10.2 The Commonwealth Parliament

Govenor General

the King’s representative at the Commonwealth Level

Political Party

an organisation that represents a group of people with shared values and ideas, which aims to have its members elected to parliament

Coalition

an alliance or joining together of two or more political parties usually to form government

minister

a member of parliament who is a member of the party in government and is in charge of a particular area of government (i.e education/health/transport, etc.)

opposition

the political party that holds the second-largest number of seats in the lower house- questions the government about policy matters and is responsible for holding the government to account

cabinet

the group of senior ministers in a government made up of the Prime Minister and senior governement ministers who are in charge of a range of portfolios- decides which bills or legislation should be introduced into parliament

private member’s bill

a bill introduced to parliament by a member of parliament who is not a government minister

hung parliament

a situation in which neither major political party wins a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament after an election

money bill

a proposed law that imposes taxes and collect revenue

representative government

a political system in which people elect members of parliament to represent them in government

election

the process used where eligible people vote to choose a person to hold a postion in a body or oganisation

committee system

a system used by federal, state and territory parliaments in Australia involved the use of seperate working parties to investigate a wide range of legal, social, and political issues and report back to the parliament about the need for law reform

parliamentary committee

a small group of members of parliament who consider and report on a single subject in one or both houses, can come from any party

balance of power

a situation where no single party hold a majority of seats in one or both houses- meaning the power to reject or approve bills is held by a small number of people (e.g. members of small parties or independent members)

crossbenchers

members of parliament who are not members of either the government or opposition- named after the sets of seats provided in Parliament for them the ‘crossbench’

components of commonwealth parliament

• King (represented by the Govenor -General)

• Senate (upper house)

• House of representatives (lower house)

Features of the House of Representatives

• 151 members

• political party, or coalition that achieves majority of members elected to the House of Representatives becomes the government

• the party with the next highest number of elected members becomes the opposition

Roles of the House of Representatives

• initiaiting and making laws

• determining the government

• representing the people

• acting as a house of review

• scrutinising government administration

• controlling government expenditure

Features of the Senate

• upper house

• has 76 elected (12 from each state, 2 from each territory)

• elected for 6 years

• elected by proportional representation

• main role is to review laws that have passed through the House of Reps

Roles of the Senate

• acting as a house of review

• allowing for equal representation of the states

• scrutinising bills and government administration

• initiating and passing bills