新西兰英语 326 Australian Elections

　　Although the Australian elections were held yesterday, there is no still no decision about which party won. Labor¹ won about 72 seats and the Liberals won about 73. Some seats are still too close to know who won. There are 150 seats in the Federal parliament so the winning party needs to win 76. Four Independents and one Green party member won seats.
Both the Labor leader, Julia Gillard, and the Liberal leader, Tony Abbott are talking to the Independents, hoping to form a coalition² – two or more parties working together. The Independent MPs are in a good position to demand a reward, like becoming a Cabinet Minister.
It will be another two weeks before 2 million postal³ votes arrive. Australians, who are away from home, can vote by post before the elections.
There will also be some re-counting of votes, especially if an MP has lost by just a few votes. That takes time, so it will probably be another two weeks before we know whether Australia will have a Labor coalition government or a Liberal coalition government. In the meantime, it is called a ‘hung parliament”.
New Zealand is used to coalition governments now. We have a National government in coalition with ACT and the Maori party. In 1996, Winston Peters of the New Zealand First party took six weeks to decide which party he would support. He finally chose the National party. His reward was the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
The Australian election results will probably not affect New Zealand very much. Our governments have always managed to have a good relationship with Australian governments.
Listen to June 26th 2010 for more about Julia Gillard becoming Prime Minister just two months ago.
Questions
1. In Australia it is compulsory⁴ for everyone over the age of 18 to vote. Do you think voting should be compulsory?
2. NZ now has an MMP voting system. Listen to Sept 8th 2009 for more about MMP. This gives small parties a chance to win seats in Parliament. Is this a good system?
3. Australia has an upper house and a lower house. New Zealand used to have an upper house but it was abolished in 1950. What advantages does an upper house have?
4. Like New Zealand, Australia has elections every three years. Do you think four or five years is a better gap between elections?

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

4 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。