In an extract from The Conversation’s new book on democracy, we chart the origins of the parties that dominate politics today, and the ones that fell by the wayside.

Billionaire Clive Palmer misspoke and called his party the “Trumpet of Parrots” before correcting himself in the press ...

The survey showed a hung parliament would be the most likely outcome if the poll numbers were to be replicated at an election ...

The splintering of Australia extends to federal politics, with the rise of independents and the Greens. But the end of the two-party duopoly has not made national life any less schismatic.

Joining Rinehart in making donations to Australia’s two largest political parties - the center-left Labor Party and the Liberal National Coalition - were pro-Trump billionaire Anthony Pratt ...

That bond has endured at the national level, with just occasional breaks, through to today, giving Australia what some have called a two-and-a-half party system. The relationship was not ...