Editing Crossbencher (section)

==Australia==
[[File:Australian Senate - Parliament of Australia.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Australian Senate]]. Crossbenchers sit in the seats between the two sides.]]
In the federal [[Parliament of Australia]] as well as the [[parliaments of the Australian states and territories]], the term {{em|crossbencher}} refers to any and all [[minor party]] and [[Independent politician|independent]] members of the parliaments.<ref name="Australian federal election 2016: the crossbenchers likely to swing a hung Parliament">{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/australian-federal-election-2016-the-crossbenchers-likely-to-swing-a-hung-parliament-20160702-gpx651.html |title=Australian federal election 2016: the crossbenchers likely to swing a hung Parliament |date=2 July 2016 |access-date=5 February 2017 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald }}</ref> More precisely, a crossbencher is any member who is not part of the governing party or parties, nor the party or parties forming what is known in some other Commonwealth countries as the [[official opposition]]. Unlike the United Kingdom, the term is used by both the lower and upper houses of each parliament (where applicable), who sit on the crossbenches between the government and opposition benches.<ref name="Election 2016: Where do the crossbenchers stand on the major issues?">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-08/election-2016-where-do-the-crossbenchers-stand/7578738 |title=Election 2016: Where do the crossbenchers stand on the major issues? |date=10 July 2016 |access-date=5 February 2017 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation }}</ref>

The last few federal elections have seen an increase in the size and power of the crossbench in both houses of Parliament. The [[Australian Parliament]] as elected at the [[2010 Australian federal election|2010 election]] was the first [[hung parliament]] in the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] since the [[1940 Australian federal election|election of 1940]], with the [[Australian Labor Party]] and the [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] winning 72 seats each of 150 total. Six crossbenchers held the [[Balance of power (parliament)|balance of power]]: [[Australian Greens|Greens]] MP [[Adam Bandt]] and [[Independent (politics)|Independent]] MP [[Andrew Wilkie]], [[Rob Oakeshott]] and [[Tony Windsor]] declared their support for Labor on [[confidence and supply]], Independent MP [[Bob Katter]] and [[National Party of Western Australia]] MP [[Tony Crook (politician)|Tony Crook]] declared their support for the Coalition on confidence and supply. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a [[minority government]].

The Australian Senate, which uses the [[single transferable vote]] form of [[proportional representation]] to elect its 76-seat chamber, frequently has enough Senators on the crossbench that the governing party has to negotiate with it to get legislation passed. The [[2016 Australian federal election|2 July 2016 double dissolution election]], for example resulted in a chamber with the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]/[[National Party of Australia|National]] [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] having 30 seats, the [[Australian Labor Party]] with 26 seats, the [[Australian Greens|Greens]] with 9 seats, [[Pauline Hanson's One Nation|One Nation]] with 4 seats and the [[Nick Xenophon Team]] with 3 seats. The other 4 seats were each won by [[Derryn Hinch]], the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Australia)|Liberal Democratic Party]], [[Family First Party|Family First]], and [[Jacqui Lambie]]. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20 (all but the ones of the LPA/NPA coalition and the ALP: 9+4+3+4). The Liberal/National Coalition government required at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}<!-- WP:RS needed; removed link to WP:SPS (Twitter, FB, WP)--><ref name="abc senate results">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/results/senate/ |title=Federal Election 2016: Senate Results |date=3 July 2016 |access-date=4 July 2016 |work=Australia Votes |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref name=photofinish>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2016/07/12/senate-photo-finishes/ |title=Senate photo finishes |publisher=Blogs.crikey.com.au |date=12 July 2016 |access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref>

Generally speaking, Senators broadly aligned with the Coalition (such as those affiliated with the [[Australian Conservatives]], One Nation, the Liberal Democratic Party, and Derryn Hinch) sit on the same side of the crossbench as the Coalition benches, while those more aligned with Labor, such as the Greens, sit on the same side of the crossbench as the Labor benches.<ref name="Senate Seating plan">{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Seating_Plan |title=Senate Seating Plan |access-date=7 May 2017 |work=Parliament of Australia }}</ref> This tends not to be the case in the House of Representatives, both due to the different electoral system, which means fewer crossbenchers are elected, and the fact that the official government and opposition [[frontbencher|frontbenches]] extend across the inner rim of the entire hemicycle.<ref name="House of Representatives Seating plan">{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/House_of_Representatives_Seating_Plan |title=House of Representatives Seating plan |access-date=7 May 2017 |work=Parliament of Australia }}</ref>