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Labor leader Anthony Albanese looks likely to take on Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the polls in May.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But the new calendar can be changed at any time and is being treated as hypothetical by Liberal and Labor politicians who believe Mr Morrison will race to the polls sooner if he believes it will give him an edge against Labor leader Anthony Albanese.

The government has scaled back plans for major debates in Parliament this week and left little time to pass legislation early next year,with only two sitting weeks in February then a hiatus of five weeks before the March 29 budget.

While the government indicated over several months that it would introduce a bill this year to create a Commonwealth integrity commission,it changed its message last week when Mr Morrison rejected calls for a stronger watchdog anddenounced the investigation into former NSW Liberal premier Gladys Berejiklian.

The government appears likely to run out of time before the election to set up its proposed commission,given it does not expect to introduce the bill to Parliament until next year and crossbenchers would expect a review of the plan in the Senate.

A plan to put theReligious Discrimination Bill to a vote in the lower house may also be postponed afterCoalition MPs broke ranks last week and voted against the government on issues ranging from the integrity commission to vaccine mandates.

With moderate Liberals backing a review of the Religious Discrimination Bill before any vote,the government may choose to delay the vote until next year so it occurs after the joint standing committee on human rights considers the draft law.

Progress on avoter identification law is also unlikely when Labor vehemently opposes the idea of demanding more personal information from voters in electorates like Lingiari,which has a high Indigenous population.

The electoral bill does not appear to have enough support to pass the Senate when Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has refused support on a range of bills because it is unhappy about rules that encourage people to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The sitting calendar for 2022 sets February 8 as the first day of Parliament for the year,confirmingspeculation within Coalition ranks last week.

While the calendar says Parliament would also meet for four days from April 11,that appears certain to change when the election must be held on or before May 21,according toan analysis by the Parliamentary Library on potential election dates.

Mr Morrison used an interview on Monday morning to say the election was due “in the third week of May” and repeated that remark when told the election could be in March.

Asked on the Nine Network aboutthe disarray last week when Coalition MPs and Senators crossed the floor and voted against the government,Mr Morrison changed the subject to the danger from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and his decision to send police to help stop riots in the Solomon Islands.

“There’s all sorts of political games and theatre that goes on down here,but can I tell you I’m not distracted by it,” he said.

While some Liberals welcomed the calendar because they believe the government will do better at the election by announcing a budget and turning attention to the economy before the campaign begins,they also accepted the timetable could change at any point.

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