Quiz - Law, Society and Political Involvement Flashcards
When was Australia’s federation?
1901
Give 2 examples of an exclusive power
immigration, defence/military
Give 2 examples of a concurrent power
industrial relations, insurance
Give 2 examples of a residual power
public transport, emergency services
What is the separation of powers?
separation of government’s ‘arms’ - judicial, legislative and executive
What is the division of powers?
legislative power being shared between the levels of government (local, state and federal)
What are the 4 main roles of laws?
Establish boundaries, Freedom
Protection, Resolve disputes
What’s the upper and lower houses of NSW called?
upper - legislative council, lower - legislative assembly
Around how many LGAs (local government areas) in NSW?
(approx.) 550
What are 2/3 local government responsibilities?
libraries, parks, rubbish collection
What is a strict liability offence?
offences where the offender is found guilty regardless of their intent to make the offence or not (i.e. mens rea). Actus reus (physical guilty act) is enough to make it a crime
mens rea
the mental element of a person’s intention to commit a crime. they INTENDED it (essentially opposite of actus reus)
actus reus
the physical actions in an offence (essentially opposite of mens rea)
barrister vs prosecutor
barrister represents the plaintiff in civil cases while the prosecutor has to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty in a criminal case
what is ‘double majority’
in a referendum a double majority is required. (1) a majority in favour in Australia and (2) a majority in favour in at least 4 states
explain the preferential voting system and what house uses it
used by House of Representatives. in the preferential voting system voters decide the candidate they want most and also the order in which they prefer the other candidates. if there is no absolute majority (50%+1) in first preference votes for any candidate, then second preferences are counted by removing the candidate with the least first preference votes and using the people who voted for them’s second preference votes, and adding those to the remaining candidates votes. this is done until there is an absolute majority.
explain the proportional representation voting system, what house uses it and its other name
used by the Senate, other name is optional preferential. to win a seat, senators need a set proportion, or ‘quota’ of votes
quota is calculated by dividing the total number of formal ballot papers by the number of senators to be elected plus one, and then adding one to the result (ignoring any remainder)
