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

lower house: house of representatives

• green

• 150 members (MPs) in the house of reps

• each member represents one of the 150 electorates

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

upper house: senate

• red

• 76 members who are called senators

• 12 senators per state, and 2 per territory

therefore; parliament of australia:

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, liberal national party, greens

• 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 sears in the lower houses 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 intiate new laws by introdcuing bills

• the process of ittiating, debating, and voting on propsosed laws is a long and considered process

• bills passed by the lower house will then be considered by the senate

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

• if neither party reaches this majority, the political party can form a minority government with the support of the independents and/or minor parties

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 decisions, policies, and actions

• question time upholds this

• 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 and government administration

act as a house of review

• most bills are initiated in the lower house, so the Senate reviews 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, in the case of a money bill, request that the lower house amends it before passing), or reject it.

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

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

• Similar to the House of Representatives, the Senate can also initiate bills (other than money bills).

• Although most bills are initiated in the House of Representatives, a bill may be introduced in the Senate when, for example, a minister is a senator and is in charge of a bill.

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.

• This includes the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, whose role is to assess legislative proposals to determine what effect the proposals would have on individual rights, freedoms and obligations, as well as the rule of law.

house of representatives = the people’s house

• Members represent individual electorates (one per electorate).

• Electorates are based on population size (around 120,000 registered voters per electorate).

• Designed to reflect the will of the majority of Australians.

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

senate = the states’ house

• Members represent individual electorates (one per electorate).

• Electorates are based on population size (around 120,000 registered voters per electorate).

• Designed to reflect the will of the majority of Australians.

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

the victorian parliament

• overall = the victorian parliament

  • lower house = legislative assembly

  • upper house = legislative council

  • the king (represented by the governor of victoria

lower house: legislative assembly

• 88 seats

• 1 member elected from each district across victoria

upper house: legislative council

• 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.

• These are usually introduced to the Legislative Assembly by a government minister, although any member may introduce a bill.

• The process of initiating, debating and voting on proposed laws is a long and considered process.

• 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

• Most bills are initiated in the Legislative Assembly in the form of government bills, reflecting the policies laid down by the Premier and senior ministers.

scrutinise government administration

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

• 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.

represent the people

• Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to represent the interests of the people.

• Their actions in law-making should reflect the views and values of the people.

• If not, they are at risk of being voted out at the next election.

• 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

• The role of the Legislative Council is similar to that of the Senate.

• It acts as a house of review for a bill that has been passed by the Legislative Assembly.

• It does this by scrutinising, debating and, on occasion, amending or rejecting legislation that has been initiated by the government.

• By performing these functions, the upper house can apply many of the important checks and balances in the law-making process.

initiate bills

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

• The Legislative Council, like the Senate, is not able to introduce money bills. Such bills must be debated and passed in the Legislative Assembly first.

scrutinise government administration

• Ministers who are members of the upper house can be questioned by opposition members about their policies and proposed legislation during question time, and government decisions can be scrutinised in the committee process.

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

• the role of the executive council is to give advice to the crown’s representative on matters such as whether to approve regulations

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 about the government and government departments