The new government yesterday finalised the parliamentary sitting schedule for the rest of the year, locking in 12 sitting weeks for the House of Assembly, plus two weeks of estimates committee hearings.

The new government yesterday finalised the parliamentary sitting schedule for the rest of the year, locking in 12 sitting weeks for the House of Assembly, plus two weeks of estimates committee hearings.

Newly elected MHAs will take their places in the House of Assembly chamber for the first time on May 6 when the 48th Parliament opens.

It will be a very different seating arrangement, with the Liberals switching sides of the chamber  with Labor and the Greens, and new Speaker Elise Archer tasked with keeping them in order.

The calendar reveals the state budget will be handed down in the middle of a marathon five-week stretch of Parliament for the lower house, including a week when backbenchers and opposition members grill ministers about its contents. 

The green benches have been gathering dust since January when a special sitting to pass pulp mill legislation broke up the long summer break. 

However, they then missed five sitting weeks scheduled in March and April due to the election campaign and changeover to a new government. 

Legislation to repeal the forestry peace deal is expected to be among the first bills to be tabled. 

Premier Will Hodgman said yesterday that he was keen to get back into Parliament as soon as possible. 

``It's our intention for Parliament to sit with the sort of frequency that it has in the past for the second half of this year,'' Mr Hodgman said. 

Opposition Leader Bryan Green criticised Mr Hodgman's decision to delay handing down the budget, which usually occurs at the start of June.

  ``For a person that was going to act decisively in government, this to me seems quite a bad start,'' Mr Green said.