The AFR reports a Government in disarray:
The government and the banks face a nervous two years until the next election after Labor sprung an ambush on Thursday night which nearly saw it win support in the House of Representatives for a royal commission. Although it survived the scare, the government became the first in more than half a century to lose a vote on the floor of the House.
It survived the ambush after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has earlier hinted at compensation for victims of bad financial advice as he claimed the well-resourced banks were not afraid of a royal commission and those who had suffered would be no better off at the end of such a process.
But after defeating a Labor motion on Wednesday to establish a royal commission, the government had a near miss on Thursday night when Labor exploited the tight numbers to almost nearly have the House of Representatives pass another motion endorsing a commission. With Coalition MPs headed for the airport, Labor successfully moved to debate the motion and in doing so, inflicted the first loss for a government in the House of Representatives since 1962.
The Australian has more detail:
…The government’s first defeat came at about 5pm, when Labor prevented the house adjourning in a vote it won by 69 votes to 67.
Industry Minister Christopher Pyne, the leader of the house, was exposed to the defeat through the absence of colleagues who had tried to leave for home early or were otherwise busy.
These included John Alexander, Luke Hartsuyker, Craig Kelly, Ken O’Dowd, Ross Vasta, Jason Wood, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, Justice Minister Michael Keenan and Social Services Minister Christian Porter.
Labor won the next two votes by 71 votes to 70, even though the government had regained some of its members, including Mr Porter and Mr Wood.
In a key moment that highlighted the government’s slender hold on power, Labor and the Coalition were tied on 71 votes each soon after 5.30pm, when Mr Dutton had returned.
