April 26, 2025 • 15 mins
In less than a week, Australia will be heading to the polls to decide the next government.
In the lead-up, we've asked you what questions you still want answered about how Australia's electoral process works.
Like, what actually is a hung parliament? And what happens if the leader of the winning party does not win their own seat?
We answer all your questions in today's podcast.
This podcast was produced in partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission, Canberra.
Hosts: Billi FitzSimons and Sam Koslowski
Producer: Orla Maher
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast is produced in partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission.
Camera already and.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is the Daily This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Oh now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to
the Daily OS. It's Sunday, the twenty seventh of April.
I'm belief, it's Simon's.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I'm Sam because losky Sam.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Can you smell that?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Is that a democracy?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is the smell of democracy in action. And we
are so happy, aren't we, Sam, to be here on
another Sunday with another bonus episode, this time on all
of the questions that you have about Australia's election process.
Think of this as going right back to the basics.
We are doing politics one oh one.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's a good time to tune in, isn't it. Because
we are going to the polls next Saturday.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It is a very good time to tune in all
of Australia. Like you said, Sam will be heading to
the polls on Saturday day, the third of May, when
the country will decide who will next form government. Now,
Sam over on Instagram, We asked our audience what they
wanted to know and we were completely inundated with questions.
So today we are answering all of those questions.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Let's start off with the first one from Sharane. She
asked what positions or roles are we actually voting for.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
That's the perfect one to start us off because it
does take us right back to the basics and it's
really important for us to understand. So in this election,
we're all actually voting for a couple of things at
the federal election. So you're voting for who you want
to represent your local area in the House of Representatives,
and you're also voting for who you want to represent
(01:47):
your state or territory in the Senate. Now, I think
for this episode we will mostly focus on the House
of Representatives just because that is the house that determines
which party will be in government.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
So it's in the House of Reps that voters will
be electing someone from their area, which is also known
as an electorate, and that person will speak on their
behalf in Parliament. Now, Sam, do you know how many
electorates there are in Australia, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Do know that you need seventy six seats to win.
That is true, So therefore there would be seventy five
times two, which is one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
That is true and a great guest because last election
there were actually one hundred and fifty one electorates, but
now there's been a redistribution and now, yeah, did you
not know?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I love that you learned something new along with the audience.
That's so good. So now there are one hundred and
fifty electorates in Australia, and so that means that there
are one hundred and fifty seats up for grabs in
the House of Reps. And those electorates are based on
population side, so there are roughly about one hundred and
twenty thousand voters who live in each electorate.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And then I imagine that would mean that there's many
electorates in a metropolitan city, but then an electorate might
be really massive in the outback or exactly in some
of the more regional areas.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, definitely. And each electorate will have several different candidates,
usually one from each major party, so from the Labor
Party and the Liberal Party, and then some from minor
parties and others will also have independence running in that electorate,
which means that they just don't belong to a registered party.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
So it's kind of like, there's one hundred and fifty
different races happening all at once, and the party or
the coalition of parties that wins the seventy six number
across the races is going to be the next government exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So there literally are one hundred and fifty different races
happening at once. Plus there's also the eight Senate races.
I know, we said that we were just going to
focus on the House of Reps, but you can't forget
about the Senate, so there are also eight Senate races.
But yeah, I think that's important thing to point out
because often you just focus on kind of the one
big federal election race, but in reality, there are so
(04:02):
many different races all happening at once, which determines that
one overall big.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Race, which makes Saturday night, when everyone's counting one hundred
and fifty races at once or trying to figure out
what the numbers mean and where and why, it makes
it such a chaotic, bit exciting night.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
All the more exciting. Yeah, and it's because of this,
of what's happening in all the different electorates that you
won't actually see either Labor leader Anthony Albanesi or Liberal
Party leader Peter Dunden on your ballot paper unless you
are in their actual electorate. And it's also why when
you know you're walking around your area and you see
(04:38):
lots of posters up for the election, you're probably not
seeing Albanesi or Dudden's faces. You're seeing the faces and
names of the local candidates in your electorate, which.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Is one of the big differences we have with the
American presidential system. Yeah, where it's all about kind of
the two leaders. We've got that one hundred and fifty
race system. And when you said the House of Representatives
is where the government's formed, tell me a little bit
more about how that actually works, Like how do you
form a government?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Well, you kind of just answer that by saying that
they need to have at least seventy six seats. So
to just take a quick step back, so to form government,
a party needs to have at least seventy six of
their party members winning their electorate. You kind of already
did the mass for us, sam be I'll do it again.
So seventy six is the magic number because it is
a majority of the one hundred and fifty seats up.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
For grabs, And I literally picture a pigraph of the
House of Reps in my head, and see that kind
of middle point. And if you can sneak over a
little bit into the other side, you're forming government.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You're in government. And it's the Labor Party and the Coalition,
which is made up of the Liberal and National Parties,
who are usually the two groups who are able to
form that majority. So they're trying to reach that number
of seventy six seats at the election next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And that might happen on Saturday night if they've got
heaps of seats, but it might take a little bit longer,
and they might have to kind of figure out deals
with smaller parties and independence to form a minority government. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yes, And that is another question that we got a lot,
which is what exactly is a minority government.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I hear that term thrown around a lot every couple
of elections. I feel like it's kind of an almost
predicted result every so often. Can you explain exactly what
that means?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Yeah, So if no one reaches that magic number of
seventy six seats, then that's when our attention turns to
a minority government, which is also known as a hung parliament.
And it means that the major parties will need to
negotiate with minor parties or independents to form government. Now,
(06:42):
this doesn't mean that those parties formally join forces or
that the minor parties and independence become part of the government. Rather,
they kind of just agree to guarantee something called confidence
and supply.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Explain what that means.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, So that means that they agree to keep the
government in power and to vote to pass the budget
so that money can be allocated to keep the country
essentially running. And in exchange for that support, minor parties
and independents will likely impose some sort of conditions which
could look like support for particular policies that are important
(07:18):
to them.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I remember it would have to be maybe fifteen years
ago or so. Now we went through one of these
scenarios and it was down to a group of three
independents to pick who they were going to back for
that confidence and supply.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You're talking about when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, and I remember it almost feeling like a little
bit of an Australian Idol style press conference when they
were announcing who they were going to back, and it
was incredible that we have this big system with all
of these races all over the country, and because of
the dynamics of that election, it all came down to
who those independents were going to back.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I'm picturing like ten year old Sam or twelve year
old Sam when that was going on TV. So excited.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
But it can be really confusing.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It can be confusing, and so I want to just
give you an example, and I'm going to use made
up parties and policies here to just explain how a
minority government works. So, Sam, let's say the Orange Party
is a major party and they after the election has
been held, only have seventy four seats.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So on my pigraph, in my head, they're not over
the halfway line.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
They're not over the halfway line, and so they need
two more seats to form government and to get over
that halfway line. And then let's say that we have
the Pink Party, which is a minority party, and they
have won two seats. So if the Orange Party and
the Pink Party came together, then that would mean that
they have seventy six seats and that's enough to form government.
(08:44):
So Sam, in your paragraph, that's about fifty one percent
or maybe a little bit over if my mass is correct,
and that could mean that they could then form government,
but in exchange for it support the Pink Party, which
is the minor party. They might say, I can a
lot about every person getting a free puppy, and I'll
only support you if you make that law. And so
(09:06):
then it's up to the Orange Party, the major party,
to decide whether or not they're actually willing to make
that compromise, since giving everyone free puppies wasn't actually part
of what they wanted to do when they were campaigning
to be in government.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
It's such an interesting way that power can kind of
evolve in those situations. I mean, it's a quirk of
the system.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah. And so basically, if you're kind of listening to
this and a little bit lost, all you need to
know is that when it comes to the House of Representatives,
which is where government is formed, minor parties and independents
are most important. When there is a minority government.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Can you imagine a country where everyone had a free puppy.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
That's why I use that example because I think it
would be a happier country.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I would try and figure out how to be selling
like leashes or you've got that's incredible. Let's let's stick
to a more real, listic scenario. Though. The next question
came through. It's a really interesting one. Tell me about
a marginal seat.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Okay, so a marginal seat is basically an electorate where
it's not clear who's going to win because it appears
to be a really close race.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But it's worth noting that we don't actually know who's
going to win in any seat though, right.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No, that's true, But the AEC has a formal definition
of a marginal seat, so they define it as one
where the winner last time, So at the last election
in twenty twenty two received less than fifty six percent
of the final vote. Now, last election, they were actually
about a third of the seat, so a third of
(10:41):
the one hundred and fifty one remember last time, it
was different. A third of the one hundred and fifty
one seats that fit that description of being a marginal seat.
So that's quite a few. So that tells us that
there were lots of really tight races at the last election. Now,
anything above that fifty six percent vote is considered a
safe seat. So those are the ones where we can
(11:02):
pretty confidently say who will win that race, got it.
But it's the marginal seats that tend to get a
lot of the attention because they are ultimately the ones
that will determine who wins government.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Okay, that's really interesting and it kind of gives you
a little bit of guidance. If you're sitting on the
couch next Saturday night watching the election, what you should
be focused on is how some of those marginal seats
are going to fall. Definitely, Billy, we've got time for
one more question. What if the leader of the winning
party doesn't win their seat, So Anthony Aberenezi or Peter Dutton,
(11:39):
whoever wins, they're one of the one hundred and fifty races.
If they don't win their seat locally, what happens then?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So in theory, that could happen because, like you just said, Sam,
the leaders of the parties they don't just need to
win the election, they also need to win the race
in their electorate. Now, I do think it's worth mentioning
that this is rare that it would happened, but it
can happen. So the most recent example which I only
learned about this whilst researching for this podcast, and I
(12:08):
couldn't believe. I didn't know it was so interesting. You're
a political not so you're.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Absolutely eleven year old Sam soaked this up.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Okay, So for those who don't know, the most recent
example of something slightly similar happening is in two thousand
and seven when John Howard, who was the incumbent Prime
Minister at the time, and he was also the leader
of the Liberal Party, he lost his electorate during the
two thousand and seven election. He lost it to Kevin
Right at Kevin O seven. How could we forget? But
(12:38):
the difference with the question that you asked is that
he didn't just lose his seat. His party, the Liberal Party,
also lost the entire election.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Do you know who he lost his seat to.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think it's a female journalist.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Maxine McHugh, a former ABC journalist.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Interesting who's no longer in politics.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
No longer in politics, But for an eleven year old
Sam aspiring journalist, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Eleven year old Sam is getting so much air time.
He would be so proud, he would be so proud.
But just quickly to answer your actual question of what
would happen if a leader of a party lost their
seat but the party won the entire election. If that happened,
then the party would simply need to decide who the
new leader of their party would be.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Right, So it's unlikely, but there is a process of
what could happen should that be the case. And it
does just remind us all that we operate in this party.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Structure and it is That's what I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It's less about the prime minister.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
It is much less about the prime minister because in
Australia we are voting for which party we want to govern,
not which leader we want to be our prime minister.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I feel like we were all taught that in school,
but it's always worth reminding ourselves that that's how our
system actually works.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah, and you mentioned the differences with the US before.
That's again the key difference. We are voting for the party,
We're not voting for the leader.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's really important to get familiar with the mechanics of
the election and I think it's a point of pride
always for me when we dive into how our democracy works,
all the different tools available to politicians to get over
the line get that magic seventy six seat number. Billy,
thank you so much for taking us through that, Thank
you so much, and we'll be back in your ears
(14:21):
tomorrow morning for the final countdown towards the federal election.
It's only six days away now. That is super exciting,
a huge week for news, a huge week for the
Daily os. We can't wait to be there with you.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
See then, my name is Lily Maddon and I'm a
proud Arunda Bunjelung Kalkotin woman from Gadigl Country. The Daily
oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands
of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects
(14:55):
to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.
This podcast is produced in partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission.
Camera already and.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is the Daily This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Oh now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to
the Daily OS. It's Sunday, the twenty seventh of April.
I'm belief, it's Simon's.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I'm Sam because losky Sam.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Can you smell that?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Is that a democracy?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
It is the smell of democracy in action. And we
are so happy, aren't we, Sam, to be here on
another Sunday with another bonus episode, this time on all
of the questions that you have about Australia's election process.
Think of this as going right back to the basics.
We are doing politics one oh one.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's a good time to tune in, isn't it. Because
we are going to the polls next Saturday.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
It is a very good time to tune in all
of Australia. Like you said, Sam will be heading to
the polls on Saturday day, the third of May, when
the country will decide who will next form government. Now,
Sam over on Instagram, We asked our audience what they
wanted to know and we were completely inundated with questions.
So today we are answering all of those questions.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Let's start off with the first one from Sharane. She
asked what positions or roles are we actually voting for.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
That's the perfect one to start us off because it
does take us right back to the basics and it's
really important for us to understand. So in this election,
we're all actually voting for a couple of things at
the federal election. So you're voting for who you want
to represent your local area in the House of Representatives,
and you're also voting for who you want to represent
(01:47):
your state or territory in the Senate. Now, I think
for this episode we will mostly focus on the House
of Representatives just because that is the house that determines
which party will be in government.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
So it's in the House of Reps that voters will
be electing someone from their area, which is also known
as an electorate, and that person will speak on their
behalf in Parliament. Now, Sam, do you know how many
electorates there are in Australia, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Do know that you need seventy six seats to win.
That is true, So therefore there would be seventy five
times two, which is one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
That is true and a great guest because last election
there were actually one hundred and fifty one electorates, but
now there's been a redistribution and now, yeah, did you
not know?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I love that you learned something new along with the audience.
That's so good. So now there are one hundred and
fifty electorates in Australia, and so that means that there
are one hundred and fifty seats up for grabs in
the House of Reps. And those electorates are based on
population side, so there are roughly about one hundred and
twenty thousand voters who live in each electorate.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And then I imagine that would mean that there's many
electorates in a metropolitan city, but then an electorate might
be really massive in the outback or exactly in some
of the more regional areas.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, definitely. And each electorate will have several different candidates,
usually one from each major party, so from the Labor
Party and the Liberal Party, and then some from minor
parties and others will also have independence running in that electorate,
which means that they just don't belong to a registered party.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
So it's kind of like, there's one hundred and fifty
different races happening all at once, and the party or
the coalition of parties that wins the seventy six number
across the races is going to be the next government exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So there literally are one hundred and fifty different races
happening at once. Plus there's also the eight Senate races.
I know, we said that we were just going to
focus on the House of Reps, but you can't forget
about the Senate, so there are also eight Senate races.
But yeah, I think that's important thing to point out
because often you just focus on kind of the one
big federal election race, but in reality, there are so
(04:02):
many different races all happening at once, which determines that
one overall big.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Race, which makes Saturday night, when everyone's counting one hundred
and fifty races at once or trying to figure out
what the numbers mean and where and why, it makes
it such a chaotic, bit exciting night.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
All the more exciting. Yeah, and it's because of this,
of what's happening in all the different electorates that you
won't actually see either Labor leader Anthony Albanesi or Liberal
Party leader Peter Dunden on your ballot paper unless you
are in their actual electorate. And it's also why when
you know you're walking around your area and you see
(04:38):
lots of posters up for the election, you're probably not
seeing Albanesi or Dudden's faces. You're seeing the faces and
names of the local candidates in your electorate, which.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Is one of the big differences we have with the
American presidential system. Yeah, where it's all about kind of
the two leaders. We've got that one hundred and fifty
race system. And when you said the House of Representatives
is where the government's formed, tell me a little bit
more about how that actually works, Like how do you
form a government?
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Well, you kind of just answer that by saying that
they need to have at least seventy six seats. So
to just take a quick step back, so to form government,
a party needs to have at least seventy six of
their party members winning their electorate. You kind of already
did the mass for us, sam be I'll do it again.
So seventy six is the magic number because it is
a majority of the one hundred and fifty seats up.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
For grabs, And I literally picture a pigraph of the
House of Reps in my head, and see that kind
of middle point. And if you can sneak over a
little bit into the other side, you're forming government.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You're in government. And it's the Labor Party and the Coalition,
which is made up of the Liberal and National Parties,
who are usually the two groups who are able to
form that majority. So they're trying to reach that number
of seventy six seats at the election next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And that might happen on Saturday night if they've got
heaps of seats, but it might take a little bit longer,
and they might have to kind of figure out deals
with smaller parties and independence to form a minority government. Right.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yes, And that is another question that we got a lot,
which is what exactly is a minority government.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I hear that term thrown around a lot every couple
of elections. I feel like it's kind of an almost
predicted result every so often. Can you explain exactly what
that means?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Yeah, So if no one reaches that magic number of
seventy six seats, then that's when our attention turns to
a minority government, which is also known as a hung parliament.
And it means that the major parties will need to
negotiate with minor parties or independents to form government. Now,
(06:42):
this doesn't mean that those parties formally join forces or
that the minor parties and independence become part of the government. Rather,
they kind of just agree to guarantee something called confidence
and supply.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Explain what that means.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, So that means that they agree to keep the
government in power and to vote to pass the budget
so that money can be allocated to keep the country
essentially running. And in exchange for that support, minor parties
and independents will likely impose some sort of conditions which
could look like support for particular policies that are important
(07:18):
to them.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I remember it would have to be maybe fifteen years
ago or so. Now we went through one of these
scenarios and it was down to a group of three
independents to pick who they were going to back for
that confidence and supply.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You're talking about when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah, and I remember it almost feeling like a little
bit of an Australian Idol style press conference when they
were announcing who they were going to back, and it
was incredible that we have this big system with all
of these races all over the country, and because of
the dynamics of that election, it all came down to
who those independents were going to back.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I'm picturing like ten year old Sam or twelve year
old Sam when that was going on TV. So excited.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
But it can be really confusing.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It can be confusing, and so I want to just
give you an example, and I'm going to use made
up parties and policies here to just explain how a
minority government works. So, Sam, let's say the Orange Party
is a major party and they after the election has
been held, only have seventy four seats.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So on my pigraph, in my head, they're not over
the halfway line.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
They're not over the halfway line, and so they need
two more seats to form government and to get over
that halfway line. And then let's say that we have
the Pink Party, which is a minority party, and they
have won two seats. So if the Orange Party and
the Pink Party came together, then that would mean that
they have seventy six seats and that's enough to form government.
(08:44):
So Sam, in your paragraph, that's about fifty one percent
or maybe a little bit over if my mass is correct,
and that could mean that they could then form government,
but in exchange for it support the Pink Party, which
is the minor party. They might say, I can a
lot about every person getting a free puppy, and I'll
only support you if you make that law. And so
(09:06):
then it's up to the Orange Party, the major party,
to decide whether or not they're actually willing to make
that compromise, since giving everyone free puppies wasn't actually part
of what they wanted to do when they were campaigning
to be in government.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
It's such an interesting way that power can kind of
evolve in those situations. I mean, it's a quirk of
the system.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah. And so basically, if you're kind of listening to
this and a little bit lost, all you need to
know is that when it comes to the House of Representatives,
which is where government is formed, minor parties and independents
are most important. When there is a minority government.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Can you imagine a country where everyone had a free puppy.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
That's why I use that example because I think it
would be a happier country.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I would try and figure out how to be selling
like leashes or you've got that's incredible. Let's let's stick
to a more real, listic scenario. Though. The next question
came through. It's a really interesting one. Tell me about
a marginal seat.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Okay, so a marginal seat is basically an electorate where
it's not clear who's going to win because it appears
to be a really close race.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But it's worth noting that we don't actually know who's
going to win in any seat though, right.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No, that's true, But the AEC has a formal definition
of a marginal seat, so they define it as one
where the winner last time, So at the last election
in twenty twenty two received less than fifty six percent
of the final vote. Now, last election, they were actually
about a third of the seat, so a third of
(10:41):
the one hundred and fifty one remember last time, it
was different. A third of the one hundred and fifty
one seats that fit that description of being a marginal seat.
So that's quite a few. So that tells us that
there were lots of really tight races at the last election. Now,
anything above that fifty six percent vote is considered a
safe seat. So those are the ones where we can
(11:02):
pretty confidently say who will win that race, got it.
But it's the marginal seats that tend to get a
lot of the attention because they are ultimately the ones
that will determine who wins government.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Okay, that's really interesting and it kind of gives you
a little bit of guidance. If you're sitting on the
couch next Saturday night watching the election, what you should
be focused on is how some of those marginal seats
are going to fall. Definitely, Billy, we've got time for
one more question. What if the leader of the winning
party doesn't win their seat, So Anthony Aberenezi or Peter Dutton,
(11:39):
whoever wins, they're one of the one hundred and fifty races.
If they don't win their seat locally, what happens then?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So in theory, that could happen because, like you just said, Sam,
the leaders of the parties they don't just need to
win the election, they also need to win the race
in their electorate. Now, I do think it's worth mentioning
that this is rare that it would happened, but it
can happen. So the most recent example which I only
learned about this whilst researching for this podcast, and I
(12:08):
couldn't believe. I didn't know it was so interesting. You're
a political not so you're.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Absolutely eleven year old Sam soaked this up.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Okay, So for those who don't know, the most recent
example of something slightly similar happening is in two thousand
and seven when John Howard, who was the incumbent Prime
Minister at the time, and he was also the leader
of the Liberal Party, he lost his electorate during the
two thousand and seven election. He lost it to Kevin
Right at Kevin O seven. How could we forget? But
(12:38):
the difference with the question that you asked is that
he didn't just lose his seat. His party, the Liberal Party,
also lost the entire election.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Do you know who he lost his seat to.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I think it's a female journalist.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Maxine McHugh, a former ABC journalist.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Interesting who's no longer in politics.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
No longer in politics, But for an eleven year old
Sam aspiring journalist, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Eleven year old Sam is getting so much air time.
He would be so proud, he would be so proud.
But just quickly to answer your actual question of what
would happen if a leader of a party lost their
seat but the party won the entire election. If that happened,
then the party would simply need to decide who the
new leader of their party would be.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Right, So it's unlikely, but there is a process of
what could happen should that be the case. And it
does just remind us all that we operate in this party.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Structure and it is That's what I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
It's less about the prime minister.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
It is much less about the prime minister because in
Australia we are voting for which party we want to govern,
not which leader we want to be our prime minister.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I feel like we were all taught that in school,
but it's always worth reminding ourselves that that's how our
system actually works.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah, and you mentioned the differences with the US before.
That's again the key difference. We are voting for the party,
We're not voting for the leader.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It's really important to get familiar with the mechanics of
the election and I think it's a point of pride
always for me when we dive into how our democracy works,
all the different tools available to politicians to get over
the line get that magic seventy six seat number. Billy,
thank you so much for taking us through that, Thank
you so much, and we'll be back in your ears
(14:21):
tomorrow morning for the final countdown towards the federal election.
It's only six days away now. That is super exciting,
a huge week for news, a huge week for the
Daily os. We can't wait to be there with you.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
See then, my name is Lily Maddon and I'm a
proud Arunda Bunjelung Kalkotin woman from Gadigl Country. The Daily
oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands
of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects
(14:55):
to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.
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