![MPs sit at a distance during question time in July. Picture: Elesa Kurtz MPs sit at a distance during question time in July. Picture: Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc7akew5ps7iflhlz667w.jpg/r0_405_4045_2679_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The federal chief medical officer and ACT chief health officer will advise a parliamentary working group on plans to ensure parliamentary sitting weeks continue despite the spread of coronavirus.
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Speaker of the House of Representatives Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan have agreed to a plan suggested by Labor that would involve the major parties and health officers developing strategies to ensure Parliament can sit in person while mitigating the risk posed by the virus.
Parliament was due to meet again on August 4, but the sitting fortnight was cancelled due to the risk posed by community transmission in Victoria and steady case numbers in NSW, while the ACT continues to have just three active cases of the virus.
Labor's managers of opposition business in the House and Senate Tony Burke and Katy Gallagher wrote to Mr Smith and Senator Ryan requesting that a working group be set up to make plans for the sitting fortnight scheduled to start on August 24.
Both the major parties prefer for Parliament to sit in person rather than attempt any kind of virtual sittings, and there are concerns that going down the virtual route would create more problems than it would solve.
In the letter from Mr Smith and Senator Ryan, they put forward a plan for the managers of government and opposition business in the two houses to receive a briefing from the relevant medical officials.
"At the outset we believe the six parliamentarians should receive a joint briefing from the Commonwealth and ACT Chief Medical Officers regarding the discussions to date, and risks that need to be mitigated," the pair wrote.
"Following this briefing, we will be in possession of all relevant facts, and in a position to discuss specific options."
Acting chief medical officer Paul Kelly and ACT chief health officer will be called upon by the working group.
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At the start of the pandemic Parliament had two mammoth single day sittings to pass government legislation like the JobKeeper scheme, with fewer members of Parliament present.
There are renewed fears due to the rate of community transmission in Victoria. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is in the capital this week to deliver the economic statement, but must abide by a strict set of rules set down by the chief health officer.
ACT health authorities are currently allowing ministers to enter the capital as essential workers, but Chief Minister Andrew Barr has warned that backbenchers and staffers can't expect the same treatment.
"The question of backbench MPs and swathes of staffers and all the rest is a very different question from federal ministers," he said last week.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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