Government
By Madison
Federation
The Australian's Constitution is the new states united with the commonwealth. This role was to be shared between the federal Parliament and state parliaments. The federal parliament job was to make laws about national matters such as defence, immigration, trade and the environment. To manage the federal law they had to be divided between the Parliament which whom would make the law. The Executive would put the law into action. And the federal Parliament would be made up of the Queen which is represented by the Governor- General. The Senate and The House of Representatives can be the only ones for the law to past if only the both houses agreed.
The Three Levels Of Government
There are three levels of Government such as Local Councils, State/Territory Parliaments and Federal Parliaments. These Governments all have different jobs to do. These Governments work together to make Australia have the services they need. There is only one Federal Government, six State/Territory Governments and over 560 Local Governments.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS
The Federal Government job is to raise money by collecting taxes on incomes, goods and services, also the money is used for trade, defence, immigration and for the environment.
STATE/TERRITORY GOVERNMENT
The State/Territory government job is to also collect the tax money but the State/Territory Government receives half of what the Federal Government. The difference with the State/Territory Government and the Federal Government is they use the tax money to buy different things. The State/Territory uses the money for schools, housing, hospitals, roads, railways, police and ambulance drivers.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Local Councils collect rates from the local owners and use this money for town planning, rubbish collection, water, sewerage, local roads and pet control.
Parliamentary Committees
Parliament committees are very important as they investigate issues and bills in detail. The Parliament committees do all this so the Parliament can be well-formed before making final decisions of national significance. The roles of the Parliament is to make laws for the nation. But sadly there is always limited time to debate a complex issues in detail in the parliamentary chambers. This is where a committee comes in, the committees job is to take weeks or months to have a closer look. The committee is voted by the members of Parliament to take on this role.
The Senate
In the other side of the parliament this is known to be called the Senate. This room is used for electing twelve people to be their Senators and the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory elect these people. Every state and territory always have the same number of Senators. In the Senate the chamber in the Parliament House where the Senate group meets is decorated in red. The shape of the seating is in a U-shape. The way they sit in the Senate is the Government members sit in the seats located at the left, the Opposition sit on the right side. The seats in the middle of the U-shape are for members of a small party and Independents. In the middle at the front this is where the President of the Senate sits and he/her is in charge of the meeting.
The House Of Representatives
In Australia we have groups called electorates, this meaning Australia is divided up into areas. At each electorate there is one seat in the House of Representatives, each electorate has about the same number of people living in it. When a time comes for a election, people in each electorate vote for a person to go to Parliament to speak for them. The person elected from their electorate becomes the new member of the House of Representatives for that seat. The party that has the most people elected for the House of Representatives becomes the Government, it's leader becomes the Prime Minister of Australia . For the Opposition, the party that has the next highest people elected for the House of Representatives is called the leader of the Opposition. Where the House of Representatives have there meetings is a big room decorated in green called a chamber in the Parliament House. The seat arrangement is in a U-shaped and the Government members sit on the left and the Opposition sit on the right facing them. In the curved part of the U-shaped is where all the Independents known as small parties and members who do not belong to a party sit.
Making a Law
One of parliaments biggest job is to make laws. How they make the laws is they start suggesting the new law, which is known as a bill. When representing a bill it is first suggested in the House of Representatives. When the bill is being explained the members of parliament discusses it and they make a few little changes. Once the bill has been suggested all the members vote for or against the bill, if the bill is selected it then goes to the other House of Representatives and the same thing happens. Once the other House of Representatives had looked at the bill they sometimes send the bill back with some more changes or it sometimes passes another vote. After all this has happened the bill is called and Act of Parliament. After the bill has been explained, suggested and looked at the Governor-General signs it and it becomes a law that Australians have to obey.