July 2025
Election result shows Tasmanians want a power-sharing government
This weekend saw Tasmania’s second election in just over a year, and the result means whoever forms government will need to work with the Greens or Independents if they want to govern.
Just 3% of Australians support the sale of Santos to foreign investors
New polling, commissioned by The Australia Institute, reveals just 3% of Australians want the federal government to approve the sale of Australian-based oil and gas company, Santos, to foreign investors.
South Australia’s leap into the unknown with political finance changes
July 1 marked a dramatic change in how political parties and candidates are funded in South Australia.
Tasmanians want a power-sharing government: poll
More Tasmanians agree than disagree that the major parties should seek to form government with Greens and Independents if they cannot form government in their own right, according to new polling commissioned by The Australia Institute.
A matter of preference
Labor won big and the Coalition got “smashed”, but the major parties have never been more reliant on preferences.
June 2025
Anthony Albanese can restrict gas exports and save the Tomago aluminium smelter
Taxpayers are being asked to hand over billions to multinational mining giant Rio Tinto to help keep its Tomago aluminium smelter open – again.
Minor party and independent preferences behind Labor’s landslide victory
The Labor and Liberal–National parties rely more on preferences to win elections than ever before, according to new analysis from The Australia Institute.
Major parties have never relied more on preferences
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
Greens, independents and minor parties the closest threat to leaders
For the first time in Australian history, all three major parties – Labor, Liberal and National – have leaders who saw off a crossbench challenger to hold their seat, according to new Australia Institute analysis.
For major party leaders, the Greens, independents and minor parties are the closest threat
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.
Australian CEOs are still getting their bonuses. Performance doesn’t seem to matter so much.
Almost all of Australia’s top chief executives are, according to their boards at least, knocking it out of the park in terms of performance.
The $368 billion question | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Dr Emma Shortis As Taylor Swift said, if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Last week the Trump administration sent Australia’s national security establishment into a spin when it announced that it was reviewing the Aukus submarine pact to ensure that it fits Trump’s “America First” agenda. But even before
Whether for or against the stadium, Tasmanians overwhelmingly feel dudded by the AFL – poll
Regardless of who wins the July 19 state election, Tasmanians overwhelmingly want the government to rip up the dud stadium deal with the AFL.
Australia’s parliaments closing in on gender parity, in spite of coalition “women problem” – new analysis
New analysis by The Australia Institute reveals that, following the recent federal election, there are now more women than ever in Australia’s nine parliaments, but the coalition’s so-called “women problem” remains.
Gender parity closer after federal election but “sufficiently assertive” Liberal women are still outnumbered two to one
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
The system is working, but big parties must heed voters and engage with minor parties
Tasmanians keep voting for a power-sharing parliament over the wishes of the major parties.
Trump-Musk meltdown & the administration’s ‘crystal ball’
Musk may be out, but the influence of the tech bros has never been greater.
One vote. One value. | Christine Milne
Australians know how to solve national problems, but our political system protects the duopoly that creates them. That’s why we need proportional representation.
Hearing voices: why the Nats should be watching their backs
The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush.
The 2025 federal election is the first where a major party received fewer votes than independents and minor 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.
Australians should be proud of our preferential voting, but there is an alternative
A record number of Australians voted for independents and minor parties at the most recent federal election election.
Protecting your ABC | Alex Sloan
The ABC is always under attack. The best thing we can do for democracy is defend it.
May 2025
Why the election’s closest seat went unnoticed: Too close to Calwell
Updated 30/05/2025 The outer-Melbourne electorate of Calwell was named “Australia’s most unpredictable seat” by The Age after the election and was – aside from those going to a recount – the last seat to be called. The AEC labelled the counting process for the seat “likely the most complex in Australia’s history”. The count is
More than 70% of Australians saw misleading ads during the election campaign – poll
A new poll conducted for The Australia Institute has found that 72% of voters saw misleading political advertisements during the recent election campaign, with well over half of those exposed to misleading ads every day.
The election exposed weaknesses in Australian democracy – but the next parliament can fix them
Australia has some very strong democratic institutions – like an independent electoral commission, Saturday voting, full preferential voting and compulsory voting. These ensure that elections are free from corruption; that electorate boundaries are not based on partisan bias; and that most Australians turn out to vote. They are evidence of Australia’s proud history as an
The rise of early voting in Australian elections
Are voters missing out on more than their democracy sausage?
End of the LNP Coalition would makes this the largest crossbench in the post-WWII era
A large crossbench might seem unusual, but before WWII they were commonplace in Australia.
Coalition’s on-again, off-again ‘situationship’ has even those closest baffled
If anyone knows what is going on in the National party, could you please stand up? Interested parties in the Nationals would love to know.
The ‘better America’ bias
Donald Trump isn’t an aberration – he’s as much a product of American history as JFK or Barack Obama.
Energy Australia apology and admissions expose dodgy offsets
The days of big polluters using dodgy carbon offsets to greenwash their products are numbered.
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