The Federal Government once again refuted calls for a Royal Commission into the banking sector in Parliament yesterday, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull claiming it will be nothing but a forum for the legal profession.
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It is the first time a majority government has lost votes in the lower house since 1962, when Sir Robert Menzies had a one seat majority.
After being in the chauffeur-driven Comcar for about 10 minutes, he got a text message from the Labor whip reminding all MPs they were not to leave Parliament.
“They’ve been caught out”.
“It is so predictable that on the first week of Parliament, with so much accent on what Bill Shorten is trying to do, what was going on in the Senate, it was odds-on they were going to try and pull some stunt on the last day. This shouldn’t have happened”.
Another senior right-wing Liberal told The New Daily the incident was further example of Mr Turnbull’s diminishing authority. John Howard wouldn’t have allowed it to happen.
“Every member should be available for divisions at all times and I haven’t failed in that responsibility in the past and won’t be failing in that responsibility again in the future”, Keenan said. They appeared on numerous radio and television stations to explain why the government’s parliamentary “stuff up” on Thursday did not mean it was not in control.
“If you can’t run the parliament, you can’t run the country”, he said.
The opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten also said the public were looking for more co-operation from their elected representatives.
“Tonight’s been a wake-up call for the Turnbull government – the clock is ticking”, manager of opposition business Tony Burke said.
“And what he has done is played essentially schoolboy tricks and stunts in the parliament”. They did the wrong thing.
“They’re grown ups, they’re experienced parliamentarians, they knew that they should not have left and they left early because they thought they’d get away with it. They’ll get the riot act read to them more often than just about anyone could imagine”, he told Neil Mitchell on radio 3AW on Friday.
The fourth, which would be the vote on the motion itself, saw Speaker Tony Smith exercise his casting vote for the continuation of debate.
One Liberal MP said Mr Conroy had been part of a canny Labor ruse to embarrass the Government.
Labor then won three votes on procedural matters which did not affect government legislation.
In response, MPs were recalled from airports and turned back on return drives to Sydney.
Mr Keenan – the Justice Minister – has apologised, taking full responsibility for missing the votes but insisted his absence was related to a “significant operation in the AFP”. He missed the votes. “Those people who weren’t there learnt a valuable lesson, everyone learnt a valuable lesson”.
Lawmakers who need to leave Parliament early are expected to tell their parties.
Others reported arguments in the corridors over whether they could leave early.
Chief Nationals whip George Christensen tweeted that he was not the government whip but “chief whip of the Nationals who were all in the Parliament until close”.
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She did turn the vehicle back but didn’t make it in time to save the government. The Indi MP, who supports a royal commission, conceded she had learnt a lesson and would “never make that mistake again”.
