politics good evidence

gotta crack 50 in this spicy area 🙏

Constitution chapters

Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the constitution outline the powers of the legislative, executive and judiciary respectively. This demonstrates a clear separation of powers.

High court related sections of the constitution

s71 - establishes the high court as the constitutional court

s72 - outlines the independence of the high court (s72 (ii) can’t be removed by the executive, s72 (iii) fixed salary)

s73 - sets out appellate jurisdiction of the high court

Examples of poor SOP

• Responsible government causes fusion of the executive and legislature (eg Albanese is PM and member for Grayndler)

• Delegated legislation (eg Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 gives the e safety commissioner the power to change the list of platforms which the law is applicable to)

Right to vote

s7 and s24 of the constitution ‘directly chosen by the people’

Judicial appointment process

s6 of the High Court of Australia Act 1979 (Attorney General must consult with state counterparts but isn’t required to listen to them)

Transparency in the lawmaking process

Parliament is open to the public and transcript of parliament is available in the Hansard

Case in which the judiciary acted independently

Minister for Immigration v NZYQ (2023). Ruled that the executive government does not have the power to indefinitely hold asylum seekers in offshore detention

Strengths of political participation

• 1924 amendment to the Electoral Act 1918 which made voting mandatory for the vast majority of Australians over 18

• Section 163 of the electoral act allows citizens entitled to vote the right to run for parliament (10 independents)

Lacking right to protest

NSW police commissioner can put a blanket ban on protests up to 90 days after a terrorist attack. Limited the ability of protestors to march in February 2026 protests against the Israeli president’s visit

Direct democracy in Australia

s128 of the constitution outlines the referendum process. Also displays the entrenched nature of the constitution - only 8 of 45 proposals have been successful.

Rights protection in the constitution

Very weak, with only 5 explicit rights and a number of implicit rights

State and federal laws in the constitution

• s52 outlines exclusive powers of the federal government

• s51 outlines concurrent powers

• s109 outlines that when state law conflicts with federal law, the state law is overruled

Debate cut off (weaker laws, less views and perspectives)

In late Nov 2024, 27 bills were passed using a guillotine motion to cut short debate. This affected legislation such as the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024

Propensity evidence

Past convictions which go towards the accused’s ability to commit the crime must be of ‘significant probative value’ (s31 A of the Evidence Act 1906 (WA))

Right to legal representation

Established in Dietrich v The Queen (1992)

Juror misconduct

DPP v Lehrmann (2022) ended in a mistrial when a juror was found to have brought in research of their own, disobeying the instructions of the judge and undermining the accused’s right to a fair trial

Example of precedent changing

The precedent set in Al-Kateb v Godwin (2004) was overturned in 2023 by NZYQ

Example of precedent

Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) (1992) established the precedent of native title. This was then codified into statute law by the Native Title Act 1993

Example of changing views

the Marriage Act 1961 was changed in 2017 to allow for gay marriage

Source of authority for anything jury related

Juries act 1957

• As per s2 (b) (IV) of the Juries Act 1957, Persons ‘convicted of an offence and sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term exceeding 2 years’ can’t be jurors

Mandatory sentencing

Under s 401 of the Criminal Code Compilation Act 1913, an adult who is being convicted for burglary with 2 prior relevant convictions must be sentenced at least 2 years imprisonment

Court of disputed returns source of authority

Section 354 of the electoral act 1918 establishes the high court as the court of disputed returns

court of disputed returns cases

• Gisele Kapterian (Libs) challenged the result in Bradfield after independent nicolette boele won by 26 votes

• Liberal representatives were accused of designing posters to resemble AEC posters to mislead voters in Chisolm and Kooyong (this shows it is retrospective)

Minority government

Last minority government was the 2010 Gillard government, typically governments hold a majority due to preferential voting

Voter distribution and vote wastage in HoR

The greens have one seat but won 12.2% of the national vote in 2025. The nationals have nine seats but won only 3.8% of the national vote in 2025.

AEC

Independent body which runs elections, established in s6 of the electoral act 1918

Senate malapportionment

as per s7 each state gets 12 senators, despite differing populations. For example, NSW’s population is around 15x tasmania’s population.

Senate majority

Typically, no party holds a majority in the senate with the last occurrence of this being the 2004 to 2007 Howard government

Limits on candidacy

as per s44(i) of the constitution, dual citizens cannot run for parliament unless they can’t reasonably renounce their secondary citizenship.

Women’s representation (general)

25.3% of parliament in 2002, 49.6% of parliament in 2025, 51% of population, 52.2% of cabinet

Women’s representation (ALP)

• Quotas introduced in 1994 so that by 2002 35% of candidates preselected for winnable seats were women

• Now make up 56.1% of labor caucus, 52.2% cabinet

Women’s representation (Libs)

• No gender quotas, only make up 30% of party room

• Only female leader (Sussan Ley) replaced after 9 months in early 2026

• Argue that quotas prevent candidate selection based on merits

Greens/Nats representation

• Greens hold 1 HoR seat/10 senate seats/12.2% of national vote

• Nats hold 8 HoR seats/3 senate seats/3.8% of national vote

Green’s influence in senate

Forced amendments to the 2023 Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) bill, such as additional funding

Micro parties

Motoring enthusiasts party won a senate seat in 2013, this is largely not possible now as group voting tickets were abolished in 2016

Promotional pressure groups

Climate 200 is community funded and has supported the teal independents, of which there are currently 7. For example, Allegra Spender, member for wentworth (former seat of former liberal PM malcolm turnbull)

Sectional pressure groups

The pharmacy guild forged bipartisan agreements between both major parties ahead of the 2019 election, making both parties pledge to continue funding the Pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS). This ensures community pharmacy interests are protected regardless of electoral outcomes.

Unsuccessfully campaigned against the government’s 60-day dispensing policy in 2023 which it believed would negatively affect community pharmacies

electoral reform

• Electoral legislation amendment (Fair and transparent elections) Bill 2024 introduced by independent Kate Chaney

• Aimed to reform the law around truth in political advertising (eg criminalise misleading statements) but failed as she is a private member and didn’t have the support of the government

Imprisonment bad examples

Linton Ryan committed suicide shortly after he warned prison staff he would but was ignored. Poor conditions at Banksia hill detention centre

Miscarriage of justice

Kathleen Folbigg convicted of 3 counts of murder and one count of manslaughter for the deaths of her children as infants/toddlers across 1989 to 1999. Later released in 2023 after scientific advancements revealed they likely died of a rare genetic condition

Changes to defamation law

2006 Uniform Defamation law reform was passed in response to the ‘McLibel’ case in the UK. Set standardised remedies for defamation and limited the ability of organizations to sue for defamation.

Mediation compulsory

Order 4A of the supreme court (rules of court) 1971 WA requires mediation as a part of the ‘case management’ of civil trials in WA

More contemporary example of pressure group

Gambling lobby was able to prevent significant reforms in the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026