A coalition government , or coalition cabinet , is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive . Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election . A party not having majority is common under proportional representation , but not in nations with majoritarian electoral systems .
133-495: Rainbow Coalition may refer different or related political concepts or movements in various parts of the world. In countries with parliamentary systems, it can refer to any coalition government composed of a coalition of several ideologically unrelated political parties united by opposition to one or more dominant parties. In the US, the "rainbow" concept has mainly referred to a diversity ethnicities and other demographic categories within
266-525: A Coalition Government with confidence and supply from the Green Party . During the 2023 general election , National won 49 seats, ACT won eleven and New Zealand First won eight formed a coalition government . Since 2015, there are many more coalition governments than previously in municipalities, autonomous regions and, since 2020 (coming from the November 2019 Spanish general election ), in
399-479: A Mediterranean climate . The south-east ranges from oceanic (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to humid subtropical (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates . The interior is arid to semi-arid . Driven by climate change , average temperatures have risen more than 1°C since 1960 . Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires . 2019
532-525: A belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland. These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula . The landscapes of the Top End and
665-629: A caretaker government as no coalition could be formed. In Canada , the Great Coalition was formed in 1864 by the Clear Grits , Parti bleu , and Liberal-Conservative Party . During the First World War , Prime Minister Robert Borden attempted to form a coalition with the opposition Liberals to broaden support for controversial conscription legislation. The Liberal Party refused the offer but some of their members did cross
798-644: A consensus government with a coalition of the four strongest parties in parliament since 1959, called the " Magic Formula ". Between 2010 and 2015, the United Kingdom also operated a formal coalition between the Conservative and the Liberal Democrat parties, but this was unusual: the UK usually has a single-party majority government. Not every parliament forms a coalition government, for example
931-824: A large wave of immigration from across Europe , with such immigrants referred to as " New Australians ". This required a relaxation of the white Australia policy , which was justified to Australians using the slogan "populate or perish". A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War , Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972. During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by
1064-558: A case alleging electoral malpractice. In June 1975, Indira was found guilty and barred by the High Court from holding public office for six years. In response, a state of emergency was declared under the pretext of national security. The next election resulted in the formation of India 's first ever national coalition government under the prime ministership of Morarji Desai , which was also the first non-Congress national government. It existed from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979, headed by
1197-612: A coalition of the Social Democrats, Venstre , and the Moderates . When the Social Democrats under Stauning won 46% of the votes in the 1935 election , this was the closest any party has gotten to winning an outright majority in parliament since 1918. One party has thus never held a majority alone, and even one-party governments have needed to have confidence agreements with at least one other party to govern. For example, though Frederiksen's first government only consisted of
1330-711: A coalition with a smaller party. For example, from 1982 to 1998, the country was governed by a coalition of the CDU/CSU with the minor Free Democratic Party (FDP); from 1998 to 2005, a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the minor Greens held power. The CDU/CSU comprises an alliance of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union in Bavaria , described as "sister parties" which form
1463-405: A coalition with the third-place Conservatives, so his party removed him. The Liberal–Conservative coalition introduced a winner-take-all preferential voting system (the " Alternative Vote ") in the hopes that their supporters would rank the other party as their second preference; however, this strategy backfired in the subsequent 1952 British Columbia general election where, to the surprise of many,
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#17327731882411596-461: A date which later became Australia's national day . Most early settlers were convicts , transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to "free settlers" (willing immigrants). Once emancipated , convicts tended to integrate into colonial society. Convict rebellions and uprisings were suppressed under martial law, which lasted for two years following the 1808 Rum Rebellion , Australia's only successful coup d'état . During
1729-578: A joint parliamentary group, and for this purpose are always considered a single party. Coalition arrangements are often given names based on the colours of the parties involved, such as "red-green" for the SPD and Greens. Coalitions of three parties are often named after countries whose flags contain those colours, such as the black-yellow-green Jamaica coalition . Grand coalitions of the two major parties also occur, but these are relatively rare, as they typically prefer to associate with smaller ones. However, if
1862-508: A political organization or movement. In the United States, the first rainbow coalition sought to bring together disadvantaged people from a broad spectrum of races and creeds, and voter mobilization was a primary goal in that effort. Coalition government There are different forms of coalition governments, minority coalitions and surplus majority coalition governments. A surplus majority coalition government controls more than
1995-498: A population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world . It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally . Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. Australia
2128-506: A role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions ( national unity governments , grand coalitions ). If a coalition collapses, the prime minister and cabinet may be ousted by a vote of no confidence , call snap elections , form a new majority coalition, or continue as a minority government . For a coalition to come about the coalition partners need to compromise on their policy expectations. One coalition or probing partner must lose for
2261-581: A settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania ), and in 1813, Gregory Blaxland , William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement. The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany ). The Swan River Colony (present-day Perth )
2394-562: A short distance off the north-east coast and extends for more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Mount Augustus , claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak , at 2,745 m (9,006 ft), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island , and, in
2527-797: A single political party. Due to the social nature of the country, the first federal government was formed by a three-party Alliance coalition, composed of the United Malays National Organisations (UMNO) , the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) , and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) . It was later expanded and rebranded as Barisan Nasional (BN) , which includes parties representing the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak . The 2018 Malaysian general election saw
2660-404: A so-called "rainbow government". The Lipponen cabinets set the stability record and were unusual in the respect that both the centre-left (SDP) and radical left-wing (Left Alliance) parties sat in the government with the major centre-right party (National Coalition). The Katainen cabinet was also a rainbow coalition of a total of five parties. In Germany, coalition governments are the norm, as it
2793-492: A total area of 7,688,287 km (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest country by area in Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along
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#17327731882412926-459: A two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. In recent decades, single-party full legislative control is rare, and coalition governments are the norm: Most governments of Japan since the 1990s and, as of 2020, all since 1999 have been coalition governments, some of them still fell short of a legislative majority. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a legislative majority of its own in
3059-411: A wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre. The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm. The population density
3192-436: Is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne. In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland. Forest cover is around 17% of Australia's total land area. The Great Barrier Reef , the world's largest coral reef, lies
3325-413: Is a constitutional monarchy , a parliamentary democracy and a federation . The country has maintained its mostly unchanged constitution alongside a stable liberal democratic political system since Federation in 1901. It is one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and state governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from
3458-909: Is a middle power , and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure . It is a member of international groups including the United Nations; the G20 ; the OECD ; the World Trade Organization ; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ; the Pacific Islands Forum ; the Pacific Community ; the Commonwealth of Nations ; and the defence and security organisations ANZUS , AUKUS , and the Five Eyes . It
3591-477: Is a coalition of seven parties led by the major centre-left PDIP to let governing big tent Onward Indonesia Coalition In Ireland , coalition governments are common; not since 1977 has a single party formed a majority government. Coalition governments to date have been led by either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael . They have been joined in government by one or more smaller parties or independent members of parliament (TDs). Ireland's first coalition government
3724-690: Is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States. The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə / in Australian English ) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ( ' southern land ' ), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. Several 16th-century cartographers used the word Australia on maps, but not to identify modern Australia. When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in
3857-886: Is also found in the states of New South Wales and Victoria . In South Australia and Western Australia the Liberal and National parties compete separately, while in the Northern Territory and Queensland the two parties have merged, forming the Country Liberal Party, in 1978, and the Liberal National Party, in 2008, respectively. Coalition governments involving the Labor Party and the Australian Greens have occurred at state and territory level , for example following
3990-407: Is no direct responsibility within the governing parties in the coalition. Retrospective voting has a huge influence on the outcome of an election. However, the risk of retrospective voting is a lot weaker with coalition governments than in single party governments. Within the coalition, the party with the head of state has the biggest risk of retrospective voting. Governing parties lose votes in
4123-629: Is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.6–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth. Having been part of all major supercontinents , the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian , with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent. It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in
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4256-513: Is rare for a party to win a full majority, they must form coalitions with other parties. For example, from 1996 to 1998, the country was governed by a coalition of the National with the minor NZ First ; from 1999 to 2002, a coalition of the Labour and the minor Alliance and with confidence and supply from the Green Party held power. Between 2017 and 2020, Labour , New Zealand First formed
4389-473: Is rare for any single party to win a majority in parliament. The German political system makes extensive use of the constructive vote of no confidence , which requires governments to control an absolute majority of seats. Every government since the foundation of the Federal Republic in 1949 has involved at least two political parties. Typically, governments involve one of the two major parties forming
4522-617: Is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is possibly the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia. The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains , which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. At
4655-411: Is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds , and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic . Australia has at least 755 species of reptile, more than any other country in the world. Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species. Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in
4788-563: The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986. Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne , both with
4921-624: The 16th general election in May 2014, the BJP secured a majority on its own (becoming the first party to do so since the 1984 election), and the National Democratic Alliance came into power, with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. In 2019, Narendra Modi was re-elected as Prime Minister as the National Democratic Alliance again secured a majority in the 17th general election . India returned to an NDA led coalition government in 2024 as
5054-434: The 2010 Tasmanian state election and the 2016 and 2020 Australian Capital Territory elections. In Belgium , a nation internally divided along linguistic lines (primarily between Dutch -speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south, with Brussels also being by and large Francophone), each main political disposition ( Social democracy , liberalism , right-wing populism , etc.) is, with
5187-661: The Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name. The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office . Colloquial names for Australia include " Oz ", " Straya " and " Down Under ". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country" (from the 1964 book of
5320-732: The European Parliament . Armenia became an independent state in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union . Since then, many political parties were formed in it, who mainly work with each other to form coalition governments. The country was governed by the My Step Alliance coalition after successfully gaining a majority in the National Assembly of Armenia following the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election . In federal Australian politics ,
5453-595: The Gulf Country —with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley , and below that the Pilbara . The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts. At
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5586-618: The Indian National Congress , the major political party instrumental in the Indian independence movement , ruled the nation. The first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru , his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri , and the third Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi , were all members of the Congress party. However, Raj Narain , who had unsuccessfully contested an election against Indira from the constituency of Rae Bareli in 1971, lodged
5719-551: The Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation , which is correlated with periodic drought , and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall ( monsoon ). The south-west corner of the country has
5852-539: The Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , several of Australia's largest cities were locked down for extended periods and free movement across the national and state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow
5985-661: The Irish Civil War (1922–23). A similar situation exists in Israel , which typically has at least 10 parties holding representation in the Knesset . The only faction to ever gain the majority of Knesset seats was Alignment , an alliance of the Labor Party and Mapam that held an absolute majority for a brief period from 1968 to 1969. Historically, control of the Israeli government has alternated between periods of rule by
6118-565: The Janata Party , an amalgam of political parties opposed to the emergency imposed between 1975 and 1977. As the popularity of the Janata Party dwindled, Desai had to resign, and Chaudhary Charan Singh , a rival of his, became the fifth Prime Minister. However, due to lack of support, this coalition government did not complete its five-year term. Congress returned to power in 1980 under Indira Gandhi, and later under Rajiv Gandhi as
6251-605: The Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia , and a bitter split in the Labor Party in 1955. As a result of a 1967 referendum , the federal government gained the power to legislate with regard to Indigenous Australians, and Indigenous Australians were fully included in the census . Pre-colonial land interests (referred to as native title in Australia) was recognised in law for
6384-545: The Nordic countries , the Benelux countries, Australia , Austria , Brazil , Chile , Cyprus , East Timor , France , Germany , Greece , Guinea-Bissau , India , Indonesia , Ireland , Israel , Italy , Japan , Kenya , Kosovo , Latvia , Lebanon , Lesotho , Lithuania , Malaysia , Nepal , New Zealand , Pakistan , Thailand , Spain , Trinidad and Tobago , Turkey , and Ukraine . Switzerland has been ruled by
6517-532: The Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous . When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait , separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands , and the mainland of Australia. The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at
6650-686: The Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975. In 1914, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War, and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front . Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in 1915 as
6783-403: The Torres Strait Islands . The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent " New Holland " during the 17th century, and although no attempt at settlement was made, a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or, as in the case of the Batavia in 1629, marooned for mutiny and murder, thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit
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#17327731882416916-445: The United Farmers of Ontario and the Labour Party , together with three independent MLAs, formed a coalition that governed Ontario until 1923. In British Columbia , the governing Liberals formed a coalition with the opposition Conservatives in order to prevent the surging, left-wing Cooperative Commonwealth Federation from taking power in the 1941 British Columbia general election . Liberal premier Duff Pattullo refused to form
7049-519: The bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil , led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent , and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia's principal ally and security partner. Since 1951, Australia has been allied with the United States under the ANZUS treaty. In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development. Governments encouraged
7182-446: The coast . The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had the oldest living culture in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with
7315-426: The emu and the kookaburra . Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE . Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna ; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them
7448-479: The governor-general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level, who by section 63 of the Constitution and convention act on the advice of their ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The governor-general may in some situations exercise reserve powers : powers exercisable in the absence or contrary to ministerial advice. When these powers may be exercised
7581-483: The "baptism of fire" that forged the new nation's identity . The beginning of the campaign is commemorated annually on Anzac Day , a date which rivals Australia Day as the nation's most important. From 1939 to 1945, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War. Australia's armed forces fought in the Pacific , European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres . The shock of Britain's defeat in Singapore in 1942, followed soon after by
7714-503: The "island continent" and is sometimes considered the world's largest island . Australia has 34,218 km (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands), and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory . Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44° south , and longitudes 112° and 154° east . Australia's size gives it
7847-443: The 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories. Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland , a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland ) and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts. The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders , who said it
7980-428: The 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species. Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age—perhaps 4000 years ago—and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets, contributing to the demise of thylacines on
8113-408: The 1921 election. Like their counterparts in Ontario, they had not expected to win and did not have a leader. They asked John Bracken , a professor in animal husbandry, to become leader and premier. Bracken changed the party's name to the Progressive Party of Manitoba . During the Great Depression, Bracken survived at a time when other premiers were being defeated by forming a coalition government with
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#17327731882418246-416: The 2018 Environmental Performance Index . There are more than 1,800 animals and plants on Australia's threatened species list, including more than 500 animals. Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat , in South Australia, that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland / grassland was once home to an abundance of life. Australia
8379-466: The 2nd Republic, and have been common in some specific Autonomous Communities since the 1980s. Nonetheless, the prevalence of two big parties overall has been eroded and the need for coalitions appears to be the new normal since around 2015. Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . Australia has
8512-500: The Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies , at 3,492 m (11,457 ft) and 3,355 m (11,007 ft) respectively. Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range , which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in height. The coastal uplands and
8645-438: The Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken , captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon . He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated
8778-452: The BJP failed to achieve an outright majority. As a result of the toppling of Suharto , political freedom is significantly increased. Compared to only three parties allowed to exist in the New Order era, a total of 48 political parties participated in the 1999 election and always a total of more than 10 parties in next elections. There are no majority winner of those elections and coalition governments are inevitable. The current government
8911-426: The CDU/CSU became Chancellor while the SPD was granted the majority of cabinet posts. Coalition formation has become increasingly complex as voters increasingly migrate away from the major parties during the 2000s and 2010s. While coalitions of more than two parties were extremely rare in preceding decades, they have become common on the state level. These often include the liberal FDP and the Greens alongside one of
9044-416: The House of Councillors (later called "twisted Diets", nejire kokkai , when they were not only technically, but actually divided). But during most of that period, the centrist Ryokufūkai was the strongest overall or decisive cross-bench group in the House of Councillors, and it was willing to cooperate with both centre-left and centre-right governments even when it was not formally part of the cabinet; and in
9177-477: The House of Representatives, minority governments of Liberals or Democrats (or their precursors; loose, indirect successors to the two major pre-war parties) could usually count on support from some members of the other major conservative party or from smaller conservative parties and independents. Finally in 1955, when Hatoyama Ichirō's Democratic Party minority government called early House of Representatives elections and, while gaining seats substantially, remained in
9310-400: The LDP entered a coalition government followed its third loss of its House of Representatives majority in the 1983 House of Representatives general election . The LDP- New Liberal Club coalition government lasted until 1986 when the LDP won landslide victories in simultaneous double elections to both houses of parliament. There have been coalition cabinets where the post of prime minister
9443-479: The LDP from power for the first time to break up in less than a year, and the LDP-JSP-Sakigake government that was formed in 1994 when the LDP had agreed, if under internal turmoil and with some defections, to bury the main post-war partisan rivalry and support the election of JSP prime minister Tomiichi Murayama in exchange for the return to government. Ever since Malaysia gained independence in 1957 , none of its federal governments have ever been controlled by
9576-866: The Manitoba Liberals (eventually, the two parties would merge into the Liberal-Progressive Party of Manitoba , and decades later, the party would change its name to the Manitoba Liberal Party ). In 1940, Bracken formed a wartime coalition government with almost every party in the Manitoba Legislature (the Conservatives, CCF, and Social Credit; however, the CCF broke with the coalition after a few years over policy differences). The only party not included
9709-496: The National Diet until 1989 (when it initially continued to govern alone), and between the 2016 and 2019 elections (when it remained in its previous ruling coalition). The Democratic Party of Japan (through accessions in the House of Councillors) briefly controlled a single-party legislative majority for a few weeks before it lost the 2010 election (it, too, continued to govern as part of its previous ruling coalition). From
9842-611: The Social Democrats, it also relied on the support of the Social Liberal Party , the Socialist People's Party , and the Red–Green Alliance . In Finland , no party has had an absolute majority in the parliament since independence, and multi-party coalitions have been the norm. Finland experienced its most stable government ( Lipponen I and II ) since independence with a five-party governing coalition,
9975-733: The Spanish Government. There are two ways of conforming them: all of them based on a program and its institutional architecture, one consists on distributing the different areas of government between the parties conforming the coalition and the other one is, like in the Valencian Community, where the ministries are structured with members of all the political parties being represented, so that conflicts that may occur are regarding competences and not fights between parties. Coalition governments in Spain had already existed during
10108-434: The absolute majority of seats in parliament necessary to have a majority in the government, whereas minority coalition governments do not hold the majority of legislative seats. A coalition government may also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity , it can also play
10241-632: The centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins , metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east. The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes, but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot , recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene , in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Volcanism also occurs in
10374-471: The coalition parties do not share the same policy ideas. Hence, a more detailed written formulation of the issue helps parties in the coalition to limit 'agency loss' when the ministry overseeing that issue is managed by another coalition party. Coalition governments can also impact voting behavior by diminishing the clarity of responsibility. Electoral accountability is harder to achieve in coalition governments than in single party governments because there
10507-545: The colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, constitutional conventions and referendums , resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation under the new Australian Constitution . After the 1907 Imperial Conference , Australia and several other self-governing British settler colonies were given the status of self-governing dominions within the British Empire. Australia
10640-464: The conservative Liberal , National , Country Liberal and Liberal National parties are united in a coalition, known simply as the Coalition . While nominally two parties, the Coalition has become so stable, at least at the federal level, that in practice the lower house of Parliament has become a two-party system , with the Coalition and the Labor Party being the major parties. This coalition
10773-610: The constitutional establishment of parliamentary cabinets and the introduction of the new, now directly elected upper house of parliament in 1947 until the formation of the LDP and the reunification of the Japanese Socialist Party in 1955, no single party formally controlled a legislative majority on its own. Only few formal coalition governments ( 46th , 47th , initially 49th cabinet) interchanged with technical minority governments and cabinets without technical control of
10906-847: The continent. In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named " New South Wales " and claimed for Great Britain. Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the First Fleet , under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip , to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales . A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove , Port Jackson , on 26 January 1788,
11039-594: The convict system culminated in its abolition in the eastern colonies by the 1850s. Initially a free colony, Western Australia practised penal transportation from 1850 to 1868. The six colonies individually gained responsible government between 1855 and 1890, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire . The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs. In
11172-459: The early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought . Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests . Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota
11305-489: The election after their legislative period, this is called “the governing cost”. In comparison, a single- party government has a higher electoral cost, than a party that holds the office of the prime minister. Furthermore, the party that holds the office of prime minister suffer less electoral costs, then a junior coalition partner, when looking only on the electoral cost created by being in the coalition government. Countries which often operate with coalition cabinets include:
11438-490: The establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by
11571-685: The exception of the far-left Workers' Party of Belgium , split between Francophone and Dutch-speaking parties (e.g. the Dutch-speaking Vooruit and French-speaking Socialist Party being the two social-democratic parties). In the 2019 federal election , no party got more than 17% of the vote. Thus, forming a coalition government is an expected and necessary part of Belgian politics. In Belgium, coalition governments containing ministers from six or more parties are not uncommon; consequently, government formation can take an exceptionally long time. Between 2007 and 2011 , Belgium operated under
11704-717: The first non-BN coalition federal government in the country's electoral history, formed through an alliance between the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and the Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN) . The federal government formed after the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was the first to be established through coordination between multiple political coalitions. This occurred when the newly formed Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition partnered with BN and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) . In 2022 after its registration, Sabah-based Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) formally joined
11837-772: The first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that Australia was neither terra nullius ( ' land belonging to no one ' ) or "desert and uncultivated land" at the time of European settlement. Following the abolition of the last vestiges of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia. The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations. The Australia Acts severed
11970-432: The floor and join the government. Although sometimes referred to as a coalition government, according to the definition above, it was not. It was disbanded after the end of the war. During the 2008–09 Canadian parliamentary dispute , two of Canada's opposition parties signed an agreement to form what would become the country's second federal coalition government since Confederation if the minority Conservative government
12103-495: The government (though it had been a part of an informal coalition since 2020). The current government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is composed of four political coalitions and 19 parties. MMP was introduced in New Zealand in the 1996 election . In order to get into power, parties need to get a total of 50% of the approximately (there can be more if an Overhang seat exists) 120 seats in parliament – 61. Since it
12236-418: The hands of the leader, as opposed to backbenchers, then coalition governments will be very difficult to form. Moore shows that the diffusion of power within a party tends to also lead to a diffusion of power in the parliament in which that party operates, thereby making coalitions more likely. Several coalition governments have been formed within provincial politics. As a result of the 1919 Ontario election ,
12369-514: The head of each party for two years, and they switched roles in 1986. In Japan , controlling a majority in the House of Representatives is enough to decide the election of the prime minister (=recorded, two-round votes in both houses of the National Diet , yet the vote of the House of Representatives decision eventually overrides a dissenting House of Councillors vote automatically after
12502-412: The heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia . Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson , Tirari and Sturt Stony , Gibson , Great Sandy, Tanami , and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast. The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between
12635-479: The interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia . Lying on the Indo-Australian Plate , the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history. The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning more than 3.8 billion years of the Earth's history. The Pilbara Craton
12768-417: The island of New Guinea (considered geologically as part of the Australian continent), and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands . Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low, with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake . The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including
12901-494: The location for the future federal capital of Canberra . While it was being constructed, Melbourne served as the temporary capital from 1901 to 1927. The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of South Australia to the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883) in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea ) in 1920. The two were unified as
13034-448: The mainland. Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries. Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna ); a host of marsupials , including the kangaroo , koala , and wombat , and birds such as
13167-523: The major parties are unable to assemble a majority, a grand coalition may be the only practical option. This was the case following the 2005 federal election , in which the incumbent SPD–Green government was defeated but the opposition CDU/CSU–FDP coalition also fell short of a majority. A grand coalition government was subsequently formed between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Partnerships like these typically involve carefully structured cabinets: Angela Merkel of
13300-510: The major parties, or "red–red–green" coalitions of the SPD, Greens, and The Left . In the eastern states , dwindling support for moderate parties has seen the rise of new forms of grand coalitions such as the Kenya coalition . The rise of populist parties also increases the time that it takes for a successful coalition to form. By 2016, the Greens were participating eleven governing coalitions on
13433-436: The mandatory conference committee procedure fails which, by precedent, it does without real attempt to reconcile the different votes). Therefore, a party that controls the lower house can form a government on its own. It can also pass a budget on its own. But passing any law (including important budget-related laws) requires either majorities in both houses of the legislature or, with the drawback of longer legislative proceedings,
13566-474: The mid-19th century, explorers such as Burke and Wills charted Australia's interior. A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China , North America and continental Europe, as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees. The 1860s saw
13699-567: The minority, the Liberal Party refused to cooperate until negotiations on a long-debated "conservative merger" of the two parties were agreed upon, and eventually successful. After it was founded in 1955, the Liberal Democratic Party dominated Japan's governments for a long period: The new party governed alone without interruption until 1983, again from 1986 to 1993 and most recently between 1996 and 1999. The first time
13832-602: The next two decades, social and economic reforms, together with the establishment of a Legislative Council and Supreme Court , saw the penal colony transition to a civil society. The indigenous population declined for 150 years following European settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. British colonial authorities did not sign any treaties with Aboriginal groups . As settlement expanded, tens of thousands of Indigenous people and thousands of settlers were killed in frontier conflicts while settlers dispossessed surviving Indigenous peoples of most of their land. In 1803,
13965-401: The norm has been coalition governments, though there have been periods where single-party governments were frequent, such as the decade after the end of World War II , during the 1970s, and in the late 2010s. Every government from 1982 until the 2015 elections were coalitions. While Mette Frederiksen 's first government only consisted of her own Social Democrats , her second government is
14098-429: The other one to win, to achieve a Nash equilibrium , which is necessary for a coalition to form. If the parties are not willing to compromise, the coalition will not come about. Before parties form a coalition government, they formulate a coalition agreement, in which they state what policies they try to adapt in the legislative period. In multi-party states , a coalition agreement is an agreement negotiated between
14231-407: The parties that form a coalition government. It codifies the most important shared goals and objectives of the cabinet. It is often written by the leaders of the parliamentary groups . Coalitions that have a written agreement are more productive than those that do not. If an issue is discussed more deeply and in more detail in chamber than what appears in the coalition agreement, it indicates that
14364-428: The political systems of the United Kingdom (a fused executive , constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline ) and the United States ( federalism , a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), resulting in a distinct hybrid. Federal government power is partially separated between three groups: Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by
14497-664: The polls in 1998. The first successful coalition government in India which completed a whole five-year term was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. Then another coalition, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance , consisting of 13 separate parties, ruled India for two terms from 2004 to 2014 with Manmohan Singh as PM. However, in
14630-594: The protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention , and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on
14763-480: The rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year. The Australian mainland's continental crust , excluding the thinned margins, has an average thickness of 38 km, with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km. Australia's geology can be divided into several main sections, showcasing that the continent grew from west to east: the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west, Proterozoic fold belts in
14896-545: The remaining constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom while maintaining the monarch in her independent capacity as Queen of Australia . In a 1999 constitutional referendum , 55% of voters rejected abolishing the monarchy and becoming a republic. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and
15029-419: The resources of their reefs and seas. Agriculture also developed on some islands and villages appeared by the 1300s. By the mid-18th century in northern Australia, contact, trade and cross-cultural engagement had been established between local Aboriginal groups and Makassan trepangers , visiting from present-day Indonesia. The Dutch are the first Europeans that recorded sighting and making landfall on
15162-474: The right-wing Likud in coalition with several right-wing and religious parties and periods of rule by the center-left Labor in coalition with several left-wing parties. Ariel Sharon 's formation of the centrist Kadima party in 2006 drew support from former Labor and Likud members, and Kadima ruled in coalition with several other parties. Israel also formed a national unity government from 1984–1988 . The premiership and foreign ministry portfolio were held by
15295-549: The right-wing populist BC Social Credit Party won a minority. They were able to win a majority in the subsequent election as Liberal and Conservative supporters shifted their anti-CCF vote to Social Credit. Manitoba has had more formal coalition governments than any other province. Following gains by the United Farmer's/Progressive movement elsewhere in the country, the United Farmers of Manitoba unexpectedly won
15428-491: The rise of blackbirding , where South Sea Islanders were coerced or abducted into indentured labour, mainly by Queensland colonists. From 1886, Australian colonial governments began removing many Aboriginal children from their families and communities, justified on the grounds of child protection and forced assimilation policies. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) marked the largest overseas deployment of Australia's colonial forces . On 1 January 1901, federation of
15561-549: The same name ), "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land". The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar 's 1908 poem " My Country ". Indigenous Australians comprise two broad groups: Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia. It
15694-417: The sixth Prime Minister. However, the general election of 1989 once again brought a coalition government under National Front , which lasted until 1991, with two Prime Ministers, the second one being supported by Congress. The 1991 election resulted in a Congress-led stable minority government for five years. The eleventh parliament produced three Prime Ministers in two years and forced the country back to
15827-741: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus . Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent and sixth-largest country by total area , Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed
15960-414: The state level in seven different constellations. During campaigns, parties often declare which coalitions or partners they prefer or reject. This tendency toward fragmentation also spread to the federal level, particularly during the 2021 federal election , which saw the CDU/CSU and SPD fall short of a combined majority of votes for the first time in history. After India's Independence on 15 August 1947,
16093-406: The thylacine. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan , fungal and plant species. All these factors have led to Australia's having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for
16226-1029: The time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians belonged to wide range of societies, with diverse economies spread across at least 250 different language groups . Estimates of the Aboriginal population before British settlement range from 300,000 to 3 million. Aboriginal Australians cultures were (and remain) deeply connected with the land and the environment, with stories of The Dreaming maintained through oral tradition , songs , dance and paintings. Certain groups engaged in fire-stick farming , fish farming , and built semi-permanent shelters . These practices have variously been characterised as " hunter-gatherer ", " agricultural ", "natural cultivation" and "intensification". Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands at least 2,500 years ago. Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and
16359-690: The upcoming election. The Saskatchewan NDP was re-elected with a majority under its new leader Lorne Calvert , while the Saskatchewan Liberals lost their remaining seats and have not been competitive in the province since. From the creation of the Folketing in 1849 through the introduction of proportional representation in 1918, there were only single-party governments in Denmark. Thorvald Stauning formed his second government and Denmark's first coalition government in 1929. Since then,
16492-531: Was "more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst . In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824,
16625-615: Was Australia's warmest recorded year, and the 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country's worst on record . Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world. Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought. Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in
16758-518: Was as a junior coalition party to Fine Gael . The exception was a government with Fianna Fáil from 1993 to 1994. The 29th Government of Ireland (2011–16), was a grand coalition of the two largest parties, as Fianna Fáil had fallen to third place in the Dáil. The current government is a Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael and the Green Party . It is the first time Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have served in government together, having derived from opposing sides in
16891-630: Was defeated on a vote of non-confidence, unseating Stephen Harper as Prime Minister. The agreement outlined a formal coalition consisting of two opposition parties, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party . The Bloc Québécois agreed to support the proposed coalition on confidence matters for 18 months. In the end, parliament was prorogued by the Governor General , and the coalition dispersed before parliament
17024-413: Was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, Western Australia . In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1841, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. South Australia was founded as a free colony—it never accepted transported convicts. Growing opposition to
17157-488: Was formed after the 1948 general election , with five parties and independents represented at cabinet. Before 1989, Fianna Fáil had opposed participation in coalition governments, preferring single-party minority government instead. It formed a coalition government with the Progressive Democrats in that year. The Labour Party has been in government on eight occasions. On all but one of those occasions, it
17290-634: Was given to a junior coalition partner: the JSP-DP-Cooperativist coalition government in 1948 of prime minister Ashida Hitoshi (DP) who took over after his JSP predecessor Tetsu Katayama had been toppled by the left wing of his own party, the JSP-Renewal-Kōmei-DSP-JNP-Sakigake-SDF-DRP coalition in 1993 with Morihiro Hosokawa (JNP) as compromise PM for the Ichirō Ozawa -negotiated rainbow coalition that removed
17423-531: Was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920, and the United Nations in 1945. The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended the ability of the UK to pass federal laws without Australia's consent. Australia adopted it in 1942, but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed during World War II. The Australian Capital Territory was formed in 1911 as
17556-505: Was reconvened. According to historian Christopher Moore , coalition governments in Canada became much less possible in 1919, when the leaders of parties were no longer chosen by elected MPs but instead began to be chosen by party members. Such a manner of leadership election had never been tried in any parliamentary system before. According to Moore, as long as that kind of leadership selection process remains in place and concentrates power in
17689-545: Was the small, communist Labor-Progressive Party , which had a handful of seats. In Saskatchewan, NDP premier Roy Romanow formed a formal coalition with the Saskatchewan Liberals in 1999 after being reduced to a minority. After two years, the newly elected Liberal leader David Karwacki ordered the coalition be disbanded, the Liberal caucus disagreed with him and left the Liberals to run as New Democrats in
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