SYDNEY – Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s tiny majority was slashed to the bare minimum yesterday during a rocky start to the new-look parliament led by the first minority government since World War II.
The centre-left Labour leader warned of “remarkable and demanding times” as she was forced to re-elect party colleague Harry Jenkins as speaker.
Gillard, Australia’s first woman prime minister, now has just 75 votes in the 150-member House of Representatives against 74 for conservative leader Tony Abbott, who tore up a deal that would have secured her a two-seat majority. (AP)
