Ch. 1: Australian Parliamentary System - Definitions Flashcards
What is bicameral?
Means ‘two houses of parliament’. All parliaments in Australia except that of Queensland and the territories have two houses.
What is cabinet?
a policy making body consisting of the prime minister and senior government ministers who have been placed in charge of a government department.
What is the crown?
The authority of the Queen is represented in Australia by the governor-general (federal) and the governor of each state
What is federation?
A union that relinquish some powers to a central authority to form one nation.
What is legislation?
Laws made by parliament, known as Acts of parliament or statues.
What is a minister?
a member of parliament who is also a member of the political party that has formed government, and has some particular responsibility such as being in charge of a government department.
What is parliament?
the supreme law-making body consisting of all elected members of both houses and the Crown’s representative. The main role of parliament is to make laws
What is the prime minister?
The member of parliament who leads the political party that has formed government.
What is representative government?
Representative government refers to a government that represents the view of the majority of the people.
What is responsible government?
Responsible government refers to a government being held answerable and accountable to the people
What is royal assent?
the signing of a proposed law by the Crown’s representative before it becomes a law.
What is separation of powers?
There are three types of separate powers that are the legislative power, executive power and judicial power.
What is supremacy of parliament?
Also referred to as sovereignty of parliament. The concept that the final law-making power rests with parliament
What are westminister principles?
The set of principles that underpin our parliamentary system, inherited from the UK. (representative government, responsible government, the separation of powers, the structure of parliaments)
How many members in the house of reps? and how are they decided?
There are 150 members of the House of Representatives and each member represents an electoral division
