Chapter Six: The Opposition and the Shadow Ministry

Question 1

Opposition

Answer 1

The opposition is formed by the party with the second largest majority in the House of Representatives. Naturally, they oppose the current executive government but are loyal to the system of government and the nation.

Question 2

Shadow Ministry

Answer 2

A group of senior members from the opposition that directly oppose a corresponding minister of the government. Tanya Plibersek, for example, is the ALP shadow minister for Education in the current parliament.

Question 3

Leader of the Opposition

Answer 3

The leader of the opposition is the leader of the party with the second largest majority in parliament. They act as a ‘shadow prime minister’ although this term is not used to describe their position.

Question 4

Private Members

Answer 4

All members of Parliament who are not part of the ministry, any bill introduced by them is thus called a private members bill.

Question 5

Question Time

Answer 5

A session in both the upper and lower house that occurs each sitting day between 2-3pm in which private members may ask questions of the government. These questions can be questions on notice or questions without notice, the former being placed on the notice paper beforehand and requiring more research by the minister to answer.

Question 6

Censure Motion

Answer 6

Censure motions are used by the opposition to highlight a specific action by the government or a specific action from a government minister. If passed, the grant the leader of the opposition and the relevant government minister time to speak. This allows the executive or government to be held to account for specific actions.

Question 7

No-confidence motions

Answer 7

A general motion aimed at the whole government which, if passed, forces the government to resign. A no confidence motion can take several forms, but essentially it is if the government loses an important vote in the House of Representatives.

Question 8

Appropriation Bills

Answer 8

Bills that allow the government to use public funds to govern, they are essential for the effective running of any government.

Question 9

Quorum

Answer 9

The minimum number of members of Parliament required for a vote to be valid in a given house. The Quorum for the House of Representatives is one fifth, so 30 members need to be present for a vote to count.

Question 10

Granting pairs’

Answer 10

A convention where if the government has some members missing on other business, the opposition will agree to remove an equal number of members from the House in order to maintain the governments majority.

Question 11

Division

Answer 11

The method of voting in Parliament where the number of votes are physically counted by members either walking to the right or left of the chamber. This usually only occurs for contentious votes, if the vote is non-contentious the matter is usually resolved by an informal spoken vote.

Question 12

Whistle-Blowers

Answer 12

Someone who is working within the government or who is contracted by the government who learn of corruption or wrongdoing and report it, often to the media. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 provides protection for whistle-blowers, which recognizes that they are an important source of government accountability.

Question 13

Freedom of Information

Answer 13

As outlined by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the public has the right to see certain government documents, and the press can use this right to reveal activities of the government. For example, in 2013 under freedom of information the Australian Bureau of Statistics released documents which showed that they had been hacked and the details of Australians were potentially at risk.

Question 14

Speaker of the House

Answer 14

The Speaker of the House is responsible for presiding over the lower house and enforcing the standing orders of the House. They are chosen by the government and must be a member of Parliament, usually they are also a member of the governing party.

Question 15

Describe what is meant by an ‘institutional’ or ‘recognized’ opposition

Answer 15

Any kind of power will always lead to some sort of opposition, especially in government, however the difference between liberal democracies and authoritative forms of government is whether or not opposition is recognised as part of the system of government. The dictatorship in North Korea for example encourages severe opposition, but none of this is recognised in their system of government. In contrast, Australia has a recognised opposition leader who has specified roles in government.

Question 16

What are the stated roles of the opposition?

Answer 16

• To hold the executive to account

* To present a viable alternative to the current government

Question 17

What are some ways that the opposition can hold the executive to account?

Answer 17

• Question time
• Censure motions
• No-confidence motions
• Debate
• Calling for quorum
• Refusing pairs
• Calling for divisions
• The Senate
• The media

Question 18

Asses the effectiveness of question time as a means to hold the executive to account

Answer 18

Question time overall is significantly limited in its ability to hold the government to account. Ministers are required by convention to not mislead the Parliament in their answer to any question, however it is easy for a Minister to dodge a difficult question and there is no way a Minister can physically be held to account for not giving a relevant answer. In addition to this, the amount of questions that come from government back benchers, so called ‘Dorothy Dixers’ restrict the number of probing or difficult questions that the government is asked, and these questions just give an opportunity for the government to speak highly of itself. Since question time is not effective as an actual forum of debate, it is now little more than a contest for political advantage that is sort after by the media. Attempts at reform have been made, but they have not resulted in any real change.

Question 19

Identify the four forms that a no-confidence motion could take

Answer 19

• A direct vote against the government
• The defeat of a core government bill in the lower house
• The defeat of an appropriation bill in the lower house
• A loss of government control on the lower house

Question 20

What are the real purposes of no-confidence motions and censure motions?

Answer 20

Votes of no-confidence and censure motions rarely pass, since the government by definition had a majority in the lower house and will always vote against these bills. The last successful no-confidence motion was in 1941 when Prime Minister Arthur Faddon lost a vote in the lower house which reduced the budget by one pound. As a result, Arthur Faddon resigned as Prime Minister. The real purpose of these motions is to highlight and draw attention to certain actions of the government and to embarrass the government. In the Senate, votes of no confidence and censure motions can be passed due to the lack of a government majority. The motions don’t actually have any real effect, but again they embarrass the government immensely. For example, in 2015 the Senate moved a censure motion against the Attorney General George Brandis after he criticised a human rights commissioner. This drew significant media attention, and the Prime Minister was forced to protect Brandis which drew a lot of negative attention.

Question 21

Describe how the opposition can frustrate the government by calling for quorum

Answer 21

Many members of Parliament are often away from Canberra on other business, and as a result there may be less than 30 members in the House doing government business for the sake of efficiency. At any time however, any member may ask the Speaker to be made aware of ‘the state of the house’. If this occurs, a count of the members present must be taken, and if it is less than 30 the bells are run in Parliament for four minutes. If after that time there are still less than 30 members, then that sitting of Parliament is suspended until there are sufficient members present for the quorum to be filled. If the opposition wanted to annoy the government, calling for quorum constantly could be a way that this is achieved.

Question 22

Describe how the opposition can frustrate the government by refusing pairs

Answer 22

If the opposition refuses to grant pairs, then the government cannot continue business in the lower house lest they risk losing a vote. They must then call back their absent members in order to begin the sitting. This process can frustrate the government but cannot really hold the government to account. For example, Tony Abbott as opposition leader declared that he would decide if he should submit pairs for any given sitting.

Question 23

Describe how the opposition can frustrate the government by calling for divisions

Answer 23

Divisions are time consuming, so if the opposition wants to delay government business and frustrate the government they can call for a division every time a bill is put to the vote. When a division is called the vote of every MP is also recorded, so it does increase the accountability of members in some cases.

Question 24

How effective is the opposition at holding the government accountable in the lower house?

Answer 24

In the lower house, the opposition is not very effective at holding the government to account. Censure motions and votes of no confidence will almost always fail, and calling for quorum, refusing pairs and calling for divisions can at best only delay the business of the government. The opportunity for debate is also severely limited by gagging and guillotining motions, and question time is not effective in challenging the executive due to the excess amounts of questions from the government backbenchers. The opposition has no real power to hold the government to account, the most effective tool for the opposition in this case is the Senate.

Question 25

Why is the Senate far more effective to the opposition in holding the executive to account?

Answer 25

The senate is seldom controlled by the government, which means that it is entirely possible for a governments entire legislative platform to be blocked in the Senate with assistance from the crossbench. For example, in the ALP Shorten opposition blocked many of the important Abbott government bills in the Senate such as the $7 GP co-payment bill, the higher education reform bill, the paid parental leave scheme and the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill. A lack of executive dominance also allows for censure motions and motions of no-confidence to pass in the Senate. Senate estimate committees are also one of the most effective instruments in holding the executive to account. These committees can summon Minister from the Senate or representatives from lower house Ministers and ask them probing questions, as well as being able to bring in witnesses from the public service who are protected in their testimony by parliamentary privilege. For example, in early 2017 Attorney General George Brandis was brought in for a Senate estimates hearing relating to a dispute with the Western Australian Attorney General. In the hearing, he was asked several probing questions and came under immense criticism from Labor Senators.

Question 26

How can the opposition use the media to promote executive accountability?

Answer 26

The media acts as a significant source of accountability for the government, and the opposition can use this to exploit weaknesses in the government and appeal to the Australian people. Investigative journalism also often targets the actions of the government, such as the ABCs Four Corners program which in 2016 revealed and reported on the mistreatment of Aboriginal Juveniles in a Northern Territory detention centre. Whistle blowers and documents under the freedom of information act also provide the opposition with a means to hold the executive to account, for example in 2016 Shadow Attorney general Mark Drayfus successfully filed an appeal through the federal court to get Attorney General George Brandis to release his Parliamentary diary. The opposition can thus use negative media reports relating to the government to their advantage, however the media can also report on the opposition.

Question 27

In theory governments are made and un-made in the House of Representative. How does this fare in reality?

Answer 27

overnments are made in the House of Representatives since by definition a party needs a majority in that house to form government. However, although in theory governments can be un-made in the House it is exceedingly rare that this occurs. Votes of no-confidence launched against the government will always fail due to strong party discipline and the government majority, the only time a successful vote of no confidence was moved was in 1941 against the Fadden government. Even then, the motion was moved in exceptional circumstances, World War 2 was raging and the nation needed a unified government, one which Arthur Fadden could not provide and John Curtin could. Thus, in reality governments are made in the House, but are very rarely un-made in the House.

Question 28

What are the three ways an opposition can present itself as a viable alternative to government?

Answer 28

* Having and promoting its own policies alternate to the current government policies * Present a unified coherent vision to the nation * Present as competent and ready to govern

Question 29

How can the speaker of the House effect the success of the opposition?

Answer 29

In theory, the Speaker of the House is meant to be impartial and neutral, however, in reality they are usually biased towards their own government. Some Speakers try and referee Parliament fairly evenly, but they always hold their office at the discretion of the Prime Minister, so they must appease the government to a certain extent. Harry Jenkins, speaker from 2007-2011 was appointed by the Rudd and Gillard governments and is generally considered to have been a fair and impartial Speaker. Bronwyn Bishop was appointed Speaker by the Abbott government in 2013 and was a very controversial speaker. Over the course of her career she ejected 98 Labor members from the House and zero government members, and her career ended with her being forced to resign after she used taxpayer money on a chartered helicopter flight. The fact that Speakers are parliamentary members of government ensure that they will almost always act in a partisan way, and this will always disadvantage the government to a certain extent. Some are more impartial than others however.

Question 30

Explain why a lack of resources might limit the success of the opposition

Answer 30

An opposition can be limited in their ability to hold the executive to account and to formulate rival policy by their lack of resources compared to the government. Access to information, expert opinions and administrative power is all at the discretion of the government, so as a result the government always receives most of this. For example, oppositions receive on average 21% of the staffing capabilities of the government. This makes it difficult for the opposition to gain access to information that they can use to hold the government to account, and this lack of resources can make the opposition look incompetent and not fit to govern.

Question 31

Give an example of a successful opposition in recent history

Answer 31

The Abbott opposition from 2009-2013 is considered one of the most successful oppositions in recent history. In December 2009, Tony Abbott replaced Malcolm Turnbull as opposition leader, and his first action was to withdraw opposition support for the emissions trading scheme in the Senate. When Kevin Rudd later abandoned the scheme altogether, Tony Abbott criticised the government saying it lacked conviction. Tony Abbott was also able to effectively scrutinise the government for its approach to the global financial crisis of 2008, and in 2010 the Labor government removed Kevin Rudd from opposition and Julia Gillard become the new Prime Minister. After the 2010 election, the Labor party formed a minority government under Gillard, and Tony Abbott used this opportunity to berate the government for its compromise. One of the election promises of the Gillard government was that there would be no carbon tax, however since the ALP relied on the Greens support in the lower house they were forced to introduce a carbon tax. Tony Abbott declared Gillard a liar and constantly reminded the public of it. The ALP also relied on the support of all their members, so when Craig Thompson was accused of miss-using a union credit card Gillard was forced to support them, which Tony Abbott used, saying that the government had to rely on a man with low integrity. With growing numbers of Asylum seekers, the government was forced to review its refugee policy, but the High Court challenged the new legislation and it was finally shot down when the Liberal Opposition and Greens blocked a change in the Migration Act of 1985 that would resolve the problem. Finally, the factor of Kevin Rudd proved an extremely de-stabilising force for the ALP government. His return in 2013 served to add more controversy into the already fractured government, and the ALP government was decisively defeated in 2013.