48th Parliament of Australia

Last updated

48th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
47th  
  49th
Parliament House (2023) Parliament House, Canberra at twilight, 2023, 08.jpg
Parliament House (2023)
Parliament House (2023)

22 July 2025 –
Members76 senators
150 representatives
Senate President Sue Lines, Labor
(from 26 July 2022)
House Speaker Milton Dick, Labor
(from 26 July 2022)
Sessions
1st: 22 July, 2025 –
House Composition (as of 22 July 2025)

Australian House of Representatives chart.svg Government (94)

  •   Labor (94)


Opposition (43)
Coalition


Crossbench (13)

Senate Composition (as of 22 July 2025)

2025 Australian Senate - Composition of Members.svg Government (29)


Opposition (27)
Coalition


Crossbench (20)

Flag of Australia.svg Australiaportal

The 48th Parliament of Australia is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the Commonwealth of Australia, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The 48th parliament was opened on 22 July 2025, [1] following the federal election which was held on 3 May 2025. The Labor government, led by Australia's 31st Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was reelected with an increased 18-seat majority, holding 94 out of the 150 seats in the lower house. [2]

Contents

Events of the 48th Parliament

Prior to sitting

The 2025 Australian federal election, held on 3 May, resulted in a historic landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Labor secured 94 seats in the House of Representatives, growing their parliamentary majority and achieving the largest number of seats won by the party at the federal level in its history. The result exceeded almost all published opinion polling, which had predicted either a smaller majority for the Labor government or a hung parliament. It was the fourth time in history that a party or coalition secured 90 or more seats in a federal election—the last instance being in 2013. It also marked the first time a single party, and specifically the Labor Party, achieved this feat and this was also the equal largest number of seats won by a party or coalition in Australian electoral history exceeding the 1975 election result and equalling the 1996 result. [3]

The Coalition suffered significant losses, including the seat of Dickson, held by then-Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who was unseated by Labor's Ali France. [4] [5]

A particularly notable outcome was the dramatic decline of the Australian Greens in the lower house. The party lost three of its four seats, including the long-held seat of Melbourne, where Greens leader Adam Bandt was defeated by Labor's Sarah Witty, ending his 15-year tenure in Parliament. The Greens' only remaining seat in the House of Representatives was Ryan in Queensland, held by Elizabeth Watson-Brown. Some prominent commentary attributed the Greens' losses to their policy positions, particularly regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict, and a perceived shift away from core environmental issues, leading to voter alienation in key electorates. [6] [7] [8] Other commentary instead explained the dramatic fall in seat count as primarily due to the way small shifts in vote counts can lead to large shifts in margins and seat counts under Australia's preferential voting system, also a factor in the Greens' sudden jump from 1 to 4 seats in 2022. [9] [10]

Another significant development in the 2025 election was the re-emergence of Clive Palmer with a new political party, the Trumpet of Patriots. After the High Court blocked the re-registration of his previous party, the United Australia Party, Palmer joined the Trumpet of Patriots in February 2025, which was modelled after Trumpism. The party's campaign featured slogans like "Make Australia Great Again" and policies opposing immigration and gender diversity initiatives. Despite spending approximately $60 million on a nationwide advertising blitz, including over $6 million on YouTube and Meta platforms, and sending over 17 million unsolicited text messages, the party failed to secure any seats in Parliament, garnering only 1.85% of the national vote. Following this defeat, Palmer announced his retirement from politics, citing his age and a desire to focus on philanthropic efforts. [11]

Nationals senator Matt Canavan challenged incumbent leader David Littleproud in a leadership spill. [12] Littleproud was re-elected as party leader on 12 May. [13]

On 13 May 2025, the Liberals elected their new leader in a leadership election. Following the federal election but prior to the leadership election, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defected from the Nationals party room to the Liberal party room to stand in the election for the position of Deputy Leader. Sussan Ley was subsequently elected leader, narrowly defeating Angus Taylor, with Ted O'Brien being elected as her deputy. [14] Ley is the first woman elected to lead the Liberals, the Coalition, or serve as the Leader of the Opposition at the federal level in Australia. [15] At 63, Ley is also the oldest first-time Leader of the Opposition since Arthur Calwell in 1960. [16]

The Greens held a leadership election on 15 May 2025, and elected senator Larissa Waters as their leader. [17]

On 20 May 2025, Littleproud announced the breakup of the Coalition, citing irreconcilable policy disagreements around nuclear energy amongst other topics. [18]

On 28 May 2025, Sussan Ley and David Littleproud announced that a new deal had been reached to reunify the Liberal-National Coalition after the Liberal Party agreed on an 'in principle' basis to support the four policy demands from the Nationals Party – removing the moratorium on nuclear energy, supermarket divestiture powers, regional phone coverage, and a regional future fund. [19] The Coalition's shadow cabinet, consisting of 14 Liberals and 6 Nationals, was announced later that afternoon. [20]

On 2 June 2025, Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox announced that she had switched party from the Greens to the ALP. This brought Labor up to 29 senators, allowing them to pass legislation with either the Coalition or the Greens. [21] Alternatively, Labor can pass legislation through the Senate with the support of all ten of the other crossbench senators; the four One Nation senators, Ralph Babet, Jacqui Lambie, Fatima Payman, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe, and Tammy Tyrrell, but this is considered unlikely due to their highly divergent political views.

Sitting

The parliament was opened by Governor General Sam Mostyn on 22 July 2025. [22]

Membership

Senate

40 of the 76 seats in the upper house were contested in the election in May 2025. The class of senators elected in 2025 are denoted with an asterisk (*).

House of Representatives

All 150 seats in the lower house were contested in the election in May 2025. [26]

Changes in membership

Senate

This table lists senators who have resigned, died, been elected or appointed, or otherwise changed their party affiliation during the 48th Parliament.

SeatBeforeChangeAfter
MemberPartyTypeDateDateMemberParty
Before the start of 48th Parliament
Tasmania Anne Urquhart Labor Resignation [27] 28 March 202527 May 2025 Josh Dolega Labor
Northern Territory Jacinta Nampijinpa Price National Switching party-room9 May 2025 Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Liberal
Western Australia Dorinda Cox Greens Resignation from party [21] 2 June 2025 Dorinda Cox Labor
New South Wales Warwick Stacey One Nation Resignation [28] 19 August 2025TBCTBC One Nation

Notes

    1. Including 10 Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) MPs who sit in the Liberals party room
    2. Including 6 Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) MPs who sit in the Nationals party room
    3. Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party (NT) senator who sit in the Liberal party room.
    4. Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators who sit in the Nationals party room.
    5. David Pocock, Tammy Tyrrell and Lidia Thorpe.

    References

    1. Krishani Dhanji (22 July 2025). "As it happened: Parliament officially opens". The Guardian.
    2. Maguire, Dannielle (4 May 2025). "Who won the 2025 Australian federal election? What happened to Peter Dutton?". ABC News Australia. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
    3. Bongiorno, Frank (14 May 2025). "Political parties can recover after a devastating election loss. But the Liberals will need to think differently". The Conversation. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
    4. Knott, Matthew (5 May 2025). "Did the polls get this election wrong?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    5. "Everything you need to know about Dickson: The key seat the Coalition has been defending for 25 years". Brisbane Times. 25 April 2025. Archived from the original on 3 May 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
    6. "Greens leader Adam Bandt concedes seat, ending 15 years in parliament". ABC News. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    7. "Why some voters flipped from Greens to Labor in progressive Melbourne". ABC News. 8 May 2025. Archived from the original on 11 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    8. "Greens leader Adam Bandt becomes second party chief to lose seat after Peter Dutton ousted". News.com.au. 9 May 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
    9. "And the Bandt played out: Inside the Greens result". 10 May 2025.
    10. "How Labor won the preference war (And screwed the Greens)". 5 May 2025.
    11. Hussey, Samuel (4 May 2025). "How billionaire Clive Palmer burned $60 million on a party that won nothing". Forbes Australia. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    12. "Matt Canavan challenges David Littleproud as Coalition fractures deepen". 7NEWS. 9 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
    13. Cassidy, Caitlin; Convery, Stephanie (12 May 2025). "Australia news live: Bridget McKenzie says Nationals a 'highly intellectual group of fighters' after David Littleproud re-elected as leader". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 12 May 2025.
    14. "Jacinta Price announces run for deputy Liberal Party leader". 9News. 10 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
    15. Truu, Maani (13 May 2025). "Sussan Ley becomes first woman to lead Liberal Party". ABC News. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    16. Cassidy, Caitlin; Kelly, Cait (13 May 2025). "Australia news live: Sussan Ley claims PM's approach to Jewish Australians 'one of the biggest threats to social cohesion'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 May 2025.
    17. "Larissa Waters chosen as new Greens leader". ABC News. 15 May 2025. Archived from the original on 17 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
    18. McIlroy, Tom (20 May 2025). "Nationals leaving Coalition as David Littleproud announces split with Liberal party after election defeat". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 20 May 2025.
    19. "Coalition split officially over after little more than a week". www.9news.com.au. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    20. Jervis-Bardy, Dan; Butler, Josh; McIlroy, Tom (28 May 2025). "Liberals and Nationals reach agreement to reunite Coalition a week after dramatic split". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    21. 1 2 "Greens senator Dorinda Cox makes shock switch to Labor". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
    22. 1 2 Canales, Sarah Basford (23 July 2025). "Mehreen Faruqi sanctioned for Gaza sign protest as Greens senator accused of 'street theatre'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
    23. Canales, Sarah Basford (24 July 2025). "Labor and Greens unite to condemn One Nation senators for snubbing acknowledgment of country". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
    24. Butler, Josh (28 July 2025). "Jason Clare vows to use new childcare centre powers as soon as possible with list already in sights". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
    25. "Student debt cuts made official as legislation passes". 7NEWS. 6 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
    26. "House of Representatives − Seat summary". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
    27. Langenberg, Adam (12 November 2024). "PM Albanese looks to White, Urquhart for Labor victory in crucial Tasmanian seats of Lyons and Braddon". ABC News. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
    28. "Newly elected One Nation senator confirms resignation, citing 'personal health reasons'". News.com.au. 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.