The winter break is coming, but before then Labor wants deals with the Greens on tax and the Coalition on the NDIS

It’s not clear whether the government will secure two deals and enter the parliamentary break on a high, or with none and face a desolate wait until mid-August, writes Josh Butler. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Things get a little frantic during the final parliament sitting before a long break. Not quite “silly season”; it’s more like settlement season, or “let’s make a deal” season.

A thumping lower-house majority gave Labor the confidence to throw up contentious tax changes it hadn’t taken to last year’s election. But a rockier path through the Senate means the Albanese government can’t easily get its changes through the parliament – and quickly end the focus on a so-far messy process.