Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
contests in all Australian jurisdictions usually involve competition between two
majorparties–inmostcases,theAustralianLaborPartyandtheLiberalPartyof
Australia (an exception being Queensland, where the Liberal and National parties
merged in 2008) – Australian parliaments are usually dominated by three, and
sometimes four, established political parties.
Even non-governing parties and members of parliament – including minor
parties, ‘micro parties’ and independents – can exert influence on policy, especially
whengovernmentsdonotenjoyanumericalmajorityinboththeupperandlower
parliamentary chambers (the exceptions being Queensland, the Australian Capital
Territory and the Northern Territory, which are ‘unicameral’, meaning they have
only one legislative chamber).
A strong indication of the policy predispositions of Australia’s major political
parties can be found in their platform statements:
• Australian Labor Party: ‘Labor members continue to work towards a goal of
better services, greater opportunity and a fair go for all Australians.’
• Liberal Party of Australia: ‘In short, we simply believe in individual freedom
andfreeenterprise.’
• The National Party: ‘The Nationals are dedicated to delivering future security,
opportunity and prosperity for all regional Australians.’
• The Australian Greens: ‘Peace and Non Violence, Grassroots Democracy, Social
and Economic Justice, Ecological Sustainability.’
• Pauline Hanson’s One Nation: ‘To bring about the necessary changes for fair and
equal treatment of all Australians within a system of government recognising,
and acting upon, a need for Australia to truly be one nation.’
It must be admitted that when in power governments do not always adhere faithfully
to the ideological positions they espoused when in opposition. Governments
are usually obliged to take a pragmatic view and work within constraints imposed
by the political, social and economic environment in which they are situated.
A contest of interests
Public policy is also the concern of particular interests in society, and it can be said
that some policy settings can become captive to particular interests.
Policy is often vigorously contested within political parties, a prime example
being the internal debate within the federal Liberal Party around the question of
climate change and strategies to reduce carbon emissions; within the federal Labor
Party one finds sometimes rancorous debate about the treatment of asylum seekers.
Policy proposals from government might also be challenged by a variety of
interests, including industry sectors (e.g. the Minerals Council of Australia), professional
groupings (e.g. the Australian Medical Association), trade unions (e.g. the
Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union or CFMEU), civil
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