The 150 members of the House of Representatives – where Mr Abbott squares off against Opposition Leader Bill Shorten – sat for some of the highest number of hours, days or weeks since the Hawke/Keating era, the data shows. However, opinions are divided over why. The government claims it shows a respect for Parliament but the Labor opposition considers it a consequence of parliamentary dysfunction. The House of Representatives sat for 21 weeks in 2014, the highest number since 1991. You have to travel back to the Bob Hawke-dominated year of 1986 to find a Parliament that sat for more days in one year. In 2014, it sat for three weeks longer than 2011, Julia Gillard's first full calendar year as prime minister. Put another way, the 759 hours the House of Representatives sat last year was a 15 per cent increase on 2008, the first full calendar year of the Rudd government, but slightly less than the 800 hours notched up in 1997, the first of the Howard government.

While 2014 was an unusually long parliamentary year, it was a breeze compared to the British House of Commons, which despite sitting nearly twice as many days as Australia was dubbed a "zombie parliament" by the press. When politicians aren't in Canberra, they are usually back working in their electorates. MPs are paid a base annual salary of $195,130 but get more depending on additional responsibilities. It's impossible to tally the hours an MP would work in their electorate, or in their capacity as a minister or opposition spokesperson. The long-term trend since federation shows politicians are spending less days in Canberra each year but spending longer hours at work when they are. And on average, lawmakers sat 542 hours in Parliament during election years but racked up 680 hours when there was no poll to distract them. In response to the 2014 figures, Leader of the House Christopher Pyne said in a statement: "The government believes the Parliament is a vital part of our democracy unlike Labor, who have always held the Parliament in contempt". The long-term trend since federation shows politicians are spending less days in Canberra each year but spending longer hours at work when they are

However Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke said 2014 had dissembled into "total chaos". "They've gagged debate in the house on legislation the Senate wasn't ready for, had a frontbencher introduce legislation without enough copies of the bill for people to read and who didn't bother making a speech on the legislation he was introducing, and had government members vote with the opposition because they weren't paying attention to what was going on. They're a mess." Some 194 bills were passed by the House of Representatives in 2014, which is only slightly higher than the yearly average since federation. Total Senate sitting hours, days and week are not yet available, however it was kept busy in 2014 knocking back more than one dozen pieces of key government legislation. South Australia's Parliament will sit for just 47 days in 2015, the Victorian Legislative Assembly will sit for 51 days and the NSW Parliament will only reconvene after the March election. Federal Parliament is scheduled to sit for around 75 days.