Part D: Government Flashcards
What is the responsibility of the municipal government?
Health centres, health regulations, rubbish collection, rubbish disposal, parks and recreation.
What are the three levels of government?
Municipal (local)
Legislative (state)
Federal (national)
What is the responsibility of the state government
Education, transport, hospitals, road laws, public works, local government.
What is the responsibility of the federal government?
Defence, currency, international relations, post, telecommunications, trade and immigration.
What are the concepts of a representative democracy?
In a representative democracy, citizens elect a local leader to sit in on bills and discussions on the public’s behalf.
What are the two political parties in Australia?
The Coalition and the Labor Party.
What is the role of the House of Representatives?
To form government
To propose bills
To represent the people
What is the role of the Senate?
To propose bills and vote on proposals
To safeguard the interests of all the states
To represent the interest of voters
How many seats are there in the federal upper and lower houses?
Upper: 76
Lower: 150
What is the number of seats in the state upper and lower houses?
Upper: 40
Lower: 88
Who is allowed to vote in Australia?
Any Australian citizen over the age of 18 and is not serving an extended sentence is required to enrol and vote or else receive a fine.
Define the preferential voting system?
Preferential voting is where citizens can vote for the running candidates to represent their electorate in the House of Representatives based on preference.
What is an electorate?
An area of land with approximately 85,000 voters.
How often are elections held in Australia
Federal: Every three years
State: Every four years
Describe the voting system.
Several candidates are presented to the public and the public then votes according to preference on a ballot paper on whom they would like to represent them.
