The House with Annabel Crabb

The 45th Parliament opens, with a new cast of thrilled but apprehensive new MPs and an unpredictable new Senate. Annabel takes a trip down to the basement to explore the hidden engine-room of the building and meets the woman who could throw Australian democracy into disarray simply by stopping deliveries of coffee and toilet paper.

Annabel investigates the peculiar pitfalls of a workplace where everything comes unstuck if 76 people can’t successfully sprint to a designated point within four minutes. She visits the Prime Minister, and his various enforcers. Downstairs, art curator Justine van Mourik reveals something deeply unnerving about the coat of arms.

A behind-the-scenes look at just how much plotting, planning and rehearsal goes into the short-brutal piece of political performance theatre that is Question Time in the House of Representatives. Government leader of the House Christopher Pyne makes a shocking admission. And gardener Leanne Clarke goes to war on bugs.

Annabel steps into the intoxicating world of the Senate, ruled by Senate President Stephen Parry (a former cop and undertaker) and his Clerk Rosemary Laing, an expert in 17th century British poetry. A gaggle of cross-benchers bargains with the Government late into the night over a crucial piece of legislation, while the Press Gallery goes to war with the Senate over its photography rules.

Annabel inveigles her way into the building's Members only dining room, to hear a startling confession from former PM Tony Abbott. Nick Xenophon does something very strange with some plates.

The last week of Parliament arrives, full of Christmas parties & knotty legislative business which politicians have left to the last minute to fix. Security faces challenges as protesters infiltrate the building.