Hung what?

Political commentator Michelle Grattan, this week wrote an article in which she commented that the bitterness seen in parliament has to do with the 'hung parliament' status it currently has, this may be true, but, for me it raises more questions than it solves. A hung parliament simply means a parliament in which no party hold the majority of seats in the Lower House, or the House of Representatives (the green house). People then ask how can a government be formed if they don't hold the majority of seats? Well a government can govern with the majority of support, in the house also, and this is how Julia Gillard became Prime Minister in 2010. It is because neither The ALP nor the Liberal National Coalition gained enough seats that Julia Gillard had to make deals with the independents making the federal parliament 'hung'. Now one may think that this is an unusual phenomenon but in all the Westminster or Westminster Based parliaments in the world, not one party holds the majority of seats in any of the lower houses, meaning all have coalition governments. Not being able to govern outright means that the government can only pass laws that their 'support base' agree with. In other words either the Greens or some Independents must agree with the ALP's legislation for it to pass, therefore although the Australian People blame Julia Gillard for the infamous 'Carbon Tax' that is set to start on July 1st this year, the Greens must have played a role in its making for it to get through. Likewise for most things that the ALP pass, in terms of legislation, another party must agree, (probably not the Liberal Nationals but a party nonetheless) which makes legislation making, extremely difficult because every party has their own ideals and party platforms. It must take a great deal of negotiating and compromise before two parties are satisfied enough to agree, making this government all the more special. The fact that in the past Australia has seen long runs of both Labor and Liberal governments might lead you to believe that our country is going mad and that all hell has broken lose with politics, and although it probably has, this hung parliament is completely normal, we, Australia are the abnormal ones. Yes we have seen probably the worst fighting, insult throwing, name calling and bullying scenes in federal parliament ever, there is speculation that it is because of our new 'hung' parliament. Both party leaders have been acting as if they are in the final stages of an election campaign, trying to one up the other; when really all that is happening is that people are getting fed up. Both leaders have disapproval ratings of above 55% and although the Liberal party look set to win the next election opinion polls look to be hinting that people are starting to get sick of Tony Abbott and his negativity. Maybe, Maybe not, but all we can do is speculate and the hung parliament theory may just be the answer to our problems.