Minor parties set major tests for Gillard

Julia Gillard (centre, in white) and her government pose for a group photo following her swearing in as Prime Minster by Governor-General Quentin Bryce (centre, in peach). Photo / Getty images

The leaders of Australia's two major parties have been given a sharp reminder that they will face an entirely new world when Parliament resumes next week.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's legitimacy will be tested immediately in the House in a trial of strength she will pass with the confidence votes of one Green and three independent MPs.

But the price she will pay for their support in squeaking home with a minority Government after last month's cliff-hanger election is already becoming apparent.

Apart from the constraints of the deals she brokered with the Greens and independents, their readiness to flex their muscles has been made plain with moves that will force new debate on issues ranging from carbon taxation to Afghanistan and euthanasia.

Their ability to make their voice heard will be increased by the guarantee of time for minor parties and independents to introduce private members' bills and have them debated.

And New South Wales independent Rob Oakeshott was yesterday continuing his efforts to become Speaker of the House, a job neither major party wants him to have but which may yet remove their preferred choice, Labor MP Harry Jenkins, from the job.

Gillard has indicated her agenda is likely to veer from the commitments she made during the election campaign because of the new political realities under which she will be operating.

"It's not business as usual for measures that require substantial legislation," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We are in a new environment where in order for any action to happen in this Parliament, you need more consensus than the views and policies of the Government."

Labor holds 72 of the 150 House of Representatives seats in its own right, and was able to retain power only with the support of Greens MP Adam Brandt and independents Oakeshott, Andrew Wilkie and Tony Windsor.

But they have emphasised that their agreement applies only to supply and confidence motions and does not give Gillard a mandate. Support for all other legislation will be decided bill by bill, and Greens Leader Bob Brown has suggested his party and the independents could band together to push through an Opposition proposal if they considered it desirable.

The independents extracted a A$10 billion ($12.9 billion) package for regional Australia in return for their votes, and will be ensuring Labor sticks to the deal, forcing their concerns on health, education and infrastructure up Gillard's list of priorities.

Brown has now cemented carbon tax to that list. Last week Gillard backed away from her pre-election promise not to pursue a carbon price, after her earlier dumping of the planned establishment of a "people's forum" on climate change to meet the Greens' demand for a far more powerful, expert committee.

Her shift on the issue sparked outrage from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who said Gillard should never have accepted her commission from Governor-General Quentin Bryce if she did not believe she should put her election commitments into practice.

In an interview with Channel Ten, Brown said there had been a decision to have a carbon price in the future and the issue now was how to get that price and what the best arrangement for it would be.

Brown also dumped an even more sensitive issue into Gillard's lap, announcing his planned overthrow of the 1997 law that banned the Parliaments of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory from legalising euthanasia.

John Howard's former Coalition Government used its constitutional powers to override territory legislation to axe laws permitting euthanasia, after the deaths of four people in the NT under its short-lived legislation.

Euthanasia is now being debated by Parliaments in South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, over which Canberra has no control.

Gillard has indicated she was prepared to discuss the plan with Brown and, possibly, allow a conscience vote on the issue, as Howard had done.

Abbott said he believed there were more pressing "bread and butter" concerns for Parliament to consider, but said he would discuss the conscience vote idea with his Shadow Cabinet.

Brown has also forced a parliamentary debate on Afghanistan for the first time since Howard first sent troops there in 2002. Since then 21 Diggers have died and 178 wounded.

Brown said he did not expect the Government to reverse a commitment strongly supported by both major parties despite its increasing unpopularity, but said Australia's troops and their loved ones deserved a Parliament well-acquainted with the facts and which could debate the war maturely.

Gillard, meanwhile, promised in a weekend speech that Labor would not be daunted by the fragility of its hold on power, and would deliver outcomes and vision for the nation "as though we had won a landslide".

ARM-TWISTING

How the minors are pushing their agenda:

* Conscience vote likely on Greens bill to dump law overriding territory euthanasia legislation
* Greens drive Labor back towards a carbon tax
* Independents force new priorities on regional health and education
* Private members' bills guaranteed a parliamentary hearing under Gillard's deal with the independents
* A parliamentary debate on Afghanistan, part of Labor's deal with the Greens