Liberal member Don Randall brought a life-sized cut out of Kevin Rudd into the chamber.
WHEN the PM went away, Australian democracy was at play, with Parliament disintegrating into a high-farce shambles.
Anarchy reigned during yesterday's first Friday sitting of Parliament  facetiously dubbed by some as the RDO or Rudd's Day Off  as disgruntled Coalition MPs brandished a life-size, cardboard cut-out of Kevin Rudd and brayed for the PM.
Proceedings were twice suspended after four rebellious Opposition MPs were booted out of the chamber, including one who had to be escorted out by the serjeant-at-arms after defying an order to leave.
Furious over the Prime Minister's failure to show up to the controversial Friday sittings  ordered by the Rudd Government last year to "allow for greater scrutiny and accountability"  the Coalition decided to stage a rowdy political protest.
The Opposition is angry the sittings will not include question time, have no proper votes and do not record quorum, which means Mr Rudd and senior ministers are not required to attend.
Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin skipped the first session to visit an indigenous community in NSW.
A sober parliamentary discussion about increasing organ donation rates descended into chaos when Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker held up a life-size, cardboard cut-out of Mr Rudd.
The somewhat stiff proxy PM was then handed to Opposition business manager Joe Hockey and other frontbenchers, to the chagrin of deputy speaker Anna Burke, who ordered its removal.
Amid shouts of: "We want the Prime Minister here," Ms Burke ordered Mr Hartsuyker out of the chamber after he ignored a request to resume his seat.
She then suspended Parliament for a second time.
The hullabaloo in the house began after the Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans  the Senate's most senior public servant  questioned whether the Friday sittings imposed by the Rudd Government were constitutional.
Barely half an hour had elapsed in Parliament yesterday before Liberal MP Steven Ciobo became the first MP to be physically removed since Liberal-turned independent Paul Zammit in 1992.
Speaker Harry Jenkins, who struggled to control proceedings, was then forced to suspend the sitting for a 15-minute "cooling off period".
Former government minister Tony Abbott and Liberal Joanna Gash were also kicked out.
Mr Jenkins warned that if the community were to have confidence in Parliament, MPs needed to behave with "decorum and dignity", regardless of their views.
But Mr Hockey, who this week dubbed Mr Rudd the "part-time prime minister" vowed the disruptions would continue until the Government agreed to hold question time on Fridays.
"We don't want cardboard Kevin here, we want the real Kevin Rudd here," he said.
Leader of the House Anthony Albanese counter-attacked, challenging the Opposition to go to the next election on the slogan: "Kevin Rudd doesn't work hard."
With AAP
Discontent with parliament having to sit on a Friday without question time, the Australian opposition parties (comprising the Liberal/National coalition) vowed to continue disrupting Friday sittings until the government bows to its demands. The vow follows a sitting on Friday where the House of Representatives descended into chaos. The opposition says it is protesting against the Friday sittings, which were ordered by the Rudd government to "allow for greater scrutiny and accountability".

The opposition is furious that the sittings will not include question time, have no proper votes and do not record quorum, allowing the Prime Minister and senior ministers to skip the session. The government dismisses this by saying that Friday is a day for private member's business and gives backbenchers an opportunity to be heard.

Steven Ciobo (Liberal, Moncrieff) moved a motion that there should be question time held every Friday, which led to the opposition moving a motion of dissent against speaker of the house, Harry Jenkins (Labor, Skullin).

After the vote on the motion of dissent was deferred, Mr Ciobo continued to argue for his motion after being requested to return to his seat. He was eventually asked to leave the chamber, but refused to do so and was escorted out by the Serjeant-at-Arms. Tony Abbott (Liberal, Warringah) was then ejected for an hour after he accused the speaker of acting "dishonorably" and refused to take his seat. Interjections by opposition MPs continued during a discussion about increasing organ donation rates, with the speaker losing control and suspending the house for 15 minutes.

When parliament resumed, proceedings soon degraded again, after a life-size cardboard cut-out of Kevin Rudd was brought into the chamber by opposition MPs. Luke Hartsuyker (National, Cowper) used the prop during a discussion about the Rudd government axing a planned Centrelink call centre in Coffs Harbour. Mr Hartsuyker told parliament "We want the Prime Minister here. I want Kevin Rudd to hear what 150 jobs...".

Mr Hartsuyker was then ejected after refusing to take his seat at the direction of Deputy speaker, Anna Burke (Labor, Chisholm) who also demanded that the prop be removed. Ms Burke then removed Joanna Gash (Liberal, Gilmore) for making an offensive remark about the chair of the chamber. After more complaints from opposition MPs, the house was adjourned for a second time.

Upon resumption of the house, Speaker Harry Jenkins told MPs they risked facing community condemnation unless they restored the dignity of parliament.

"I understand that some members have concerns about the arrangements of Friday sittings," he told the house.

"If our house is to expect the community to have confidence in it, all members should conduct themselves with decorum and dignity regardless of their views about particular matters - including the conduct of business on future Fridays."

The opposition has remained definant, promising to disrupt future Friday sittings. Manager of opposition business, Joe Hockey (Liberal, North Sydney told journalists that "Unless the government does something about their conduct in the parliament, they will continue to have us press for a question time every Friday," 

"This will make a point - we don't want cardboard Kevin here, we want the real Kevin Rudd."

The Manager of government business, Anthony Albanese (Labor, Grayndler said the opposition had  "reduced to a rabble attacking the good order of parliament".

Mr Albanese then said that former Prime Minster, John Howard never attended parliament for private members' business when it was held on Mondays. He then said there had been "no significant change in the way parliament has operated".

Albanese insisted the new parliamentary sitting schedule did not disadvantage the opposition because it included more sitting days and question times than the previous government averaged. "The changes gave all MPs, particularly backbenchers, the opportunity to put forward their ideas," he said.