2022 Election   

1. Outcome: The Australian Labor Party (ALP) won the election, defeating the incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government 

2. House of Representatives results: 

   - Australian Labor Party: 77 seats (gain of 9) 

   - Liberal/National Coalition: 58 seats (loss of 19) 

   - The Greens: 4 seats (gain of 3) 

   - Independents: 10 seats (gain of 7) 

   - Centre Alliance: 1 seat (no change) 

   - Katter's Australian Party: 1 seat (no change) 

3. Two-party preferred vote: 

   - Labor: 52.13% 

   - Liberal/National Coalition: 47.87% 

4. Voter turnout: 89.82%, a decrease of 2.07% from the earlier election 

5. Key changes: 

   - Labor formed a majority government, ending the Coalition's nine-year tenure. 

   - Significant gains were made by The Greens and independents, particularly in traditionally safe Liberal seats 

   - The Coalition suffered substantial losses in urban and suburban areas 

6. Notable swings: 

   - Labor gained seats like Bennelong (7.9% swing) and Boothby (4.7% swing) 

   - The Greens won the seat of Brisbane with an 8.7% swing from the LNP (Liberal National Party) 

   - Some independent candidates won with large swings, such as in Mackellar (15.7% swing from Liberal) 

This election marked a significant shift in Australian politics, with increased representation for minor parties and independents, and a clear mandate for the Labor Party to form government 

Electoral representation in another country (AMERICA)  

Features of the US system  

• Election of representatives (congress) and executive (president and vice president) separate  

• Noncompulsory voting  

• Different voting systems across different states  

• Electoral college  

• Inequality of political rights  

How do they run election  

1. The federal election commission overseas elections in USA  

2. Independent body appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate  

3. Only overseas campaign, finances, and donations 

4. Elections are always on a Tuesday in early November, every four years. This is set in law.  

President and the VP  

• The US executive is composed of the President, vice president and cabinet  

•  The USA none of the presidents sit in congress, the vice president is the president of the senate  

• the cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. (The equivalent of the cabinet)  

• The president is elected every four years and since constitutional change in 1951, is restricted to serving two terms.  

Selecting presidential candidates  

• Let people choose who the candidates should be (asked by parties)  

• Occurs through a series of competitions known as primaries and caucuses  

• Candidates will nominate for one of the two major parties (the republican party and the democratic party) and the parties primaries and causes elect the nominee.  

• Most states use the primary process, while some states use the caucus process  

• Ordinary members of the parties vote from their preferred nominee, once a state has chosen, they will send delegates to the party’s national congress- the RNC or DNC.The successful presidential candidate will then choose a running mate, who will be their VP if elected.  

Electoral College  

• The electoral college is a body of popularity elected delegates from each of the 50 states _ DC, according to the constitution (article 2, S1), it is this group of people that elects the president and VP  

• The US citizens indirectly elect their president, they are electing state and delegates to send to the electoral college who will elect a president using the FPTP system  

• Each state has electoral college votes equal to the size of their representation in congress, which is equal in the senate, but proportional in the house. 

• California is the largest state with 53 house seats + 2 senate seats 

• Alaska has three votes (1 house, 2 senate)  

• In all states apart from Maine and Nebraska, the winner takes all.IN the states, EC votes are distributed  

How does the EC lead to a president  

• There are 538 EC votes in total from all states across the whole country  

• A candidate requires 270 of these votes to win  

• A candidate can win fewer states with larger margins, while their opponent may win more states with smaller margins  

• A presidential candidate can win the popular vote but can lose the election. 

Congress (our parliament)  

• Congress is the name of the US legislature (house of reps and a senate)  

• Differences between the US and the Australian include  

• Their executive does not sit in parliament  

• House of reps serves two-year terms (ours serve three years)  

• Their senators serve six-year terms, with one third of the senate elected every two years (ours serve 6 years and 40/76 senators elected every three years  

• Thier senate is malapportioned, with two senators per state (our senate is also malapportioned, with 12 senators per state, and two for each territory.  

• Their territories (Puerto Rico, Guam etc.) do not have representation (ours does, in both houses) 

• State congresses make their own laws for electing federal congression, meaning that the way congresspeople are elected varies widely across the country  

• State congresses also control electoral boundaries! In Australia, this is controlled by the AEC  

• This means in fettered gerrymandering and voter exclusion, undermining the equality of political rights  

• Representatives are elected using FPTP – there are only two choices with fringe candidates receiving a paltry percentage of votes. 

Statute Law and Delegated Legislation  

86 – 93  

Laws should reflect the values of society 

Anarchial state without government. The law administers and organizes;  

• Criminal activity  

• Taxation  

• Public services  

• Public safety  

• Environment  

• Foreign property  

• Enforce societal and moral norms; 2017 Same sex marriage  

• Protection of minority groups; Racial Discrimination act (18C) 

Features of effective law  

• Applicable to the entire population 

• Applicable to a geographic jurisdiction  

• Applicable all the time  

• Effective sanctions 
  - legislated by the legislature  

• Enforced by the executive  

• Adjusted by the jurisdiction  

Public law  

Concerns cases between the government o0n one side and an individual or group on another side  
These cases are considered ‘public’ because the outcome affects relationships between people and group in society, not just the direct parties in the case. 
Constitutional law, industrial law and criminal law are types of public law. 
Essentially, this area of law usually involves the government legislating an area of law, and an individual or group breaking that law.  
Prosecution is the responsibility of the state.  

Private Law  

Concerning disputes between ‘legal persons’ this can be either human individuals or body corporates. 
These disputes usually arise from one legal person arguing that another legal person has wronged them in8 some way. 
The following are included as elements of private law  
- Torts (negligence, nuisance, defamation9, trespass. 
- Contracts  
others including inheritance, family, and workplace law. 

Statute Law (94 – 110/ 119 – 102)  

Would be annulled,  

• Law that is made by the commonwealth parliament under section 51 of the constitution. 

• A bill becomes law after it has been passed by both houses of parliament and given royal assent (s.58) by the governor general.  

• Typically, the term used to describe the collections of statutes. However, it is interchangeable with statute.  

• A legally enforced law passed through both houses of parliament act is the official name for a specific statute law.  

The functions of Parliament  

• Initiating, debating and approving  

• Appointing and dismissing  

• Approving  

• Representing  

• Providing  

Composition of the 47^th parliament (HOR)  

• Labor government (78)  

• Liberal (40) and National (15) opposition  

• Greens (4) KAP (1) Centre Alliance (1) Independents (1) as crossbench  

Composition of the 47^th parliament (SENATE)  

• Labor (25) Government  

• Liberal (25) National (6) opposition  

• Greens (11) One nation (2) Lambie (1) United Aus (1) Independents (5) Crossbench 

Roles: 

1. Speaker/President  

• In the hor there is a speaker of the house (current MP Milton Dick)  

• In the senate, there is the president (presiding officers) of the senate (current pres. Labor senator Susan Lines) 

• Together, they are the presiding officers of parliament, elected by their respective houses to ensure the debate continues according to parliamentary procedures  

• You need to be a member of a party in parliament. They determine who may speak, maintains order during debate and punishes those who break the rules  

• They are elected by a secret ballot of the HOR  

• Upholds standing orders  

• The speaker may name a member who has broken standing orders, require the withdraw of remarks, demand an apology to the house, or suspend a member for attending parliament  

• Does not vote but can cast a tiebreaker vote in the result of a deadlock.  

• The senate elects one of its members to be president  

• Is usually a member of the party that is in power in the lower house  

• Does not have as many powers to punish as the speaker does – but the senate is usually much quite than the house. 

• Presiding officers vote as a normal senator and don't have power to cast tie breaking vote.  

2. The executive  

• In parliament it is the role of the executive (prime minister and cabinet) members of government (in parliament this is just the PM + C, not the queen or GG) To introduce legislature and explain the actions of their government  

• Most bills are usefully passed by both houses and granted royal assent are introduced by the government. This is because the government almost always has a majority in the house of reps and can negotiate effectively with crossbenchers in the senate. 

• The strength of the executive in parliament mostly depends on popularity of the government, its leader and its mandate to govern.  

3. Opposition  

• The second largest party in the lower house of parliament. The opposition's functions are to act as an advocate by highlighting alternatives by specific government initiatives, scrutinize government bills and administration, and to develop alternative policies.  

• There are diverse types of opposition. 

4. Front and back benchers  

• Front benchers; The members of parliament who are ministers or shadow ministers  

• Backbenchers; Any member of parliament who is not a government minister or ministerial secretary, a presiding officer, or an opposition shadow minister. The name is used because these members sit on the benches at the back of the chambers. 

5. Private members  

• A non-executive me4mbeer of parliament. More specifically, a private member is a member of parliament who does not hold formal office and thus is not part of the government executive (prime minister, ministers, and cabinet secretaries) or a Presiding officer.  

Working of parliament: 

1. Standing orders: permanent rules covering the conduct of the business of parliament. The standing riders cover such things as the rules of debate, the ways a presiding officer can maintain order, and voting procedures. The speaker and president are the arbiters of standing orders in the houses. 

2. Gag and the Guillotine: A motion under standing orders of parliament that the motion be put. A successful gag motion cuts off debate on an issue. It is used to restrict debate and speed up the passage of a bill. A limit on the length of a debate during a bill in parliament. A guillotine is imposed when a motion is put to classify a bill as urgent. A limit on the length of a debate during a bill in parliament. While the guillotines can be necessary to prevent time wasting, they are controversial as they often are used to force through bills with extraordinarily little debate.  

Legitimate Legislation  

For legislation to be seen as legitimate, it must go through proper parliamentary process. If legislation has not undergone this process, how can it be seen as meeting democratic requirements ? 
- allow for wide-ranging input from outside and within parliament. 
- Be part of the mandate of a popularly elected government or arise from a widely debated issue  
- Be subject to effective scrutiny in its passage through parliament.  

Federation chamber; bills that passed the house without proper scrutiny (bob catta )  

Committees 

To support the role of parliament, groups of parliamentarian's work in parliamentary committees to review proposed legislation and make recommendations  

Committees can be formed from one house, or another or from both; ministers and assistant ministers may not serve on committees.  

Committees tend to reflect the composition of the houses from which they are formed. As a result, senate senate committees tend to have more diverse and debate. 

Standing committees 
- These are established at the beginning of parliament after an election, and dissolved when parliament is dissolved ahead of the next election0 their work is continuous and ongoing.  
Select committees 
- Establis 
hed for a specific purpose and are dissolved when that purpose is achieved 

Purpose;  
- Committees may be established to; 
Enquire into a specific piece of legislation  
Investogate a particular issue  
scrutinise the activities of government departments or agencies  
- Both houses may refer bills to committees – this is done with a simple vote 
- Bills can also be considered in detail during the second reading stage of the legislative process.IN the 46^th parliament, 484 bills were presented to the house with only 18.4% considered in detail. In comparison, in the 45^th parliament, 449 bills had been introduced with only 17.6% considered in detail 
- committees can be partisan – most committee members who are part of political parties will likely try to sway reports in Favour if their own party’s political stance. However, because these committees usually do their work away from the eye of the media, it generally allows for debate unencumbered by partisan arguments.  
- Committee members generally have the intertest of the public at the forefront of their mind, they take submissions from the public. 
- They may travel to other regions, draft detailed reports in parliament  
- Committees ensure that all parliamentarians get a say and thus all Australians are represented.  
Modern Slavery ACT (2018) 
Climate change Bill (2022)  
 

Delegated Legislation  

Subordinate Authorities; Means to be under the control or authority of another  
These authorities include;  
- Government departments  
- Specialist agencies such as ASIO  
- Statutory authorities such as AEC 
- Executive officials such as secretary of the department of defense and ministers.  
Delegating means authorizing the above subordinates of parliament with the ability to exercise specific powers 

There are times when the parliament gives the power to make decisions about the details of laws to a government minister, executive officeholder or government department. Law made this way is known as delegated law or secondary legislation.  

Delegated law allows the specific details of existing – primary- laws to be made or changed without having to be debated and passed by parliament. Examples of delegated laws are regulations, standards and ordinances.  

• Because delegated law is not required to be passed directly by both houses of parliament, it can often mean amendments to an existing law can be made;  

• In a shorter period  

• By those responsible for the area, it covers. Eg minister for environments.  

• Delegated law has the same power and force as any other law in Australia 

Accountability; 

• After delegated law is made and registered it must be presented to the Australian parliament within 6 sitting days  

• Members have 15 sitting days to purpose to overrule the delegated law  

• If no decision is made, the delegated law is overruled.  

• Delegated law is also scrutinised by the standing committee for the scrutinity of delegated legislation, This committee has been in existence since 1932 and ensures that delegated law; 
  - in is agreement with the existing law  
  - does not interfere unnecessarily with personal rights and liberties  
  - Allows the possibility of review by a court or independent body  
  - Does not contain content more appropriate for a new law 
  - The committee can also recommend to the senate that delegated law be overruled.