Why doesn't someone become Prime Minister of Australia without a party.?

Answer 1

It's because of the structure of Australian politics. The leader of the political party that gets the most seats (people from that party voted in to become the member of parliament for their region) becomes the Premier or Prime Minister, depending on whether it's state or federal election. So you cannot become prime minister without having at least 51% of all federal seats in Australia. You can't win all those seats by yourself, so if you have no party, you cannot lead the nation. The two major parties, Labor and Liberal, are usually allocated the preferences from candidates with less votes which quite often helps them to gain the majority needed.

The major parties have an enormous funds base from which to draw for the advertising campaigns which now have so much influence on the outcome of elections. It is very difficult for the independent candidates to finance large campaigns, or access a large supporter base and thus campaign workers. Election campaigns are now big business, and the independents are somewhat disadvantaged although they can be successful in individual seats. The reason Political party's exist is so that they can cooperate with each other in order to control the Government. Political party's are gangs that work together. A Good example is the fact that we have had governments in Australia made up of a combination of the liberal and National (formerly Country) party. The fact is that the Parliament can vote for the best man when it comes to selecting a Prime Minister whether he is a party member or not. The reason it doesn't happen is that both the people and the parliamentarians have a vested interest which does not necessarily coincide with what is obviously best.