AUSTRALIAN
POLITICS
- PARLIAMENT SYSTEM
- ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
- THE VOTING PROCESS
THE PARLIAMENT SYSTEM
As we already know, Australia is a federation and its
powers/responsibilities are shared between three levels of
government.
1) COMMONWEALTH (FEDERAL)
2) STATE AND TERRITORY
3) LOCAL OR MUNICIPAL
Each level of government is run by a democratically elected council or
parliament, and has a range of different powers and responsibilities.
Some Federal Parliament
focus areas:
Some areas the Federal Parliament looks after:
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Defence
Telecommunications
Money
Customs and Immigration
Commonwealth (federal)
government
The Commonwealth (federal) government
oversees matters that affect the whole
nation.
The Fed. Gov. is divided into 2 houses:
THE SENATE
and
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
 Another name for the House of
Representatives is the “Lower House”
 The leader of the majority party in the
House of Reps. is the PRIME MINISTER.
 The House of Reps. is the where new
laws (bills) are debated.
THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
 The House of Reps. is made up of members elected
from 150 ELECTORAL DIVISIONS or SEATS.
 Each ELECTORAL DIVISION consists of about 88,000
people.
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14
26
12
50
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THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
House of Representatives
(photo)
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL
 The Governor-General is the Queen’s representative in Australia.
 The Gov Gen is appointed by the Queen, on the advice of the
Australian Prime Minister.
 The Governor General gives Royal Assent to bills that Parliament
has recently passed.
 Royal Assent is when the Governor-General signs a new bill, and
it becomes a law for Australia.
Quentin Bryce,
Governor General of Australia
THE CABINET
 Cabinet is the committee of senior government ministers chaired
by the Prime Minister.
 The Parliament scrutinises the MINISTERS and the government
during Question Time.
 In cabinet meetings, ministers introduce proposals for new bills
from their departments.
MINISTERS
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The Prime Minister gives PORTFOLIOS to members
of Parliament. These MPs then become MINISTERS.
Ministers have three main responsibilities:
1. To run a department or PORTFOLIO such as
Education or Defence.
2. To develop ideas for new policies and bills.
3. To sit in the Parliament daily and answer
questions about proposed bills and policy details.
SHADOW MINISTERS
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The opposition party is the minority party.
A shadow minister is a senior member of the opposition party.
He or she is an expert on the porfolio of the relevant minister,
They develop alternative policies and scrutinize the minister.
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Look up the current cabinet ministers here:
http://www.alp.org.au/people/federalministry.php
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Look up the shadow cabinet here:
http://www.liberal.org.au/Shadow%20Ministry/
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Make a table including the Minister and Shadow Minister’s
name, party and portfolio for:
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Education
Health
Climate Change
Transport
Federal Parliament, Overview
 Parliament: All elected representatives (the
Senate + House of Representatives).
Together they make laws for the Australian
people.
 Government: The party (or coalition of
parties) that wins the most seats in the House
of Representatives. Government is part of
Parliament.
 Cabinet: Senior government ministers
including the Prime Minister or Premier
End of House of
Representatives Section
 What is another name for the house of
reps?
 What is the cabinet?
 What is the colour of all the furniture and
upholstery in the House of Reps?
 What is a portfolio?
 What does a minister do?
THE SENATE
The SENATE is made up of 76 senators:
12 from each STATE
and
2 from each TERRITORY
2
12
12
12
12
12
12
2
THE SENATE
 The SENATE = the “Upper House” of the Federal
Parliament. Also sometimes: The house of review.
 Any BILL that is debated, must be agreed to by the
SENATE before it can become a LAW.
THE SENATE
THE SENATE
Bills and Acts
A bill is a proposal for a new law.
An Act of parliament is another word for a law.
A bill becomes an Act of Parliament (=law) when:
 it has been passed by the House of Representatives
 It has been passed by the Senate
 It has been signed by the Governor-General (given
Royal Assent.)
The three levels (again)
End of Federal Parliament
section
The three levels (again)
STATE AND TERRITORY
GOVERNMENT
 The States have the power to make their own
laws over matters not controlled by the
Commonwealth.
 State governments have their own
constitutions
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Some State Parliament
focus areas:
Health
Education
Infrastructure
Housing
Power
Tourism
STATE AND TERRITORY
GOVERNMENT
 The Queens representative at the State Level is called
the GOVERNOR (David de Kretser)
 State and Territory Governments are bicameral ( 2
houses) as well.
 The two houses are:
THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
(UPPER HOUSE)
AND
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
(LOWER HOUSE)
THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
 The Legislative Council is the Upper
House of the State Government.
 The Legislative Council is similar to the
the SENATE: any BILL must be
consented to by the Leg. Council before
it can become a STATE LAW.
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
 The Legislative Assembly is the (Lower House)
of State and Territory Government. Similar to
the House of Representatives.
 The leader of the majority party in Legislative
Assembly the is the PREMIER.
John Brumby
Premier of Victoria
The three levels
Some Council focus areas:
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Sports and Recreation
Swimming Pools
Garbage Collection
Public Libraries
Parks
Third level: LOCAL
(MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 COUNCILS are responsible for the specific
local needs of people in a city or shire.
 There are approx. 900 local governments.
 A council makes “by-laws” = a local law
which applies only in that council.
LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 A council area is divided up in WARDS.
 A ward is an electoral area.
 Each councilor in the council represents
his or her ward.
 Council elections are held every four
years.
LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 The major parties (Labor, Liberal,
Greens) are represented in the council,
but there may also be independent
councilors who specifically champion
local issues.
LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
Generally, councils are responsible for:
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Building permits
Citizenship
Dogs and cats
Footpaths
Free trees
Graffiti
Immunisation
Libraries
Markets
Noise
Overgrown land
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Pests
Pollution (environmental)
Rates
Roads and streets
Rubbish, garbage and recycling
Sewer
Smoke emissions and backyard
burn-offs
Stormwater
Street light - poles only
Tree removal
Water
LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 Research Task:
 What is your local council area called?
 Where are the council offices?
 What is the name of your mayor?
Political Parties
•A political party represents people with a
shared view on politics and society.
•They are formed with the intention of being
elected and influencing the Australian
government.
•You need a minimum of 500 members to
form a political party.
Political Parties
Political Parties
The political spectrum
Political Parties
Political Parties
Task:
•Find out where you currently stand on the political
spectrum.
•Answer all the questions on this online
questionnaire as best as you can:
http://www.ozpolitics.info/guide/fun/politics-test/
Media Review
(Handout)
You will demonstrate your knowledge of the
Australian political system by reading and
analyzing a news paper article on a political issue.
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
• An ELECTORATE can be defined as a
body of qualified voters enrolled in a
geographically-defined area.
• An ELECTORATE can also be referred to
as a DIVISION, or a SEAT.
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
• The Australian House of Representatives is
elected from 150 single-member districts called
DIVISIONS or SEATS throughout the nation.
FEDERAL ELECTORAL
DIVISIONS IN VICTORIA
• The state of Victoria has 37 available
seats in a Federal Election.
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
• Melbourne Federal Electorate Divisions
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
• In a STATE election, Victoria has 88 available seats for
the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
•
There are 44 available seats for the LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY
• The party who wins the most amount of seats in a
STATE election forms the government in the
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
• For example, the Brumby Government currently holds 62
of the 88 available seats and therefore holds power over
the STATE OF VICTORIA
THE VOTING PROCESS
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All Australians who are eligible to vote elect
people to represent them in the two houses of
Parliament.
A citizen of Australia is eligible to vote at the age
of 18, yet can enroll to vote at 17
In Australia, voting is compulsory
Australia implements a “Preferential” voting
system
Many other nations use a “First Past the Post”
voting system – ex. America or Canada
THE VOTING PROCESS
“PREFERENTIAL” VOTING
VS.
“FIRST PAST THE POST” VOTING
THE VOTING PROCESS
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“First Past the Post” Voting is a system
where the representative with the most
votes wins.
Countries like America use this system in
their elections.
A problem with this system is that it does
not always fairly represent the majority
THE VOTING PROCESS
Preferential Voting Ballot
THE VOTING PROCESS
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“Preferential” Voting is a system in which voters rank a list or
group of candidates in order of preference.
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In the House of Representatives election candidates who
receive an absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) are elected.
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The distribution of preferences is required when no candidate
receives an absolute majority.
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This process is continued until one candidate obtains an
absolute majority of formal votes and is elected.
THE VOTING PROCESS
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Here is a brief example of how “Prefencial” Voting
works.
Fred, Ben, Anna and Pat stand for election. They
receive the following first preference or number '1'
votes.
Fred 10,000
Ben 18,000
Anna 19,000
Pat 13,000
THE VOTING PROCESS
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This is a total of 60,000 formal votes. To be
elected a candidate needs at least 30,001 votes
(50% + 1) of the total votes for an absolute
majority.
As none of the candidates have an absolute
majority, the candidate with the least number of
votes - that is Fred - is excluded
His ballot papers are transferred to the other
candidates according to where each voter has
marked the number '2' on them.
THE VOTING PROCESS
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Fred's votes are transferred as follows:
2,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a total of
20,000 votes
5,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a total of
24,000 votes
3,000 are transferred to Pat giving her a total of
16,000 votes
Even following this distribution of preferences, the
three remaining candidates still do not have an
absolute majority.
THE VOTING PROCESS
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So the candidate with the least number of votes that is Pat - is excluded
Her ballot papers are transferred to the remaining
candidates according to the next available
preference marked on them by the voter.
This could be the number '2' or even '3' in the
case of Pat's votes and the number '3' from the
3,000 received from Fred.
THE VOTING PROCESS
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Pat's votes are transferred as follows:
12,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a
total of 32,000 votes
4,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a
total of 28,000 votes
Ben now has 32,000 votes, or an absolute
majority, so he is declared the winner.
THE END