Migration Amendment Bill Scrapped

I don't want to risk turning this blog into a running commentary on migration issues, but a rather dispirited John Howard has just held a snap news conference to make the extraordinary announcement that the Migration Amendment Bill has been entirely withdrawn, following the decision of a Liberal senator (clearly Judith Troeth) to cross the floor, while another Coalition senator is threatening to abstain should an `unworkable and unacceptable amendment' not be passed. In this, Howard is referring to Barnaby Joyce, and I have to concede that Howard's description of his amendment as unworkable is accurate, containing such clauses as giving the Senate oversight on every asylum seeker's case.

Thus, Howard's control over the Senate is proven not as unimpeachable as many had imagined. If only MPs had demonstrated more chutzpah late last year, when so many other pieces of equally deleterious legislation was passed.