Political parties and independents

Major Parties – The Labor Party and the Liberal–National Coalition share a strong interest in maintaining a two-party political system in Australia. It’s one of the few areas where they work together.

Members of the major parties are expected to vote with their party, no matter what their own or their community’s views are. Consequences of not voting with their party can include

• losing their position, meaning a substantial pay cut for Ministers
• not being pre-selected for the next election
• limited opportunities for a better position

Minor Parties – The Greens are the only minor party with MPs elected in NSW. There are currently two Senators for NSW from the Greens and no Green Members of the House of Reps.

Australia’s mini and micro-parties: how to avoid a vote you might regret in the Senate. (The Guardian)

Election Policy Scorecard: How do the biggest parties measure up on climate policy?

The differences between independents

Independents are elected MPs who are not affiliated to any political party. Currently there are six NSW independents. Two are ex-Liberal and ex-National party members, and four are part of the Community Independents Project (CIP), often called ‘Teals’ by the media’.

All Community Independents adhere to certain core values and they develop their policies by consulting their communities, and vote in Parliament accordingly. Candidates are chosen by their local community group. This is a movement trying to find a candidate, not a candidate trying to find a movement. See here what Community Independents have achieved.

Other Independents self-nominate and campaign on policies defined by themselves.

It’s up to you to investigate independent candidate’s politics, and to think about how they will represent you and others in your electorate.

Independent candidates for the Senate often register as a political party to get a box ‘above the line’ at the top of the ballot paper because most Australians vote above the line. (See How to cast your vote)

A ‘hung’ parliament

When neither of the two major parties has a majority number of votes in the House of Reps, it is called a hung parliament. This means that to form government by reaching the required number of MPs to govern in their own right, one of the major parties has to negotiate support from the minor parties and independents.

Is a hung parliament bad?

Nannas’ View

A hung parliament can be more diverse with representatives from a wider range of backgrounds, and it can achieve as much if not more than a parliament controlled by one of the major parties. The major parties hate not having the power to pass legislation without negotiating with MPs outside their own party, so they tell voters it’s risky, and to be avoided at all costs. But most democracies around the world are coalitions of different parties sharing power.

Julia Gillard’s government holds the record for the highest rate of legislation passed – and yet this was a hung parliament (The Guardian). Trust a woman to get things done!

More information:
How parliaments share power fact sheet (The Australia Institute).

NSW registered parties and independents in Federal Parliament – January 2025

Australian Electoral Commission Register of political parties