CMN ASES 3 CIVICS.docx

**Principle of Australia system of government** A national system of government refers to the way the country or nation is managed/controlled. In AU there are principles to control the nation in a fair and just manner **Principles of government** Australia's government system is based on the fede...

**Principle of Australia system of government** A national system of government refers to the way the country or nation is managed/controlled. In AU there are principles to control the nation in a fair and just manner **Principles of government** Australia's government system is based on the federal system. We have 1 commonwealth parliament, 6 state parliaments and 2 mainland territory parliaments. Principles that our system is based on: - Governments must protect the rights and freedoms of people - Governments must make laws that reflect the views and values of the people - Governments must be accountable to the people - There must be separation of powers **1. Government must protect the rights and freedoms of the individuals** Our system of government is also called **liberal democracy,** meaning it's a system that aims to protect individual rights and freedoms and place limit on the level of government control or interference. Parliaments have the power to make laws to regulate people's behaviour but shouldn't make laws that are excessive or limit the activities of people. e.g we have: - protect our broad right to freedom of speech - protect our basic right to freedom of assembly and expression - limit individuals from behaving in an offensive or indecent manner in public. **2. Governments must make laws that reflect the views and values of the people** Also referred to as **representative government.** This principle is achieved in au by holding regular free and fair elections where people can vote for individuals to present them in the parliament, they fail to make laws that reflect majority views and values, then they jeopardise their chance of being re-elected. In au elections are held every 3 yrs and for state parliaments it every 4 yrs. Voting is compulsory for citizens over 18 yrs. You can be fined \$180 if u don't vote. **3. Governments must be accountable to the people** Also referred to the principle of **responsible government.** The government being accountable means that they should be able to justify their actions and decisions. Ways that the government is held accountable: 1. governments are held to account is through the process of parliamentary question time, where all members of parliament are given the opportunity to question the government on its policies and actions. parliamentary question time can become intense as members of the government and the opposition debate and argue about political issues. 2. Members of the public can also directly contact and question their local member of parliament by emailing or visiting their local member's office. 3. ensuring that any member of the government who acts in a dishonourable or irresponsible manner has a duty to **resign from their position**. Many elected members have voluntarily resigned before from their positions after being accused of dishonesty **4. There must be separation of powers** Government shouldn't abuse or make laws beyond their power. To prevent this our system is based on **separation of powers.** this principle ensures that no single group or body(the government, the parliament or the courts) within our parliamentary system has power over both the political and legal systems. 3 main powers at federal level consist of: - **Executive power** -- the power to administer or implement the law; held by the governor-general (as the Queen's representative), and the Prime Minister and senior ministers - **Legislative power** -- the power to make the law; held by parliament - **Judicial power** -- the power to apply and interpret the law; held by the courts and allows them to enforce the law and settle disputes. In Au Constitution, the 3 powers are separated. In practice, the duties of the executive (senior ministers) and the legislature (parliament as a whole) are combined. The judiciary, or court system, remains independent. The principle of separation of powers ensures that the government and parliament make and administer laws, while courts apply and interpret them independently. This independence allows judges to resolve disputes impartially, free from government or political influence. An independent judiciary acts as a check on parliament, preventing it from exceeding its powers. If a law is believed to be an abuse of power, it can be challenged in court and potentially declared invalid by an unbiased judge. This system prevents any single body from monopolizing law-making, administration, and application, safeguarding against government abuse of power. **Comparing system of government in au and Indonesia** - Republic of Indonesia = over 17500 islands including java where Jakarta is located - 253 million people live in Indonesia - 4^th^ most populated area after China, India and the U.S. - Indonesia consists of 300 different ethnic groups who speak over 740 languages + dialects - Religion = 85% Muslim, 6% Roma catholic, 3% protestant and rest mainly Hindu, Buddhist etc **Key features of Indonesia's government** Indo system of government is known as **republic** meaning people vote to determine government rather than having a hereditary monarch or the crown **A representative democratic republic** Indo became republic in **1945** after claiming independence from Japan and Dutch's. Recently, indo has been becoming a representative democracy where ppl vote to elect the parliaments and gov that make and apply indo law. **3 levels of government** National, Provincial, District. Each parliament at each level of gov is elected by people to make laws for them and elections are held once every 5 yrs on same day. Having national and provincial elections on the same day makes it challenging because enrolment must be finalised and ballot papers must be printed and distributed throughout each of the provinces, including many in remote and isolated places. 2014, 19 700 seats were contested in the national, provincial and district parliaments, with approximately 6600 candidates standing in the national election and 16 000 at provincial and district level. **Structure of the national parliament** **People's consultative assembly**- the indo national parliament that in charge of making law for the whole country. - the lower house **peoples representative council** (house of reps) which has 560 seats - The upper house **regional representatives council,** has 132 seats People's consultative consists of 2 houses but differs from the bicameral system where the bill doesn't to be passed by both houses to become a law. The lower house makes the final changes to the bill. The party that wins 281/560 in the lower house also earns the right to govern. In the 2014 national election, 15 political parties and 6600 candidates participated. Each of Indonesia\'s 34 provinces, except one, has its own parliament called the Provincial Legislative Assembly, elected by residents. Each province is then further subdivided into municipalities, or regencies, most of which also have their own parliaments or District Legislative Assemblies. To boost female representation in parliament, parties had to ensure at least 30% of their candidates were women to contest the 2014 Indonesian elections. **Separation of powers** Like au, the indo system is aso based on the separation of powers, meaning that no group or body can ever hold each of the 3 branches of power. E.g. in indo: - the power to **make** the law is held by the national, provincial and district parliaments who are elected by the people in parliamentary elections held every five years - the power to **administer** (or implement) the law is held by the president who is elected as the head of the Indonesian government in a separate presidential election held a few months after the parliamentary elections - the power to **apply and interpret** the law to resolve disputes is held by the courts and judges **Comparing Indonesian and Australian Political Systems** **Similarities:** Both Indonesia and Australia have a system where different political parties compete in elections. **Differences:** In Australia, the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party dominate the voting, while in Indonesia, a variety of large and small political parties compete. **Impact on People\'s Consultative Assembly:** The party composition of Indonesia\'s People\'s Consultative Assembly can significantly change with each election due to the diverse range of political parties competing. **Main Parties in the 2014 Indonesian Elections:** - Indonesia Democratic Party, led by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri - Functional Groups Party (Golkar), led by Aburizal Bakrie - Democratic Party (Demokrat), led by **then-president Sus** **Australia's commonwealth parliament** The aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders' people had their own system of law and well-established rights, responsibilities and codes of behaviour. The British established the current system that is based on **democratic election** **The history of Australia's system of gov** When the British arrived in Australia, they made their own laws and legal system, and made a government system where the states/ colonies could make their own laws. These colonial parliaments each followed the British **Westminster system** and consisted: - Upper house - Lower house - The monarch/ crown This system still exists, with all states and CW parliament except QLD. QLD only has lower house and crown.In 1800 while everyone had separate parliaments, their was a need for a central one to make laws for entire country and benefited from it.Problems increased without central parliament including: - constraints on inter-colony trade, due to the colonies having: different railway systems, different postage stamps, different taxes, or tariffs - defence concerns: each colony had its own independent 'militia', or army, there was no uniform defence force capable of protecting the entire country. concern was growing over the arrival of non-British immigrants and the lack of a common immigration policy 1800 6 states gathered to consider what law they should collectively make and which law should be left for individual colonies. Central parliament could make laws on: - defence - currency - postal services - overseas matters - immigration and trade The colonial parliaments could make laws on: - hospitals - roads - education - public transport - water - law enforcement 1890, representative from each colony were sent to meeting s where they made the central CW parliament. 1^st^ January 1901 -- Federation day , the British passed the law act 1900 that united all colonies into one nation with a federal system + CW parliament. **The structure of the commonwealth parliament** CW constitution outlines the structure and lawmaking powers of the CW parliament. Following the Westminster system the constitution states: - CW parliament must consist of 2 houses and the crown represented by the governor-general - The lower house = house of representative, upper house = senate - Laws made by the CW must be approved by majority of members in both houses **House of representative** Lower house that has 150 members. These members are elected by eligible voters who live in 1 of the 150 **electorates,** throughout au. Electorates are determined in proportion to population size, meaning they are to be elected representative from the most popular states and they're elected for 3 yrs. WA has 59 electorates. The house of reps has people who can represent out vies and values from people all around the country. referred to as **peoples house.** **Roles of reps** - Determine the gov of the day announcing the party that earns 76/150 electorates. - Discuss, debate and scrutinise proposals for making and changing CW law. **Senate** The upper house with 76 members, with 12 being from each of the 6 states and 2 from each mainland territories. Therefore, views are equally represented. This is opposite to the house of reps who have 150 electorates that are elected from each state depending on the proportion to population size. People elected to represent us in senate = **senators elected for 6 yrs** **Roles of senate** - Represents the interest of the states. Since the representatives are equal from each state, each of them can bypass or represent any law and protect states from ny laws that discriminate them. This is because all proposals must be passed by a majority of members in both houses of parliament - Initiate, discuss and review new laws. The senate acts like a **house review**, debating and scrutinising law that have been passed by house of reps **Crown** Crown/ queen who is represented by the governor general. The governor general is elected by the president / works for the federal government they have to be a well-respected and prominent Australian. 2014 governor general = sir peter Cosgrove **Roles of governor general** - Grant royal assent giving final approval of the bill to become a law - Perform ceremonial duties - Giving awards to Australians who made outstanding contributions to society - offer encouragement to Australians by supporting a wide range of charitable, educational and cultural events. - Alternatively, the governor-general may \'dissolve\' parliament and call a new election if both houses fail to agree on a significant law. In extreme cases, this power is used **Structure of state and territory parliaments** Each state parliament throughout Australia -- with the exception of Queensland, which only has a lower house -- follows the Westminster parliamentary system, and consists of two houses and the Crown. Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory parliaments have only one house and no Crown. This is because they were created and given limited power to govern themselves by the Commonwealth Parliament after Federation. The table in Source 11 outlines the structure and names of each house in the Australian state and territory parliaments. **The Australian constitution** **Constitution** is a document that creates the basic structure and powers of an organisation, state or nation. **Why have a constitution** Many organisations (schools, clubs etc) have constitution that outlines the aims of the organisation and rules regarding how it will be governed and operate. Australia has a commonwealth constitution that outlines how our country is to be governed. The Australian constitution came about in **January 1^st^,1901**, and outlined the law-making powers of the commonwealth parliament and made the high court of au. **Reasons for establishing Australia's constitution** Prior to 1901, Australia was made up of six separate British colonies, each with the power of making its own laws but under British parliamentary authority. \ - Outlined the structure of the commonwealth parliament, saying it should have 2 houses + the crown - Made the high court of Australia to resolve disputes over the meaning of the CW - Protect basic rights of Australians by placing restrictions on the law-making powers of the CW and state parliaments - ensured that the Au parliamentary system be based upon various parliamentary principles like the principle of representative and responsible government and the separation of powers **How the Australian constitution works** The Australian constitution was made to maintain a stable and long-lasting system of gov. its function was to define the law-making powers of the newly establishes CW parliament **The lawmaking powers of the CW parliament** Australian constitution's job was to make the CW parliament and outline its law-making powers. This means the CW parliament can only make laws in the area the constitution states. Most of these specific powers of the CW parliaments is listed in sec 51 and include powers to make laws on: - marriage and divorce - currency - tax for goods and services - social warfare - defence - customs and excise - trade and commerce The ones not stated belong to the state parliament referred to as **residual powers** including: - Adoption, surrogacy, IVF technology - Childcare and education - Public transport - Water and electricity **Types of specific law-making powers** **Exclusive powers** Specific areas of lawmaking power that only the CW parliament can make laws in. e.g CW can only make laws on currency **Concurrent powers** Areas of law making powers that are **shared** by both CW and state parliament.e.g both can make laws in tax. If the Commonwealth and state parliaments pass laws in concurrent or shared areas of power that conflict, the Commonwealth's law will prevail over, or override, the state law **Changing the constitution** The constitution cannot be made and drafted create a stable government. The constitution cannot easily be changed because to change it the Australian citizens have to approve of it and so there is no misuse of power by the federal government and so they don't use it for their own benefit. The constitution can be changed by a **referendum** **Referendum process** A proposed change to the Australian Constitution must be drafted and generally approved by a majority of members in both houses of Commonwealth Parliament. Between two and six months later, the proposed change must be put to the Australian people in a compulsory public vote and approved by a double majority of eligible Australian voters. **Double Majority =** - Approval by a majority of voters throughout the whole of Australia, including the territories. - Approval by a majority of voters in at least four out of six states. Once approved by a double majority of Australian voters, the proposed change must be given **royal assent** -- final approval by the **governor-general** on behalf of the Crown, or Queen. +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **PROS OF THE REFERENDUM | **CONS OF THE REFERENDUM | | PROCESS** | PROCESS** | +===================================+===================================+ | - Referendum requires the | - Voters may vote against | | support of the public | because they do not | | preventing federal government | understand or are disinterest | | to change the constitution | | | for its own benefit | - If both large political | | | parties are against the | | - Public vote = only changed if | proposal its likely to fail | | it has great support from | bc most people, follow their | | everyone rather than a small | parties view | | group | | | | - The double majority is harder | | - Must be passed by a double | to achieve especially 4 | | majority so that there is a | states | | large amount of support from | | | most states | - A referendum is often held | | | along with a federal election | | | for convenience and cost | | | savings; people are more | | | concerned with voting for the | | | government than the proposal | | | for constitutional change. | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+