Australia's got a hung parliament

Yesterday's federal election in Australia has delivered a hung parliament, with neither of the two major political parties having the majority of lower house seats.

 

The next government will depend on how the independent and Greens MPs. There are 5 of them, labelled as the gang of five.

 

The ABC's election estimate predicts 73 seats for the coalition and 72 for the current sitting ALP government. 75 is half of the 150 MPs in the House and 76 is the minimum majority.

 

If this prediction is realised, it means the government has lost its huge majority. As a result, it appears it has lost the trust and confidence of the nation, even though it has managed to avoid a recession that has plagued most industrialised nations over the past years.

 

The nature of a hung parliament means the next government is unlikely to be very reformative in terms of major policies. But it may also mean that it is unlike to see the major blunders a government could make if it has the majority and does not care much others' opinions.

 

As I have written earlier, I do hope that the Labor would change its NBN policy and reduce the government exposure to investment, and the coalition would change its climate change policy to use market mechanisms to deliver emissions reductions.

 

I also hope that a hung parliament would improve the current democracy. There are a number of things they could do:

1. To change the election to a fixed 4 years term.
2. To improve government policies by having more effective and independent scrutiny. What it means to strengthen more independent institutions, such as a government spending assessment by a parliament managed body.
3. To have most government policies assessed independently by independent and reputable bodies/institutions.