2016年澳大利亚联邦大选于7月2日举行，此次大选是在特恩布尔总理解散双议会、改革参议院选举办法后进行的。特恩布尔原本希望通过大选加大自己在众议院和参议院的力量，为新一轮执政打下良好基础。但大选结果并没让执政联盟如意。自由党-国家党联盟在丢掉14个席位后，以刚刚超过半数的优势保住执政党位置，成为一个不够强势的政府。同时在与反对党工党的长期竞争中也拿不出有创新意义的政策。在参议院里，一国党和尼克色诺芬团队等右翼政党和保守政党出人意料地得到了多个席位，他们反移民，反穆斯林，支持保护主义，甚至反华，他们的诉求将对今后执政联盟的内政外交产生重大影响。
The 2016 Federal Elections were held on 2 July in the wake of the double dissolution by Prime Minister Turnbull and the adoption of the Senate election reform. The election result，however，was quite contrary to the expection of the Coalition Government which had counted on the general election for a more favorable balance of power of itself in both Houses and hence a better environment for its next term. With a loss of 14 seats，the Coalition Government managed to obtain a close-shave majority of just one seat and stayed on as a weak government. While there is an absence of innovative or variable policies and measures from both ALP or the Coalition Government in their long term rivalry，there is an emergence of new political forces，including the right-winged Nick Xenophon Team and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party，featuring protectionism，anti-immigration，anti-Muslin，even anti-China platforms. The presence and assertiveness of the new political actors in Senate and the House of Representatives will bring about major impact on the government’s domestic and foreign policy making in the future.
