.

His decision to rework the stage three tax cuts in January means the PM will also have to pay more tax than originally legislated under the Coalition's proposal.

That said, a back-of-an-envelope calculation suggests he'll still be able buy a few more Hermes ties with the $4,529 he and each of his parliamentary colleagues will be saving next year.

Payman out in the cold ... for a week

The cold snap that's frozen Canberra in recent weeks has nothing on the chill backbench senator Fatima Payman is experiencing from her Labor colleagues.

Fresh from defying party bosses — to cross the floor and vote with the Greens and independents to call for recognition of a Palestinian state — tensions are bubbling over within Labor as the old and new guards clash.

Having swallowed their beliefs and voted against marriage equality in the years when Labor was against same-sex marriage, LGBTI+ politicians Louise Pratt and Penny Wong have done little to hide their thoughts on Payman's decision.

Their arguments on Thursday boiled down to the need for policy arguments to play out internally. Pratt went further and wondered to The Australian the extent to which crossing the floor could "create peace in the Middle East".

Labor's deputy leader Richard Marles early on Wednesday told the ABC there was "no intention to see any consequences" against Payman because "this is not a moment to be going around punishing people". By early afternoon, Albanese was announcing he had asked Payman not to attend caucus for a week.

That did little to settle the unrest among some in the party, who fear Albanese has allowed Payman to set a new precedent.

Some are annoyed Albanese effectively tore up 130 years of party room conventions by acting alone, rather than consulting the party over his plan to ban her from the caucus, while others argue he should have gone further.

It's also prompted a fresh round of debate about whether the party rules are outdated, especially for a progressive party that makes a virtue of having diversity in its ranks. To that, Payman had this to say after crossing the floor: 

"I was not elected as a token representative of diversity."

Cheap jokes backfire

Bill Shorten gained a reputation for his much-loved "zingers" when he led Labor for six years.

It was in that spirit that his office fired off the kind of press release that you can only imagine resulted in some pats on the back. 

Greens and Coalition senators had formed an "unholy alliance" that was going to cost commonwealth coffers $1.1 billion, he railed, going further to accuse the politicians of heading off on a taxpayer-funded junket that would have them "sipping caipirinhas on Copacabana". ZING!

Shorten, now minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), was annoyed that senators wanted more time to consider contentious legislation that would rein in forecasted growth in the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, preventing a vote from happening until after the winter break. 

Rather awkwardly for Shorten — himself fresh from a trip to Switzerland to attend a conference on Ukraine — not only was there a Labor politician taking part in the junket he compared to a holiday, but he also named the wrong sub-committee that had long-planned to take part in the study tour.

The ABC asked Shorten's office if his comments also applied to the government senator attending the trip, but did not receive a formal response.

There were similar crickets from the prime minister's office, of which there are 10 media advisers, after the ABC sought clarification about a joke he made that landed so flat it was greeted with near-deathly silence from his colleagues.

Albanese sought to make a joke of Opposition leader Peter Dutton's preferred pronouns not once, but twice.

After being reminded he should refer to politicians by their correct political title in Question Time, Albanese let rip: 

The looks on the faces behind him said it all, not that the PM showed any signs of backing down.

It comes as his government looks to have shelved Albanese's long-promised pledge to offer protections to LGBTI+ students and teachers in religious schools.

It's worth remembering almost half of all transgender and gender-diverse people between 14 and 25 years old have reported they have attempted suicide, according to LGBTIQ+ Health Australia. One-third of all transgender people older than 18 said the same. 

Just a year ago, Albanese took pride in being the first prime minister to attend Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

"People want to see that their government is inclusive and represents everyone no matter who they love, no matter what their identity... we need to be a country that respects everyone for who they are," he told the ABC at the rally. 

A month later, activist and actor Georgie Stone told the National Press Club that Albanese "can't celebrate with us at World Pride and then scatter when the attacks come".

What gender-diverse people also don't need is for the nation's most powerful person, standing at the home of Australia's democracy, to make light of them in pursuit of a cheap joke that left few laughing.