Australia’s government avoided losing its slim majority in parliament on Saturday, voting showed, as it claimed victory in a bitterly fought by-election that had threatened its hold on power.
The poll in the suburban Sydney seat of Bennelong was triggered by a constitutional crisis that has seen a host of parliamentarians resign over an obscure rule barring dual citizens from federal office.
They included Bennelong MP and former tennis star John Alexander, from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal-National coalition, who stepped down after saying he was might have British citizenship.
It was revealed later that he may not even be entitled to UK nationality. He was recontesting the seat against Labor’s former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally, a popular television news personality.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s election guru Anthony Green said Alexander, who was once the world’s number-eight ranked tennis player, had won.
