Australian Election - 2010 - The Result
17 days after Australian's went to the polling booths, the outcome of the general election in now finally known. This afternoon, the three key independent members of parliament (Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter) announced their decision. First up was MP Bob Katter who announced he would back the Coalition in a minority government. That announcement was followed by Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor who an hour later, at a joint press conference, announced that they were throwing their support behind the Labor Party, thus presenting Julia Gillard with the 76 votes required to form Government.
When the General Election was announced in mid July, the Government went into 'caretaker mode'. As a result on this, the development of 'State Migration Plans', which had been announced by Senator Chris Evans, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, back in February, were delayed. With the General Election now finally decided and the result being a continuation of the incumbent Labor Government, hopefully each state can now finalize negotiations and reach agreement with DIAC on their State Migration Plans, as the SMP's are destined to be a key part of the General Skilled Migration program.
