Parliament - How laws are made Flashcards
Parliaments main job
To make laws
Three parts of parliament
Upper house, Lower house, Queen’s Representative
What makes up the Lower House?
- House of Representatives
- Legislative Assembly
What makes up the Upper House?
- Senate
- Legislative Council
What happens in the first reading? (First House)
- The clerk reads out only the title of the bill. There is no discussion, there is no vote.
- Members are then given copies of the bill to take away and read so
that when the second reading takes places a few weeks later,
What happens in the second reading? (First House)
The member introducing the bill gives a speech where they outline the need for and key features of the bill. Other
members, who by now have read the bill, get to give a speech and give their opinion on the bill.
What happens in the consideration of detail? (First House)
- The bill is reviewed in detail sentence
by sentence. - Amendments or changes may be suggested, debated and
recommended.
What happens in the third reading? (First House)
After all of the words have been debated and agreed, it goes back to the house. There is no debate but there is one last vote on the bill.
What happens in the Second House?
- The Lower House, the
bill goes through exactly the same
stages in the second House. - If the bill is amended in any way at all
by the second House, it must be
returned to the first house to be voted
on again - If passed, it soon becomes law – but only after it receives Royal Assent from the King’s Representative
What is Royal Assent?
If the bill is passed in the second
house, it is presented to the Governor
in Executive Council for royal assent.
If the Governor signs it, the bill then
becomes an Act of Parliament.
What are some reasons we change laws?
- Response to change in the world
- Response to pressure from groups outside of parliament
- A different political party wins the election and they want to change things
- Change in policy of the party who is in govt
How does a law get changed?
The process for changing an existing law is exactly the same as the process when a new law is made
What is a demonstration?
Gathering of a group of people to try to influence government policy/legislation (protest)
Strengths of demonstrations
- Easy and cheap to organise,
especially online - Can attract a lot of media attention
- Can attract new support
Weaknesses of demonstrations
- Hard to attract a lot of people
- If it gets out of hand/violent, will
get negative attention - Parliament can easily ignore
What is balance of power?
Refers to the position held by minor parties or individual members
of parliament when their vote is necessary for bills or motions to be passed.
What does the party in government need to be able to pass new laws?
Separate majority of votes in both houses of parliament – the lower house and the upper house
Who holds the balance of power in the Upper House?
Members of minor parties hold the balance of power in the upper house in
Victoria. Without their support, new bills cannot be passed.
What are some reasons that it is good that government doesn’t hold the balance of power?
- Government does not have
too much power - Views of more members of the
community and members of parliament are represented
What are some reasons that it is bad that government doesn’t hold the balance of power?
- Not very democratic
- Might not be able to do what they want
What is the VLRC?
Victorian Law Reform Commission
What does the VLRC do?
The VLRC cannot change the law – it can only make recommendations to Parliament about how the law should change
Who does the VLRC make recommendations to?
- Make recommendations to Parliament on major areas of law reform referred to them by the Attorney-General
- Make recommendations to Parliament on minor areas of law reform
What research does the VLRC do?
THE VLRC COLLECTS INFO, TALKS TO EXPERTS AND THE PUBLIC, REVIEWS DATA AND STATISTICS AND CHECKS OUT HOW THINGS ARE DONE IN OTHER PLACES. IT IS LIKE A BIG RESEARCH PROJECT THAT TAKES MONTHS AND MONTHS TO FINISH
