Australia gets new government

Updated September 7, 2010 21:23:23

Australia's political deadlock is broken and Labor - under Julia Gillard - is back in government and preparing for work after two weeks of uncertainty. The general election on August 21 delivered a hung parliament. Ms Gillard has now accepted the role of prime minister, and has acknowledged that she'll have to work more openly and more co-operatively to get her agenda through the parliament. So, there'll be more horse-trading to come and it's likely to test all the talk of a new, less combative politics in Australia. The tense atmosphere came to head as the three key independents announced their preference and it was full of last minute surprises.

Presenter: Linda Mottram, Canberra correspondent
Speakers: Tony Windsor, Australian independent MP; Rob Oakeshott, Australian independent MP; Bob Katter, Australian independent MP; Julia Gillard, Australian prime minister; Tony Abbott, Australian opposition leader

WINDSOR: I intend with my vote, for what it's worth, to support the Labor Party.

MOTTRAM: Independent Australian member of parliament, Tony Windsor, announcing his decision after more than two weeks of negotiations, talks, phone calls and agonising. Joining him was fellow independent, Rob Oakeshott.

OAKESHOTT: I'm confirming for the governor general of Australia that today I will do what I've always done, ironically, and give confidence and supply to government and in effect that means confidence and supply in Julia Gillard, unless, and I emphasise unless, exceptional circumstances determine otherwise.

MOTTRAM: And Australia's political deadlock was broken. But until earlier in the day, the two independents were three. Bob Katter had split from the other two.

KATTER: I am confirming that I am giving, as a result of the 20 point plan - what was decided by the parties as their policies - that I will be backing the [opposition] coalition.

MOTTRAM: That decision, though, wasn't absolute, and Mr Katter was soon echoing what has been the overarching framework of the independents' approach to this process - the need for stability - and the possibility that if it came to averting another election, he would side with Labor, too.

It came to this because at the polls just over two weeks ago, Australians delivered a curse on both the major parties and their assumed right to govern in turn.

Labor, weighed down by the Rudd overthrow, climate change policy reversal and campaign troubles, saw a massive swing against it, delivering it just 72 of 150 seats in parliament.

But that reversal of fortune for Labor didn't flow through to enough support for the Liberal-National Party coalition to enable it to form government in its own right. It, too, won just 72 seats.

The horsetrading began, including Labor signing a deal with the Greens, who for the first time have an MP in the lower house.

Tony Windsor listed the big issues that swayed his decision, including Labor's pledge of a national broadband fibre based network, and climate change.

WINDSOR: Possibly the most critical was broadband. There's an enormous opportunity for regional Australians to engage with the infrastructure of this century. And to pass up that opportunity for millions of country Australians, I thought, was too good an opportunity to miss. But one of the key issues in my mind, that many country Australians might take odds with me on this, is the renewable energy and climate change debate.

MOTTRAM: Rob Oakeshott broadly concurred and added as key the Labor promise of a referendum on including Australia's indigenous people in the constitution. He also reiterated the demand that politics must change in line with what the independents say is widespread public frustration with the way the major players have been doing business.

OAKESHOTT: These divided loyalties between political parties, between local electorate responsibilities, and responsibilities to the nation. I would hope, that from what you've seen of us from the last 17 days, we're committed to electorate and committed to country. We do, culturally, need to bring a few others with us, that includes a few media outlets, so that we are very strong in establishing the principles of electorate and country as the drivers of the way we do business in regards to public policy.

MOTTRAM: And late in the day, Julia Gillard, sounding very relieved, said the process had shown Australia's democracy was very robust and accepted the opportunity to govern again, but with some changes of style.

GILLARD: That is going to mean new ways of working for us and expect for you, new things to think about and new things to understand, new expertise required in parliamentary procedure and practice. So, it's going to be a different world. I think the different world is an opportunity.

MOTTRAM: Ms Gillard has also quickly begun shoring up the new arrangements, offering an executive position to Mr Oakeshott, who says he's considering it, and directing a swathe of funding to Australia's underserviced rural and regional sector.

Some significant changes have been won from the negotiating process during the past two and a bit weeks - reforms to parliamentary processes to try to curb government abuse of power and to give all MPs better opportunities to be heard. There is also to be a full summit on Australia's tax system by mid next year and new consideration of the response to climate change.

And there's been praise for the independents' approach to a high pressure situation, including from the opposition leader, Tony Abbott, who stresses he won more votes and more seats than Labor, but didn't quite scrape across the line.

ABBOTT: I believe that at all times the three country independents were doing their best to engage with both sides of politics and while as I said I'm disappointed with the outcome, I think that they were acting in good faith.

MOTTRAM: Julia Gillard expects to announce her new ministry next week. It'll be closely watched because she has a standing promise to given the former prime minister Kevin Rudd a senior cabinet position.