Abbott is expected to be re-elected unopposed at a party room meeting set for Thursday, but it could have been a different scenario for the Liberal leader had the independents chosen as their electorates apparently expected.
One of the three figures who would tip the final scale in the 2010 election, maverick MP Bob Katter, was the first to announce his support for an Abbott government, and asserted that he was acting in the interests of his conservative North Queensland electorate.
Katter said Gillard's refusal to scrap Labor’s proposed new mining tax and its emissions trading scheme were stumbling blocks, along with the party’s failure to act on ethanol or Queensland’s ‘Wild Rivers’ legislation.
While Katter took only eight minutes to reveal his hand, it took some 30 minutes for Oakeshott and Windsor to declare their stance, with Oakeshott taking considerably more than his allotted 15 minutes of fame to pledge support for Gillard.
Labor’s national broadband network and climate change policies were stated as reasons for their support, along with its policies on regional education. Both contended that Labor was more likely to deliver stable government for another three years, arguing that the Coalition would be keen to quickly go back to the polls in an attempt to secure an outright majority.
‘This isn’t a mandate for any government,’ said Oakeshott, who rather ironically after calling for limits to point-scoring and rambling speeches in Parliament’s question time delivered his own lengthy speech on his rationale for his decision (according to Oakeshott, the decision to allow Gillard to extend her brief stay in the nation’s top job was ‘an absolute lineball, points decision, judgment call, six of one and half a dozen of another.’)
With the nation waiting on tenterhooks, he finally stated at the end of his speech that he would give his support to Labor on supply and no-confidence motions unless ‘exceptional circumstances determine otherwise.’
The nation’s political centre was set for interesting times, according to Oakeshott. ‘It’s going to be ugly, but it’s going to be beautiful in its ugliness,’ he added.
While the Australian Electoral Commission has indicated that the final vote count may not be completed for another three weeks, Parliament is set to be recalled soon to allow Gillard to test her numbers on the floor of the house.
With the independents who delivered Gillard government vowing to scrutinise every piece of legislation, Australia’s first female leader will be required to use all of her negotiating skills to keep her fragile minority government and its allies together.
The sun may be shining for now, but there are clouds ahead, and Abbott will be hoping they hold a silver lining for the Coalition. In the meantime, though, surely few could begrudge Gillard’s basking in the light of her historic achievement for a little while at least.
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