Shoeless, shirtless, breathless, Aussie lawmakers still vote

BRISBANE, Australia — Half-dressed, panting and disheveled, the lawmakers jolted awake by a middle-of-the-night vote were applauded by colleagues as they raced into an Australian state Parliament.

The Queensland lawmakers were quite the sight as they ran onto the floor of Parliament in Brisbane in bare feet, shorts and T-shirts on Thursday. One lawmaker managed to throw on a jacket but lacked a shirt.

The vote was called suddenly about 2:30 a.m. because opposition lawmaker Jeff Seeney was refused permission to give an unscheduled speech.

Several lawmakers caught unaware rushed back to the chamber from a nearby accommodation block in various stages of undress.