Editing Political realignment (section)

====Australia====
* [[1910 Australian federal election]] — [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] victory; [[Andrew Fisher]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] 
** The unification of the [[Protectionist Party]] and the Anti-Socialist Party (originally the [[Free Trade Party]]) into the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]] earlier in 1909 made this election the first under what would become a [[two-party system]], between the democratic socialist Labor Party versus a non-Labor, conservative party as the nation's two main parties. It also marked the first elected [[majority government]] federally.
* [[1922 Australian federal election]] — [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]]-[[National Party of Australia|Country]] coalition victory 
** This was the first time a conservative party formed the [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] with the Country Party which represented graziers, farmers, and regional voters in the aftermath of the 1922 election. Despite some interruptions in Coalition agreements such as in 1931, 1939 and 1987, this coalition has existed until today, now between the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] (successor to the Nationalists) and National party (which was renamed from the Country party). The Liberal/National coalition alternates in power with their main opponents, the Australian Labor Party to form the federal government of Australia at every federal election. 
* [[1949 Australian federal election]] — [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] victory; [[Robert Menzies]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]]<ref>{{cite web|date= 18 June 2020|title= 'The time has come to say something of the forgotten class': how Menzies transformed Australian political debate|url= https://theconversation.com/the-time-has-come-to-say-something-of-the-forgotten-class-how-menzies-transformed-australian-political-debate-131383|access-date= 25 May 2022}}</ref>
** Previously, the [[United Australia Party]] (UAP) was seen as close to big business and the upper class, while their opponents, the [[Australian Labor Party]] appealed to trade unionists, and working and lower classes. By founding the Liberal Party to replace the UAP after its 1943 election defeat, Menzies began selling his party's appeal to middle-classes which he famously called “[[The Forgotten People]]” in the class conflict between the upper and lower social classes. Forming a coalition with the Country Party (now the [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] which represented rural graziers and farmers), this resulted in a coalition of liberals, conservatives and rural interests against the democratic socialists of the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Menzies kept free-traders and economic moderates; hard-line conservatives and social liberals united under one party, the Liberal party, by focusing on Labor's “socialism” and the international threat of communism amidst the [[Cold War]].
** During his 17 years in power from 1949 to 1966, the Menzies government presided over the longest period of economic prosperity in Australia's history, lasting from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Continued economic growth, rising standards of living, and his widening of government support for education and universities led to the vast expansion of the Australian middle class and changed the Australian workforce from manual labour towards service, science and new technology industries; the [[ANZUS Treaty]] of 1951 and voting rights for [[Aboriginal Australians]] are legacies which still stand today.<ref>{{cite web|date= 29 October 2019|title= The Enduring Legacy|url= https://www.menziesrc.org/members-news/the-enduring-legacy|access-date= 25 May 2022}}</ref> Arguably, Labor was forced to modernise and adopt a more [[social democrat]]ic approach (away from [[democratic socialism]] and nationalisation of industry) to appeal to the expanded middle class, under [[Gough Whitlam]].
* [[1972 Australian federal election]] – [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] victory; [[Gough Whitlam]] [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=Colin A.|title=The 1972 Australian Federal Election|date=April 1973|publisher=Australian Journal of Politics and History, Volume 19, Issue 1|pages=11}}</ref>
** After twenty-three years of [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] rule under Menzies, [[Harold Holt]], [[John Gorton]] and [[William McMahon]], the Labor Party took power in 1972, with the slogan, '[[It's Time (Australian campaign)|It's Time]]'. The significance of this election was broader than merely a change of partisan rule; elections would be no longer decided only on economic issues, but also, new issues such as the environment, Aboriginal affairs, abortion, multiculturalism, and a broader acceptance of state spending, resulted from the [[Gough Whitlam|Whitlam]] government, which in many respects created a bipartisan consensus on major issues of social policy. Although the Whitlam government was relatively brief, its policy legacy—in creating new government policies for society and culture—lasted in many respects to the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 election]], and even to the present day.