By political reporter Latika Bourke Tue 3 Dec 2013
Photo: During a press conference with Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott said Labor should not "get a free pass" at Christmas time (AAP: Daniel Munoz)
Related Story: As it happened: Less time for debate as Government moves against carbon tax
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has accused Labor of giving voters the "two-fingered salute" and is threatening to extend Parliament into the Christmas break unless the Opposition agrees to pass his Government's legislative agenda.
The Government wants to repeal the carbon tax, raise the debt ceiling to $500 billion and restore Temporary Protection Visas - all measures that Labor opposes.
"I want to ramp up the pressure on the Labor Party," Mr Abbott said.
"I don't think the Labor Party should get a free pass at Christmas time ... they really should be listening to the people of Australia.
"The public voted for a change of Government, the public voted for a change of policy and the public expect the policies they voted for to be put in place."
His warning echoed statements the Prime Minister made to a meeting of Coalition MPs in Canberra, where he praised the work of his ministers for what he described as his Government's "good start".
The Government has been criticised for Treasurer Joe Hockey's decision to block a foreign takeover of GrainCorp and this week granted an extra $1.2 billion in funding to the states for education, after a "broken-promise" backlash against Christopher Pyne's vow to scrap the former government's school funding deals.
In the Labor Party's caucus meeting this morning, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the Government had had "the shortest honeymoon in history" and described its handling of the schools funding furore as "cataclysmic".
"We will not let go of the education issue," he told Labor MPs.
But Mr Abbott said they were difficult decisions that included "shades of grey" and believed it was better for the Government to adopt a "pragmatic" and "common sense approach" rather than one based on "theology".
I don't think the Labor Party should get a free pass at Christmas time ... they really should be listening to the people of Australia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott
Mr Abbott said he would use the last two scheduled sitting weeks of Parliament - which is slated to rise on December 12 - to "ramp up pressure" on the ALP over Temporary Protection Visas, the debt ceiling and the repeals of the carbon and mining taxes.
He accused the Opposition of trying to "wreck" the country while in government and attempting to do the same from Opposition.
He raised the prospect of bringing Parliament back on December 16 for an extra week of sittings and keeping it sitting until his legislation was approved by the Senate.
A Coalition source said Mr Abbott told the party room that if that meant keeping the Parliament sitting "we'll just have to do it".
Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke says his party will turn up to Parliament if the Prime Minister wants to extend this year's sitting timetable.
"If Parliament's on then Members of Parliament should be here and we'll be here if Parliament's called," he said.
"To think that that's somehow a menacing threat, that he'll make people turn up to work, I really think is very much out of touch and out of step with community expectations."
Deputy Greens Leader Adam Bandt has dismissed Mr Abbott's threat, saying his party is working constructively with other MPs.
"I think that there's a bit of pre-Christmas chest-beating going on at the moment and the Parliament sets its own sitting timetable and we've got the sitting timetable we've got," he said.
