The people and the Constitution Flashcards
Governor General
- Grant royal assent to legislation passed by Parliament
- Dissolve Parliament for an election on advice of the PM
- Appointing the Executive council (PM and cabinet)
Governor
- Grant royal assent to legislation passed by Parliament
- Dissolve Parliament for an election on advice of the PM
- Appointing the Executive council (Premier and cabinet)
Senate
- Act as a house of review (reviewing legislation and bills from the lower house)
- Initiate and pass bills (except for appropriation bills)
- A committee system operates to scrutinise government actions or to investigate government proposals
Lower house
- To form government (because it is the house of the people)
- Appropriation bills/budgets can only commence in the lower house because it is the people’s money (via tax)
- Only those who have been elected by the people have authority to spend the money of the people
- Initiate and pass bills
- Represent the views and values of the community (Representative government)
separation of powers
- Executive
- Legislative
- Judiciary
Needs to be independent from the others (justice)
division of powers
Established in the Constitution to divide power between the Commonwealth and the States
- Exclusive powers (only held by the Commonwealth)
- Concurrent powers (shared powers between Commonwealth and states)
Residual powers (those not mentioned in the Constitution and exercised only by the states)
S128
referendum provision (1967 referendum which struck out section 127 of Constitution and partially struck out section 51)
S7
representative Govt (Senate)
S80
express right - right to trial by jury for Commonwealth indictable offences
S71
establishes HCA
S76
power to interpret the Constitution
S51(31)
express right - acquire property on just terms - what is just?
S51(29)
link to external affairs and international treaties and declaration and cases (Tasmanian Dam case)
S92
express right - freedom of state trade
S116
express right - no national religion
S117
express right - right to not be discriminated against (state residence)
S24
representative Govt (HOR)
S109
where inconsistency between states and Commonwealth prevails to the extent of the inconsistency
bicameral structure
Acts as a house of review:
- Two houses of parliament is established in the Constitution (House of Reps, Senate) - Govt always controls the lower house - Composition of the Senate is likely to be different to the House of Reps which means the government is unlikely to control both houses - This means the senate does act as a house of review most of the time - The government may argue that this is frustrating because it can't do all the things it promised at election - If government controls both houses essentially it can do what it likes. (last happened 2004)
majority referendum
Process to be followed to change the Constitution
- The referendum proposal goes through the Parliament the same as any other bill of Parliament
- Elected reps should approve of the proposal prior to it being proposed to the people
- The referendum proposal is a yes/no proposal
- Can impact number of yes votes
- Double majority provision = majority of people and majority of states
- The proposal needs to get 50% + 1 of the vote from the Australian electorate as a whole AND the majority of states must also vote yes 4/6. - this is NOT state parliaments
- If a double majority is achieved, proposal is carried (successful)
- The proposal receives royal asset
- The words of the Constitution are amended, removed or added
