The Legislature

Question 1

What are the two implied rights in Australia?

Answer 1

Freedom of political communication and the limited right to vote

Question 2

What are the Sections of the Constitution which dictate the principle of representative democracy?

Answer 2

S24, representatives chosen by voting
S7, Senators have fixed 6 year terms
S28, maximum duration of the House of Reps is three years from the first meeting of the house.

Question 3

What Act defines the rules about representative democracy in Australia?

Answer 3

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

Question 4

Under what Act is voting compulsory?

Answer 4

s 245(1) Commonwealth Electoral Act

Question 5

What case proved that there is a limited implied right to vote?

Answer 5

Roach v Electoral Commissioner 2007, the right to vote is extinguished when a person is sentenced to greater than 3 years imprisonment

Question 6

What section limits the eligibility of people to stand for parliament?

Answer 6

S44 of the Constitution

Question 7

How is government formed?

Answer 7

Party with the largest numbers in the Lower House forms government - Governs in its own right
Minority of seats but confidence of the house; minority government

Question 8

How is government formed?

Answer 8

Party with the largest numbers in the Lower House forms government - Governs in its own right
Minority of seats but confidence of the house; minority government

Question 9

What three cases relate to the freedom of political communication?

Answer 9

Nationwide News v Wills (1992)
ACT Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1992)
Lange v ABC (1997)
Monis v The Queen (2013)

Question 10

What cases decide what constitutes Political Communication?

Answer 10

Coleman v Power (2004)
Catch the Fire Ministries Inc v Islamic Council of Vic (2006)
Levy v Victoria (1997)
Monis v The Queen (2013)

Question 11

What is Parliamentary Privilege?

Answer 11

Freedom of speech and debate within parliament
Power to call people before the house
power to require documentation
Power to order arrest and imprisonment of persons whom the House has found guilty of contempt without showing any grounds for the arrest and imprisonment
Power to regulate its own proceedings
Immunity for statements made in the course of parliamentary proceedings; immunity of members from arrest for civil causes while they attend parliament; immunity of others form arrest in civil cases while acting as witnesses before the house
Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 (Cth)

Question 12

What does the term Parliamentary Sovereignty mean?

Answer 12

Parliament is supreme, laws passed by parliament are subject only to the constitution and the limits in place by it.
Parliament can change the laws created in court, abrogate or codify