Australian Independent Lawmakers See Decision on Government Today
Australian Independent Lawmakers See Decision Today
Stefan Postles/Getty Images
Tony Windsor, left, and Rob Oakeshott speak at a news briefing in Canberra.
Tony Windsor, left, and Rob Oakeshott speak at a news briefing in Canberra. Photographer: Stefan Postles/Getty Images
The three men who’ll decide which party governs Australia after the closest election in 70 years will make a decision today, lawmaker Tony Windsor said.
“The three of us want it to happen today and unless there’s some extenuating circumstance it will happen,” Windsor told reporters in Canberra today. Windsor, Robert Oakeshott and Bob Katter will announce their decision at 3 p.m. local time after final information is received from Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott, Sky News reported, without saying where it got the information.
The leaders need their support to break the deadlock created when neither Gillard’s Labor Party nor Abbott’s Liberal- National coalition won the 76 seats needed to form government.
Gillard needs the support of two of the three independents after last week securing the backing of Greens Party member Adam Bandt and independent Andrew Wilkie. Abbott needs all three to govern in the 150-member House of Representatives.
Should two of the three lawmakers opt to back the coalition or remain non-aligned, neither of the two major parties would have a majority, forcing another election.
The independents have been briefed by officials about each major party’s plan to manage the A$1.2 trillion ($1.1 trillion) economy, as Gillard’s planned mining tax and expanded Internet services hang in the balance.
Both leaders have agreed to parliamentary reforms, including an independent speaker and more time for lawmakers to propose laws that aren’t linked to major parties’ programs.
There are “no sticking points” to prevent a decision, Oakeshott, 40, told reporters in Canberra today. “We’ve just got to manage truth and fiction in our judgment call.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Marion Rae in Canberra at mrae3@bloomberg.net
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