Clive Palmer, the billionaire coal miner who funded the Palmer United Party, United Australia Party and Trumpet of Patriots, is considering another political run.

Australia has a proud tradition of impolite, inconvenient protest for worthy causes.

July 1 marked a dramatic change in how political parties and candidates are funded in South Australia.

Labor won big and the Coalition got “smashed”, but the major parties have never been more reliant on preferences.

Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 federal election, what does it mean for the representation of women in Australian parliaments? In short, there has been a significant improvement at the national level. When we last wrote on this topic, the Australian Senate was majority female but only 40% of House of Representatives

Tasmanians keep voting for a power-sharing parliament over the wishes of the major parties.

The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush.

A record number of Australians voted for independents and minor parties at the most recent federal election election.

While the exact numbers are not settled, what is clear is that the Albanese Labor Government has won a decisive majority in the Parliament.

At this stage of the election, you have no doubt seen plenty of political ads.

Complaints about the brevity of three-year parliamentary terms are common in Australia.

Amy Remeikis and Bill Browne discuss the federal election campaign so far, the performance of the media, and how preferential voting actually works.

Sky News says community independent MP Allegra Spender supports more Coalition motions than Greens motions. But They Vote for You says Spender votes with Greens MPs more often than Coalition MPs. That both those claims are made about the same person is proof that voting comparisons are fraught. It is just as confusing when it

Today the AEC promised “bingo cages, blindfolds and balls” – in other words, they finalised the candidates for the upcoming federal election, and randomly decided which order they will be displayed on the ballot paper.

Have you received a postal vote application form in the mail? 

Did you wonder why it was bundled with material promoting a political party? 

Or why the return address was a political party HQ, not the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)?

Media analysis shows that the decade from 2007 was the bellwether era, but that era has now passed

Labor says it will push to double the number of senators for the ACT if re-elected. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told ABC Canberra: “it’s certainly something we all support”.

Full preferential voting is a proud Coalition reform – one that benefits every political persuasion Compulsory voting and full preferential voting make up the backbone of Australian democracy, and protect us from voter suppression and disengagement seen in other countries. We owe both to the parties of the centre-right, what would become the Liberal–National Coalition.

At the National Press Club today, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor was asked about how few women the Liberal Party is nominating as candidates.

Last night, Liberal Senator Jane Hume announced they’d done a deal with the Albanese Labor Government on electoral laws – and some twelve hours later, it became law, having been rushed through both houses of Parliament. Labor’s compromises with the Coalition have worsened the bill even further: Instead of a disclosure threshold of $1,000, which

Australia needs an electoral system that’s genuinely fair, not a two-tiered system that favours the major parties.

The Albanese government’s attempt to rush through major changes to Australian elections has been delayed in the Senate – at least until February, perhaps forever. As Australia Institute research identified serious flaws, risks and loopholes in the legislation, delay is welcome – but bittersweet, because electoral reform is needed to increase confidence in politics and democracy. Good

‘Tis the season for poor process, rushed law-making and railroaded parliaments. With the end of the year rapidly approaching, governments have lost patience for democratic niceties like consultation, parliamentary reviews and public hearings.