Early election looms as Australian PM seeks to reform hostile Senate
Source: Reuters
Australia's parliament began an acrimonious final sitting day before a May budget on Thursday, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull considering dissolving both houses of parliament and calling an early election to end a hostile Senate.
Independent and minor party senators elected at the last election in 2013 have stalled key aspects of the government's agenda, including changes that would make higher education and health care more expensive and limit access to welfare.
Senate voting reforms proposed by Turnbull, and being debated on Thursday, would make it harder for smaller parties to enter parliament through vote sharing deals, and are supported by the opposition Greens Party, which controls enough of the Senate to insure passage of the reforms.
Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party Senator Ricky Muir was elected in 2013 with less than one percent of the popular vote as a result of complex vote sharing deals between small parties agreed to privately ahead of the vote.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton predicted passage of the voting changes, which are supported by business groups angered by three years of partisan gridlock amid an economic slowdown driven by a plunge in commodities prices.
"We can’t go to the ballot box, cast a vote and not know where that vote is going to end up," Dutton said in an interview with Sydney's 2GB Radio.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-politics-idUSKCN0WJ0CH
= new reply since forum marked as read
