Question: Does Australia have a two-party system?

Politics of Australia













Australia
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Australia
Constitution
Constitution of Australia
Statute of Westminster Adoption Act
Australia Act

The Crown
Monarch: Elizabeth II
Governor-General: David Hurley
Executive
Prime Minister: Scott Morrison
Deputy Prime Minister: Michael McCormack
Federal Executive Council
Ministry: Morrison II (73rd)
Cabinet
Legislature
Parliament
Senate
President: Scott Ryan
House of Representatives
Speaker: Tony Smith
Opposition
Leader: Anthony Albanese
Shadow Ministry
Judiciary
High Court
Chief Justice: Susan Kiefel
Lower Courts
Law of Australia
Elections
Federal electoral system
Electoral divisions
Political parties
Political funding
Recent elections
20192016201320102007
By-elections
Referendums and plebiscites
States and territories
Governors and Administrators
Premiers and Chief Ministers
Parliaments and Assemblies
State courts
State electoral systems
Local government
NSW
Vic
Qld
WA
SA
Tas
NT

Foreign relations
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Minister: Marise Payne
Diplomatic missions of / in Australia
Nationality law
Passport
Visa requirements
Visa policy
Australia and the United Nations
Ideology
Anarchism
Christian
Conservatism
Far-right
Liberalism
Nationalism
Republicanism
Socialism
vt
The politics of Australia take place within the framework of a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Australians elect parliamentarians to the federal Parliament of Australia, a bicameral body which incorporates elements of the fused executive inherited from the Westminster system, and a strong federalist senate, adopted from the United States Congress. Australia largely operates as a two-party system in which voting is compulsory.[1] The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Australia as a "full democracy" in 2017.[2]
History

Legislative


The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, and has been influenced both by the Westminster system and United States federalism. Under Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia, Parliament consists of three components: the Monarch, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The Australian Parliament is the world's sixth oldest continuous democracy.[3]
The Australian House of Representatives has 150 members, each elected for a flexible term of office not exceeding three years,[4] to represent a single electoral division, commonly referred to as an electorate or seat. Voting within each electorate utilizes the instant-runoff system of preferential voting, which has its origins in Australia. The party or coalition of parties which commands the confidence of a majority of members of the House of Representatives forms government.[5]
The Australian Senate has 76 members. The six states return twelve senators each, and the two mainland territories return two senators each, elected through the single transferable voting system. Senators are elected for flexible terms not exceeding six years, with half of the senators contesting at each federal election. The Senate is afforded substantial powers by the Australian Constitution, significantly greater than those of Westminster upper houses such as those of the United Kingdom and Canada, and has the power to block legislation originating in the House as well as supply or monetary bills. As such, the Senate has the power to bring down the government, as occurred during the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
Because legislation must pass successfully through both houses to become law, it is possible for disagreements between the House of Representatives and the Senate to hold up the progress of government bills indefinitely. Such deadlocks are resolved under section 57 of the Constitution, under a procedure called a double dissolution election. Such elections are rare, not because the conditions for holding them are seldom met, but because they can pose a significant political risk to any government that chooses to call one. Of the six double dissolution elections that have been held since federation, half have resulted in the fall of a government. Only once, in 1974, has the full procedure for resolving a deadlock been followed, with a joint sitting of the two houses being held to deliberate upon the bills that had originally led to the deadlock.
The most recent double dissolution election was on 2 July 2016, which resulted in the government of the day retaining a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. The two pieces of legislation that triggered the election did not figure prominently in the eight-week election campaign.
Executive



The role of head of state in Australia is divided between two people: the Monarch of Australia and the Governor-General of Australia. The functions and roles of the Governor-General include appointing ambassadors, ministers, and judges, giving Royal Assent to legislation (also a role of the monarch), issuing writs for elections and bestowing honours.[6] The Governor-General is the President of the Federal Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force. These posts are held under the authority of the Australian Constitution. In practice, barring exceptional circumstances, the Governor-General exercises these powers only on the advice of the Prime Minister. As such, the role of Governor-General is often described as a largely ceremonial position.[7]
The Prime Minister of Australia is Scott Morrison, leader of the Cabinet and head of government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful political office in Australia. Despite being at the apex of executive government in the country, the office is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia specifically and exists through an unwritten political convention. Barring exceptional circumstances, the prime minister is always the leader of the political party or coalition with majority support in the House of Representatives. The only case where a senator was appointed prime minister was that of John Gorton, who subsequently resigned his Senate position and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives (Senator George Pearce was acting prime minister for seven months in 1916 while Billy Hughes was overseas).[8]
The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers responsible to Parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private Cabinet meetings occur once a week to discuss vital issues and formulate policy. Outside of the cabinet there are a number of junior ministers, responsible for a specific policy area and reporting directly to any senior Cabinet minister. The Constitution of Australia does not recognise the Cabinet as a legal entity, and its decisions have no legal force. All members of the ministry are also members of the Executive Council, a body which is – in theory, though rarely in practice – chaired by the Governor-General, and which meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. For this reason, there is always a member of the ministry holding the title Vice-President of the Executive Council.
Reflecting the influence of the Westminster system, Ministers are selected from elected members of Parliament.[9] All ministers are expected individually to defend collective government decisions. Individual ministers who cannot undertake the public defence of government actions are expected to resign. Such resignations are rare; and the rarity also of public disclosure of splits within cabinet reflects the seriousness with which internal party loyalty is regarded in Australian politics.
Judicial


The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and interprets the Constitution of Australia. The High Court is mandated by section 71 of the Constitution, which vests in it the judicial power of the Commonwealth of Australia. The High Court was constituted by the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth). The High Court is composed of seven Justices: the Chief Justice of Australia, presently The Hon. Susan Kiefel AC, and six other Justices.
The state supreme courts are also considered to be superior courts, those with unlimited jurisdiction to hear disputes and which are the pinnacle of the court hierarchy within their jurisdictions. They were created by means of the constitutions of their respective states or the Self Government Acts for the ACT and the Northern Territory. Appeals may be made from state supreme courts to the High Court of Australia.
Inferior Courts are secondary to Superior Courts. Their existence stems from legislation and they only have the power to decide on matters which Parliament has granted them. Decisions in inferior courts can be appealed to the Superior Court in that area, and then to the High Court of Australia.
Elections


At a national level, elections are held at least once every three years.[4] The Prime Minister can advise the Governor-General to call an election for the House of Representatives at any time, but Senate elections can only be held within certain periods prescribed in the Australian Constitution. The most recent Australian federal election took place on 2 July 2016.
The House of Representatives is elected using the Australian instant-runoff voting system, which results in the preferences which flow from minor party voters to the two major parties being significant in electoral outcomes. The Senate is elected using the single transferable voting system, which has resulted in a greater presence of minor parties in the Senate. For most of the last thirty years a balance of power has existed, whereby neither government nor opposition has had overall control of the Senate. This limitation to its power has required governments to frequently seek the support of minor parties or independent Senators to secure their legislative agenda. The ease with which minor parties can secure representation in the Senate compared to the House of Representatives, a result of proportional representation in the Senate, has meant that these parties have often focused their efforts on securing representation in the upper house. This is true also at state level (only the two territories and Queensland are unicameral). Minor parties have only rarely been able to win seats in the House of Representatives, though five minor party members or independents won seats at the 2016 election.
State and local government


Australia's six states and two territories are structured within a political framework similar to that of the Commonwealth. Each state has its own bicameral Parliament, with the exception of Queensland and the two territories, whose Parliaments are unicameral. Each state has a Governor, who undertakes a role equivalent to that of the Governor-General at the federal level, and a Premier, who is the head of government and is equivalent to the Prime Minister. Each state also has its own supreme court, from which appeals can be made to the High Court of Australia.
Elections in the six Australian states and two territories are held at least once every four years. In New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, election dates are fixed by legislation. However, the other state premiers and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory have the same discretion in calling elections as the Prime Minister at national level.
Local government in Australia is the third (and lowest) tier of government, administered by the states and territories which in turn are beneath the federal tier. Unlike the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, there is only one level of local government in all states, with no distinction such as counties and cities. Today, most local governments have equivalent powers within a state, and styles such as "shire" or "city" refer to the nature of the settlements they are based around.
Ideology in Australian politics


In Australian political culture, the Coalition (Liberal and National parties) is considered centre-right and the Australian Labor Party is considered centre-left. Australian conservatism is largely represented by the Coalition, along with Australian liberalism. The Labor Party categorises itself as social democratic,[10] although it has pursued a liberal economic policy since the prime ministership of Bob Hawke.[11]
Queensland, in particular, along with the Northern Territory and Western Australia are regarded as comparatively conservative.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory are regarded as comparatively left of centre.[18][19][15][20][21] New South Wales, the largest state by population, has often been regarded as a politically moderate bellwether state.[21][18]
Since the 2007 elections, the voting patterns of the Australian electorate have shifted. There is more volatility in the Australian electorate than ever before. More Australian voters are swinging between the two major parties or are voting for third parties, with one in four Australians voting for a minor party.[22]
Political parties

Organised, national political parties have dominated Australia's political landscape since federation. The late 19th century saw the rise of the Australian Labor Party, which represented organised workers. Opposing interests coalesced into two main parties: a centre-right party with a base in business and the middle classes that has been predominantly conservative and moderate, now the Liberal Party of Australia; and a rural or agrarian conservative party, now the National Party of Australia. While there are a small number of other political parties that have achieved parliamentary representation, these main three dominate organised politics everywhere in Australia and only on rare occasions have any other parties or independent members of parliament played any role at all in the formation or maintenance of governments.
Australian politics operates as a two-party system, as a result of the permanent coalition between the Liberal Party and National Party. Internal party discipline has historically been tight, unlike the situation in other countries such as the United States. Australia's political system has not always been a two-party system, but nor has it always been as internally stable as in recent decades.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is a self-described social democratic party, it is a left leaning party with tendency towards social welfare and government assistance programs. It was founded by the Australian labour movement and broadly represents the urban working and middle classes. 
The Liberal Party of Australia is a party of the centre-right which broadly represents businesses, the urban middle classes and many rural people. Its permanent coalition partner at national level is the National Party of Australia, formerly known as the Country Party, a conservative party which represents rural interests. These two parties are collectively known as the Coalition. In Queensland, and more recently in NSW, the two parties have officially merged to form the Liberal National Party, and in the Northern Territory, the National Party is known as the Country Liberal Party.
Minor parties in Australian politics include a green party, the Australian Greens, the largest of the minor parties; a centrist party, Centre Alliance; a nationalist party, Pauline Hanson's One Nation; and an anti-privatisation party, Katter's Australian Party. Other significant parties in recent years have included the Palmer United Party, the socially conservative Family First Party, and the socially liberal Australian Democrats, among others.
Timeline
Since federation, there have been 30 Prime Ministers of Australia. The longest-serving Prime Minister was Sir Robert Menzies of the Liberal Party, who served for 19 years from 1939–41, and again from 1949–66. The only other Prime Minister to serve for longer than a decade was John Howard, also of the Liberal Party, who led for more than 11 years from 1996–2007. The Coalition and its direct predecessors have governed at the federal level for a large majority of Australia's history since federation: 30,548 days as compared to Labor's 12,252 days.
Prime ministers' parties by time in office
Liberal Party of Australia – 17594 days as of 27 November 2019.
Australian Labor Party – 13620 days
Nationalist Party – 5142 days (Party Deregistered)
United Australia Party – 3505 days (Party Deregistered)
Protectionist Party – 2442 days (Party Deregistered)
Commonwealth Liberal Party – 783 days (Party Deregistered)
Free Trade Party – 322 days (Party Deregistered)
Country Party – 84 days (Party Renamed) 

House of Representatives primary, two-party and seat results
A two-party system has existed in the Australian House of Representatives since the two non-Labor parties merged in 1909. The 1910 election was the first to elect a majority government, with the Australian Labor Party concurrently winning the first Senate majority. Prior to 1909 a three-party system existed in the chamber. A two-party-preferred vote (2PP) has been calculated since the 1919 change from first-past-the-post to preferential voting and subsequent introduction of the Coalition. ALP = Australian Labor Party, L+NP = grouping of Liberal/National/LNP/CLP Coalition parties (and predecessors), Oth = other parties and independents.






























































House of Representatives results and pollingElection
YearLabourFree TradeProtectionistIndependentOther
partiesTotal
seats1st1901142831275Election
YearLabourFree TradeProtectionistIndependentOther
partiesTotal
seats2nd19032325261Revenue Tariff75Election
YearLabourAnti-SocialistProtectionistIndependentOther
partiesTotal
seats3rd190626262111Western Australian75







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Primary vote2PP voteSeatsALPL+NPOth.ALPL+NPALPL+NPOth.Total13 April 1910 election50.0%45.1%4.9%––423127531 May 1913 election48.5%48.9%2.6%––37380755 September 1914 election50.9%47.2%1.9%––42321755 May 1917 election43.9%54.2%1.9%––225307513 December 1919 election42.5%54.3%3.2%45.9%54.1%253827516 December 1922 election42.3%47.8%9.9%48.8%51.2%294067514 November 1925 election45.0%53.2%1.8%46.2%53.8%235027517 November 1928 election44.6%49.6%5.8%48.4%51.6%314227512 October 1929 election48.8%44.2%7.0%56.7%43.3%462457519 December 1931 election27.1%48.4%24.5%41.5%58.5%1450117515 September 1934 election26.8%45.6%27.6%46.5%53.5%1842147423 October 1937 election43.2%49.3%7.5%49.4%50.6%294327421 September 1940 election40.2%43.9%15.9%50.3%49.7%323667421 August 1943 election49.9%23.0%27.1%58.2%41.8%491967428 September 1946 election49.7%39.3%11.0%54.1%45.9%432657410 December 1949 election46.0%50.3%3.7%49.0%51.0%4774012128 April 1951 election47.6%50.3%2.1%49.3%50.7%5269012129 May 1954 election50.0%46.8%3.2%50.7%49.3%5764012110 December 1955 election44.6%47.6%7.8%45.8%54.2%4775012222 November 1958 election42.8%46.6%10.6%45.9%54.1%457701229 December 1961 election47.9%42.1%10.0%50.5%49.5%6062012230 November 1963 election45.5%46.0%8.5%47.4%52.6%5072012226 November 1966 election40.0%50.0%10.0%43.1%56.9%4182112425 October 1969 election47.0%43.3%9.7%50.2%49.8%596601252 December 1972 election49.6%41.5%8.9%52.7%47.3%6758012518 May 1974 election49.3%44.9%5.8%51.7%48.3%6661012713 December 1975 election42.8%53.1%4.1%44.3%55.7%3691012710 December 1977 election39.7%48.1%12.2%45.4%54.6%3886012418 October 1980 election45.2%46.3%8.5%49.6%50.4%517401255 March 1983 election49.5%43.6%6.9%53.2%46.8%755001251 December 1984 election47.6%45.0%7.4%51.8%48.2%8266014811 July 1987 election45.8%46.1%8.1%50.8%49.2%8662014824 March 1990 election39.4%43.5%17.1%49.9%50.1%7869114811 Mar 1993 Newspoll44%45%11%49.5%50.5%13 March 1993 election44.9%44.3%10.7%51.4%48.6%8065214728–29 Feb 1996 Newspoll40.5%48%11.5%46.5%53.5%2 March 1996 election38.7%47.3%14.0%46.4%53.6%4994514830 Sep – 1 Oct 1998 Newspoll44%40%16%53%47%3 October 1998 election40.1%39.5%20.4%51.0%49.0%678011487–8 Nov 2001 Newspoll38.5%46%15.5%47%53%10 November 2001 election37.8%43.0%19.2%49.0%51.0%658231506–7 Oct 2004 Newspoll39%45%16%50%50%9 October 2004 election37.6%46.7%15.7%47.3%52.7%6087315020–22 Nov 2007 Newspoll44%43%13%52%48%24 November 2007 election43.4%42.1%14.5%52.7%47.3%8365215017–19 Aug 2010 Newspoll36.2%43.4%20.4%50.2%49.8%21 August 2010 election38.0%43.3%18.7%50.1%49.9%727261503–5 Sep 2013 Newspoll33%46%21%46%54%7 September 2013 election33.4%45.6%21.0%46.5%53.5%5590515028 Jun – 1 Jul 2016 Newspoll35%42%23%49.5%50.5%2 July 2016 election34.7%42.0%23.3%49.6%50.4%69765150Polling conducted by Newspoll and published in The Australian. Three percent margin of error.


Historical party composition of the Senate
The Senate has included representatives from a range of political parties, including several parties that have seldom or never had representation in the House of Representatives, but which have consistently secured a small but significant level of electoral support, as the table shows.
Results represent the composition of the Senate after the elections. The full Senate has been contested on eight occasions; the inaugural election and seven double dissolutions.  These are underlined and highlighted in puce.[23]



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Election
YearLaborLiberal[lower-alpha 1]National[lower-alpha 2]Democratic
LaborDemocratsGreensCLPIndependentOther
partiesTotal
seatsElectoral
system1st1901811[lower-alpha 3]1736Plurality-at-large voting2nd1903812[lower-alpha 3]1411Revenue Tariff36Plurality-at-large voting3rd1906156[lower-alpha 3]13236Plurality-at-large voting4th1910221436Plurality-at-large voting5th191329736Plurality-at-large voting6th191431536Plurality-at-large voting7th1917122436Plurality-at-large voting8th191913536Preferential block voting9th1922122436Preferential block voting10th1925825336Preferential block voting11th1928724536Preferential block voting12th19311021536Preferential block voting13th1934326736Preferential block voting14th19371616436Preferential block voting15th19401715436Preferential block voting16th19432212236Preferential block voting17th1946332136Preferential block voting18th19493421560Single transferable vote19th19512826660Single transferable vote20th19532926560Single transferable vote21st195528246260Single transferable vote22nd195826257260Single transferable vote23rd1961282461160Single transferable vote24th1964272372160Single transferable vote25th1967272174160Single transferable vote26th1970262155360Single transferable vote27th19742923611Liberal Movement60Single transferable vote28th197527266111Liberal Movement64Single transferable vote29th19772727621164Single transferable vote30th19802728351164Single transferable vote31st19833023451164Single transferable vote32nd1984342757111Nuclear Disarmament76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)33rd1987322677121Nuclear Disarmament76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)34th1990322858111Greens (WA)76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)35th1993302967112Greens (WA) (2)76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)36th1996293157112Greens (WA), Greens (Tas)76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)37th19982931391111One Nation76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)38th20012831382121One Nation76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)39th2004283354411Family First76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)40th2007323245111Family First76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)41st20103128 + (3 LNP)2191176Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)42nd20132523 + (5 LNP)3 + (1 LNP)110116Family First,
Liberal Democrats, 
Motoring Enthusiast, 
Palmer United (3)76Single transferable vote (Group voting ticket)43rd20162621 + (3 LNP)3 + (2 LNP)9111Family First,
Liberal Democrats, 
Jacqui Lambie,
Justice Party, 
Centre Alliance (3), 
One Nation (4)76Single transferable vote (Optional preferential voting)

See also

Monarchy of Australia
Governor-General of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
Cabinet of Australia
Federal Executive Council (Australia)
Parliament of Australia
Australian Senate
Australian House of Representatives
High Court of Australia
Australian court hierarchy
Political donations in Australia
Political families of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
Australian Labor Party
Notes



Further reading