House of Representatives (Australia)

Australian House of Representatives
45th Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of Australia
Leadership
Speaker	The Hon. Tony Smith MP, Liberal Since 10 August 2015
Leader of the House	The Hon. Christopher Pyne MP, Liberal Since 18 September 2013
Manager of Opposition Business	The Hon. Tony Burke MP, Labor Since 18 October 2013
Structure
Seats	150
Political groups	Government (76) Coalition      Liberal (45)      LNP (21)      National (10) Opposition (69)      Labor (69) Crossbench (5)      Greens (1)      Xenophon (1)      Katter (1)      Independent (2)
Elections
Voting system	Instant-runoff voting
Last election	2 July 2016
Next election	On or before 2 November 2019
Meeting place
House of Representatives chamber Parliament House Canberra, ACT, Australia
Website
House of Representatives

Government (76)
Coalition
     Liberal (45)
     LNP (21)
     National (10)

Opposition (69)
     Labor (69)

Crossbench (5)
     Greens (1)
     Xenophon (1)
     Katter (1)
     Independent (2)

The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses. A member of the House may be referred to as a "Member of Parliament" ("MP" or "Member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "Senator". The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power.