On 3 May, Australians will head to the polls to elect the next government.
In the lead-up, The Daily Aus is breaking down the terms you’ll be hearing during the campaign trails.
In this piece, we’re explaining a hung parliament.
House of Reps
Australia’s Parliament has two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The House of Reps is the one that determines which party will be in government (and who will be Prime Minister).
To form government, a party needs to reach 76 seats of the 150 seats up for grabs in the House of Reps.
But what if no party gets there? Then it’s a hung parliament!
Hung parliament
If no party wins a majority, then they need to negotiate with minor parties or independents.
This does not mean they formally join forces, or that the minor parties or independents become part of the government.
Rather, it means the minor parties or independents agree to keep the government in power, and to vote to pass the budget so that money can be allocated to keep the country running.
This is called a ‘minority government’.
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In exchange for this support, minor parties and independents may impose some conditions, such as support for particular policies that are important to them.
Confused? The long story short is this: When it comes to the House of Representatives, minor parties and independents are most important when there is a minority government.
But if you want more of the long story...
Here’s an example:
Let’s say the Orange Party is a major party, but it only has 74 seats. It needs two more seats to form government.
Then we have the Pink Party, which is a minority party, and they have won two seats.
If the Orange Party and the Pink Party came together, that would mean they have 76 seats, and that’s enough to form a minority government.
But in exchange for its support, the Pink Party might say: ‘I’ll only support you if you legislate free coffee for everyone.’
It’s then up to the Orange Party to decide whether or not they’re willing to make that compromise, since giving everyone free coffee wasn’t part of what they wanted to do.
Possibility
A lot of the early polling suggested that neither party would be able to form a majority government, and so would need the help of minor parties and independents.
However, more recent polling suggests Labor could have enough support to win a majority government.
Either way, all the polling indicates it will be a very tight race.
