It was a triumphant week for the Albanese government after it achieved a few important wins in its first Parliamentary sitting fortnight.
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Crucial aged care reforms, prompted by the recent Royal Commission, were enshrined in legislation - the first bill the new Labor government passed.
And an election promise to legislate a 43 per cent emission cut by 2030 also passed with amendments through the lower house with support from crossbenchers.
But the Senate will pose its own set of challenges for Labor after key crossbench senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell announced they would form an alliance to stop Labor shopping the bill to secure its passage.
The three senators said they supported the bill in-principle but won't be a Senate "rubber stamp", adding they want "sensible amendments" to bring in greater transparency and accountability.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock told Australian Community Media he wasn't holding the government to "ransom", but wanted the best possible outcome for this bill, and any future bills.
"I think there's some really sensible ways that this can be strengthened and I've been having conversations with the crossbench and Senate about how that can be done," he said.
It wasn't all smiles for public servants in Canberra either, after an expedited bill introduced this week aimed to retrospectively change laws limiting to the superannuation benefits of some bureaucrats.
The urgency was spurred on by a looming Federal Court decision on claims that three Foreign Affairs Department employees are owed unpaid super on rent-free housing, potentially reaching into the millions.
If the court ruled in favour of the DFAT staff, it could mean the Commonwealth would owe thousands more public servants unpaid superannuation owed on rent-free accommodation during their overseas postings - a bill the government has claimed could more than $8 billion.
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis is another sore point the government is contending with.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced last month the Reserve Bank of Australia will undergo a wide-ranging review to examine the effectiveness of the bank's existing monetary policy regime and whether it would be able to respond to future economic risks.
But economists are warning political parties against using the central bank as a political punching bag.
ANU economist Warwick McKibbin flagged such a response could jeopardise the bank's credibility and independence.
"You can't take politics out of this, but you have to minimise the disruptive nature of it," he said.
"We have so many historical experiences where the central bank hasn't been independent and you end up with an economy that's dysfunctional."
As the saying goes, bad news tend to come in threes. The government will surely hope there's some truth to that.
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