Crossing The Floor Australian Parliament

Senator reg wright from tasmania who served from 1950 to 1978 crossed the floor 150 times.

Crossing the floor australian parliament.

Crossing the floor the act of a member of parliament who refuses to vote with his or her own party in a particular division and crosses the floor of the parliamentary chamber to join the political opponents and vote with them. Only 12 per cent of divisions were affected by these floor crossings. Crossing the floor is rare. Deirdre mckeown and rob lundie present the preliminary results of a study of instances of crossing the floor in federal parliament.

So why did this senator cross the floor. 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. Political parties in australia expect loyalty from their parliamentary members and as a result parties usually vote as a team. A rebel liberal mp had no choice but to cross the floor over debate on a contentious mining bill in south australia s parliament leading to him being labelled as destructive and a bloody fool.

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