The 2025 Australian election was called after about 2.5 hours - yet days afterwards they're still counting votes so how is it that we know the election result without it being officially declared? Well, in this episode I explain the basics of how the news uses statistical trends to make predictions even though it'll still be weeks before the official declaration of results from the AEC.Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

How does preference counting work for the Australian Senate? How do they figure out who wins the Senate seats? To win, a candidate needs a quota - but a quota is different depending on how many seats there are and how many votes there are overall. Once candidates achieve a quota they're elected but then if they have surplus votes those are transferred at a reduced rate to the next preferences on the ballot. If that sounds complicated to you then good thing here's a whole episode dedicated to explaining how that works!If you want to read more about it you can on the AEC website: https://www.aec.gov.au/voting/counting/senate_count.htmFor an explanation about how preferential voting in the House of Representatives works here's an episode I prepared earlier: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3cEFXUNwMc0E22jChjDMNv?si=6zaCWBWeS8uvN-4VJI6SPA Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

Does your Member or Senator own any investment properties or stocks? What banks are they with? Do they have any bonds or trusts? What assets and gifts do they have? And what about their spouse? Well, the register of interests places on the public record Members' interests which may conflict, or may be seen to conflict, with their public duty - so you can look all that information up yourself and find out if the financial interests of your elected representatives is of import to you, or just a passing curiosity. It may be useful to you, it may be inconsequential - but if you'd like to know then here's how you find it. Register of Members' Interests: https://www.aph.gov.au/senators_and_members/members/register Register of Senators' Interests: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Senators_Interests/Senators_Interests_Register The State/Territory Parliaments also have them but it's not really easy to link them all so really you might need to put them into a search engine or look for them in the tabled papers section. Some Parliaments also put it all as one giant single PDF instead of individual MPs returns.Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplained Like Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388

Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

What happens when a party disendorses one of their candidates? Are they removed from the ballot? Are they kicked out of Parliament? In this episode I explain how there's basically nothing that can be done after the close of nominations except let the voters decide if they want to back the person with or without party endorsement.Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplained

Like Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

When you go to vote you'll be handed a pencil to use for filling in your ballots - but why pencils? Why not pens? And are you allowed to bring your own pen or even any other writing utensil for that matter? Well the answer is yes, you can bring along something other than a pencil - but you must make sure you mark your ballot clearly for it to be formal so please consider that not everything is suitable. And also: is voting with a pencil secure? I'll answer all of those questions in this episode!For more information about voting and elections in Australia visit the Australian Electoral Commission website: https://aec.gov.au/ Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

Australia uses preferential voting for its elections, but how does it work? Well here's an explanation how it's used for the House of Representatives to find which candidate has a majority. Preferential voting requires you to rank the candidates by numbering them 1, 2, 3, etc in order of your favourite candidate to least. But then how is a winner determined? I've got a few different scenarios to demonstrate when preferences are counted and how the count flows from one candidate to the next.For the sake of simplicity, I am just explaining how single-member electorates are decided through preferential voting. For proportional systems like the Senate the count is a bit more complicated (the same fundamental premise of preferences still applies) but if you want to know more about how that works here's an explanation from the AEC: https://www.aec.gov.au/voting/counting/senate_count.htm Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

In this episode I'm going to bust some myths and misunderstandings about donkey voting. Is it a valid vote? How often does it happen? And does donkey voting have an impact on the results?Find your candidates at the AEC website: https://aec.gov.au/Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

How does voting work? How do you fill in the ballot for the House of Representatives and the Senate? And what's the difference? In this episode I'll explain the different requirements for expressing your preferences in Australian federal elections and the basics of how a winner is determined.To find your candidates/more information about voting visit the Australian Electoral Commission: https://aec.gov.au/ Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

There's an election happening soon! But candidates have been preparing for months in advance. What actually is involved in an election campaign and what is it like from the perspective of a candidate? Well, I sat down with Nathan Barton, an independent candidate backed by the Voices for Moore group, to ask him about his experiences deciding to run, trying to connect with the electorate, how he goes about fundraising, the importance of volunteers and all the fun paperwork he had to get his head around to actually be a candidate.Find who's running in your area at the AEC website and learn more about them before you vote: https://aec.gov.au/election/candidates.htm Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

Members and Senators are there to represent us! So how do they go about it? Well, here are three ways to find out how politicians vote and on what bills so you can make an informed vote at the election and decide if they've represented you effectively.Links to those resources are:

Theyvoteforyou: https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/Divisions for the House of Representatives: https://www.aph.gov.au/divisionsDivisions for the Senate: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Chamber_documents/Senate_chamber_documents/DivisionsHansard: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/HansardAnd then links for supporting me!Support the channel on patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AuspolExplainedLike Auspol Explained on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auspol-Explained-107892180702388Auspol Explained would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk Nyoongar people and their Elders as the owners and custodians of the Land that the episode was recorded and edited on. This Land was stolen and never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.