General Information
A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation’s primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.
In Australia we have Federal Elections, State Elections & Local Government Elections.
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia (Federally) consists of two chambers:
The House of Representatives has 150 members, elected for a three year term in single-seat constituencies with a system of alternative vote known as full preferential voting. The Senate has 76 members, elected through a preferential system in 12-seat state constituencies and two-seat territorial constituencies with a system of single transferable vote. Electors choose territorial senators for a three-year term. The state senators serve for a six-year term, with half of the seats renewed every three years.
The Prime Minister can advise the Governor-General to call an election for the House of Representatives at any time, but Senate elections can only be held within certain periods prescribed in the Constitution. The last general election was in November 2007.
Major Political Parties in Australia include: Australian Labor Party (ALP), Liberal Party (LP), National Party of Australi (NP), Greens. The Liberal Party and National Party are also known as the Coalition.
The current Prime Minister of Austarlia is Kevin Rudd from the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
