Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he will ask for a double dissolution election for 2 July.
Speaking to journalists in Canberra on Tuesday, following Monday’s Senate vote to reject the government’s proposed Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) reforms, a vote for which Parliament had been specially recalled, the prime minister said he will call on the governor general to send Australia to the polls over the issue.
Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm says he ‘expects’ a July 2 election #auspol https://t.co/kekxFMlJzx https://t.co/xmkODv2zyf
— ABC News (@abcnews) April 19, 2016
“My intention is after the budget, an appropriate time after the budget has been delivered, I will be asking the governor-general to dissolve both houses of the parliament for an election which I expect to be held on July 2,” Mr Turnbull said.
“When we go to election, the Australian people will decide whether there should be an Australian Building and Construction Commission,” he said.
“You see, a double dissolution election is about giving the people their say.”