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Australian Opposition Leader Concedes to Independents' Demands

   VOA News 27 August 2010
   Opposition  leader  Tony  Abbott  addresses the media at parliament in
   Canberra, Australia, 25 Aug 2010

Photo: AP

   Opposition  leader  Tony  Abbott  addresses the media at parliament in
   Canberra, Australia, 25 Aug 2010

   The  head  of  Australia's  conservative  opposition  coalition,  Tony
   Abbott,  has caved in to demands from three independent lawmakers that
   he  submit  his  election  promises  to  an  analysis  by the Treasury
   Department.
   Prime Minister Julia Gillard had already agreed to the demand from the
   three  rural  lawmakers, who hold the balance of power after elections
   last Saturday left both major parties short of a majority.
   The  independents  are requesting more information in a total of seven
   areas  before they decide whether to support Ms. Gillard's Labor Party
   or Mr. Abbott's Liberals.
   Mr.  Abbott  initially  refused to permit the Treasury analysis of his
   promises,  saying  he  feared  the information might be leaked. But he
   relented  on  Friday  after being assured that the results will not be
   shown to Ms. Gillard.
   Australian   news   media  have  reported  there  is  a  $700  million
   discrepancy  between Mr. Abbott's public positions and the actual cost
   of his promises.
   Ballot-counting is expected to continue into next week. But the latest
   results  Friday show Mr. Abbott's conservative coalition likely to win
   73  seats  in  the 150-seat parliament, while Ms. Gillard will have 72
   and the likely support of a single Green Party member.
   That  would  leave the balance of power with four unaligned members of
   parliament,  three  of  whom  jointly  submitted  their  requests  for
   information earlier this week.
   The  three  also  have  sought assurances that the next prime minister
   will  serve  out  a full three-year term, rather than calling an early
   election  in  hopes  of  securing  a  majority.  In  that  event,  the
   independents' power to influence policy would be greatly diminished.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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