What is a coalition government?

Discover the history of Australia's longest-running coalition and why political parties choose to form them.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, we don't want there to be a lack of stability in the opposition.

00:05In Australian Parliament, a coalition is when parties choose to work together as a team.

00:10But why would parties choose to do this?

00:12Well, one reason is to win a ruling majority of seats.

00:16Like for example, in the House of Representatives, which has 151 seats, sometimes a party can

00:22get over the line and win a majority of those seats.

00:26But if they can't reach 76 seats, they can band together with another party to form a

00:32coalition.

00:33The most famous coalition is between our two biggest conservative parties, the Australian

00:37Liberal Party and the Australian National Party.

00:40I am all that is the National Party.

00:43I believe passionately in the National Party.

00:45And the bullet you have is that little piece of paper and it goes in a magazine called

00:52the Voting Box.

00:53This coalition is our longest-running parliamentary coalition, with their most recent partnership

00:58dating back to 1945 by former Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

01:03Their alliance is so strong, they've remained a coalition even when the Liberal Party has

01:07won a majority in past elections.

01:09Home again after a short but strenuous visit to London and New York.

01:15Like any relationship, it's had its ups and downs.

01:18Like in 2023, when MP Andrew Gee resigned from the National Party over the coalition's

01:24opposition to an Indigenous voice to parliament.

01:27And he's now an independent.

01:29It was a combination of factors.

01:30It was the position that the National Party took on the voice in opposing the voice, which

01:37I didn't agree with.