Minority Government

A minority government exists where a government lacking an outright majority of seats depends for its survival on the support of other parties or independents who hold the balance of power in the lower House.

A party or coalition does not have to have an outright majority of seats in the lower house to be able to form a government. The key to the survival of a government in a parliamentary system depends on its ability to maintain the confidence, or support, of the lower house.

Equally, a government lacking the support of a majority can survive if the other groups in the House are unable to unite to express a lack of confidence.

Minority governments were common at the federal level in the first decade of Federation, but until 2010 the last time a federal government was in a minority was between 1940-43. Following the 1940 election, the ALP had 36 seats, as did the coalition parties. The balance of power was held by two independents, Arthur Coles and Alexander Wilson. In 1941, Coles and Wilson withdrew their support from the coalition parties, transferring it to the ALP, thus making John Curtin the Prime Minister.

Gillard Minority Labor Government

Following the 2010 federal election, the ALP won 72 seats, Coalition 72, Independent Nationals 1, Greens 1, Independent 4. With the support of the Greens member (Bandt) and three of the Independents (Wilkie, Windsor and Oakeshott), Julia Gillard was able to form a minority government which could muster 76 votes to 74 in the House of Representatives.

UPDATE: In November 2011, the Gillard Government’s position on the floor of the House was strengthened after the Labor Speaker Harry Jenkins resigned and was replaced by a Liberal member, Peter Slipper. Since the Speaker does not cast a deliberative vote unless the numbers are tied, the government’s position improved from 75-74 to 76-73.

Recent State Examples

In 1999, Steve Bracks formed a minority Labor government in Victoria which survived with the support of three rural independents in the Legislative Assembly.

Within months of taking office, the ALP won another two seats from the coalition at by-elections, giving it an outright majority of 46-39-3. Bracks chose to maintain the arrangements with the independents for the remainder of his first term.

A different situation existed in Tasmania between 1996-98:

Even though it was outnumbered by the combination of all other groups, the Liberal Party governed because the ALP and the Greens were unwilling to work together, as they had done some years earlier. The ALP would not support a no-confidence motion against the government, hence the government survived, despite lacking a majority of seats in the lower house.

Minority governments are now much more common in Australia. At the end of 2010, the Federal government was a minority government. The Tasmanian Labor government survived by forming a coalition with the Greens. In the Northern Territory, the Labor government relied on the support of an independent. The ACT government governed with the support of the Greens.