Gillard accuses Abbott of being out to wreck her

Gillard Says Opposition Leader Abbott Out to `Wreck' Australian Parliament
By Elisabeth Behrmann and Marion Rae - Sep 26, 2010 10:19 AM GMT+1000



Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard said opposition leader, Tony Abbott, is out to “wreck” Parliament after he backed out of a deal to name a speaker, reducing her legislative advantage to a single seat.

“As we head towards parliament opening on Tuesday, and then parliamentary business proper on Wednesday, increasingly we’re seeing Mr. Abbott believes his role is to wreck,” Gillard said on Channel 10’s “Meet the Press” program today. “He’s acting like a bull in a China shop, thinking his job is to smash everything he sees up.”

Abbott and Gillard agreed on Sept. 6 to assign a lawmaker to vote along with the winning party to make up for the speaker, who can’t vote. Abbott scrapped that deal on Sept. 23, saying it would violate the constitution.

Gillard, 48, remains in power following Australia’s closest election in 70 years after she wooed three independent lawmakers and one Greens Party member to back her Labor Party which lost its majority at the Aug. 21 ballot.

“It’s deeply disappointing that Mr. Abbott would say yes to parliamentary reform, sign the agreement” and then “trash” the accord, Gillard said.

Labor named the current speaker, Harry Jenkins, as its candidate, who will be re-elected on Sept. 28. Opposition member Alex Somlyay yesterday withdrew his interest in standing for the deputy speaker’s position, citing media attention that would put too much focus to his voting behaviour in that role.

The new Parliament led by Australia’s first female prime minister includes the first indigenous lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Western Australian Liberal Ken Wyatt, Labor’s Ed Husic from Sydney, who is the first Muslim lawmaker, and the youngest ever legislator, Wyatt Roy, 20, from Queensland state.

Power Sharing

Every bill could be subject to negotiation when parliament starts on Sept. 28, including any move to introduce a carbon tax and her planned mining levy in the world’s biggest exporter of iron ore and coal.

The government said Sept. 23 it will introduce more than 40 bills in its first week, such as more power for the stock market regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, new penalties for breaches of aviation security, a food standards bill, reducing the sulfur content of fuel to prevent pollution from shipping, and new offshore oil and gas storage rules.

Gillard’s government relies on the support of independent lawmakers Robert Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Andrew Wilkie, and Greens Party member Adam Bandt, while the opposition’s bloc includes 73 Liberal-National coalition members plus independent Bob Katter who has aligned himself with Abbott.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-26/gillard-says-opposition-leader-abbott-out-to-wreck-australian-parliament.html


Gillards dug her grave, committed political suicide, why should Tony be seen as her facilitator, at a time when our nation would much rather she left the building?

She brought it on herself, though has to blame someone, so it might as well be Tony....

It was always a double edged sword...her victory I mean.