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Politics

The Government of – Australia

Australia is a large island country located in the Indian Ocean, Australia itself is also a continent called Oceania or sometimes also called Australasia, certain surrounding island countries such as New Zealand are also considered to be a part of this unusual continent. Countries that surround or are near to Australia include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor which is also known as Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and as already mentioned, New Zealand. Australia also used Nauru as a migrant detention center, although this is meant to be shut down. Tasmania is also part of Australia, their biggest island, Australia also owns a few island territories overseas. Australia used to be part of the British Empire before it became independent in 1986, but is still part of the Commonwealth of Nations and so the British Monarchy still plays a mostly ceremonial role in its affairs.  

Featured Photo: Map from Google Maps. Flag in Public Domain. Edited both together.  

Australia is a well-known tourist destination due to its acclaimed beaches, resorts and hot weather. The country is also known for its unique flora and fauna, particularly for its dangerous and poisonous animals, although it can often be assured to you by pretty much any residents that these creatures are not often as big of a deal as they are made out to be. Many people mistake Australia’s largest city, Sydney, as its capital but this is false, Australia’s capital city is in fact Canberra which is a fairly modern city founded after the country (a British colony) formed into a federation in 1901. The city located within its own territory called the Australian Capital Territory, which is surrounded by the state of New South Wales and isn’t too far from Sydney which is found on the coast along New South Wales, other popular cities nearby include Melbourne over in Victoria state, Brisbane up in Queensland state and Adelaide over in South Australia state. Another popular city, Perth, is located all the way over the other side of Australia in Western Australia, by far the largest state.  

Australia’s population is currently 24 million as of 2017 and its currency is the Australian Dollar, which converts currently as of typing this up 1 Australian Dollar = 0.33 Pound Sterling and 1 Australian Dollar = 0.67 US Dollars.  

Government Type

Australia Coat of Arms. In Public Domain. 

Australia’s system of governance is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. This means the country is divided into a number of states that have their own parliaments and governors who control local affairs and laws within those states, these states are over-looked by the Federal Government and Parliament which is based in its own territory (not in any of the states) in the country’s capital city, Canberra. The Parliaments debate on legislation either for local states or in the case of the Federal Government, for laws that all states and territories have to abide by, the parliaments also have many other powers outside of law making.  

And of course, Australia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations and is as such still under the British Monarchy which over-looks the entire show, although they have limited powers (originally, they had many more powers) it is mostly just ceremonial now.

The Monarchy 

Australia’s Governor-General. Photo from gg.gov.au. License. 

Australia is still under the British Monarchy as it is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, a union of countries that were once under the former British Empire. The British Monarch is represented in Australia by an appointed Governor-General who serves for life and is Head of State. The Governor of each Australian state is also answerable to the British Monarch or the Governor-General.  

The Monarchy have limited powers now a days, such as the signing of laws to be debated on in Australia’s Federal Parliament. The Governor-General also dissolves parliament and government ready for parliamentary elections. Previously in times of crisis the Governor-General has dissolved government outside of elections, for an early election, but this is extremely rare and very much unlikely to happen now a days without causing a constitutional crisis.

The Governor-General appoints the country’s Prime Minister from the largest party after a parliamentary election, which will also be after any coalition building in the lower house. 

The Governor-General has his own appointed Federal Executive Council to advise him on matters. The Governor-General is also the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces.

All in all, the role of the Monarchy in Australia’s political affairs is largely ceremonial.

The Executive Government

Government House. Photo by PDH from Wikimedia. License. 

The Executive Government includes the Prime Minister who is Head of Government and appointed from the winning party of parliamentary elections by the Governor-General. The Prime Minister is also in charge of Ministers and also a Cabinet they make up to deal with varying matters of governing and implementation. Government Ministers are appointed by the Governor-General on advice from the Prime Minister.  

The Prime Minister is also a parliamentary member who can vote and debate on laws and other matters. The Prime Minister must maintain the confidence of the lower house, House of Representatives, to remain in power, failing to do so will most likely result in a fresh parliamentary election. The Prime Minister has a 3-year term and can be re-appointed an unlimited amount of terms.  

The Legislative Government  

Parliament House. Photo by Thennicke from Wikimedia. License. 

The Legislative Government is made up of a Bicameral Federal Parliament. Each state also has its own legislature (and its own constitution + Governor) which deals with local laws and affairs. The Federal Legislative Government includes the lower house, called the House of Representatives and the upper house, called the Senate. The House of Representatives is where the party with the largest majority forms a government, they do not also need to have a majority in the Senate.

The House of Representatives are elected in Parliamentary elections for three-year terms from electoral divisions, the number of members that can be elected are based on the population and so can change over time. The House of Representatives will elect a Speaker to over-look the lower house and to determine agenda (along with committees), break ties and make sure house rules are followed by members. The lower house debates and passes laws as its main function.  

The Senate are also elected in Parliamentary elections and serve 6-year terms with half of the Senators being elected each parliamentary election. Due to Australia’s system it is almost always needed for coalitions to be made in the Senate. The upper house has many more powers than is typical of a parliamentary upper house when compared to countries such as the United Kingdom, as well as that, another difference is that the upper house is actually electable by the people. The Senate has outright power to block legislation from the lower house and can easily bring the government down if it wanted to. So, its main function is a full-check on the House of Representatives and the government. The Senate is over-looked by a Senate President who is elected by the Senate and serves a similar role to the lower house Speaker.

To be electable, a member of either the Senate or House of Representatives must be at least 21-years old, eligible to vote in elections and must be a resident of the Commonwealth. Being a Commonwealth resident includes either being born in the Commonwealth or to have been naturalized citizen for at least 5-years.

The Electoral System  

Picture by Succint reject from Wikimedia. License. 

Parliamentary Elections happen every 3-years in Australia, although many times often sooner than that due to how Australia’s system is, such as the toppling of government by the opposition being generally easy.  

In Parliamentary Elections, all of the House of Representatives will be re-elected and half of the Senate’s members. Again, the Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General from the largest winning party.

The House of Representatives members are elected from single-seat electoral divisions in Instant-Run Off system, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference. One or more rounds of formulating the votes will then take place until a candidate has more than 50% of the vote and is elected.  

The Senate has 76 members, of which half are elected each Parliamentary election using a Single Transferable Voting system which is a type of proportional representation as the members are elected from multiple seat divisions (by state/territory). It is also preferential voting where the candidates must meet a quota to be elected. It is the reason why the Senate often requires coalitions to form a majority.  

Voting in Australia is compulsory, meaning by law you have to vote. This has been fairly controversial and many debates have been made to have voting not be compulsory.  


Thank you for reading, next up will be Austria.  

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