JULIA GILLARD’S Labour Party has secured the support of two independent MPs in the Australian parliament, securing its ability to form a government and ending a 17-day stalemate over who would lead the country.
Last month’s election had left both Labour and the coalition of the Liberal and National Parties equal on 72 seats apiece in the country’s 150-seat legislature, leaving both in need of the support of the single Green MP and the four independents.
The Green and one of the four independents had already aligned with Gillard. Yesterday, however, two further independents agreed to support the outgoing government after it promised generous packages for the country’s more rural regions.
The 76 votes Gillard can count on will be enough to return her to the premiership, albeit with a parliamentary majority of just one once her party, as is customary for the governing party, appoints a Speaker. The newly-reappointed PM has committed, nonetheless, to deliver a stable government.
The development came at the end of a gripping day after the “three amigos” – the three outstanding independent MPs – had scheduled a press conference indicating their intentions, only for one – Bob Katter – to leave their meeting early and declare himself in support of the opposition coalition.
The remaining two MPs, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, went ahead with their conference – but Windsor refused to declare his intentions while Oakeshott, who arrived 26 minutes late, was absent.
When the two men were finally reunited, the pair declared their backing for Gillard in what Oakeshott called a “line-ball decision“.
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