Johnnie wrote on Feb 13
th, 2019 at 9:42am:
philperth2010 wrote on Feb 13
th, 2019 at 8:56am:
This is the first time this has happened in 73yrs and the Australian constitution is all the poorer for it.
This also sets a precedent which undoubtedly will come back to bite labor on the bum.
funny how someone elected on preferences 5 min ago...knows all about presenting a BILL in parliament...

my my my I can see Kerryn being a future labor/green leader
im Blair, The Daily Telegraph
February 13, 2019 1:16am
Subscriber only
The Coalition government yesterday suffered an historic defeat on asylum seeker legislation proposed by independent Kerryn Phelps and supported by Labor and the Greens.
It is the first House of Representatives defeat for any government on substantial legislation for decades, and places Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government in a vulnerable position ahead of this year’s election.
Yet that defeat may yet prove more damaging in the longer term to Labor.
Throughout the debate on permitting easier access to Australian medical care for asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru, the government’s position has not wavered.
Scott Morrison and his Coalition team have stuck fast to their view that any weakening of current border protection measures would put at risk Australia’s security.
Compare the government’s permanent hard line to the eternally shifting strategies employed by Labor.
Initially, Labor voted more than 20 times for the Phelps bill in its original form. Then, following a briefing from immigration authorities, Labor offered a range of amendments to the proposal.
Those amendments were not acceptable to the Greens, however, so Labor shifted again. This echoed Labor in 2010, when Prime Minister Julia Gillard caved in to Greens demands for a carbon tax. The Greens tail is wagging the Labor dog.
Prior to yesterday’s vote, which ran 75 to 74 against the government, Prime Minister Morrison observed that Labor had “failed the test” on border security.
“There is no form of this bill, no form of this bill, that does not weaken our borders,” he said. “We urge this House not to undo what is not broken.”
“The Labor Party can win as many votes in this House as they like,” the PM continued. “They are failing the test of mettle, they failing the test of duty to the Australian people.”
And Morrison concluded with words that Labor leader Bill Shorten may well have reason to consider at length in future weeks and months, and indeed if Labor forms the next government: “This is now on your head, Leader of the Opposition.”
Labor failed the Australian people when last in government by putting in place policies that encouraged people smugglers. Impressions that Labor had learned its lesson from that tragic period are now shattered