"Kwaussie", a portmanteau term that refers to a person who is both Australian and a New Zealander, was named on Monday as Australia's word of the year.

Malcolm Turnbull, who lost his one-seat majority and was being called to step down before Christmas, said that he "runs the government" and that his party's policies would soon be converted into public support.

Australia's High Court ruled on Friday that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is ineligible to remain in parliament, a stunning decision that cost the government its one-seat parliamentary majority and forced a by-election.

With his elaborate drawings, colour-prints, paintings and murals, he creates a world of Mounds, the half animal, half plant creatures and their aggressors, the Vegans.