24.1
Who is the King's representative in the Australian federal parliament?
The governor-general
True or False: The Liberal Party and the National Party often join together in a coalition
True
Which Australian state is the only one that does not have two houses of parliament?
Queensland
What colour ballot paper is used to elect a member of the House of Representatives and for senate?
Green ballot paper : electing member of the lower house-every 3 years
White ballot paper: electing senators every 6 years
True or False: You must be of voting age (18 or older) to take part in direct action
False (The text highlights that you do not have to be of voting age to make your voice heard through direct action, using school climate strikes as an example).
What does constitutional monarchy mean?
A system of government in which a monarch is the head of state, but their powers are limited by a constitution and laws.
Can independents form the government? What is their role?
Never, but they play important and powerful role in the parliament especially when a major party relies on their votes to pass important law
What is the physical middle of parliament where Independents and minor parties sit called
Cross Bench
WHat is formal and informal vote
formal vote :a valid ballot paper that has been correctly completed in accordance with the instructions
Informal vote: an invalid ballot paper that has not been completed in accordance with the instructions and therefore is not counted in the final vote tally
What is direct action. Give 3 examples
Direct action (or non-violent resistance): forms of public protest that seek to raise awareness about issues
Examples are: Marches, boycotts and strikes
What is the name of Australia's lower house of federal parliament? describe the role
The House of Representatives.: Also called Lower House. It has 15e members, MPs. They debate, vote and change the bills, 3 times. If it gets approved, then it is passed to the upper house for them to review. At least 76 seats must be won by a party for their leaders to become Prime minister.
Define Independent candidates
a member of parliament who is not associated with a political party
What is the name of the British parliamentary model that Australia's system is based on? Describe it
The Westminster parliamentary system: a British parliamentary system upon which Australian parliamentary system is modelled. It includes a head of state, an elected parliament and a government formed by the political party with the majority support in the lower house of Parliament;
How is counting the votes in house of representative done
To win a seat in the House of Representatives, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes. This means they must receive at least 50 per cent of the votes, plus one. If this does not occur, then the candidate with the fewest first preferences is eliminated. The second preferences on those ballot papers are distributed to the other candidates. If there is still no clear winner, the next candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and their preferences are distributed till a winner is decided
What is the name for the people living in an area that an elected politician represents?
Constituents.
Describe the structure of the commonwealth parliament
The Australian Parliament consists of the King (represented by the Governor-General), the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is the lower house, while the Senate is the upper house. Both houses consider and pass proposed laws, which require royal assent to become law.
Which two political parties are the most popular in Australia? What are their main purpose?
The Australian Labor Party (Labor/ALP) and the Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal Party). To win the election and form the government. Labour strives for a fairer AUstralia for all workers. Tries to close the gap between rick and poor. Liberal believes in the power of individual and business.
In Victoria's parliament, What is the upper house and lower house called
What is a parliament called when no single political party wins an overall majority of seats?
The Legislative Assembly is the lower house; the upper house is called the Legislative Council).
Hung Parliament: where no one political party has enough seats to have the overall majority in the house of representative
is voting compulsory in AUstralia. WHat happens if someone fails to vote
Voting in federal, state and territory elections is compulsory. Any eligible people who fail to vote may be fined. Voting is by secret ballot, which means no one has the right to know who someone voted for.
Explain lobbying
making requests to politicians or public groups to try to influence the government to change the law
In Australia, there are two main types of lobby groups (sometimes called "interest groups"): insider and outsider lobby groups. Insider lobby groups work to achieve change by working with politicians directly, while outsider lobby groups harness community support to pressure the government on particular issues. School Strike for Climate is an example of an outsider lobby group. The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is an example of an insider lobby group.
Describe the role of the House of Representative and the Senate
House of representative: Also called Lower House. It has 15e members, MPs. They debate, vote and change the bills, 3 times. If it gets approved, then it is passed to the upper house for them to review. At least 76 seats must be won by a party for their leaders to become Prime minister.
Senate: Also called upper house. 76 members, 12 from each state and 2 from each territory. They can approve the proposed bills or can reject them. It is a known as House of review where they debate, vote and change if necessary 3 times before passing it to the governor general for the royal Assent
Define Party discipline
Political parties are made up of people who share similar ideas but doesn't have to agree with the party all the time. Party discipline is how parties in parliament control their members to make sure that members of a political party all vote the same way. Political parties are powerful when all members of a party work together.
Which laws do commonwealth parliament make?
Which laws do state and territory parliament makes?
Commonwealth parliament also referred as Federal Parliament located in Canberra.They make laws that apply to the whole Australia:
State/ Territory parliament only make laws that apply within the boundaries of their states or territories. This includes laws on:
Explain preferential voting system.
a voting system which requires voters to either indicate their preference for every candidate on the ballot paper by writing a specific number of preferences on all options