Sydney, February 12
Australia’s government suffered an embarrassing defeat in parliament on Tuesday, as the lower house voted for a measure allowing asylum seekers to access medical care, the first such loss by a government in 78 years.
Independent lawmakers and the opposition Labour party voted together to pass the Bill by 75 votes to 74, dealing a blow to the ruling conservative coalition, which is trailing heavily in polls ahead of an election due in May.
“Great to see the Australian parliament finally vote for humanity,” Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian held in an Australian-run camp in Papua New Guinea (PNG) wrote on Twitter, hailing the passing of the legislation.
“Many people are happy now because they will finally receive medical treatment.”
The vote drew cheers from asylum-seeker activists in parliament’s public gallery but the upper house must approve the bill before it becomes law, so the defeat, though damaging for the government, does not trigger an immediate election. — Reuters
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2E6ZFaa
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