legal as4 Flashcards
parliament
all democratically elected members
constitutional monarchy
recognise the King as Head of State
constitution
recognised the source that grants lawmaking authority to parliament and the High Court
bicameral
two houses that participate in law making progress
lower house
-also knows as the House of Representatives
-151 seats and 76 seats are needed to win to be able to from government
-elected every three years
upper house
-senate represent the states and territories and each state, regardless of population, has 12 seats
-elected every sic years with half being up for election every three years
-senate members need to consider how proposed laws will impact state and or territory
government
-political party that has won election
-has the more seats in the lower house
political party
an organisation comprised of members with similar political views
electorate
a geographical area area comprised approx 110k voters represented by a member of parliament
coalitian
political alliance between two or more political parties that share the same views
role of crown
-is the crowns representative
-appointed by the king on the advice of the PM
-grant royal assent to legislation=sign bill on behalf if the Crown after it has been approved by both houses of parliament
-suggests amendments= if a mistake is found in the bill after being passed, a minister would advise the GG to return the bill to parliament with suggested change
-summon the executive council= selecting and appointing the executive council who advise the GG on govt matters whole also seeking approval for various modifications to particular laws
role of lower house
-introduce bills/ making laws= proposed laws reflect the needs of society or respond to current needs for a law eg. same sex marriage
-representative government= parliament should act in a way that reflect the views and wants of the people that voted them into power= intro new laws, reviewing policies
-scrutinise legislation= LH was act as a house of scrutiny if the Senate intro a bill
-forming governement
role of upper house
-act as a house for review=role of debating and reviewing these bills to ensure that they don’t disadvantage individual states= that is why govt. do not have all the seats in the Senate
-ensure equal representation of the states= having equal members regardless of popn= senators representing smaller states can have an equal say against larger states= uphold interests of state and territories
-initiate bills= rare
structure of victorian parliament
-legislative assembly=88 seats
-legislative council=40 seats
how govt is formed in victoria
-occur every four years
-a political party needs to win the majority of seats in lower house, voters will vote for a member to represent their district where each district has 46000-56000 voters
-leader of political party wins the majority becomes the Premier
role of crown victoria
-Governor is the Crown’s rep in Victorian Parliament
-appointed by the King on the advice of Victorian Premier of the day
-roles= granting royal assent= sign off bills on behalf of the Crown after approved by both houses
-chair executive councils= the Governor acts on advice of the Executive Council and often meets with ministers of Vic govt to discuss any legislative matters
role of legislative assembly
-initiate new legislation= majority of new laws and proposed changes to laws begin here
-represent the people in lawmaking= directly chosen by the people in their district and will often receive letters/ emails/ correspondence from those living in community= act in a way that reflects the opinions and perspectives of the majority of those living within the district
-review legislation and propose amendments= society changes–> existing Acts may need to change and or reflect the needs of the people
role of legislative council
-scrutinise legislation=main role is to debate and scrutinise bills introduced by legislative assembly bc includes independents and members from smaller parties which allows for a wider range of perspectives to be considered when debating new bills or amendment
-initiate legislation= legislation can originate from the council hw not Victorian public money
purpose of constitution
-structure of parliament
-how the constitution can be changed
-rights of the people
-role of the High Court
areas of lawmaking
-Section 51 and 52 outlines the area the of lawmaking that Commonwealth Parliament are able to legislate on
-all areas of lawmaking given to Commonwealth parliament are referred to as Specific Powers and there are THREE SUBCATEGORIES:
-EXCLUSIVE
-CONCURRENT
-RESIDUAL
exclusive powers
-area of lawmaking that are given ONLY to the Commonwealth to legislate on
examples:
-currency
-foreign affairs
-military
-customs and border protection
-immigration
concurrent powers
-these are also the lawmaking powers that states handed over to the Commonwealth HOWEVER are not made exclusive to them within the constitution, so they are shared between state and Commonwealth however if there is a clash, Commonwealth law would prevail
examples:
-taxation eg. state=payroll federal= gst tax and personal tax
-marriage and divorce
-banking
-railway
state lawmaking powers
-called residual powers, DO NOT APPEAR IN THE CONSTITUTION as they are not areas in which the Commonwealth can legislate on, only states can make laws in these areas
examples:
-criminal law
-road laws
-education
-public transport
-medical procedure such as IVF
examples of differing state laws
abortion:
-victoria= allows abortion up to 24 weeks whereas NSW= abortion up to 22 weeks
driving:
-drivers gain their provisional license at 18 in vic and in QLD and NSW they can gain it at 17
penalty units:
-victoria= one penalty unit is 192.31 and NSW is 110