Roles of the Crown and Houses of Parliament: KK1

parliament house

• federal parliament is located in Canberra, the capital city of aus

parliament is where:

• mps and senators who are elected by people sit

• laws are made and amended

• government is formed

• important issues affecting Australians are debated

bicameral structure of parliament

bicameral is a parliament that has two houses of chambers

• upper and a lower house

federal (commonwealth) parliament consists of:

house of representatives

• green

• lower house in federal parliament

• 150 members (MPs)

• each member represents one of the 150 electorates

  • e.g. kooyong is an electorate, currently held by Monique Ryan

• government is formed in this house (the party with majority support)

senate

• red

• upper house in the federal parliament

• 76 members = senators

• 12 senators per state, and 2 per territory

bill

bill is a proposed law that is being debated in parliament

act of parliament

an act of parliament is a law that has passed parliament

process of passing laws

political parties

• political parties are groups of people with similar political ideas that attempt to get elected to parliament: e.g. labour party

• they run election campaigns to tell australian voters why they should support them

independents

an independent is a member of parliament who does not belong to any political party (e.g. monique ryan)

government

government is the political party that holds a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament

how is government formed?

• following an election, the political party with a majority of seats (over 50%) in the lower house forms government

• minimum of 76 seats are required by a political party to form government

roles of the house of representatives

• initiate and make law

• determine the government

• act as a house of review

• control government expenditure

• represent the people

• scrutinise government administration

intiate and make law

• the main function of the lower house is to initiate new laws by introducing bills

• they are then debated and voted on

• if majority of the mp’s vote yes, bill goes to the upper house

determine the goverment

following an election, the political party with a majority of seats (over 50%) in the house of reps will form majority government

act as a house of review

If a bill has been initiated and passed through the Senate, the House of Representatives will be the ‘second house’ to consider whether the bill should become law, and will therefore act as a house of review.

control government expenditure

a bill must be passed through both houses of parliament before a government can collect taxes or spend money, but only the House of Representatives can introduce money bills

represent the people

• Members are elected to represent the people on their behalf, and proposed laws should therefore reflect the views and values of the majority of the electorate that the member represents.

• This is called representative government.

scrutinise government administration

• ministers must be members of parliament, and are expected to be answerable and accountable for their actions, policies, and decisions

• ministers can be questioned by opposition members about their policies and proposed legislation during question time, and government decisions and legislative proposals are subject to parliamentary scrutiny, including through the committee system.

• this is called responsible government.

roles of the senate

• act as a house of review

• allow for equal representation of the states

• initiate bills

• scrutinise bills & government administration

act as a house of review

• most bills are initiated in the lower house, so the Senate reviews and debates the bills that have been initiated and already passed through the House of Representatives.

• The Senate may pass a bill without amendments, pass it with amendments, or reject it.

• has a detailed committee system to investigate legislation

• ensure bills are properly and vigorously considered

• therefore, acts as an important check on the government in law-making, particularly if the gov does not hold a majority

allow for equal representation of the states

• The senate is known as the ‘states house’.

• Section 7 of the Constitution provides that the Senate should have an equal representation from each state, regardless of its size and population, to protect the interests of the states (particularly smaller ones).

initiate bills

although most bills are initiated in the House of Representatives, a bill may be introduced in the Senate except for money bills

scrutinise bills and government administration

The Senate has a number of committees that can scrutinise legislation or particular government activities, legislation or policy, as well as government expenditure, e.g. Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

the victorian parliament

• the victorian parliament, made up of:

  • lower house = legislative assembly

  • upper house = legislative council

  • the king - represented by the governor of victoria

legislative assembly

• lower house in the vic parliament

• 88 seats

• 1 member elected from each district across victoria

legislative council

• upper house in the vic parliament

• 40 seats

• 5 members elected from each region of vic

• 8 electoral regions in victoria, each made up of 11 districts

roles of the legislative assembly

• initiate and make law

• determine the government

• scrutinise government administration

• control government expenditure

• represent the people

• act as a house of review

initiate and make law

• the main function of the lower house is to initiate new laws by introducing bills.

• generally introduced by a government minister, although any member may introduce a bill

• bills are debated and voted on

• bills passed by the lower house will then be considered by the upper house.

determine and make government

the political party that has the most members in the legislative assembly forms government

scrutinise government administration

• ministers must be members of parliament, and are expected to be answerable and accountable for their actions, policies, and decisions

• ministers can be questioned by opposition members about their policies and proposed legislation during question time, and government decisions and legislative proposals are subject to parliamentary scrutiny (including through the committee system).

• this is called responsible government.

control government expenditure

for taxes to be collected or money to be spent, the bill must be introduced in the legislative assembly. therefore, the Legislative Assembly controls government expenditure as only it can initiate money bills (not the legislative council)

represent the people

• Members are elected to represent the people on their behalf, and proposed laws should therefore reflect the views and values of the majority of the electorate that the member represents.

• This is called representative government.

act as a house of review

the Legislative Assembly acts as a house of review in the law-making process when a bill has been initiated in and passed by the Legislative Council.

roles of the legislative council

• act as a house of review

• initiate bills

• scrutinise government administration

act as a house of review

• most bills are initiated in the lower house, so the LA reviews the bills that have been initiated and already passed through the LC

• The LA may pass a bill without amendments, pass it with amendments, or reject it.

• The LA can therefore act as an important check on government in law-making, particularly if the government does not have a majority in the LC.

initiate bills

• bills can be initiated in the Legislative Council but it is less common than in the Legislative Assembly.

• cannot introduce money bills

scrutinise government administration

• ministers must be members of parliament, and are expected to be answerable and accountable for their actions, policies, and decisions

• ministers can be questioned by opposition members about their policies and proposed legislation during question time, and government decisions and legislative proposals are subject to parliamentary scrutiny, including through the committee system.

• this is called responsible government.

the crown

• the crown is part of the system of government in Australia and is represented by:

  • one Governor-General (federal)

  • six governors (state level)

• the governor-general is appointed by the crown on the advice of the prime minister of australia

• the governors of each state are also appointed by the Crown, on the advice of the premier of each state

roles of the crown

• granting role assent

• withholding royal assent

• appointing the executive council

granting royal assent

• The Crown’s representative (the Governor-General or state governor) is required to approve bills before they can become law.

• This is known as royal assent.

• Royal assent is normally granted on the advice of the Prime Minister or ministers at the Commonwealth level, and on the advice of the Premier of Victoria or ministers at the Victorian level.

withholding royal assent

• The Crown’s representative has the power to withhold royal assent (that is, refuse to approve a bill in order to make it an Act of Parliament).

• For example, some of the circumstances in which the Governor General may withhold royal assent is because:

  • They are of the view that a bill is unconstitutional

  • The bill was improperly passed by parliament

appointing the executive council

executive council is a group consisting of the prime minister and senior ministers (at the Commonwealth level) or premier and senior ministers (at the state level) that is responsible for administering and implementing the law by giving advice to the crown’s representative on matters such as whether to approve regulations