The Greens and Labor have a mixed record of working together, but can learn from past experience.
Unless Labor improves markedly with the lower-educated, they risk losing the seat count while winning the popular vote at the next election.
AAP/Dan Peled
Notionally, Labor will need a 0.6% swing to win the next election. But the details make it much more complicated - and difficult.
If Labor had won on Saturday, Bill Shorten would have been the least popular party leader ever elected prime minister, according to election data.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Election data suggests the Coalition’s victory wasn’t so surprising after all – long-term trends pointed toward a Labor loss, given the various factors in play in this election.
Clive Palmer spent about $60million on advertising – despite not winning a seat, the UAP vote had a significant impact on some seat outcomes.
AAP/Kelly Barnes
Especially in Queensland, right-wing populist parties like One Nation and United Australia Party had a significant impact on how seats played out, and especially taking votes from Labor.
Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and Fraser Anning’s new Conservative National Party will compete for the conservative vote.
AAP/The Conversation
Voter dissatisfaction with the major parties means minor party preferences are likely to play a critical role in many seats, making the election outcome hard to predict.
Good economic times have allowed us to become complacent, meaning conditions are ripe.
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Ahead of Saturday’s crucial byelections, senior Labor Party figures have described a vote for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party as a vote for the Coalition. What do the records show?
Clive Palmer (right) and former One Nation Senator Brian Burston announce the formation of the United Australia Party in Canberra.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Clive Palmer believes he can recapture the magic that saw him elected to Parliament in 2013, but what his new party – and others on the right – need is more discipline.
Brian Burston and Clive Palmer leave a press conference after a water sprinkler is turned on.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Any voters so angry about the more conventional parties that they are tempted to look Palmer’s way again might like to consider the shenanigans on Monday.
The recent elections in Tasmania, South Australia and the byelection in Batman have left an impression that the advance of the minor parties has stalled. This is not necessarily the case.
Minor parties led by high-profile candidates such as Nick Xenophon are particularly appealing away from the big cities.
AAP/Russell Millard
The ‘yes’ vote disproves that the rise of the minor party vote is the result of a cultural backlash from people who reject the progressive agenda, including the expansion of rights for minorities.
In March, the government passed sweeping changes to the way Australians elect their senators.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The new Senate is representative of the wide range of views in Australia – and far more so than the House of Representatives.
Many voters feel the major parties aren’t listening, which can be part of the appeal of populist candidates such as One Nation’s Pauline Hanson.
Dan Peled/AAP
Watch Anne Tiernan and Duncan McDonnell discuss the popularity of minor parties and independents in this election – including what the Nick Xenophon Team learnt from the Palmer United Party.
Those who do understand the Senate voting system have the potential to wield some influence both in its conduct and in debates about how it might be reformed.
It was a novelty when Conservative leader David Cameron had to enlist Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s support to govern, but Britons may have to get used to minority government.
EPA/Andy Rain
The UK is poised for another minority government, this time possibly with a hung parliament. Australia’s long experience of such arrangements offers lessons in how to manage minority government.
The UK general election could go either way. The one certainty is that the numbers of seats won won’t match the votes for each party.
AAP/Newzulu/Stephen Chung
This week the “mother of parliaments” faces a general election in the UK. The ‘first past the post’ electoral system means we can’t predict the result with certainty, nor expect it to match the vote.