Australian Lower House passes gov't stimulus plan for economy

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

CANBERRA, Feb. 5 (Chinese media) -- The Australian government's 42 billion dollars (26 billion U.S. dollars) economic stimulus package passed by the Lower House of parliament Thursday after a 15-hour debate.

The MPs entered the chamber at 04:55 a.m. local time Thursday to start voting on six bills implementing the package which aims to head off a looming recession.

But there's little chance the government will be able to meet its deadline of Thursday for both houses of parliament to pass its legislation.

Opposition and crossbench senators have brokered a deal to force an upper house inquiry of measures contained in the package, including cash handouts to nearly nine million Australians, delaying parliamentary approval until next week.

The government wanted the bills rushed through parliament to meet a March deadline for making bonus payments to families with school-age children, and drought-stricken farmers.

The legislation includes a bill allowing the government to increase the limit it can borrow to service debt.

The coalition voted against the package after Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said someone had to stand up for fiscal discipline.

The government cut short debate on six bills in the House of Representatives, after allowing nearly 30 coalition MPs to speak against the package.

After passing by the Lower House, the bills now go to the Senate for consideration.