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List of political parties in Australia - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Administrative, Aristocratic, Authoritarian, Autocratic, Autonomous, Bureaucratic, Civic, Civil, Constitutional, Democratic, Despotic, Dictatorial, Diplomatic, Fascist, Federal, Federalist, Geopolitical, Governmental, Gubernatorial, Matriarchal |
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Political parties in Australia lists political parties in Australia.
A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues with the aim to participate in power, usually by participating in elections.
- See political party for a more comprehensive discussion.
Australia has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties or coalitions, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party.
Significant political parties (and their federal leaders)
Three political parties dominate the Australian political spectrum: the Liberal Party, a party of the centre-right which broadly represents business, the suburban middle classes and many country people; the National Party of Australia (now known for electoral purposes as "The Nationals"), a conservative party which was set up (as the Country Party) to represent rural interests; and the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a centre-left party founded by the trade unions and broadly representing the urban working class, although it has a base of middle class support as well.
Minor parties include the Australian Democrats, a party of middle-class centrists; the Australian Greens, a radical left wing and environmentalist party; One Nation, a populist anti-immigration party; and the Family First Party, a party appealing to conservative Christians. The proportional representation system allows these parties to win seats in the Senate, but they have usually been unable to win seats in the House of Representatives (the Greens won a House seat at a 2002 by-election, but lost it in 2004).
The Labor Party operates nationwide, while the Liberal and National parties operate in all states and territories except the Northern Territory, where they are represented by the Country Liberal Party.
Minor parties
Ever hopeful of winning seats
Defunct parties
Notes
- The Australian Greens do not formally have a leader. Brown is the party's senior elected official and is treated by the media and public as its leader.
- One Nation has largely disintegrated. Senator Len Harris is its only federal parliamentary reprentative, but does not appear to be formally its leader. Founder, Pauline Hanson, herself ran for the federal Senate as an independent candidate in the 2004 election.
See also
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Example Usage of political |
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