In Question Time on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked whether federal parliamentarians should be subject to random alcohol and drug testing.
The question was posed by Independent MP Zali Steggall, who made the point that many workplaces across Australia have random alcohol and drug testing to ensure a “safe and respectful” working environment.
The question follows footage that emerged in the media last week of former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, drunk and lying on the ground in a street after a parliamentary sitting day.
“Will you commit to legislating for random alcohol and drug testing of MPs, senators and staff in the federal parliament due to the apparent ongoing issues with too much alcohol consumption?” Stegall asked the Prime Minister on Thursday.
Albanese was quick to bat down the idea, saying he recognised the suggestion came from a place of “genuine concern” but politicians should instead aspire to act “responsibly at all times”.
“There have been, of course, issues from time to time in the parliament,” Albanese said. “But one of the things about our jobs is we’re accountable. Every three years, at least, we go to the Australian people and we’re accountable for what we say and what we do and how we act.”
“And that is a democratic process that is appropriate. I would have thought that we are all responsible adults and we should act appropriately out of respect for the people who vote to put us here.”
Albanese went on to say he didn’t want to be in a position where it is suggested that politicians are “unable to act like adults”.
“I think that people need to act responsibly at all times, to bear in mind the great privilege and honour that we have, of being in this chamber in the various positions that occur.”
One of the key issues highlighted in former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Set the Standard report, released in 2021, was that there is a strong presence of alcohol, as well as a problematic drinking culture in Parliament House. The report highlighted how it was a contributing risk factor for bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
A key recommendation was for the implementation of comprehensive alcohol policies across Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces, with a view to “restricting availability in line with work health and safety obligations, and the principle of harm minimisation”.
In the previous term of parliament, under the Morrison government, two prominent female Liberal backbenchers called for politicians to be drug and alcohol tested.
During an interview on the ABC’s Insiders program, Katie Allen and Sarah Henderson both said they would support the measure to create a safer work environment.