Marty Gray on Sky News: why Australia needs four-year terms
Sky News Australia, studio interview with Julia Bradley. Published March 2026. 5 minutes.
Australia holds a federal election campaign every two years and eight months on average, because the Prime Minister can go to the polls well before the three-year limit. In this Sky News studio interview, Julia Bradley asks 4 Year Terms Australia founder Marty Gray why that matters and what it would take to change it.
Marty explains why moving from three years to four nearly doubles the time a government spends governing, since the first and last six months of every term go on setting up and campaigning. He covers why the 1988 referendum failed, why a fixed election date can be legislated first without a referendum, and why every state and territory has already moved to four-year terms.
This interview was recorded before our report was published in August 2026. The current figures: Australia is one of 3 of 87 democracies with a term of three years or less, and Mandala Partners puts the benefit of fixed, four-year terms at $81 to $93 billion over 20 years. New Zealand introduced legislation for a four-year term in 2025, and its government has since postponed the referendum.
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Summary and key momentsDom Perrottet on fixed four-year federal terms
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Summary and transcript