Australia Country Breifing Report
...British colonization the smallest official continent, Commonwealth of Australia, was formed in 1901 by six separate self-governing colonies. These original colonies – Sydney (the first), Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia – mixed both British Parliament Rule and Federalism as they created their constitution. The structure and style of the Government has not changed much over the years. Many parties have represented the government since federation in 1901; namely Labor Party, Liberal Party, National Party, Australian Democrats. Several different conservative alliances and the Liberal party have predominately ruled over the past five decades.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state and since 1973 has been deemed the Queen of Australia. The Queen is represented by Governor General Michael Jeffery and in each of the six states by a governor. The government operates under a federal democracy as the governor-general appoints cabinet members, much like the U.S. More specifically the governor-general, officiated by the Prime Minister, picks the cabinet based on the representative strengths of parties in the House of Representatives. The 150 members in the House of Representatives are elected every three years by preferential voting. Additionally, similar to the hierarchy of the U.S. government, there is a 76 member Senate that is proportional representative of the population. These Senate members are elected every six years usually synchronizing elections with the House of Representatives. Furthermore, each of the six states has its own government, similar in structure and style to the national government.
National elections, for those 18 and older, were held less than six months ago and the next federal election are scheduled for 2010. Generally speaking the major parties vie for the votes of the middle...
View Full Essay