Politics Flashcards
(24 cards)
Prime Minister
The leader of the party who has a majority of seats that get voted into the House of Representatives
Minister
A member of the party in the government chosen to be responsible for a specific area of policy
Governor General
The representative of the crown for federal parliament
Governor
The representative of the crown for Victorian Parliament
Bicameralism
When parliament consists of two house and the Crown
Senate
The upper house in Federal Parliament with 76 seats
House of Representatives
The lower house in Federal Parliament which forms government with 151 seats
Australia Labour Party (ALP)
Political party with close ties to trade unions, advocating for redistribution of income
Liberal Party
Political party that represents the interests of business and private enterprise
The Nationals
The party which represents the views of farmers and rural communities
The Greens
The political party founded on ecological sustainability and grassroots democracy
Independents
A person who stands for election without belonging to a political party
Coalition
When two parties who have similar views join together to win an election
Hostile Opposition
When the opposition hold the majority of seats in the senate
Legislative Assembly
The lower house of the Victorian Parliament
Legislative Council
The upper house of the Victorian Parliament
Areas of law-making exclusive to the Federal Parliament
Medicare, immigration, defence, taxation
Areas of shared law-making powers
Education and health
Bill
A draft Act
Laws made by parliament
Acts, statues, or legislation
The process of passing a bill
- Bill is drafted by MP
- First Reading
- Second Reading
- Consideration in Detail
- Third Reading
- Bill passes lower house and enters upper house
- First Reading
- Second Reading
- Committee of the whole
- Third Reading
- Bill is passed by the upper house
- The Crown rep grants royal assent
- The Bill is published in the Gazette
- The Bill becomes Law
Referendum
The only way the constitution can be changed.
- Commonwealth Parliament must pass a Constitutional Amendment Bill (same process as other bills)
- If and when approved, the proposal is put to the people of Australia to vote YES or NO
- Must achieve a double majority: at least 50% of all Australian voters must vote YES, and at least 50% of people in at least 4 out of 6 states must vote YES
- complexity and difficulty of this process makes them highly unlikely to pass + they are expensive to operate
Separation of Powers
Legislative:
HoR/Senate
- introduce, create, changed legislation
Executive:
PM/Cabinet (in the HoR)
- puts laws into action/lead government
Judicial:
High Court
- interpret/make judgement on law
