Senate votes down ABCC bill, providing the trigger for a July 2 double dissolution election

The Senate has voted down a Government bill to restore a construction industry watchdog, providing the trigger for a July 2 double dissolution election.

The bill to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission was tonight voted down 34 votes to 36.

The Government needed the support of five of eight crossbench Senators to pass the bill, but Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus, Ricky Muir and John Madigan sided with Labor and the Greens.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had vowed to use a second rejection of the bills as a trigger for an early election.

A July 2 election will likely not be called until after the federal budget on May 3, but tonight’s result effectively delivers a 75-day election cycle.

The government had enforced a rarely used constitutional power to recall parliament, effectively creating a new session of parliament without dissolving it..

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