Hung parliaments and minority government

Australian Election 2010:
Websites for the Classroom and Research

Hung parliaments
and minority government

Links to websites on the issue of forming a workable parliament following an election in which no single party or coalition of parties has achieved more than half of the seats in the lower house - with special reference to Australia's federal election of August 2010

1. News (Australia's August 2010 hung parliament, decisons by independents)	Angry PM Julia Gillard to govern by one vote The Australian, 24 September 2010. Oakeshott has skills to be speaker, says Gillard SMH, 16 September 2010. Speaker negotiations weeks away SMH, 8 September 2010 Now for the Gillard tightrope walk The Australian, 8 September 2010 Wilkie warns ALP on legislation scrutiny The Australian, 8 September 2010 Gillard all smiles but it could end in tears SMH, 8 October 2010 Rob Oakeshott's 17 minute speech that changed Australia HeraldSun, 8 September 2010 Windsor still has to convince his constituents ABC AM, 8 September 2010 Katter could yet switch his vote SMH, 8 September 2010 Wild Kat strikes, but keeps cards close SMH, 7 September 2010 Andrew Wilkie wins concessions on poker machines, health, in return for backing Labor The Australian, 2 September 2010 Independents keep suitors waiting ABC Online, 24 Aug 2010 Hung parliament 'bad for business' The Australian, 23 Aug 2010 Nation wakes to the prospect of a hung parliament after deadheat election The Australian, 22 Aug 2010 Australia in political limbo Radio Australia News, 22 Aug 2010 ELECTION 2010: Hung parliament likely after swing to Coalition and Greens Smart Company, 21 Aug 2010
2. Definitions and explanations	Hung parliament (Wikipedia) Minority government (Wikipedia) Minority government (Citizendium) Minority government: how it works (news.com.au) Current Australian perspective. Election 2010 hung parliament - FAQ (news.com.au) 23 Aug 2010. Australia's hung parliament explained (ABC) 23 Aug 2010. What does ‘hung parliament’ mean? (Oxford University Press blog) UK perspective.
3. Comments	Hung parliament scenarios (The Tally Room) Ben Raue, 23 Aug 2010. History shows a hung parliament can be good (The Australian) Mike Steketee, 23 Aug 2010. OzPolitic Forum
4. Audio and video	Hung parliament: So what happens next? (SMH) - Audio Professor George Williams, University of NSW. Behind the News: Hung Parliament (ABC) - Video (See also election videos.)
5. Australian experience generally	Minority Governments in Australia 1989-2009: Accords, Charters and Agreements (Parliament of NSW) Background Paper 1/2010 by G. Griffith. The full document can be downloaded [pdf file].
6. NSW experience	Minority Governments / Hung Parliaments – Perspectives from the Chair Richard Torbay, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of NSW. [pdf file]
7. Tasmanian experience	The possibility of minority government (TasmanianTimes.com) Dr Richard Herr. Tasmanian election 2010 (Parliament of Australia) In particular, see A hung parliament?
8. United Kingdom experience	What is a hung parliament? (BBC) Hung Parliament - What happens next? (ABC) Hung parliament: What you need to know (Institute for Government, UK) Charter 2010: making a hung parliament work (UK) - Frequently Asked Questions - Coalition Agreement [pdf file]
9. Canadian experience	Federal minority governments in Canada (Wikipedia) Duration of minority governments: 1867 to Date (Parliament of Canada) Minority Report: Governing by Minority in Canada (CBC)

To TOP OF PAGE

Last updated 24 September 2010
Email address for enquiries and responsibility for election comment: ausclassroom at gmail.com (Replace " at " with "@")

Australian Election 2010 - Websites for the Classroom and Research