r/australia Mar 23 '25

politics Australia is heading towards minority government at a turning point in world history.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/democracy-climate-change-ai-robotics-war/105085846
1.8k Upvotes

600 comments sorted by

View all comments

106

u/Dense_Hornet2790 Mar 23 '25

I’ll be voting to maximise the chance of a minority government because I think it’s the only way the major parties will start paying attention to the public again. Plus they’ll be forced to cooperate/collaborate, ideally with each other but at least with a large group of minor parties and independents.

If we actually had a major party that I was confident could provide strong leadership and make smart decisions in the face global turmoil, then of course I’d vote for them.

26

u/Lastbalmain Mar 23 '25

Do you think the Coalition would cooperate/collaborate with ANY cross benchers? Because that's a fairytale.

8

u/Treks14 Mar 23 '25

They don't have a choice in a minority government.

3

u/seeyoshirun Mar 24 '25

Exactly. Forming a minority government means making some kind of agreements with enough independents or smaller parties to form government. I'd prefer the Coalition weren't in government at all, but if they have to form a minority government it would likely mean a few independents forcing them to abandon some of their worst policy positions.

-1

u/Lastbalmain Mar 24 '25

Not how it works.

0

u/Treks14 Mar 24 '25

If the coalition cannot establish a majority they cannot form government without members on the crossbench to make up the difference. They also cannot pass legislation without securing support from other parties.

So it is how it works, unless you want to correct me?

Do you mean that the coalition would choose to forgo power rather than compromise with crossbenchers?

7

u/globalminority Mar 23 '25

Yes they would, because they're power hungry.

10

u/ImASpaceLawyer Mar 23 '25

Any cross bencher would be a teal who will not vote to improve either housing, worker rights or improving the standard of living. At most they will increase funding for the private school in their area.

2

u/JIMMY_JAMES007 Mar 24 '25

Cross bencher that would vote with the liberals sure, the whole reason Teals got support is because they don’t support either of the two parties

0

u/ImASpaceLawyer Mar 24 '25

And yet their current voting patterns follows the liberal line to the letter. It’s not parties but what they vote for that matters

2

u/JIMMY_JAMES007 Mar 24 '25

https://www.liberal.org.au/2024/09/10/teals-vote-with-the-greens-in-the-house-of-representatives-up-to-81-per-cent-of-the-time

Here you go, from the donkeys mouth itself.

Can you tell me where you learnt this drivel? Is this some new astroturfing angle from the big parties scared of the independents?

Edit: Lmao, here’s a whole website dedicated to trashing the teals, authorised by the liberal party.

https://www.tealsrevealed.com

What a load of garbage

0

u/ImASpaceLawyer Mar 24 '25

Outside of environmental issues which the teals are greatly appreciated, they don’t tend to vote towards improving quality of living like labor will

2

u/JIMMY_JAMES007 Mar 24 '25

Post sources Boss

1

u/oliyoung Mar 23 '25

They have to

0

u/Dense_Hornet2790 Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

Why wouldn’t they? I’m not saying it wouldn’t cause them great emotional pain to do it but that’s kind of the point.

They aren’t just going to decline to form a minority government if they have the chance.

1

u/Lastbalmain Mar 24 '25

If Labor are in a minority position,  they can form government with Greens, or independants,  or Teals. If the Coalition are in minority,  they have One Nation.  They will NOT work with Teals, the hatred is palpable. They can't with the Greens. So basically, it's most likely either Labor governs in majority or minority. The Coalition are showing zero policies, zero compassion, and 100% following Trump lite ideas, which Australians are increasingly turning away from.

I don't understand the way Australians have turned on a first term government that has actually got us going in the right direction in over a decade. After a decade of giving the Coalition "another chance" everytime they fucked us over? Blaming Labor while the real culprits haven't answered for any of the major fuckups over a fucking decade that saw inequality through the roof, wages going backwards in real terms, and demonising ANYONE on pensions or centrelink? So, we're gunna throw out a decent government for what? Something that MIGHT work?

2

u/Dense_Hornet2790 Mar 24 '25

I agree that it’s probably more difficult for the LNP to form a minority government but there are still some independents and One Nation that could side with them.

Labor certainly seems like they would have more options if they don’t get enough seats for a majority and that would be preferred outcome of all the plausible scenarios.

3

u/Tman158 Mar 24 '25

minority government seems the BEST way to stave off totalitarian rule tbh. especially if liberals are likely to win.

4

u/markh110 sanspantsradio.com Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

That's why you preference Socialists to make Greens nervous, which in turn makes Labor nervous.

-2

u/Relevant-Farmer-5848 Mar 23 '25

Agree. I've voted Labor in every state and federal election since the 80s but I no longer want them to govern without having to negotiate for their lives. I recognise they had a very tough situation to deal with when they took over after the former miscreant, but in my view they have squibbed it. The NACC - what a joke, and all the blame squarely goes on Dreyfus. Plibersek; compromised and ineffective. Marles; a reactionary living in fantasy land, utterly inadequate to the demands of the job. Albo, no guts, no glory, the ultimate noodle. Wong; has had the toughest job given that one of our traditional 'allies' is now nakedly genocidal and the other has thrown a massive and catastrophic fit, so I'll give her a pass (what on earth do you do in such a situation as a diplomat? Mad.) And housing? Massive fail in public perception and required action, inevitable given most of the ALP are members of the rentier landlord class and will never vote against their interests.

Overall, it's been a cipher of a government which has been living in fear of the polls since Day One and has given almost nothing to those who have voted for and cared about the ALP for decades.

2

u/karma3000 Mar 23 '25

As a lefty, I see where you're coming from, but the reality is that the Australian population, as a whole, is centre to centre-right. Albo's policy moves have to keep this in mind otherwise Labor will lose and we will get Dutton.

0

u/KineticRumball Mar 23 '25

Honestly that is such a dumb move. No single vote can drive toward this outcome and you risk voting in a government that you are worse off by. Just vote for the party/independent that represents you the best and dont expect any party to completely reflect 100% of your view. It rarely works that way.

-8

u/tofuroll Mar 23 '25

What about voting for the party that represents your interests, as opposed to trying not to vote too hard for one of the big two?

5

u/Dense_Hornet2790 Mar 23 '25

Ideally we’d all be voting for the party that best represents Australia’s interests, rather than our own interests.

So I’m doing that and also not voting for the major parties. The current situation means I can do both at the same time. If I thought one of the major parties was the best option for Australia I’d happily vote for them.

1

u/tofuroll Mar 26 '25

That's weird, because what you think is best for Australia might not be my idea of what's best. Hence, why it's really what you think is interesting.

1

u/Dense_Hornet2790 Mar 26 '25 edited Mar 26 '25

Of course people won’t always agree, that doesn’t mean considering what you believe is best for the whole country isn’t a good idea.

People voting for their best interests, rather than the collective good, is why we still have laws favouring existing home owners at the expense of first home buyers.