Simon Crean has been one of parliament's most disruptive members. He has been thrown out by the Speaker 17 times in his career for disorderly behaviour. Three times he was sin-binned for 24 hours.

But the Opposition Leader yesterday promised to change, outlining a reform package to improve behaviour in parliament.

The centrepiece is the call for an independent Speaker of the House of Representatives. It would be a person drawn alternatively from the Labor Party and the Coalition, regardless of who was in power. The person would serve for two terms but it could mean a government would face a Speaker from the "other side". The deputy Speaker would be from the other party.

"People are sick to death of the confrontational nature of parliament," Mr Crean said."I think the behaviour issue in parliament is the fault of both sides ... and I've got to admit I'm one of those that has contributed to it but I think it is time we moved on."

In the last parliament, 33 Labor MPs were thrown out of the lower house for a total of 364 hours, compared with 10 hours for eight government MPs.

Mr Crean, who was Labor's "headkicker" in parliament, said that poor behaviour had come from "frustration" that the government had not answered questions. He challenged Prime Minister John Howard to accept the plan for next Tuesday's opening of parliament.

The package would also restrict the time taken to ask questions to one minute and answers to four minutes. At present there is no time limit in the lower house.

Mr Crean wants the Speaker given the power to require ministers to fully answer questions. A criticism of Labor and Coalition ministers in recent times has been that they are more interested in attacking the opposition than providing information.

Mr Crean also called for written questions submitted "on notice" to ministers to be answered within 30 days. In the last parliament, some went unanswered for more than two years.

Labor said it would support Liberal Neil Andrew remaining Speaker as a sign of good faith and he would remain in charge if the ALP won the next election.

Mr Andrew is facing a challenge from three Liberals amid some concerns in government ranks that he has been "too soft" on Labor. However, he is being supported by Mr Howard to retain the $167,000-a-year job.

The Leader of the House, Tony Abbott, said the Coalition had improved standards by guaranteeing 20 questions a day could be asked when parliament sat. He said the former Keating government allowed 12 questions.

Mr Abbott called on Labor to demonstrate its commitment to higher standards by refraining from "organised barracking" when ministers were speaking and using disruptive points of order. He said there was wide freedom to ask questions and provide answers.

Mr Andrew gave a positive response to Mr Crean's plan. "Anything that entrenches the independence of the Speaker is helpful," he said.