AFTER talking tough, the new opposition failed to land any killer blows during its first opportunity to grill the new government.
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The hype around the role reversal for Labor and the Liberals for the first question time since the election did not translate to the floor of the house yesterday.
Both sides are clearly still finding their feet in their new positions.
With a plethora of issues crying out for scrutiny, it's no wonder Labor's question time tactics turned into a scattergun approach, jumping from questions on election commitments to forestry and housing policies.
On the other side of the chamber, the new government's language has barely changed from pre-election mode, relying on the usual one-liners.
Labor did pick up one subtle change, though, in the Liberals' references to keeping election promises.
They now ``intend'' to deliver them rather than saying they ``will''.
Labor will need more than sharp listening skills to nail the disciplined new government though.
Not surprisingly, both major parties scored each other's performance poorly while the Greens were left to grumble about being limited to bit players in the show.
Whichever side can come to grips with its new positions quickest will start scoring points, but after one match-up it's a nil-all draw.