I think it is a combination of a number of factors. The minority parties don't have a voice because of a lack of funding therefore do not get votes. The lack of votes results in the minority parties not getting more funding in order to have a louder voice. The media like to ridicule or ignore minor parties and independent candidates. The Australian public seem to believe the only way to get rid of a bad labor government is replace them with a bad liberal government which they can replace with a bad labor government at the next election. The public are brainwashed into thinking labor or liberal are the only options. Many believe a vote for another party or an independent is a wasted vote as it won't contribute to getting rid of the bad government they have. There is always the option of using the preferential voting system to rank the two major parties last and second from last.
Personally, I'm not in favour of any parties at all. I believe the role and power of government needs to be greatly reduced.
I agree with your analysis, but there's always the example of PHON - they had a message that resonated with a particular group and was deemed newsworthy. The free promotion that they got from the media was incredible.
The role of government is to make people's lives better than they would be without government. In that sense, I think that the role needs to be increased - the current problem is that it's being ignored in favour of doing favours for the coal industry, etc.
Have you read Gave of Mates by Cameron Murray?
I haven't read 'Game of Mates', it sounds like an interesting read.
You are right, the intended role of government is make people's lives better. Unfortunately it isn't working out that way. The government care much more about big business and themselves than they do about the people they are supposed to be serving.
Pauline Hanson has received a lot of attention. I think that attention won her quite a few votes even though most of that attention has not been particularly complimentary. She also got quite a boost from the rise of Donald Trump in the US. People see her as anti-establishment.
People see Pauline Hanson as anti-establishment, even though she usually votes with the Liberals - especially for legislation that screws over workers. People see Labour as left wing, even though they're neoliberal and voted to take away our right to privacy, increase the retirement age, etc. It's all skewed.
Game of Mates was published this year, so the stories about how politicians in Australia do favours for their mates are pretty current.