UNIT 3 P+L - POWERS OF THE PM, CABINET AND MINISTRY

prime minister defintion

head of govt, and the leader of the executive government. they lead the party/parties that command majority support in the house of reps.

6 main powers of the PM

• chief advisor of the GG

• allocates ministers

• public face and spokesperson for australia

• head of cabinet

• determine and coordinate policy

• most active member in the HOR debates and question time wise

source of the pm power

• not the constutition

• comes from conventions

• s62 states that there shall be a federal executive council to advise gg however

sources + conventions that gives pm their power

• being gg’s chief advisor

• leader of party w majority of support creates power to pass bills w ease

• pm advises gg on ministerial appointments

limits on the pms power (9)

• party unity: must maintain support from their party (eg rudd + gillard overthrowing)

• opposition

• cabinet: full of ambitious mp’s who may leak info

• the HOR: although they have a majority, they can scrutinise govt in question time

• senate: govt barely has a majority, crossbench negotiates bills (eg NACC, medevac)

• speaker: can tell off PM in question time (eg tony smith told off scomo for not answering a question)

• pressure groups: eg getup for taking them to court

• the GG: may use reserve powers agaisnt pm

• the electorate/voters: needs to retain likeness otherwise no power at all (eg scomo hated on during bushfires)

ministry definition

collective body of government ministers headed by the PM, who are formally appointed by the GG on recommendation from the PM

cabinet definition

key group of decision making ministers in executive government

3 roles of cabinet

• develop and implement policies

• respond to crisis

• allocate resources

factors affecting cabinets power

• personality of PM: eg rudd was a workaholic and dictator, and tony abbott made captains calls (decisions without consulting anyone) and bob hawke had a very consultative cabinet

• timing around decision

• relationships between ministers (party unity)

minister definition

• mp’s who are given additional responsibility by the pm (eg health minister)

• approx 30

3 roles of ministers

• initiating/explaining bills

• implementing bills throughout aus

• responding to any scrutiny at question time

julia gillard general information

• 28th pm

• served from 2010-2013

• labor party

• first female PM

• first PM to lead a minority govt since WW2

scomo general info

• 30th PM

• from 2018-2022

• liberal party

• leadership style describes as reactive and not proactive

• election victory referred to as a miracle, defied prediction of major opinion polls

• marginal but impactful majority

5 limits on gillards power + what power

• opposition: creating new legislatoin

• high court: affected her commonwealth power of ‘declaring another country suitable for offshore processing

• senate: passing legislation

• public scrutiny: debate function

• party unity: all

how opposition affect gillards power

• abbotts censure motion: tried to pass a censure motion against Gillard over the Carbon tax scheme. It failed though

• constant negativity of minority government: regularly highlighted the minority govt weakness and used it as a sign of instability, and used it to claim she lacked a clear mandate to govern

• scrutinising her bills: ‘axe the tax’ slogan in relation to carbon tax bill, frequently denied and blocked legislation

censure motion def

a motion of telling off an MP.

how the high court affected gillards power

M70 case

• minister for immigration has power to declare another country suitable for offshore processing

• australia diverts asylum seekers, malaysia sends 4000 refugees in return (people swap)

• HC ruled this was not allowed to happen as malaysia did not provide adequate protection in terms of human rights and refugee protection

how senate affected gillards power

since she was a minority government, she relied on the support of independent MPs and the Greens to pass legislation. This made her vulnerable to bargaining and compromises on her key policies. This meant that some important policies on her agenda were watered down and altered to gain support.

how public scrutiny affected gillards power

• public gallery interupted her during question time every time she spoke. They were calling her a 'Liar' and booing her.

• constant scrutiny of minority government and carbon tax bill

how party unity affected gillards power

• Her leadership spill in 2010 which got her elected over Kevin Rudd created an atmosphere of instability, making it harder for Gillard to command full confidence from her party and the public.

• was reversed in 2013 because the Labor parties polling numbers were very low heading into the election. Rudd won a party caucus vote that took place, 57–45, and Gillard announced she would resign under IMR.

4 strengths of gillard as PM

• passing of legislation

• negotiation skills

• debate function

• representation in her ministry

gillards passing of legislation strength

• highest rate of passing legislation

• strong policy for the good of australia, such as the creation of the NDIS

gillards negotiation skills strength

• because of minority govt she did a lot of negotiating

• able to negotiate carbon tax scheme and the gonski education reforms despite extreme opposition hate

gillards debate function strength

• 2012 famous misoginy speech

gillards representation strength

• 40% woman in cabinet

• shes a woman

scomo as pm 5 limits on his power

• high court

• federalism

• media/public scrutiny

• high court

• speaker

how scomo lost his power from media/public scrutiny

• bushfires: firefighters refusing to shake his hand, his quote ‘i dont hold a hose mate’

• delayed covid vax rollout

• because of this his polling fell from +2 to -22

senates limits on scomos power

failed religious discrimination bill.

• Heavily influenced by Jacqui Lambie, and even some liberal party members crossed the floor because it aimed to protect people of faith from discrimination, especially in schools and workplaces. However, it faced backlash for potentially allowing LGBT+ discrimination, especially in schools.

• shelved in 2022

high courts limits on scomos power

love and thoms:

• scomo was exercising his power listed in migration act ‘allows commonwealth to deport non citizens (aliens) who commit serious crimes

• love and thoms born in papa new guinea and new zealand, but both had aus indigenous heritage. both convicted of crimes and sent to detention centre to be deported

• high court ruled that aboriginals cannot be considered aliens and created a whole new category of people (non citizens, non aliens) who could not be deported

speaker that told scomo off and what for

tony smith for not answering a question

how federalism limited scomos power

During covid, the federal government did not have power over and could not legally impose things like national lockdowns and border closures, rather these decisions were made by state premiers, who sometimes chose to act against federal advice.

2 powers of scomo as pm

• special emergency powers(travel bans etc)

• creating good legislation

good legislation scomo introduced

• jobkeeper and jobseeker, to support businesses and workers during lockdown

• mental health and aged care reform $17.7 billion package

• net zero by 2050 policy