Parliament

During any one year, Federal Parliament will sit for approximately 20 weeks. You can see the Parliamentary Sittings calendar here and the House Order of Business here.

These are busy periods during which time Andrew actively engages in meetings with Shadow and Government Ministers, MPs, industry organisations, and the media.

Andrew has had many roles and responsibilities in Parliament.  Before being appointed as the Shadow Minister for Employment Participation and Apprenticeships and Training, Andrew was Chair of Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.

The Treaties Committee was appointed by the Commonwealth Parliament to review and report on all treaties proposed by the Government before action is taken to bind Australia to the terms of a particular treaty. 

The Committee was first established in 1996 as part of a package of reforms to improve the openness and transparency of the treaty making process in Australia, particularly following the secrecy around the signing of a defence treaty with Indonesia by the Keating Labor Government.

Prior to charing the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, Andrew was privileged to ChairParliament's Standing Committee on Ageing.

One of the highlights during this period was conducting an inquiry into long-term strategies to address the ageing of the Australian population over the next 40 years.

The inquiry investigated a broad range of issues including the current and future adequacy of retirement incomes, workforce participation, aged care, education, housing and health.

This experience has been particularly helpful in the electorate of Boothby, which has one of the highest proportions of elderly people in Australia, with nearly one-in-five constituents aged 65 and over.