Protestors fury outside Greek Parliament

In Athens, police and protesters have clashed outside the Greek Parliament ahead of a final vote on so-called severity measures.

The bill will inflict big spending cuts, raise taxes, cut public sector wages and privatize public assets.

The European Union and the IMF are demanding these measures in return for a further massive bailout for the indebted country.

The Greek Parliament's expected to pass the bill tonight, despite widespread public anger.

Our correspondent, Mari bet is in Athens and she joins me now.

Mari can you tell me - we've seen horrific scenes on the television here from the streets of Athens - what is it looking like in the vicinity of the Parliament and the city area now?

MARI BET: Well Stephen I'm actually currently in the Parliament building waiting for the ministers as they arrive, in fact we've been speaking to ministers as they arrive for today's final vote on the specifics of the spending cuts and the tax hikes that will be introduced later this year.

Now it's extraordinary to us, having been here the last few days and seen first hand the widespread violence on the streets to wake up this morning and find a perfectly operating developed city, as if nothing had happened at all.

There's been massive clean-ups overnight. We woke to find that all the hotel staff around Syntagma Square are busily washing down their awnings because they were so heavily graffitied. It's really quite stark how quickly they've been able to bring order back to this city.

HENRY: I guess the very fact that you could actually get into the Parliament is testament to the fact that it's been cleared, the streets?

MARI BET : Yes, I mean there is still very high tensions around and the police presence is still very heavy. It took us a lot to get through the cordons to come into the Parliament, in fact it took us about an hour and a half to actually convince all the various levels of authority along the route that we were who we said we were and yeah there is still a lot of nervousness around here.

And you know, there's a lot of sympathy in fact from the ministers we're speaking to. One of them, who happened to be the deputy finance minister, Pandillas Economou said to us that if he wasn't inside the building he'd be out there protesting with everyone else, which I thought was fairly odd considering he's the man imposing these austerity measures on the nation.

HENRY: Well that is very interesting; we saw a preliminary vote past and is it then certain that the final vote on these austerity measures will pass, given those clear mixed feelings from Greek parliamentarians?

MARI BET : Well this is more incremental today. Yesterday was the big vote to actually pass the laws in principle.

Now what they're doing, while it is of course incremental it's also quite critical because it's the specifics, it's how do we raise taxes? How do we cut jobs in the public sector? It's nutting down to the basics of how they actually implement these measures to save $AU 40 billion worth, which is the end game over five years.

HENRY: The devil in the detail so to speak.

MARI BET : Yes, yes well it's a lot of money for a country this small.

HENRY: Indeed. Mari betin Athens, thank you very much.

Greek parliament approves severity bill

The Greek parliament has approved an severity package by a slim majority to slash $40bn off the national debt.

Wednesday's poll saw 155 members of parliament vote in favors, 138 against and 5 abstentions.

The package of taxes, spending cuts and privatizations has angered many Greeks, with thousands taking to the streets as part of a 48-hour national strike protesting against the bill.

Parliament will grip a second vote on Thursday expected at changing a law allowing the measures to be implemented.

George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, has said the second bailout will be roughly equal a previous package last year.

Papandreou expelled a Greek ruling party deputy who voted against the austerity package.

The five-year severity package will allow Greece to secure a second bailout of $17bn of emergency loan funds on top of last year's $157bn bailout.

 

The poll took place as clashes between police and protesters broke out outside parliament, with the booms of stun grenades and tear gas resonating across the square outside the building.

Riot police fired up volleys of tear gas at swarms of young men who were hurling rocks and other debris as well as setting fire to rubbish containers.

Police with truncheons rarely charged the demonstrators, but pulled back just as swiftly. As stun grenades boomed and flashed, many members of the crowds jeered and booed.

The majority of the anti-government protesters who marched to the square stayed clear of the fighting, but they vented their anger at the political establishment with chants and insults.

EU officials have called on Papanderou to draw the widest possible support. Christine Lagarde, named as the next head of the International Monetary Fund, called on Greece's opposition parties to offer support. The IMF provides about 30 percent of Greece's bailout fund.

European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President, Herman Van Rompoy said in a statement that the Greek parliament's approval of the bill is a "vital step back" from a debt default.

The euro rose against the dollar after the parliament accepted the severity measures needed to avoid a default, though concern over whether the government can implement them could limit gains.