Australian Labor Party Caucus
Parliamentary caucus seats by chamber | |
|---|---|
| House of Representatives | 94 / 123
|
| Senate | 29 / 123
|
Parliamentary caucus seats by state/territory | |
|---|---|
| Victoria | 32 / 123
|
| New South Wales | 32 / 123
|
| Queensland | 16 / 123
|
| Western Australia | 16 / 123
|
| South Australia | 12 / 123
|
| Tasmania | 8 / 123
|
| Australian Capital Territory | 4 / 123
|
| Northern Territory | 3 / 123
|
The Australian Labor Party Caucus comprises all Australian Labor Party (ALP) senators and members of parliament of the current Commonwealth Parliament. The Caucus determines some matters of policy, parliamentary tactics, and disciplinary measures against disobedient parliamentarians. It is alternatively known as the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party (FPLP).
The Caucus is also involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders from among its members, as well as their dismissal. The leader has historically been a member of the House of Representatives, but though by convention a Prime Minister is the person who has the support of a majority in the House of Representatives, in the ALP all members (including senators) have an equal vote in the election of the leader, who may then become Prime Minister. Since October 2013, a ballot of both the Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members has determined the party leader and the deputy leader. Bill Shorten was the first leader elected under the new system in late 2013. In government, the federal Caucus also chooses the Ministers, with the portfolios then allocated by the Labor Prime Minister.
The word "Caucus" has American roots and was introduced to the ALP by King O'Malley, an American-born Labor member of the first federal Parliament in 1901. In the non-Labor parties, such party meetings are more commonly described as a "party room".