At the 2025 federal election, the Albanese Labor Government won over 55% of the two-party preferred vote. The two-party preferred vote, called 2PP, measures whether Australians preferred their Labor candidate or their Liberal–National Coalition candidate. 55% of the 2PP is the party’s best result since 1943. This high 2PP vote disguises a relatively low first-preference

Nearly a quarter of all seats in the federal parliament are now “non-classic” seats, where first and second is no longer a fight between the two major parties.

While the May election result was remarkable for the low vote share going to the major parties, it was just the most recent of a very long trend.

A large crossbench might seem unusual, but before WWII they were commonplace in Australia.

The government says the electoral laws changes are about limiting big spending by independents, but community independents spent less per seat than the major parties at the 2022 federal election.

It is not often we can look to America for good public policy – but they have one good idea about helping encourage corporate whistleblowers while also raising revenue.

Over the past 40 years the share of votes going to independents and minor parties has risen in both state and federal elections.

The Wellbeing Framework attempts to measure how well Australians trust their institutions. Unfortunately, the government seems to have chosen measures designed to tell a good story.

While campaign finance reform can, if done well, reduce the role of money in elections, poorly-designed changes to campaign finance rules risk providing yet more power to incumbents.