It was a historic day in the House of Representatives - when for the first time, a woman leader of the opposition Tracy Panton rose to respond to the budget presentation. She spoke for one and a half hours, and then called for some water - she said she felt like fainting. Her colleagues and others rushed to fan, hydrate and medicate her - and the house was forced to take a 45 minute recess - while an ambulance was outside and paramedics went inside.
But, after a 45 minutes house recess she did resume and finish her speech. Here's what she told us about it:
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
"Can I take a quick break? Can I take a quick break, Madam Speaker?"
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
"I had surgery recently on my right leg, and I haven't tested it in terms of standing for that length of time. I'm healing, of course, I'm in therapy, but the pain had become so excruciating that I needed to take a break."
"I had to sit for a moment, and so that's why we had the interruption."
Again, Panton did return to finish her speech after a 45 minutes break.
We will have the full story of her budget response and more on the reason she had to take that break later on in the news.
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