Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives
Type
Type	Lower house
Leadership
Speaker of the House	Peter Slipper, Independent since 24 November 2011
Structure
Members	150
Political groups	Government (72)      Labor (72) Opposition Coalition (71)      Liberal (44)      LNP (20)      Nationals (6)      CLP (1) Crossbench (7)      Independent (4)      Greens (1)      KAP (1)      Nationals WA (1)
Elections
Last election	21 August 2010
Meeting place
Parliament House Canberra, ACT Australia
Website
House of Representatives

House of Representatives' entrance

Inside the House of Representatives

Australia

This article is part of a series about the Politics and government of Australia

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The House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament (MPs) serve for terms of approximately three years.

The present Parliament, as elected at the 2010 election, is the 43rd Federal Parliament since Federation. It is the first hung parliament in the House of Representatives since the 1940 election, with Labor and the Coalition winning 72 seats each of 150 total. Six crossbenchers hold the balance of power: Greens MP Adam Bandt and independent MPs Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor declared their support for Labor on confidence and supply, independent MP Bob Katter and National Party of Western Australia MP Tony Crook declared their support for the Coalition on confidence and supply. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a minority government. The Labor government increased their parliamentary majority on 24 November 2011 from 75–74 to 76–73 when the Coalition's Peter Slipper became Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, replacing Labor's Harry Jenkins. In the Senate, where no party tends to have a majority of seats, the Greens gained the sole balance of power, previously holding a shared balance of power with the Family First Party and independent Nick Xenophon.

Origins and role

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (Imp.) of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker. The 150 members of the House are elected from single member electorates (geographic districts, commonly referred to as "seats" but officially known as "Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives"). One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have the same number of voters with a maximum 10 per cent variation. However the baseline quota for the amount of voters in an electorate is determined by the amount of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Subsequently, the electorates of the smallest states and territories have more variation in the amount of voters in their electorates, with the smallest holding around 60,000 voters and the largest holding around 120,000 voters. Meanwhile the largest states have electorates with more equal voter numbers, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 100,000 voters. Voting is by the 'preferential system', also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal. This allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote.

The number of electorates in each state and territory is determined by population. The parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. The population of each state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state and territory is entitled. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members. The Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each.

The current formula for determining the size of the House has the disadvantage that it can result in a House with the size being an even number (as it is a present). When the numbers are very close, as at present, this could result in both major parties having the same number of members, meaning that neither could govern. A formula setting the size of the House at twice the Senate minus one, and then determining the representation in each State and territory, would avoid this difficulty.

According to the Constitution, the powers of both houses are nearly equal, with the consent of both houses needed to pass legislation. The difference mostly relates to taxation legislation. In practice, by convention, the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with a majority of members in the lower house is invited by the Governor-General to form the Government. Thus the leader becomes the Prime Minister and some of the other elected members of the government party in both the House and the Senate become ministers responsible for various portfolios and administer government departments. Bills appropriating money (supply bills) can only be introduced in the lower house and thus only the party with a majority in the lower house can govern. In the current Australian party system, this ensures that virtually all contentious votes are along party lines, and the Government always has a majority in those votes.

The Opposition party's main role in the House is to present arguments against the Government's policies and legislation, and attempt to hold the Government accountable as much as possible by asking questions of importance during Question Time and during debates on legislation. By contrast, the only period in recent times during which the government of the day has had a majority in the Senate was from July 2005 (following the 2004 election) to December 2007 (following the Coalition's defeat at the federal election that year). Hence, votes in the Senate are usually more meaningful. Currently however, with current numbers in the parliament resulting from the 2010 election, the situation is reversed. Legislation that is passed in the House by the current minority government is likely to be passed in the Senate, as the parties in minority government in the House have a combined majority in the Senate. The House's well-established committee system is not always as prominent as the Senate committee system because of the frequent lack of Senate majority.

In a reflection of the United Kingdom House of Commons, the predominant colour of the furnishings in the House of Representatives is green. However, the colour was tinted slightly in the new Parliament House (opened 1988) to suggest the colour of eucalyptus trees.

Main Committee

A feature of the Australian House is its Main Committee, designed to be an alternative debating chamber; it is modelled after the Committee of the Whole that exists in several different legislatures, particularly the United States House of Representatives and the United Kingdom House of Commons. Matters considered to be relatively uncontroversial can be referred by the entire House to the Main Committee, where substantive debate can take place. The Main Committee cannot, however, initiate nor make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between.

The Main Committee was created in 1994, to relieve some of the burden of the entire House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Main Committee, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the Deputy Speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large.

The Main Committee was created through the House's Standing Orders: it is thus a subordinate body of the House, and can only be in session while the House itself is in session. When a division vote in the House occurs, members in the Main Committee must return to the House to vote.

The Main Committee is housed in one of the House's committee rooms: the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble the House chamber.

Due to the unique role of the Main Committee, proposals have been made to rename the body to avoid confusion with other parliamentary committees. Proposals include "Second Chamber" and "Federation Chamber".

The concept of a parallel body to expedite Parliamentary business, based on the Australian Main Committee, was mentioned in a 1998 British House of Commons report.

The composition of the House

Main article: Full national and state-by-state lower house results and maps for the 2010 Australian federal election

See also: Post-election pendulum for the Australian federal election, 2010

The 2010 election resulted in the first hung parliament since the 1940 election. Four of six crossbenchers gave confidence and supply to the incumbent Labor Party headed by Julia Gillard. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a minority government. The government increased their parliamentary majority on 24 November 2011 from 75–74 to 76–73 when the Coalition's Peter Slipper became an independent MP and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, replacing Labor's Harry Jenkins.

House of Representatives (IRV) — Turnout 93.21% (CV) — Informal 5.55%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party		4,711,363	37.99	−5.40	72	−11
	Coalition
		Liberal Party of Australia	3,777,383	30.46	+0.76	44	−11
		Liberal National Party (QLD)	1,130,525	9.12	+0.60	21	+21
		National Party of Australia	419,286	3.43	−0.04	6	−4
		Country Liberal Party (NT)	38,335	0.31	−0.01	1	+1
	Australian Greens		1,458,998	11.76	+3.97	1	+1
	National Party (WA)		43,101	0.34	+0.20	1	+1
	Independents		312,496	2.52	+0.30	4	+2
	Other		510,876	4.11	−0.38	0	0
	Total		12,402,363			150
Two-party-preferred vote
	Australian Labor Party		6,216,445	50.12	−2.58	72	−11
	Liberal/National Coalition		6,185,918	49.88	+2.58	72	+7

*All results are final.

Current distribution of seats

Party		Seats held	Percentage of House
	Australian Labor Party	72	48.00%
	Liberal/National Coalition	71	47.33%
	Independent	4	2.67%
	Australian Greens	1	0.67%
	Nationals WA	1	0.67%
	Katter's Australian Party	1	0.67%		Total	150	100%

Seats won by party at Australian elections, 1946 – 2010

Seats Won
Election	ALP	LIB	NAT	Oth	Total
1946	43	15	11	5	74
1949	47	55	19		121
1951	52	52	17		121
1954	57	47	17		121
1955	47	57	18		122
1958	45	58	19		122
1961	60	45	17		122
1963	50	52	20		122
1966	41	61	21	1	124
1969	59	46	20		125
1972	67	38	20		125
1974	66	40	21		127
1975	36	68	23		127
1977	38	67	19		124
1980	51	54	20		125
1983	75	33	17		125
1984	82	45	21		148
1987	86	43	19		148
1990	78	55	14	1	148
1993	80	49	16	2	147
1996	49	75	19	5	148
1998	67	64	16	1	148
2001	65	69	13	3	150
2004	60	75	12	3	150
2007	83	55	10	2	150
2010	72	66	6	6	150

See also

• Australian House of Representatives committees
• Canberra Press Gallery
• Chronology of Australian federal parliaments
• Clerk of the Australian House of Representatives
• Father of the Australian House of Representatives
• List of Australian federal by-elections
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives
• Members of the Parliament of Australia who have served for at least 30 years
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives who have represented more than one state or territory
• Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
• United Kingdom House of Commons
• United States House of Representatives
• Women in the Australian House of Representatives

External links

• House of Representatives Practice: APH
• House of Representatives Committees – Parliament of Australia
• Australian Parliament – live broadcasting