Crossing The Floor Australian Parliament

Political parties in australia expect loyalty from their parliamentary members and as a result parties usually vote as a team.

Crossing the floor australian parliament.

Only 12 per cent of divisions were affected by these floor crossings. Deirdre mckeown and rob lundie present the preliminary results of a study of instances of crossing the floor in federal parliament. Senator reg wright from tasmania who served from 1950 to 1978 crossed the floor 150 times. From 1950 to 2004 245 members of parliament crossed the floor representing 24 per cent of all members of parliament who served in this period.

The australian senate like other parliaments based on the westminster system uses a divided chamber in politics a politician is said to cross the floor if they change their party allegiance. Such actions are rare in australia due to the strong party discipline exercised on members of parliament. Crossing the floor may mean changing to a second party after being elected as a member of a first party or voting against the approved party lines. Crossing the floor is rare.

This has led to speculation that members of the coalition might cross the floor over issues including industrial relations and voluntary student unionism.