Prime Minister John Howard suffered a historic defeat here in an unprecedented no-confidence vote by Australia's Senate over his handling of the Iraq crisis.

The Labor opposition, left wing Greens, Democrats and Independent senators used their upper house majority Wednesday to pass the motion by 34 votes to 31, following an emotional, 11-hour debate over the looming conflict.

It was the first time in the 102 year history of the Australian parliament that the upper house has censured a serving prime minister with a vote of no confidence.

Howard's conservative Liberal-National government was also censured in the motion, which condemned its decision to deploy troops to the Gulf without reference to parliament and contrary to public opinion.

Australia and Britain have been the only countries to join the United States in deploying troops to the Gulf in preparation for war in Iraq.

Labor Senate leader John Faulkner moved the motion, saying no explanation had been offered to the Australian people for sending defence personnel to the Middle East.

"The prime minister has made a unilateral decision and sent 2,000 of our defence personnel off to a war undeclared in the northern hemisphere without any cogent explanation of his actions," Faulkner said.

The motion expressed the Senate's full support and confidence in Australia's servicemen and women while expressing opposition to the government's decision to forward deploy them.

It declared opposition to a unilateral military attack on Iraq by the United States, insisted the disarmament of Iraq proceed under UN authority and expressed total opposition to any use of nuclear arms.

Greens senator Bob Brown said the censure marked a historic condemnation of the prime minister.

"The prime minister made the decision to deploy 2,000 defence personnel with no reference to the parliament, without the backing of the Australian people, without a request from the United Nations.

"He stands condemned, censured and without the confidence of the house of review, the Senate in Australia," he said.

The debate, in which speakers from both sides vented passionate feelings on the issue preoccupying Australia, continued Wednesday in the House of Represenatives, in which a government majority ensures it stays in office.

A New Zealand diplomat meanwhile rescued the government from embarrassment by backing its denial of a report that it knew for months it would be committing troops to war in Iraq.

The Nine Network claimed a leaked briefing note showed Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had told New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia, Kate Lackey, last October that Australia would not be able to withdraw troops from any conflict in Iraq even if UN approval was not forthcoming.

Opposition Labor leader Simon Crean immediately leapt on the report claiming it as "damning evidence" of government dishonesty over the issue of Australian involvement in a US-led attack on Iraq.

But Lackey supported Downer's insistence that his comments had related only to Australia's contribution to the UN multinational naval interception force in the Gulf for 10 years. "That was very clear to me," Lackey said.

©2003 AFP

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