Accountability of the executive (political)

Types of executive

• constitutional executive - executive power vested in the monarch, represented by the GG, (chapter 2 of constitution)

• political executive - prime minister, cabinet and ministry

  • s64- ministers must be members of parliament

  • cabinet has no constitutional basis but executive power rests with it

  • s62 - federal executive council is the link between constitutional and parliamentary executive

• administrative executive- public service

  • bureaucracy - hierarchy, division of labor, specialisation, expertise

Need for executive accountability

• government’s executive power is coercive and extensive e.g. detaining citizens, declaring war, levying taxes and using taxpayer funds

• government size= ratio of gov’t spending to GDP

• Australia has a low ratio compared to the other 36 OECD countries

Accountability mechanisms

• Westminster

Westminster

• focus on cabinet and ministry

• traditional unwritten rules governing the expectations and conduct of executive power

• chain of accountability

• e.g.

• question time,

• collective ministerial responsibility

• individual ministerial responsibility

Collective ministerial responsibility

• no confidence votes OR defeat of a critical legislative vote, amending/blocking of gov’t money bills are also considered de facto no confidence votes

  • Minority Morrison Gov’t 2019 was the first in 80 years to lose a critical legislative vote (Medevac Home Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill 2018) - the legislation passed the House of Representatives by a narrow vote of 75 to 74 against the government’s will

  • 1941 minority Fadden Government resigned after the HoR moved to reduce its budget by 1 pound

• rarely pass- gov’t majority and party discipline

• used to frustrate the executive and speak at length against the government using the automatic debate

  • takes precedence, trigger an automatic debate (30 min for opposition leader, 30 min for prime minister, 20 min for private members, vote on the motion)

• can be used to highlight weaknesses, mismanagement and problems within public service

Individual ministerial responsibility

• censured ministers are expected to resign

• more powerful in the HoR because of its historical origins in Britain’s powerful lower house- the house of commons

• usually unsuccessful - undermined by party discipline and gov’t control of the lower house

• however, it’s useful because

• it imposes a expectations of ministerial integrity and competency that can improve ministerial performance and behavior, which the prime minister (in the party room) and the parliament can both enforce

• opposition moving a censure motion has the opportunity to speak to the motion, pressuring an incompetent minister

Example: Censure of Scott Morrison

Evasion of Parliamentary Scrutiny:

• By concealing his appointments (health, finance, resources, treasury, home affairs) from Parliament, Morrison prevented lawmakers from questioning or holding him publicly accountable for those portfolios.

• Morrison bypassed accountability completely when he used his secret powers to overrule Resources Minister Keith Pitt to block the PEP 11 offshore gas project.

• Morrison enjoyed the ultimate executive authority without any of the individual parliamentary responsibility.

Censure: historic action in 2022, but he rejected the criticism of his actions and dismissed the censure as "political intimidation” and didn’t resign

Senate censures

• senate censures lack the weight of Westminster convention

  • Senator George Brandis — the Attorney General in the Abbott and Turnbull Governments — in March 2015 was successfully censured as the government lacked the majority to defeat the motion. Brandis was vigorously defended by Tony Abbott and survived the motion

• Bridget Mckenzie and the sports rorts

• Resignation: Stepped down as Deputy Leader of the Nationals and Minister for Agriculture.

• Findings: A Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet investigation concluded she failed to declare a gun club membership (Wangaratta Clay Target Club) which received a grant, and disproportionately allocated community sport grants to marginal electorates ahead of the 2019 election while overriding Sport Australia's merit assessments.

• Formal Censure: Despite calls and legal discussions regarding accountability, no parliamentary censure motion was ever passed against her in the Senate.