Although the Australian elections were held yesterday, there is no still no decision about which party won. Labor won about 72 seats and the Liberals won about 73. Some seats are still too close to know who won. There are 150 seats in the Federal parliament so the winning party needs to win 76. Four Independents and one Green party member won seats.
Both the Labor leader, Julia Gillard, and the Liberal leader, Tony Abbott are talking to the Independents, hoping to form a coalition – two or more parties working together. The Independent MPs are in a good position to demand a reward, like becoming a Cabinet Minister.
It will be another two weeks before 2 million postal votes arrive. Australians, who are away from home, can vote by post before the elections.
There will also be some re-counting of votes, especially if an MP has lost by just a few votes. That takes time, so it will probably be another two weeks before we know whether Australia will have a Labor coalition government or a Liberal coalition government. In the meantime, it is called a ‘hung parliament”.
New Zealand is used to coalition governments now. We have a National government in coalition with ACT and the Maori party. In 1996, Winston Peters of the New Zealand First party took six weeks to decide which party he would support. He finally chose the National party. His reward was the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
The Australian election results will probably not affect New Zealand very much. Our governments have always managed to have a good relationship with Australian governments.
Listen to June 26th 2010 for more about Julia Gillard becoming Prime Minister just two months ago.
Questions
1. In Australia it is compulsory for everyone over the age of 18 to vote. Do you think voting should be compulsory?
2. NZ now has an MMP voting system. Listen to Sept 8th 2009 for more about MMP. This gives small parties a chance to win seats in Parliament. Is this a good system?
3. Australia has an upper house and a lower house. New Zealand used to have an upper house but it was abolished in 1950. What advantages does an upper house have?
4. Like New Zealand, Australia has elections every three years. Do you think four or five years is a better gap between elections?