Minority Government in Australia

Abstract

Abstract In Australia’s two-party dominant Westminster system, federal minority government is rare, however this chapter argues that, as the two-party vote declines, there will be more frequent incidences. It explains minority government in the Australian political context, where single-party federal majority government has been the norm. Crucially, the major parties expect to win elections and govern alone, and, at the federal level, have offered only policy tradeoffs rather than cabinet posts to their supporters. In Australia, the formation of a minority government is affirmed by testing the will of the house with a parliamentary vote, and by the endorsement of the Crown, represented by the Governor General. The minority government is sustained by independents, and at times by minor parties, backing all budget (supply) bills, and by not partaking in votes of no confidence sufficient to bring it down. This chapter reviews the experience of the 2010–13 Labor minority government, the most substantive federal minority government to date. It never lost a vote, ran full term, and was a reformist government, and Australia’s most legislatively successful federal government; but it failed to be re-elected and its supporters largely suffered in its aftermath. Nevertheless, the lessons offered in this chapter are that, while Australian federal minority government is rare, it can form, govern, and deliver, and may in future include power sharing despite its Westminster context.