Australia’s government suffers confidence as its defeated on legislation in Parliament
4662 Mins Read
The Morrison government has suffered a humiliating defeat in Parliament, losing a substantial vote on legislation in the House of Representatives — the first time a government has lost such a vote in 90 years.
The defeat capped off a wild day in Parliament after Labor teamed up with the Greens and crossbenchers to get the bill passed, despite advice from the Solicitor General that it is is unconstitutional.
The government has been defeated on the floor of the House, 75-74.
The last time that happened, the Stanley Bruce government called an election the next day.
The bill has been the subject of much debate since it was passed in the Senate last year. Since then, the government has been putting pressure on Labor to change its stance, saying it weakens Australia’s border security.
Labor has been hedging its bets because on the one hand, it doesn’t want to be seen as weak on national security (a traditional electoral weakness for Labor), but on the other hand, many Labor voters believe in a more humane refugee policy.
Meanwhile the Greens and independents were lining up behind the bill. After some negotiating this week, Labor agreed to back the bill with some minor amendments, meaning the government didn’t have the numbers to stop it from being passed.
Scott Morrison has already said he will not be doing that. Labor took out the renumeration issue, which took away the constitutional issues, and means the government has not lost control, even nominally, of the government’s finances.
The majority of the crossbench have said they are not interested in a no-confidence motion and they want the government to go full term.
Someone would have to move a no confidence motion and then that same majority would have to support it.
As for the bill, it heads back to the Senate, where there are the numbers to pass it. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a long and drawn out process in terms of filibustering.
