[hydrox24]

> Much faster than gathering a bunch of drunk member of Commons together and letting them boo each other while some chap screams "orduh". ;P

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but it's worth noting that the Parliament has almost nothing to do with appointing a Prime Minister. In practice (in Australia) the majority party meets, picks a new leader, and then sends them to be appointed as PM by the Governor General. That's all that's needed.

[martyvis]

In Australia there is always a Deputy Prime Minister available to fulfill the role of the PM in their absence because of illness, travel or leave. That said in the case of a coalition government, such as we have now, they are from the minority party in the coalition, and the deputy would unlikely to succeed as a permanent PM in the event of a sudden demise such as drowning in the surf - or taken by a Chinese submarine if you believe that. (For those not in the know this happened to Harold Holt, our PM in 1967l