All the Liberals will be wishing for Christmas this year is peace.
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Thursday marked the final sitting day for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
But, in true 2018-style, the day was a complete disaster.
The Liberals were set for a historic defeat in the lower house due to the medical evacuation bill for asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island.
They knew defeat was coming. It would be the first time in 90 years for this to happen in Australian politics.
This bill was to be debated before Scott Morrison’s encryption law bill.
Both the asylum seeker and encryption bill had to pass the Senate with amendments before heading back to the lower house for the tick of approval.
This didn’t happen.
Instead, the Senate retreated into more than two hours of filibustering tactics. This meant amendments to the asylum seeker bill didn’t go through in time to be returned to the lower house.
The delays also meant the encryption bill, which was being touted by the Prime Minister as necessary before Christmas for the safety of Australians, was delayed.
The House of Representatives went home on time.
What followed was plenty of finger pointing.
Liberals said Labor was to blame for risking the lives of Australians both by weakening the borders and delaying the encryption bill.
Bill Shorten wouldn’t stand for it.
“But apparently, this Christmas, when it was so vital to have national security laws, the government now say: ‘Five o’clock, time to go home. We will worry about national security next year’,” Shorten said.
The Liberals were never going to have a good day. They would either suffer a humiliating defeat or deal with the repercussions they are currently facing.
What we do know is that parliament will return. The Liberals have until February 12 to reset and get themselves ready for what will potentially be an even bigger year in politics in 2019.