After the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, chose to reduce their staff allotment in one of his first interactions with the newly expanded crossbench, incensed independent MPs and senators accused him of a "attack on democracy."

The Guardian reported that in a pivotal Senate vote, David Pocock described the choice as "very destructive" to the relationship with the crossbench and threatened to reject any government bills as their "default attitude." The Greens also complained that despite their representatives increasing from 10 to 16, they had had a real staff reduction and were given the same resources as in the previous session.

“It is beyond disappointing that Anthony Albanese would try to hobble us like this so that we will not have the capacity to do the job we were elected to do,” independent MP Sophie Scamps tweeted.

In a letter sent to House of Representatives and Senate crossbenchers on Friday, Albanese – who as prime minister gets to set staff allocations across parliament – said he proposed to offer just “one additional full-time staff member at the adviser classification, in addition to your four electorate staff”.

Crossbenchers received up to four advisers under the previous Coalition government in addition to electorate personnel. While constituency officers take care of local constituent matters, advisors are typically responsible for managing legislation, speeches, the media, research, and parliamentary issues.