Balance of power: Power held by a small party or group of independent representatives when a major political party needs their support to form a government.
Ballot: A way of voting anonymously, usually a ballot paper and ballot box.
Ballot paper: A sheet of paper containing candidate names and political parties upon which voters mark their preferences in an election. In Australian federal elections there are two ballot papers; one for the House of Representatives, and one for the Senate.
Bellwether seat: A term used to describe an electoral district whose voters have historically chosen a candidate from the election-winning party in a series of elections. Pollsters and academics look to Bellwether seats to discern trends and predict the outcome of an election.
Bicameral: A bicameral parliament divides the members of parliament into two separate chambers, or houses. Australia’s Federal Parliament has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Blue ribbon seat: An electorate that has consistently votes for the same member or party over a long period of time, usually with a significant winning margin, thus making it a 'safe' seat.
Canvassing: Trying to win votes by directly contacting voters, for example by going door-to-door and speaking in-person with voters.
Test your knowledge in the Aussie political jargon quiz.
Coalition: A collection of two or more political groups who unite, usually to form a government or opposition. In Australia, ‘the Coalition’ unless otherwise stated refers to the Liberal and National parties who cooperate closely.
Conservative: A person or politician who wishes to keep things the way they are, supports traditional values and historically opposed government interference. Commonly described as being from the ‘right’, ‘right wing’ or ‘right of centre’ in politics.
Deficit: Usually used in the context of federal budgets. The difference between the funds the government collects in taxes and what funds it spends over the same period. Cutting the country's deficit is a key talking point.
Dog-whistle: Political messaging that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different meaning for a targeted subgroup. It is often used to criticise a policy, seeming to be reasonable at face value, but actually intended to appeal to a more radical set of voters. In Australian politics it has traditionally been used to describe the motivations and rhetoric toward immigration and asylum seeker policy.
Elector: All those who have a right to vote in an election.
Electoral roll: A list of those who have registered to vote in elections in Australia. The roll is organised and put together by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
Electorate: The area that an elected Member of Parliament represents. There are 151 federal electorates in Australia, and, as a result, 151 MPs. An average of 150,000 citizens live in each electorate, with an average of 105,000 voters.
Freedom of speech: The right to speak freely on social and political matters without censorship or fear of enforced silence. Australia does not have a Bill of Rights and the Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression, however it is implied in other laws and by High Court rulings.
Favourite: A candidate who is expected to win an election or be nominated by their party to take part in an election.
Gerrymander: Deliberately dividing a constituency in a way that gives an advantage to one political party or to particular voters.
Grassroots: Everyday people regarded as the main supporters of an organisation or political party. Also often referred to as ‘the base’.
The House of Representatives: The lower house of the Parliament of Australia, consisting of 151 members, elected by and representing districts known as electoral divisions or electorates.
Hung parliament: If no party wins a majority of seats in the House of Representatives (76 or more seats) then it’s called a ‘hung parliament’.
Hustings: Public meetings in the run-up to an election where candidates outline their policies as part of their election campaign. In Australia, it is also used to describe campaigning in electorates.
Incumbent: A person who currently holds a political post or office.
Informal vote: A vote that is not included when counting in an election because the voter has filled in their ballot paper incorrectly, or deliberately spoiled the paper in protest.
Independent: A politician or candidate who does not belong to a political party.
Interest group: A group of people organised to take action on a cause, interest or concern.
Kingmaker: A small party or independent politician that plays a deciding role in forming the majority required to win government, in the event of no party winning a clear majority on their own terms. As a result, small parties that play this role usually gain relatively more importance and power in parliament.
Landslide victory: An overwhelming majority of votes for one candidate or party in an election.
Marginal seat: A seat that is held by a political party by a narrow margin and so is at risk of being lost to another party.
Moderate: A person or candidate with moderate political opinions and policies.
Mudslinging: The practice of saying negative things about an opponent during a political campaign. Also known as ‘dirty politics’.
Multiculturalism: A political philosophy that favours different cultures mixing with each other and learning about each other’s food, music, art, literature, language and customs to help prevent misunderstandings, fight racism and create a welcoming society for all.
The Left: Organisations of political parties that generally favour social justice and freedom over the free market, and that aim to share a county’s wealth between all people more equally. The left is often referred to as ‘progressive’. A ‘leftie’ is a slang term, often meant as a criticism of a person who supports ‘the left’.
Liberalism: A broad political ideology that generally favours individual freedom, open government and the free market, but which supports the input of government to protect the economy and vulnerable citizens.
Mandate: The authority to represent the population’s interests and take action on their behalf.
Manifesto: A document stating a political party’s values, goals and intended actions if they become the government. It’s often referred to as the party’s platform.
MP: Stands for Member of Parliament. Each of the 151 federal constituencies in the House of Representatives has an MP who represents their area's interests.
Nanny state: Often used to criticise a policy or idea that would lead to a government that is over-protective or interferes too greatly with individual freedoms and choice.
Nativism: The policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants of a country against those of immigrants.
Opposition: The political parties that aren't in government sit opposite the governing party or coalition in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The leader of the party with the second largest number of seats is called the ‘Leader of the Opposition’.
Platform: A political party’s written statement of its principles and policies on a number of topics, which is published during an election campaign. It’s often also called a manifesto.
Polls: Asking, recording and analysing the opinion of people in a survey during the election campaign. The people or organisations who conduct polls are often referred to as pollsters.
Polling station: The place where one goes to cast their vote, usually somewhere local to where one lives, such as a school, church or community centre.
Political correctness: Sometimes abbreviated as ‘PC’, the term is used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society.
Pork-barrelling: A frequently used term in Australian politics, a party or candidate can be accused of ‘pork-barrelling’ if they direct funding or resources into seats that will help them secure votes or the support of that member of parliament, rather than allocating resources on a need's or merit basis.
Postal voting: After an election is announced, people can apply for a postal vote and have their ballot papers sent to them in the mail. You can apply online via the AEC website, or by completing a postal vote application form available from AEC offices throughout the election campaign.
Preferential voting: Australia uses the preferential system of voting in elections for the House of Representatives. This means that voters are required to number all candidates on the ballot paper in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent the first preference vote, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated and that candidate's votes are distributed to the remaining candidates based on the recorded preferences of voters. The process continues until a candidate accumulates a simple majority.
Preference deals: Australian political parties seek to influence voter preferences at elections by handing out ‘How to vote’ cards at voting stations, which suggest a sequence of preferences for voters. Parties may sometimes work out deals between each other in how they direct voter preferences. These preference deals can be based on agreements to gain advantage in local seats, or nation-wide. Preference deals are often a key discussion during the election campaign because of their importance in determining election results, particularly in marginal electorates and for smaller parties.
Prime Minister: The leader of the winning party, or leader of the largest party in a winning coalition, in a federal election becomes Prime Minister.
Progressive: A person or politician who favouring change and reform, and generally welcomes new ideas and improvements to older policies. Commonly described as being from the ‘left’, ‘left wing’ or ‘left of centre’ in politics.
Protest vote: A vote for a candidate made not out of support, but to show disapproval of another political party and its candidate.
Populism: A political program or movement that champions the ‘common person’, usually by contrasting with ‘an elite’. Populist candidates or parties have often combined elements of the left and the right, opposing large business and financial interests but also frequently being hostile to established political parties.
Populist: Often used as a criticism of a person or party claiming to represent the common people.
Pub test: A term used to describe the general opinion of ‘everyday Australians’ about current events, politicians or policies. For example, when something does not ‘pass the pub test’, it is said to be something that people would not believe or agree with.
The Right: A section of a political party, organisation or a system that tends to be conservative in its political thought.
Seat: Originally meaning the physical place where a representative sits in parliament, today it’s more often used to refer to an electorate.
Safe seat: An electorate that is likely to be won by a particular candidate or party as indicated by the voting pattern in the previous election or current opinion polling in that electorate.
The Senate: The upper house of the Parliament of Australia. There are a total of 76 Senators. Twelve senators are elected from each of the six states regardless of population and two each from of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.
Small ‘L’ Liberal: Often used to describe a person who holds liberal political views, as distinct from a more conservative member of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Spin: Public relations activity, for example press releases or interviews that aim to present an incident, politician or their party, in a particularly one-sided and favourable manner.
Spin doctor: A word for person who publicizes only favourable interpretations of the words and actions of a public figure, especially a politician.
Sound bite: A brief, quotable remark repeated on radio, TV and online news programs to reflect the position of a political candidate or party. Often used as a criticism to describe candidate’s remarks as lacking in substance.
Straw poll: An unofficial vote or ad-hoc survey to get an idea of popular opinion.
Swing: Refers to the change in voter support in the whole country or single electorates, typically compared to the last election. It’s usually talked about as a positive or negative percentage.
Swing voter: A person whose support can switch from one political party to another, depending on the issue at stake or election.
Surplus: A situation where a government takes in more tax money than the money it is spending. It’s the opposite of a deficit.
Tactical voting: When a voter doesn’t vote for their favoured candidate but instead votes for another hoping to prevent the strongest candidate from winning.
Term: The fixed period of time between general elections. MPs are elected to serve for one term.
Two-party-preferred vote: The election or opinion poll result after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates. The two-party-preferred vote is talked about as the percentage of the vote dived among the two major political cohorts in the federal Parliament – the Coalition and the Labor party.
Ultra-marginal seat: A seat that is held by a political party by a very narrow margin and regarded to be at risk of being lost to another party.
Voter turnout: The number or percentage of all voters who cast a vote in the election.