Chapter 1 - The Australian Parliamentary System Flashcards
Bicameral
Two houses of parliament
Crown
The authority of the Queen
Upper house of Commonwealth Parliament
The Senate
Lower house of Commonwealth Parliament
House of Representatives
Upper house of Victorian Parliament
Legislative Council
Lower house of Victorian Parliament
Legislative Assembly
Federation
A union of sovereign states that relinquish some powers to a central authority to form one nation.
Government
Formed by the political party that governs the country (or state). This is the party that achieves the largest number of members voted into the lower house (the House of Representatives at a federal level and the Legislative Assembly at a state level).
Legislation
Laws made by parliament, known as Acts of parliament or statutes.
Government 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.
Parliament
The supreme law-making body consisting of all elected members of both houses from all political parties and the Crown’s representative.
Prime minister
The member of parliament who leads the political party that has formed government.
Representative government
Refers to a government that represents the view of the majority of the people.
Responsible government
The executive government (prime minister, senior ministers and government departments) is accountable to parliament, and can only continue to govern as long as it has the support of the lower house of parliament. If the government loses the support of the lower house then it must resign.
Royal assent
The signing of a proposed law by the Crown’s representative before it becomes law.
Separation of powers
Refers to the fact that there are three separate types of law-making powers in our parliamentary system, and they are kept separate to ensure that no one body has control over both the political and legal systems. These are legislative power, executive power and judicial power. Judicial power is separate from legislative power and executive power.
Statute
A written Act of parliament, also known as legislation.
Supremacy of parliament
Refers to the concept that the final law-making power rests with parliament. Parliament can repeal and amend its own previous legislation and can pass legislation to override common law.
Westminster principles
The set of principles that underpin our parliamentary system, inherited from the UK, known as the Westminster system. These are the principles of representative government, responsible government, the separation of powers, the structure of state and Commonwealth parliaments, and the roles played by the Crown and the houses of parliament.
Cabinet
Consists of the prime minister and senior government ministers who have been placed in charge of a government department. It is a policy-making body; that is, it decides which laws should be introduced into parliament.
