Political conviviality cut short

As a minor pensions bill sailed through parliament's lower house in near-record time, new Social Services Minister Christian Porter suggested a new era of conviviality may be dawning.

His opposite Jenny Macklin had just given Labor's okay to a bill abolishing a low-income supplement the government says costs more to administer than it pays to the needy.

This was the second successive social services measure Labor waved through on Wednesday morning.

Immediately before, it supported a measure excluding a new South Australian payment from the pensioner income test.

Labor's support for the two measures came with the odd barb.

Ms Macklin said the second bill would be supported even though it meant another broken promise by the Abbott-Turnbull government. Labor doesn't want the voters to forget Tony Abbott.

Mr Porter ignored this, instead thanking Ms Macklin for her support and hoping it heralded the start of "convivial relations between us".

Whether he was suggesting regular drinking sessions wasn't clear.

Anyway, the new age of conviviality didn't survive the third bill from Mr Porter's portfolio.

This was a more substantial one that tightened the dole rules - "Further Strengthening Job Seeker Compliance" was its official description; "no show, no pay" was what that meant.

Labor's Jill Hall said there might be a new prime minister but this very harsh measure represented the "same tired old policies, philosophies and ideologies".