The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement,both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups,it was Australia's largest minor party from its formation in 1977 through to 2004 and frequently held the balance of power in the Senate during that time.
The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into which it merged,it has been refounded in that state as the Family First Party (2021),where it contested the state election in 2022,but failed to win a seat.
The Division of Barker is an Australian electoral division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903,when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member divisions. It is named for Collet Barker,an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River. The 63,886 km²seat currently stretches from Morgan in the north to Port MacDonnell in the south,taking in the Murray Mallee,the Riverland,the Murraylands and most of the Barossa Valley,and includes the towns of Barmera,Berri,Bordertown,Coonawarra,Keith,Kingston SE,Loxton,Lucindale,Mannum,Millicent,Mount Gambier,Murray Bridge,Naracoorte,Penola,Renmark,Robe,Tailem Bend,Waikerie,and parts of Nuriootpa and Tanunda.
The Division of Boothby is an Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named after William Boothby (1829–1903),the Returning Officer for the first federal election.
The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey,who was Governor of South Australia from 1841 to 1845.
The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide,South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984,the division is named after Helen Mayo,a social activist and the first woman elected to an Australian University Council. The 9,315 km²rural seat covers an area from the Barossa Valley in the north to Cape Jervis in the south. Taking in the Adelaide Hills,Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island regions,its largest population centre is Mount Barker. Its other population centres are Aldgate,Bridgewater,Littlehampton,McLaren Vale,Nairne,Stirling,Strathalbyn and Victor Harbor,and its smaller localities include American River,Ashbourne,Balhannah,Brukunga,Carrickalinga,Charleston,Cherry Gardens,Clarendon,Crafers,Cudlee Creek,Currency Creek,Delamere,Echunga,Forreston,Goolwa,Gumeracha,Hahndorf,Houghton,Inglewood,Kersbrook,Kingscote,Langhorne Creek,Lobethal,Macclesfield,McLaren Flat,Meadows,Middleton,Milang,Mount Compass,Mount Pleasant,Mount Torrens,Mylor,Myponga,Normanville,Norton Summit,Oakbank,Penneshaw,Piccadilly,Port Elliot,Second Valley,Springton,Summertown,Uraidla,Willunga,Woodchester,Woodside,Yankalilla,and parts of Birdwood,Old Noarlunga and Upper Sturt.
The Division of Sturt is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. It was proclaimed at the South Australian redistribution of 11 May 1949. Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt,nineteenth century explorer. Following the loss of Boothby in 2022,it is currently the only seat in Adelaide held by the Liberal Party.
Nick Xenophon is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties:Nick Xenophon Team federally,and Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST in South Australia.
John Joseph Madigan was an Australian blacksmith and politician. He served as a Senator for Victoria from 2011 to 2016. He was elected to the Senate at the 2010 federal election as a member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). He resigned from the DLP to become an independent in September 2014,and later launched "John Madigan's Manufacturing and Farming Party" in 2015.
The 2018 South Australian state election to elect members to the 54th Parliament of South Australia was held on 17 March 2018. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly or lower house,whose members were elected at the 2014 election,and 11 of 22 seats in the Legislative Council or upper house,last filled at the 2010 election,were contested. The record-16-year-incumbent Australian Labor Party (SA) government led by Premier Jay Weatherill was seeking a fifth four-year term,but was defeated by the opposition Liberal Party of Australia (SA),led by Opposition Leader Steven Marshall. Nick Xenophon's new SA Best party unsuccessfully sought to obtain the balance of power.
Centre Alliance,formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT),is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament,Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Representatives.
The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolution federal election. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate were up for election.
Rebekha Carina Sharkie is an Australian politician and member of the Centre Alliance party. She is a member of the Australian House of Representatives,representing the Division of Mayo in South Australia. At the 2016 federal election she defeated Liberal Jamie Briggs,and was the first Nick Xenophon Team member to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives. On 11 May 2018,Sharkie resigned from the House of Representatives as a part of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis. She contested the 2018 Mayo by-election on 28 July,and was returned to parliament.
Skye Louise Kakoschke-Moore is an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia in the Parliament of Australia from July 2016 until she resigned in November 2017 during the parliamentary eligibility crisis,following her realisation that she was a dual citizen. Kakoschke-Moore had served as Nick Xenophon Team whip and spokesperson for mental health,disability,Indigenous affairs,veteran's affairs,women,arts and sports. She was also the social services spokeswoman for the party in the Senate.
This is a list of members of the Australian Senate following the 2016 Australian federal election held on 2 July 2016. The election was held as a consequence of a double dissolution in which both houses of parliament were dissolved. Ordinarily,only half of the senators terms end at each election. In this case,all 76 senators were elected. At the first sitting following the election,half of the senators representing each of the six states of Australia were allocated six-year terms to end on 30 June 2022,with the remainder allocated three-year terms to end on 30 June 2019. The terms of senators from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory end on the day of the next federal election.
The 2016 Australian federal election in the Senate was part of a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia,after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.
SA-Best,formerly known as Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST,is a political party in South Australia. It was founded in 2017 by Nick Xenophon as a state-based partner to his Nick Xenophon Team party. After an unsuccessful 2022 South Australian state election,the party has one representative in the South Australian Legislative Council,Connie Bonaros,whose term expires in 2026.
The 45th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government,composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. It met in Canberra from 30 August 2016 to 4 April 2019. The 2016 general election held on 2 July gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House,albeit with a slimmer majority than the 44th Parliament,allowing their leader Malcolm Turnbull to stay in office as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. During the term of the parliament,the government slipped into minority due to defections and by-elections. The leadership of the government also changed during the parliament,when Scott Morrison replaced Turnbull as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister in August 2018. The 45th Parliament was officially prorogued by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at 8:29 a.m. on 11 April 2019,and the House of Representatives dissolved at 8:30 a.m.
Starting in July 2017,the eligibility of several members of the Parliament of Australia was questioned. Referred to by some as a "constitutional crisis",fifteen sitting politicians were ruled ineligible by the High Court of Australia or resigned pre-emptively. The situation arose from section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution,which prohibits parliamentarians from having allegiance to a foreign power,especially citizenship. On that basis,the High Court had previously held that dual citizens are ineligible for election unless they have taken "reasonable steps" to renounce the foreign citizenship before nomination.
Rex Lyall Patrick is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from November 2017 until June 2022. He was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Nick Xenophon. He joined the Senate as member of the Centre Alliance party,though in August 2020 he left the party and became an independent. He created the Rex Patrick Team party in January 2021 and sat in parliament as its only member for the duration of his term. Before entering politics,Patrick was a businessman and senior business executive officer,as well as a submariner in the Royal Australian Navy.
