The people and law-makers Flashcards
Parliament
In Australia, Commonwealth parliament refers to a body that consists of democratically elected members, chosen by the people to federal laws and the Governor General and king.
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives, the lower house, is made up of 151 members of parliament and is the house that forms government
Senate
The Senate, the upper house, is made up of 76 members with 12 from each state tend to from the territories end is the house that represents states.
Government
Government refers to the political party that has won an election. Their members will gain the most seats in the lower house and their leader will become the Prime Minister.
Political party
An organisation comprised of members with similar political views and values. Their aim is to attract voters that share the same political views in order to gain votes in the lead up to election.
Electorate
An electorate is a geographical area comprised of approximately 110,000 voters represented by a member of parliament.
Roles of the governor general
-Grant royal assent.
-Suggest amendments to legislation after it has passed both Houses of Parliament.
-Summon the executive council.
Roles of the House of Representatives
-Introduce bills/make laws. -Ensure representative government.
-Scrutinise legislation.
-Form government.
Roles of the Senate
-Act as a House of review. -Ensure equal representation of the states.
-Initiate bills.
Roles of the governor
-Grant royal assent.
-Chair executive councils.
Roles of the Legislative Assembly
-Initiate new legislation. -Represent the people in law making.
-Review legislation and propose amendments.
Roles of the Legislative Council
-Scrutinise legislation.
-Initiate legislation.
Exclusive powers
Areas of lawmaking that are given only to the Commonwealth to legislate on. eg. Currency, Immigration and Medicare.
Concurrent powers
Areas of lawmaking that are given to both the State and Commonwealth to legislate on. eg. taxation, marriage and banking.
Residual powers
Areas of lawmaking that are only given to the State to legislate on as they are not stated in the Constitution. eg. criminal law, education and public transport.
Section 109 of the Constitution
“When a law of 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.”
impacts of section 109 in the constitution
-Requires a case to be brought to the courts for an inconsistent State law to be considered invalid.
-Restricts the lawmaking powers of the states.
-Allows State laws previously deemed invalid to come into force if the Commonwealth law is removed.
Influence of the High Court
When a conflict arises and matters of the constitution are brought to the high court the outcome of the case establishes a precedent and can influence the division of powers between the Commonwealth and States.
Changing a High court decision
The only ways to change the decisions of the high court is by changing the constitution through a referendum or a new case resulting in a different decision creating a new precedent.
Brislan case
In the Brislan case the high court had to interpret section 51 (v) of the constitution and decide what’s considered ‘postal, telegraphic, telephonic and other like services’. Ms Williams argued that Commonwealth parliament couldn’t legislate on the use of wireless radios as they were not outlined in the constitution. The High court ruled against this, interpreting ‘other like services’ as communication devices and technology.
Impact of the Brislan case
The high courts broad ruling expanded the lawmaking abilities of commonwealth parliament to legislate on all areas of technology and communicative devices.
Factors impacting Parliaments lawmaking
-The bicameral structure of parliament.
-International pressures.
-The representative nature of parliament.
Influence of a bicameral structure in lawmaking
-The composition of the Upper house.
-The rubber stamp effect.
-A hostile senate.
-Sitting days.
The composition of the upper house
The composition of the upper house refers to the number of senators from each political party.
The balance of power in the senate is when no party holds majority, meaning the power to approve/reject bills is held by the crossbenchers.
Rubber stamp effect
When government holds majority of seats in both houses, legislation may be passed without being scrutinised and amended, creating the rubber stamp effect.
Hostile Upper House
When government doesn’t hold majority in the Upper house bills may be deliberately blocked by the opposition or crossbenchers which may create delays.
Number of sitting days
The days where members of parliament sit in parliament and discuss bills is limited and may create delays.
eg. in 2022 the HoR sat for 64 days and the senate for 51 days.
Types of international pressures
-International treaties/conventions.
-International declarations.
-The United Nations.
-Other organisations
International Treaties
International treaties are an agreement between countries or organisations from which human rights obligations are created. They are legally binding internationally but to make them legally binding in Australia they must be ratified into legislation.
International declarations
International declarations are non binding agreements between countries that establishes aspirational rights and obligations that parties to the agreement seek to enforce.
The United Nations
The UN is an intergovernmental organisation which aims to promote international peace, strengthen human rights and achieve international cooperation’s for problems affecting the global community
International organisations
International organisations such as greenpeace, amnesty international, and G20 all aim to influence law making
Influence of the representative nature of parliament
-Reflecting a diverse community
-regular elections
-the willingness to act in accordance with the view of the majority
Reflecting a diverse community
the democratic nature of elections may lead to a lack of diversity with MP’s meaning certain groups may not be represented properly in lawmaking
Regular elections
Regular elections are held enabling the Australian people to elect members to represent them in parliament
the willingness to act in accordance with the view of the majority
Methods such as petitions and protests can demonstrate to MP’s the views of the public and will likely follow in order to remain in parliament
Checks on Parliament
-Representative government
-Separation of powers
-Express rights
Representative government
Members of parliament are democratically elected by Australian voters accordingly to section 7 and 24 of the constitution so they should make decisions and laws that reflect the views and values of the people
Section 7 and 24
Section 7 and 24 ensure the senate and house of representatives are directly chosen by the people
Section 7 and 24
Section 7 and 24 ensure the senate and house of representatives are directly chosen by the people
