Coalition (Australia) Totally Explained

Everything about Coalition Australia totally explained

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a grouping of the two major centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922 (three since 1975), with only brief breaks (for example 1987):

The Coalition between these parties exist at the federal level (three party), as well as in the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland (two party). There is no coalition between the Liberal and National parties in the states of Western Australia or South Australia, although historically coalitions between the two have existed in these states.
At the federal level, the Coalition agreement was broken in April 1987, while the parties were in opposition. During the subsequent 1987 federal election campaign, the Labor government drew attention to the disunity of the Coalition parties and was returned to office. The Coalition agreement was renewed on 6 August 1987. Although a coalition, from time to time there have been dissenting MPs who have threatened to, or voted against the party line, for example Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce.

Overview

It is said that the Coalition couldn't have worked were it not for Australia's unique preferential voting systems, as the system allows the Liberals and Nationals to compete locally, but direct preferences to each other in elections, thereby avoiding "three-cornered-contests", usually with the Australian Labor Party (ALP) that may occur under first past the post voting. From time to time friction is caused by the fact that the Liberal and National candidates are campaigning against each other, but is doesn't usually cause any long term damage to the relationship.
   Indeed the whole point of introducing preferential voting was to allow safe spoiler-free three-cornered contests. It was a government of the forerunner to the modern Liberal party that introduced the necessary legislation.
   For example, this preferential voting system was implemented in October 1918, after a by-election for a federal seat in Western Australia caused an ALP candidate to win after the conservative vote was split in two. Two months later, a by-election held under preferential voting caused the initially-leading ALP candidate to lose after some lower-placed candidates' preferences had been distributed.
   As a result of variations on the preferential voting system used in every state and territory, the Coalition has been able to thrive, wherever both its member parties have both been active. The National Party isn't organised in Tasmania and in recent years has attracted little support in South Australia and Western Australia, but has long been a major player in rural areas of Queensland, New South Wales, and to a lesser extent in Victoria. The preferential voting system has allowed the Liberal and National parties to compete and cooperate at the same time. By contrast, a variation of the preferential system known as Optional Preferential Voting has proven a significant handicap to coalition co-operation in Queensland and New South Wales, because significant numbers of voters don't bother to express all useful preferences.
   In South Australia, the only National Party member of State Parliament, Karlene Maywald, has since 2004 been a Minister in the Rann Labor government, informally creating a coalition between the ALP and the National Party at South Australia's state level of government. The National Party, however, rejects the notion that it's in a coalition with Labor at the state level. State National Party President John Venus told journalists that: "We (The Nationals) are not in coalition with the Labor Party, we aren't in coalition with the Liberals, we're definitely not in coalition with anyone. We stand alone in South Australia as an independent party." Flinders University political scientist Haydon Manning disagrees, saying that it's "churlish to describe the government as anything but a coalition".

Liberal/National Merger

Merger plans came to a head in May 2008, when the Queensland state Liberal Party gave an announcement not to wait for a federal blueprint but instead to merge now. The new party, the "Liberal-National Party", has a self-imposed deadline of late July for party registration.

Terminology

For the sake of convenience, most commentators and the general public use the term "two party" given the traditional arrangement. Surveys conducted on a two-party preferred vote basis refer to a comparison of Labor and the Coalition.

Further Information

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