Parliament Flashcards
What are the 3 tiers of government?
Federal, State and Territory, Local
What does each tier consist of?
A legislature (law-making body)
Why do the states’ legislatures differ from the federal legislature?
The states’ legislatures pre-date federation (1901).
Where are the lawmaking powers of the federal and state parliaments outlined?
The Australian Constitution.
What is the Doctrine of the Division of Powers?
The allocation of lawmaking powers between the state and commonwealth tiers of government.
How does the Federal Government raise money?
They raise money through taxing incomes, spending and businesses.
How does the Federal Government spend their money?
They spend their money on federal matters such as medicare, defence, immigration and foreign policy.
How do the State/Territory Governments raise their money?
They receive more than half of their money from the federal government and also collect taxes.
What do the state/territory governments spend their money on?
They spend money on state matters such as roads, housing, prisons, public transport and emergency services.
How do local councils raise money?
They collect taxes (rates) from all local property owners and receive money from the federal and state governments.
How does the local council spend their money?
They spend their money on local matters such as town planning, sewerage, local roads and rubbish collection.
Why were few powers expressly given to the Commonwealth in the constitution?
When drafting the constitution, the creators had to balance the allocation of powers given to the Commonwealth and the wishes of the states, especially the states not keen to federate.
What powers remained the responsibility of the states?
Powers not specifically written in the Constitution.
What are residual powers?
Powers not specifically written in the constitution (state responsibilities)
Why are all of the Northern Territory’s lawmaking powers decided by the Federal Government?
Because the Northern Territory did not exist at the time of Federation.
What are the four sections of the division of powers?
Specific powers, exclusive powers, concurrent powers, and residual powers.
What are concurrent powers?
Commonwealth lawmaking powers that are non-exclusive and also shared with the states.
What are the areas within Concurrent powers?
Marriage, divorce and bankruptcy.
What do residual powers include?
Education, criminal law and health.
What are specific powers?
Lawmaking powers that were given to the Commonwealth to make laws.
What sections of the constitution are the specific powers outlined in?
Section 51 and 52.
Why are the specific powers given to the Commonwealth?
So they can make laws for “peace, order and good government of Australia”.
What are some examples of specific powers?
fisheries, lighthouses and immigration.
What are exclusive powers?
Some of the specific powers given to the Commonwealth are exclusive powers. This means that only the commonwealth can make laws for these areas.
What are some examples of exclusive powers?
Areas of National concern including immigration, defence and currency.
Why are exclusive powers different to specific powers?
These lawmaking powers are part of the specific powers, however, they are referred to differently because the states cannot legislate in these areas.
What is the inconsistency rule?
when there is an inconsistency between a state and federal law, the federal law is the one that will be applied.
Where is the inconsistency rule in the constitution and what does it state?
section 109. “When a law of the state is inconsistent with a law of the commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.”
What are the elements of the commonwealth parliament?
Lower house (house of representatives), the upper house (the senate), the queen’s representative (governor-general)
What is our system of government called and what is it mainly based on?
Constitutional monarchy and it is mainly based on the British Westminster System.
Where is the structure of the Commonwealth parliament outlined in the constitution?
Sections 1 and 2 of the constitution.
How many members are in the House of Representatives?
151 members
What does each member of parliament represent?
an electorate of about 150,000 people, 100,000 of whom can vote.
What is the voting system in The House of Representatives?
one vote, one value
Who forms the government (executive)?
The party with a majority (50%+1) in the lower house
Who manages business in the house of representatives?
the speaker
What does each seat in the lower house represent?
A single member electorate
What is an electorate?
A geographical area on a map where votes are grouped together to elect 1 person to represent them in the lower house.
How many seats does a party need for a majority in the house of representatives?
Winning party (or coalition) needs 76 seats for a majority.
What does the leader of the majority party become?
Prime Minister
Who selects government ministers?
Prime Minister selects government ministers according to party’s policies.
Who forms the opposition?
Losing party/parties.
Who becomes the opposition leader?
Leader of the losing party
How is the Shadow Ministry selected?
Opposition leader selects a Shadow Ministry to mirror government ministers.
What is a coalition?
An alliance formed between political parties to achieve their aims or create a bigger group by working together.
What is an example of a coalition in Australian parliament?
The Liberal Party of Australia and the Nationals have formed the longest-running coalition in the Parliament.
What is a hung parliament?
When neither of the major parties reach the required 76 seats in the House to form government.
Who would the minority government need support from to pass public bills?
Need to gain support from other parties or independent members of the House.
How big is the Senate?
Half the size of the lower house.
How many members are in the Senate?
76 members
What does each member represent in the senate?
each member represents a state/terrritory
How many senators are there in each state?
12 from each state
How many senators are there from each territory?
2 from each territory.
How many years are senate members elected for?
Each member is elected for 6 years
What is the voting system used to elect the senate?
Proportional voting system
Who manages business of the Senate?
The President manages business of the Senate
What was the intended role of the Senate?
It was intended to be a ‘State’s House’ where each state has the opportunity to vote in their state’s favour, preventing the passing of discriminatory laws or laws that remove their powers.
How does the Senate actually operate?
Strict party discipline has resulted in ‘voting along party lines’, rather than the interests of the states. In some cases, this has resulted in state powers being taken from states and granted to the commonwealth.
What does the Senate do?
Propose, debate and vote on bills and amendments.
Decide on matters of national interest.
Examine issues in committees.
Scrutinise executive government.
Represent the interests of people in their states or territories.
Who is the King’s representative at federal level?
The Governor-General.
What category do the majority of the Governor-General’s rights and responsibilities fall under.
They are mostly administrative.
Is the Governor-General allowed to debate or vote on bills?
No.
What does the Governor-General do in relation to Parliament?
They can convene and dissolve parliament.
What must the Governor-General do for all bills to become laws?
They must sign and assent to all bills after they have passed parliament.
What is the Governor-General’s role?
To represent the King. They are not politically aligned.
What is the structure of the South Australian Legislature (Parliament)?
The lower house is the House of Assembly and the upper house is the Legislative Council.
How many members are in the House of Assembly?
47 members
What does each member of the House of Assembly represent?
An electorate of about 25,000 electors.
Who forms government in SA Parliament?
The party with a majority of seats in the House of Assembly forms government (50%+1=24 seats)
How long is a term in the House of Assembly?
4 years.
What is the voting system for the House of Assembly?
Preferential voting system
Who becomes the Premier?
The leader of majority party in the House of Assembly becomes the head of government or premier.
How are ministers selected in the House of Assembly?
The Premier selects ministers to serve in government.
Who manages business of the house in the House of Assembly?
The speaker.
How many members are in the Legislative Council?
22 members
How many members of the legislative council are elected at each general election?
11 members (1/2 of the legislative council)
What does each member of the Legislative Council represent?
Each member represents the whole state.
How long is a term in the Legislative Council?
8 years.
Who manages business of the house in the Legislative Council?
The president manages business of the house.
Who is the King’s representative at state level?
Governor
What does prorogue mean?
terminating the current session of parliament.
What is the Role of the Governor mainly?
Mainly ceremonial and administrative.
What does the Governor do?
Dissolve parliament before an election, summons MP’s to sittings of parliament, and prorogues parliament between sessions.
How do bills become laws on the state level after they have been passed by parliament?
Signed by Governor.
When was the Northern Territory’s Parliament established?
1948
Who created the NT parliament?
Federal government in the Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1947
When was the NT granted self-governance?
1978 through the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978
How many houses are in NT parliament?
NT parliament has one house (unicameral) called the legislative assembly.
How many seats are in the NT legislative assembly?
25 seats
Who represents the King in the NT?
Administrator
How long are the terms in NT parliament?
4 year terms
Who forms government in NT?
Party/coalition with majority of seats
Who elects the speaker in the NT parliament?
The party/coalition with the majority of seats (government)
What is the Chief Minister?
Leader of the Government in the NT
What is the commonwealth parliament able to do in the NT Parliament?
can make laws for the NT, or alter laws of the Legislative Assembly.
Why does the NT government have greater limitations than the state governments?
As it was created by federal legislation.
How is the administrator of the nt appointed?
appointed by the governor-general to represent the federal government in the NT parliament.
Is the administrator of the NT a direct representative of the King?
They are not as the NT is not a state, and was created after Federation by the federal government.
What is the Purpose of Parliament?
Democratic function, legislative function, supply function, scrutinising function
What is the Democratic function of parliament?
To ensure that laws are made by the representatives of the people
How is the executive formed on federal level?
by convention which states that the party with a majority in the lower house forms government.
What ministers must come from the lower house?
Prime Minister and treasurer. The other ministers can come from lower and upper house.
What is the legislative function of Parliament
to make laws
Where are the powers the commonwealth can exercise set out?
Section 51 of the Constitution
What are the areas no parliament is able to make laws?
prohibited areas.
What is the supply function of parliament?
budgets which raise money to fund the government.
Where must supply bills be introduced?
Lower House (Section 52 of constitution)
What is the scrutinising function of parliament?
Parliament can scrutinise the lawmaking of the executive and judiciary. It can also scrutinise itself as the upper house can act as a house of review for public bills from the lower house.
