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 Ministers, MPs, industry organisations, and the media.

Following the 2007 election, Andrew was appointed the Shadow Minister for Employment Participation and Apprenticeships and Training. 

Between 2003 and 2007, Andrew was Chair of Parliament's Joint Standing

Chairing a hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties

Committee on Treaties.

The Treaties Committee was appointed by the Commonwealth Parliament to review and report on all treaty actions proposed by the Government before action which binds Australia to the terms of the treaty is taken.

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 previous Keating Labor Government. In 2004 the Committee completed an inquiry into the proposed Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States.

Earlier, Andrew was privileged to serve in therole of Chair of Parliament'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.