Independent Wilkie boosts Australia PM Julia Gillard

Mr Wilkie said he believed Labor would deliver more stable government

September 02, 2010

(KATAKAMI / BBC)  —  One of four key independent lawmakers has pledged support for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, leaving her just two seats short of the majority needed to form the next Australian government.

Andrew Wilkie, who represents Denison in Tasmania, said Ms Gillard’s Labor party was most likely to deliver stable government.

Three other independents have yet to decide who to back.

They have been in talks with both Ms Gillard and her rival, Tony Abbott.

Almost two weeks after the 21 August elections, neither the ruling Labor party nor the Liberal-led coalition has managed to form a government.

After Mr Wilkie’s decision Labor can now count on support from 74 of the 76 seats needed, with the coalition narrowly behind on 73.

“I have judged that it is the Australian Labor Party that best meets my criteria that the next government must be stable, must be competent and must be ethical,” Mr Wilkie told journalists.

He said Ms Gillard had agreed to a number of requests, including funding for the Royal Hobart Hospital and restrictions on poker machines, ABC news reported.

The three independents who remain undecided, Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter, are continuing to hold talks with both blocs.

They have asked the coalition to explain what the Treasury says is a US$9.6bn (£6.2bn) hole in its election manifesto costings.

Mr Wilkie urged them to act quickly.

“I hope that this sends a signal to the other three independents and they move as soon as they can to make their decisions, and to decide to support a party or parties in a way that will bring stability to the parliament,” he said.

Julia Gillard wins Greens support in govt bid

Photo : Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks at a press conference in Canberra, Australia, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. A Greens lawmaker agreed Wednesday to help the center-left Labor Party form a minority Australian government in a climate-focused alliance while other kingmaker legislators said they are close to deciding whether to back Labor or a conservative coalition. (Getty Images)

September 01, 2010

(KATAKAMI / INDIAN EXPRESS) — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard forged an alliance with the Greens party on Wednesday to take her party closer to forming a government, but vowed not to allow the deal to change her plans for a tax on miners’ profits.  

Our election commitments are our election commitments, the Labor Party leader told a news conference. In the days since the election I’ve been asked will you change the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, and the answer of course is no.

Labor’s widely expected agreement with the influential Greens party gives Gillard 73 seats in the 150-member lower house, bringing her level with the oppposition conservative coalition but still three short of the majority required to rule.

A jostle for the support of four independent lawmakers who emerged from Aug. 21’s inconclusive election holding the balance of power could still drag into early next week.

First Australian Aboriginal MP elected for Liberals

Ken Wyatt was elected as the Liberal representative for the seat of Hasluck

(KATAKAMI / BBC) — An Aboriginal Australian has been elected to parliament for the first time in the country’s history.

Ken Wyatt, 57, an expert on Aboriginal health, took the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia for the centre-right Liberal Party.

Neither the Liberals nor the governing Labor Party gained enough seats at last week’s election for a majority.

Mr Wyatt has dismissed the racist hate mail he received, saying it was time for Australia to move forward.

Historic moment

As counting closed, Mr Wyatt declared victory with a majority of nearly 1,000 votes over his rival from the centre-left Labor Party, with fewer than 1,000 votes still to be counted.

“In 50 years’ time historians and people will be analysing why Hasluck chose an indigenous candidate, and what they’ll discover is that they didn’t choose an indigenous candidate because I was indigenous,” Mr Wyatt told reporters on Sunday.

“They chose a person who they believed would represent the interests of everybody within Hasluck.”

“Start Quote

Let’s move on from that [racism] – what’s more important is the way in which we move Australia forward, ”

End Quote Ken Wyatt Newly elected Aboriginal MP

The Liberals have 73 seats while the centre-left Labor Party have 72. Independents took four seats, and the Greens one. Seventy-six seats are needed in order to form a government.

Negotiations between the two main parties and the independents who hold the balance of power are continuing.

Mr Wyatt said he was disappointed by the hate mail sent to him by people who said they would not have voted for him if they had known he was indigenous.

“I’ve had that all my life, growing up as an Aboriginal in the ’60s, the ’70s and the ’80s,” he told reporters.

“Let’s move on from that – what’s more important is the way in which we move Australia forward, and the thinking that we have, and the society that we build on.”