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1940 Australian General Election
The 1940 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Coalition, consisting of the United Australia Party led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Country Party led by Archie Cameron, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin despite losing the overall popular vote. The Coalition won 36 seats, two short of a majority, but formed a government on 28 October 1940 with the support of both independent crossbenchers, Alexander Wilson and Arthur Coles. The four MPs elected to Lang Labor's successor, the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), officially re-joined the ALP just months after the election in February 1941, bringing the ALP to 36 seats. The UAP–Country minority government lasted only until October 1941, when the two independents crossed the floor and allowed the ALP to form a minority government with Curtin as pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian House Of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses. Elections for members of the House of Representatives are often held in conjunction with those for the Senate. A member of the House may be referred to as a "Member of Parliament" ("MP" or "Member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "Senator". The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power. The House of Representatives c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the federal government since being elected in the 2022 election. The ALP is a federal party, with political branches in each state and territory. They are currently in government in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory. They are currently in opposition in New South Wales and Tasmania. It is the oldest political party in Australia, being established on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne, the meeting place of the first federal Parliament. The ALP was not founded as a federal party until after the first sitting of the Australian parliament in 1901. It is regarded as descended from labour parties founded in the various Australian colonies by the emerging la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1937 Australian Federal Election
The 1937 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 23 October 1937. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent UAP–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin. The election is notable in that the Country Party achieved its highest-ever primary vote in the lower house, thereby winning nearly a quarter of all lower-house seats. At the 1934 election nine seats in New South Wales had been won by Lang Labor. Following the reunion of the two Labor parties in February 1936, these were held by their members as ALP seats at the 1937 election. With the party's wins in Ballaarat and Gwydir (initially at a by-election on 8 March 1937), the ALP had a net gain of 11 seats compared with the previous election. This was the first federal election that future Prime Ministers Harold Holt and Arthur Fadden contested as members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Calwell
Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party to three federal elections. Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St Joseph's College. After leaving school, he began working as a clerk for the Victorian state government. He became involved in the labour movement as an officeholder in the public-sector trade union. Before entering parliament, Calwell held various positions in the Labor Party's organisation wing, serving terms as state president and as a member of the federal executive. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1940 federal election, standing in the Division of Melbourne. After the 1943 election, Calwell was elevated to cabinet as Minister for Information, overseeing government censorship and propaganda during World War II. When Ben Chifley became prime minister in 1945, Calwell was also made Minister for Immigration. He ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence Vote
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or management is still deemed fit to hold that position, such as because they are inadequate in some aspect, fail to carry out their obligations, or make decisions that other members feel to be detrimental. The parliamentary motion demonstrates to the head of government that the elected Parliament either has or no longer has confidence in one or more members of the appointed government. In some countries, a no-confidence motion being passed against an individual minister requires the minister to resign. In most cases, if the minister in question is the premier, all other ministers must also resign. A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion. Depending on the constitution of the body concerned, "no confidence" may lead to the dism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-party System
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the ''majority'' or ''governing party'' while the other is the ''minority'' or ''opposition party''. Around the world, the term has different meanings. For example, in the United States, the Bahamas, Jamaica, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe, the sense of ''two-party system'' describes an arrangement in which all or nearly all elected officials belong to either of the two major parties, and third parties rarely win any seats in the legislature. In such arrangements, two-party systems are thought to result from several factors, like "winner takes all" or "first past the post" election systems.Regis PublishingThe US System: Winner Takes All Accessed August 12, 2013, "...Winner-take-all rules trigger a cycle that leads to and strengthen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1910 Australian Federal Election
The 1910 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 13 April 1910. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Commonwealth Liberal Party (the result of a merger between the Protectionist Party and the Anti-Socialist Party) led by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin was defeated by the opposition Labour Party, led by Andrew Fisher. The election represented a number of landmarks: it was Australia's first elected federal majority government; Australia's first elected Senate majority; the world's first Labour party majority government at a national level; after the 1904 Chris Watson minority and Fisher's former minority government the world's third Labour party government at a national level; the first time it controlled ''both'' houses of a bicameral legislature; and the first time that a prime minister, in this case Deakin, was defeated at an election. It also remains the only election in Australia's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossing The Floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). In Australia though, this term simply refers to Members of Parliament (MPs) who dissent from the party line and vote against the express instructions of the party whip while retaining membership in their political party (at least for the time being). Voting against party lines may lead to consequences such as losing a position (e.g., as minister or a portfolio critic) or being ejected from the party caucus. While these practices are legally permissible in most countries, crossing the floor can lead to controversy and media attention. Some countries like India, the Maldives and Bangladesh have laws that remove a member from parliament due to floor-crossing. Etymology The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is config ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minority Government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the legislature. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, enabling a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support or consent of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In Bicameralism, bicameral legislatures, the term relates to the situation in the chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government (generally, the lower house). A minority government tends to be much less stable than a majority government because if they can unite for a purpose, opposing parliamentary members have the numbers to vote against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist)
The Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), which operated from 1940 to 1941, was a breakaway from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and was associated with the Lang Labor faction and former New South Wales premier Jack Lang. History Lang lost the leadership of the New South Wales state branch of the ALP in 1939. Prior to that, between 1931 and 1936, the NSW branch, led by Lang, had been expelled from the ALP and ran in elections as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales), also known as Lang Labor. After the reconciliation of the NSW branch and ALP, left-wing forces gained control of the extra-parliamentary executive of the NSW Branch and, in 1940, the state executive adopted a policy calling for a "Hands off Russia", which was seen as opposing Australian involvement in World War II. Lang denounced that stance; despite his radicalism, he had always been strongly anti-Communist. He seceded from Labor, along with several supporters, and formed a new party called the "Austra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lang Labor
Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the NSW branch by the Federal Executive during the Federal Conference in March 1931, the expelled branch led by Lang ran as Australian Labor Party (New South Wales) in state and federal elections. Lang Labor reconciled with Labor in February 1936. In later years, the term "Lang Labor" also included Lang and his supporters who broke away (or were expelled) from the ALP in later years, forming breakaway party Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) between 1940 and 1941, and between 1943 and 1950. During its time, Lang Labor had representation in both state and federal parliaments. Background Lang was elected leader of New South Wales branch of the Labor Party in 1922 by the NSW party caucus, after two interim leaders had been appointed durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Coles
Sir Arthur William "A.W." Coles (7 August 1892 – 14 June 1982) was a prominent Australian businessman and philanthropist, a son of St James, Victoria shopkeeper George W. Coles (died 1932). With his brothers George James "G.J." (1885–1977), Kenneth Frank "K.F." (1896 –1985), Edgar Barton "E.B." (1899–1981), and Norman Cameron "N.C." Coles (1907–1989), A. W. Coles founded Coles Variety Stores in the 1920s, which was to become Coles Group, one of the two largest supermarket chains in Australia. He served as Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1938 to 1940. In 1940 he was elected to the federal parliament as an Independent from Henty. With Alexander Wilson, he held the balance of power, at first keeping the UAP-National government in office, but in 1941 switching sides to install a new Australian Labor Party government. In 1946 Coles was appointed chair of the Australian National Airways Commission, which founded Trans Australia Airlines (later know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
