See, now, not many of you probably know this, but today, Australia is voting.
Unfortunately, it's looking like the fucker currently in power has a good chance of being re-elected. Well, I'm very negative about it anyway because I'm a dirty little lefty and all, but dems the breaks.
Anyway, here's the major parties and their webpages, and a general summary of who they are/what they stand for, so you can all feel that little bit more smug that you know an itty-bitty-bit more about world politics than your neighbours.
The Australian Labour Party
If you're a Yank, you can basically consider these guys similar to Democrats, as they are the current opposition in Parliment. As their name suggests, they are basically a politicisation of the Labour Union movement in the past, though have diversified into other fields as well. These days they tend to be less conservative than the Coalition, but this is not always the case, and obviously changes as voting opinion changes.
The wannabe PM is Mark Latham. Can you see why most political cartoonists draw him as Frankenstein's monster?
The Coalition
The Liberal Party of Australia
Don't ever let the name fool you. Though they used to actually be liberal, they are not anymore, and can be easily compared with the Republicans of the US. Pro-business, neo-liberal-(Raegan)economics and conservative values rule the day with these bastards.
An interesting tidbit is a little hiccup in John Howard's political career. See, Australia has always had a love/hate relationship with immigration, and a while ago when John Howard was leader of the Liberal Party (back when they were the opposition) he stated that the Liberal Party removes it support for Australia's "Multicultural" Legislation because "Australia is under threat of being swamped by Asians". Well, that didn't go down too well, the Coalition lost the election and Johnny lost the Lib's leadership. Of course, he doesn't come out publically and state that anymore, but his party's policies on refugees speak for themselves.
They form a coalition with...
The Australian National Party
These fella's are basically the country party of Australia. Unfortunately, that gives them a hell of a lot of power. Even though it's only a minority of Australia's population that live more than 10K's from the coastline, they obviously have an important place because of economic issues like farming, agricultural exports and mining (one of Australia's biggest industries).
Quite conservative, which is why they're buddies these days with the Libs.
The Australian Democrats
Their unofficial motto is "Keeping the Bastards Honest" and in a way, this is true. They have a lot of female senators, including the lovely Natasha Stott Despoja, who's a perfect example of how the media judges female politicians - especially good-looking ones. They're good, but sometimes more like a bunch of left-independants than a real united party.
The Greens
I love the Greens. I really do. But they are quite a minor party, unfortunately. Oh well, I can always dream of the day they get into power and Bob Brown becomes Australia's first gay PM. Obviously, they're very much for conservation of Australia's environment, and a particularly important part of their recent endeavours has been saving the Tasmian forests.
You may have possibly seen Senator Brown and co little while ago with Dubya visited and gave a speech. Yes, they were the hecklers. *huggles them*
Family First
I'm only mentioning these arseholes because they have cropped up in this election and are indicitive of a conservative swing and an increasing Evangelical prescence in Australia. Can't you guys keep your religious shit within your own borders?
Anyway, this bunch came out of South Australia and are based in the Assemblies of God churches there. They deny any religious affiliations though. YEAH RIGHT! Luckily they'd never get into power because they have an Aboriginal lady as their leader, and let's face it, if Bob Brown came out and said he was an atheist as well as gay, he'd still have more chance of becoming PM than an Aborigine or a female. Sad eh?
And Others
Socialist Alliance
Nuff said.
One Nation
Racist crackpots who say the same things that lost Howard the Lib leadership all that time ago, but get crucified for it.
Please note: As stated above, this post is obviously from the biased POV of a dirty lefty. So take with a bucket of salt.
Oz Politik
you could have regular race-based parties. 
A republic, not an empire.
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