Federal ministers have returned to Canberra after the winter break to sit in Parliament for four of the next five weeks, and the Senate leader is assuring Australians of the strict COVID-19 safety measures in place. Simon Birmingham said “very extensive” safeguards proportionate to the risk of the Delta variant have been implemented for parliament. The public have been banned from entering Parliament House, and many ministers have not flown in as they remain isolated in their home states. “It will be a slimmed down parliament in terms of the number of parliamentarians attending, dramatically slimmed down in terms of the number of staff working in parliament house,” Birmingham told ABC radio. Defence Minister Peter Dutton will remain in home isolation in Queensland because his sons attend a school linked to the growing outbreak in the state. In addition, around 60 percent of staff are also working remotely, with only …