Watch and share the case for four-year terms
Interviews, parliamentary evidence and short videos on why Australia's federal parliament needs fixed, four-year terms. Everything here is free to share.
Marty Gray on Sky News: why Australia needs four-year terms
Julia Bradley asks why Australia runs an election campaign every two years and eight months, and what it would take to change it.
Summary and key momentsThe longer conversations
Michael Rowland on four-year terms for federal parliament
The former ABC News Breakfast host on election-date speculation, a lost year of government, and what a referendum needs to succeed.
Summary and key momentsOur evidence to the parliamentary inquiry on four-year terms
Marty Gray's evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, November 2025: the case, the staged pathway, and 40 minutes of questions.
Summary and key momentsDom Perrottet on fixed four-year federal terms
The former NSW Premier on fixed four-year federal terms, with state and territory elections held around the midpoint.
Summary and transcript2GB: Michael McLaren interviews Marty Gray
Launch week on 2GB: the economic case, government accountability, the Senate and the budget cycle.
Should senators get four-year or eight-year terms?
If the House moves to four years, the Senate has to change too. Marty Gray and Matthew Versi of Amplieo weigh up the options.
Graphics to share
Swipe through, or download the slides for your own post.
Fixing Australia's Elections, in four slides
Australia is one of 3 of 87 democracies with an election cycle of three years or less. Every state and territory has four-year terms, and all except Tasmania hold them on a fixed date. Mandala Partners puts the benefit of moving the Commonwealth to fixed, four-year terms at $81 to $93 billion over 20 years.
More legislation, fewer sitting days
Australia's parliament passes about 10 times more legislation per term than it did at Federation, yet sits an average of 169 days per term, against 390 in Canada and 618 in the UK. Both give their parliaments longer than three years. Legislation data from the Australian Law Reform Commission's DataHub, 1901 to 2022; sitting days from Mandala Partners' analysis in our report.
Time to move to fixed four-year terms
Marty's op-ed in Pearls and Irritations, John Menadue's public policy journal. New Zealand's Prime Minister announced the 2026 election date in January, more than nine months out. Ours call it with minimal notice, when the polls suit. The fix is to legislate a fixed election date first, then put four-year terms to a referendum.