In spilling the Senate crossbenches, the Coalition is taking a six-year bet – a kind of insurance – that if it wins the election, it might have a better chance in the long run of getting its broader agenda through both houses.
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Now both houses will be sent back to Canberra on April 18 to deal with the ABCC legislation and the registered organisations bill.
The premier said he will recall parliament from April 18 for a three-week session to pass the laws.
By bringing the Budget forward, Turnbull would also afford his government the time needed to pass an appropriations bill extending supply and ensuring the government did not run out of money during an election period.
If the legislation doesn’t move through the house and a double dissolution is called – we can brace ourselves for a total shit fight.
“It’s very easy for me to campaign for the Turnbull Government because the Turnbull Government is running on the record of the Abbott Government, and that makes me a very enthusiastic supporter”, Mr Abbott told Sky News.
Senate crossbenchers are maintaining their rage against the Turnbull government’s demand they restore the building industry watchdog or face the voters.
“If they don’t take that opportunity, then that just adds to the argument that the Senate is deliberately refusing or failing to pass the bills, therefore making the ABCC bill another double dissolution trigger”.
If they do not pass through and a double dissolution is called, Mr Turnbull said the election on July 2 would be centred around that legislation.
Mr Turnbull said the bills, which deal with the role of construction unions, were critical for the economy, but opponents say they are unfair.
Section 57 of the Constitution sets out a mechanism for resolving disputes between the two houses of parliament that arise when the government can not get its legislation through the Senate.
And as this plays out in the months ahead, it neutralises Turnbull’s most lethal enemies – the internal ones, Tony Abbott and his small core of conservative malcontents. Turnbull said the go-slows and obstruction by Labor and the Greens on the key legislation must end.
At a double dissolution election, all senators are up for re-election.
“He’s not right”, the prime minister said of his predecessor.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to say whether company tax cuts will be included in the May 3 budget. “Australians will not be able to afford the infrastructure of the 21st century unless the rule of law returns to the construction industry”, he said.
Independent senator Glenn Lazarus dismissed the government’s policies as “garbage” and said he would not vote for the restoration of the ABCC unless the government created a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
“We are ready for this election”, Shorten said. A election is due by the end of January next year but a date has not been announced.
If an election was held today, Newspoll says the Coalition would lose 12 seats in the House of Representatives to Labor, reducing the number to 78 against 67 to Labor.
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Fellow independent John Madigan hit out at “yet another Machiavellian stunt” by a prime minister focused on politics rather than policy.
