Part D: Government Flashcards
What is the responsibility of the municipal government?
Health centres, health regulations, rubbish collection, rubbish disposal, parks and recreation.
What are the three levels of government?
Municipal (local)
Legislative (state)
Federal (national)
What is the responsibility of the state government
Education, transport, hospitals, road laws, public works, local government.
What is the responsibility of the federal government?
Defence, currency, international relations, post, telecommunications, trade and immigration.
What are the concepts of a representative democracy?
In a representative democracy, citizens elect a local leader to sit in on bills and discussions on the public’s behalf.
What are the two political parties in Australia?
The Coalition and the Labor Party.
What is the role of the House of Representatives?
To form government
To propose bills
To represent the people
What is the role of the Senate?
To propose bills and vote on proposals
To safeguard the interests of all the states
To represent the interest of voters
How many seats are there in the federal upper and lower houses?
Upper: 76
Lower: 150
What is the number of seats in the state upper and lower houses?
Upper: 40
Lower: 88
Who is allowed to vote in Australia?
Any Australian citizen over the age of 18 and is not serving an extended sentence is required to enrol and vote or else receive a fine.
Define the preferential voting system?
Preferential voting is where citizens can vote for the running candidates to represent their electorate in the House of Representatives based on preference.
What is an electorate?
An area of land with approximately 85,000 voters.
How often are elections held in Australia
Federal: Every three years
State: Every four years
Describe the voting system.
Several candidates are presented to the public and the public then votes according to preference on a ballot paper on whom they would like to represent them.
What is majority rule?
50% + 1
Who is the current leader of the state government and what is their title?
The current leader of Victoria is Premier Dennis Napthine of the Liberal Party.
Who is the current leader of the federal government and what is their title?
The current leader of federal government is Prime Minister Tony Abbott of the Coalition.
Who is the current representative of the crown and what is their title?
Australia’s current Governor General is Peter Cosgrove.
What is federation and when did it occur?
Federation was the unification of states and occurred in 1901 with the first Prime Minister Edmund Barton.
What are the two houses of the state government?
The Legislative Council - Upper House - Red
The Legislative Assembly - Lower House - Green
Who is your lower house electorate representative?
Bruce Billson of the Liberal Party - Dunkley Electorate
What are the core values of the Australian Labour Party (ALP)?
Equality and opportunity (especially of women and indigenous citizens)
Full employment
Social security and universal healthcare
What are the core values of the Coalition (Nationalist and Liberal Party)?
Economic growth and decreased debt
Creating jobs and lowering the unemployed population
Prevent illegal immigration and build more secure borders
Define constitution.
Constitution is the fundamental law that governs a nation or state.
What is a referendum?
A referendum is when a proposed vote is put to an electorate to alter the Constitution. In order for the referendum to be successful, the vote must have a majority rule.
List some responsibilities of the Governor General.
The power to withhold approval to a proposed change in law
Appoint session times of parliament
Leadership over the defence force
The ability to recall an election
Where is government formed?
In the Lower House (Green)
