Howard wins control of Australian parliament
Final counting of votes in Australia’s October 9 election showed today that Prime Minister John Howard has won control of both the upper and lower houses of parliament.
The result clears the way for Howard to push through reforms including relaxing media ownership laws and selling the government’s AUS$30bn (€17.65bn) stake in national telecommunications giant Telstra.
The reforms were blocked during his first three terms in office because his conservative coalition government did not have a majority in parliament’s upper chamber, the Senate.
Howard will be the first Prime Minister in 24 years to control the Senate as well as the lower chamber, the House of Representatives.
Nationals candidate Barnaby Joyce was declared the winner of the last Senate seat in Queensland state when the Australian Electoral Commission completed the final count.
The win by Joyce will give the coalition government of the Nationals and Howard’s Liberal Party 39 of the Senate’s 76 members from July next year.
It will be the first time a government has held such dominance since the government of Malcolm Fraser in the 1970s.
Asked whether the Senate would be a rubber stamp now for the government, Queensland Nationals Senator Boswell told reporters in Brisbane: “The prime minister has said he is not going to abuse the power and he is going to be very careful what he puts through.
“He said he will be very happy to work with us … this is the icing on his cake.”
The Nationals are the junior coalition partner in Howard’s conservative government.
