Australia had its second one-day, one-issue sitting of federal parliament for the year on Wednesday, and the sense of a poorly structured pantomime was obvious.

The mini-parliament was sitting because process demanded it, not because members were keen to muscle up on debate, accountability and policy scrutiny.

That robust democratic activity is more likely to be found in the national cabinet of federal and state leaders, which is scheduled to meet Thursday and again underline that it has superseded parliament as the national decision-making hub.

It’s a concentration of power which could redefine the parliamentary role when Covid-19 no longer is dictating democratic practice.

But back to the pantomime.

Members had to get their own water in the chamber, pumping globules of hand sanitiser from a dispenser next to glasses which earlier had been laid out on a table by gloved attendants.

In the old, pre-coronavirus days the attendants delivered the refreshments to members in their seats.

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The despatch boxes had been pushed down the central table to keep ministers and shadow ministers the recommended distance from the two clerks at one end.

Prime minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Anthony Albanese were themselves pushed down towards the other end so they would not be sitting hip by jowl with whomever was at the despatch boxes.

There were 21 Labor members in the House of Representatives, 30 from the Coalition, three crossbenchers and the Speaker, a total of 54 out of 151 elected members.

Some were there because they could easily drive to Canberra, which explained Sydney’s over-representation.

The presence of others was difficult to explain.

The government services minister, Stuart “my bad” Robert, whose electorate is on Queensland’s Gold Coast, was on the government frontbench without an obvious role.

But then Morrison walked to the rear of the government benches and spoke briefly to the member for Wentworth, Dave Sharma. Coincidence or not, Sharma soon after rose to ask Robert a question for which the minister seemed well prepared to answer.

All in the chamber appeared to be going through the motions without any enjoyment or zest.

That’s because the outcome of the sitting day had been settled by 8.30 in the morning – an hour and a half before the House of Representatives began – when Albanese confirmed the federal government would get no hindrance from him and his Labor colleagues.

Caucus had agreed to let through the only reason they were there – the legislation launching the $130bn jobkeeper scheme.

Labor would propose amendments in the lower house where they were certain to fail, and then support the government. Caucus also agreed not to back any other attempts at non-government amendments in the Senate.

It was all settled by breakfast but the legislation didn’t get through the House of Representatives for another nine hours.

To be fair to Labor, their amendments were genuine arguments for the scheme to be changed and sincere attempts to define potential problems.

But no amount of policy high-mindedness would have saved Labor from unsurvivable outrage had it even attempted to block the wage replacement program so many of its own voters needed.