>Just out of curiosity, what does it take for a party
>to get on the ballot in Australia?
Independent candidates, (or party aligned candidates that don't want their party name printed on the ballot paper) have to pay a deposit of a few hundred dollars. If they don't get a certain minimum number of votes, they lose their deposit.
Putting a party list of candidates on the ballot (a must in prop rep. contests like the Aust Senate) also requires that the party be registered, which involves having a minimum of 500 members and a few other technicalities. For example the name of the party has to be approved and it all has to be advertised and subject to legitimate public objection. Not all that onerous. Though a party that can claim an existing member of parliament (perhaps a former independent, or a defector from an existing party) can be exempted from the full requirements in some instances, for particular electoral jurisdictions. I've never gone into all the details, so don't tax my knowledge too deeply.
The advantage of party lists in the Senate are that voters have the option of merely marking a single box on the ballot paper, indicating they will allow their preferences to flow according to the party's published recommendation. Much easier than numbering dozens of candidates consecutively. Only in Tasmania does any significant number of voters do it the hard way (other forms of entertainment being less available, ;-)
>Does it differ
>from state to state or is it uniform? What about TV
>coverage of minor parties?
They'll be lucky. The national broadcaster tends to allocate air time in proportion to the minor party's previous electoral performance, or so I gather. But let's face it, everyone who might be amenable to argument avoids such broadcasts like the plague.
But public funding is available if a party can get over the 5% thresh-hold.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas