Posted
| UpdatedAs each day passes the prospect of another hung parliament and recalcitrant Senate appears more likely. It could plunge the country back into another period of uncertainty, if not chaos.
Topics: federal-elections, federal-parliament, minor-parties, liberals, alp, gillard-julia, bill-shorten, turnbull-malcolm
Posted
| UpdatedIn a move which would have given Labor an extra eight seats and a majority government in last year's election, it will now be compulsory to number every square on the ballot box.
Topics: state-parliament, laws, alp, liberal-national-party-queensland, minor-parties, public-sector, brisbane-4000, qld
Posted
| UpdatedThe Palaszczuk Government turns the tables on the Opposition by moving to return compulsory preferential voting during a debate on expanding Queensland Parliament.
Topics: state-parliament, alp, liberal-national-party-queensland, minor-parties, brisbane-4000, qld
Posted
| UpdatedDrivers for ridesharing services such as Uber face significantly higher penalties under a law just passed in Queensland Parliament.
Topics: state-parliament, road-transport, minor-parties, brisbane-4000
Posted
Independent Cairns MP Rob Pyne apologises to Queensland Parliament for wrongly tabling documents that contained material about Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.
Topics: state-parliament, alp, minor-parties, qld, brisbane-4000, cairns-4870
Posted
| UpdatedThe Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, Peter Wellington, accuses the Opposition of trying to intimidate him into not voting in a future debate on anti-bikie laws.
Topics: state-parliament, crime, crime-prevention, liberal-national-party-queensland, minor-parties, qld
Posted
| UpdatedThe minority Palaszczuk Government's numbers in Queensland Parliament could be tested by several contentious pieces of legislation this week, including a bill to ensure taxpayers do not pay to clean up Clive Palmer's nickel refinery in Townsville.
Topics: state-parliament, public-sector, laws, minor-parties, alp, liberal-national-party-queensland, brisbane-4000, qld
Posted
| UpdatedPalmer created his own party and entered the Federal political arena. Peter Beattie says he openly proclaimed his ambition to become Prime Minister.
Topics: political-parties, government-and-politics, political-parties, minor-parties, people, qld
Posted
| UpdatedAn overhaul of Queensland's anti-gang laws gains cautious early support from crossbench MPs whose vote will decide the outcome.
Topics: state-parliament, laws, crime-prevention, minor-parties, liberal-national-party-queensland, alp, brisbane-4000
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| UpdatedFederal MP for the Queensland seat of Fairfax, Clive Palmer, has used Question Time to push the Government to allow people to access part of their super early, to "buy a home or support their family in difficult times."
Mr Palmer claimed that "A large percentage of Australians will be dead before they are eligible [to use their super]."
Mr Palmer made a similar claim in 2014, which Fact Check found to be wrong.
Topics: superannuation, tax, clive-palmer, minor-parties, australia
Posted
The West Australian branch of the Shooters and Fishers Party has fallen into line with a national name change proposal to try and win the farmer vote.
Topics: political-parties, minor-parties, rural, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedQueensland's referendum on fixed, four-year terms seems certain to pass, but it has thrown up some interesting variations across the state.
Topics: referendums, liberal-national-party-queensland, alp, minor-parties, state-parliament, brisbane-4000, qld
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| UpdatedThe prospect of an early Queensland election is put to one side after a potentially awkward meeting between the Premier and crossbench MP Robbie Katter ended on a cordial note.
Topics: government-and-politics, state-parliament, activism-and-lobbying, liberal-national-party-queensland, regional, alp, minor-parties, community-development, cairns-4870, mount-isa-4825
Posted
Federal MPs weigh up the impact of the new Senate voting laws after the Government's voting reform bill finally passed on Friday following a debate lasting more than 28 hours.
Topics: federal-government, minor-parties, political-parties, australia
Posted
As the debate over proposed Senate voting reforms rages in Parliament, crossbench Senators have been keen to highlight below the line votes, citing them as evidence of personal support.
"Nearly 7,000 Qlders voted for me personally. Matt Canavan (NAT), now a minister ONLY got 325 votes. Most crossbenchers received more votes!" Senator Glenn Lazarus tweeted on February 26, 2016.
"Muir 'got more votes than minister Cash'," Senator John Madigan tweeted several days later on March 1.
But can below the line votes be used as a measure of 'personal' support? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: federal-elections, minor-parties, australia
Posted
Queensland's Deputy Premier Jackie Trad pre-emptively requests a referral to Parliament's Ethics Committee over allegations she bullied former Labor MP Rob Pyne.
Topics: state-parliament, alp, minor-parties, brisbane-4000, qld, cairns-4870
Posted
| UpdatedNewly independent MP Rob Pyne delivers a scathing assessment of some of his former Labor colleagues in his first speech as a crossbencher.
Topics: state-parliament, parliament, liberal-national-party-queensland, alp, minor-parties, government-and-politics, brisbane-4000, cairns-4870, qld
Posted
| UpdatedSenate voting reforms being debated this week could see a wipe out of micro parties in Australia and kill off a trend three decades in the making.
Topics: federal-government, federal-elections, political-parties, minor-parties, turnbull-malcolm, clive-palmer, liberals, australia
Posted
| UpdatedExhausted votes could become the "new great controversy" in the way senators are elected under proposed changes, while the Coalition may lose out on preference flows from the "Caulfield Cup field" of right-wing candidates, political academics say.
Topics: federal-elections, government-and-politics, political-parties, minor-parties, australia
Posted
| UpdatedQueensland's crossbench MPs will vote to effectively make Lawrence Springborg premier if Annastacia Palaszczuk calls an early election.
Topics: government-and-politics, state-parliament, alp, liberal-national-party-queensland, minor-parties, brisbane-4000, cairns-4870
Posted
Does the NSW experience show that most people chose to vote for only one party when voting reforms were introduced and is that experience relevant to the Senate reforms? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: elections, federal-elections, minor-parties, australia
Posted
| UpdatedLiberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelm says that the Government's proposed changes to Senate voting will make it almost impossible for small parties to win a seat, based on similar reforms made to NSW upper house elections.
"I also know from the experience with the NSW upper house elections that it will default to a 'one above the line' choice for vast numbers of people, which will mean anyone who votes for anyone other than a major party, their vote is likely to be exhausted," he told The Conversation on February 24.
Does the NSW experience show that most people chose to vote for only one party when voting reforms were introduced and is that experience relevant to the Senate reforms? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: minor-parties, federal-elections, australia
Posted
Topics: federal-government, federal-parliament, social-policy, minor-parties, sydney-2000
Posted
Topics: federal-elections, federal-parliament, greens, liberals, minor-parties, electoral-system, australia
Posted
Topics: federal-elections, electoral-system, federal-parliament, greens, liberals, minor-parties, australia