Government of Australia

1、Government of AustraliawIntroduction partwMain contents 1、The Commonwealth of Australia2、The governmental system3、Australian Constitution Act4、Three branches of the government1、The Legislature2、the executive3、The Judiciary4、Political Parties5、electionI.Introduction1、The Commonwealth of Australia-The

2、 King or Queen of British is the The King or Queen of the Australia ,normally represented by the Governor General（总督）-A constitutional monarchy（君主立宪制） ,a federation and a parliamentary democracy（议会制共和制）-Is comprised of six states and two territories2、The governmental system-Follows the models of lib

3、eral democracy of Britain and north America, but with some unique Australian features-three-tier system（三级体制）: the federal governmental at the national level, governments at state and the territory levels, and local government at the city, town, municipal and shires（郡） level3、Australian Constitution

4、 Act-a written constitution consisting of eight parts or chapters-came into effect in 1901,when the six colonies federated, to form the commonwealth of Australia -deals with the composition of the Australian federal government, and the powers of the government and state government-can be changed onl

5、y by referendum(公民投票),that is by a majority of electors in a majority of States.(The British Constitution is made up of three main parts: Statutory Law(成文法), Common Law(判例法), and Conventions.(惯例法)4、Three branches of the government-the legislature parliament-the executive the federal executive counci

6、l (U.K.-The Prime Minister)-the judiciary the high court of the Australia and other federal courts (U.K.-Supreme Court and other courts )II.Main contents1、The Legislature-Federal Parliament is the supreme law-making body of Australia-Parliament consists of King or Queen and two houses（the House of R

7、epresentatives/the lower house(众议院/下议院）,and the Senate/the upper house（参议院/上议院）-on the principle of “separation of powers” and “responsible government”.(U.K.- Parliament is the supreme law-making body of British; U.S.- congress)(U.K.- Parliament consists of King or Queen and two houses（the House of

8、Lords上议院）,and the House of Commons（下议院）The senate (the upper house)- house of lords is composed of 76 senators, 12 from each of the 6 states and 2 from each of the territories- the electoral system: proportional representatives with the term of six years- function: virtually equal power to make laws

9、, constitutes a powerful check on the government U.K.-The House of Lords act in a legal capacity as the highest court of appeal（上诉法庭）The house of representatives-it has 150 members, each representing an electoral division-electoral system: preferential voting, in which voters rank candidates in orde

10、r of preference for a term up to 3 years-function: considering and passing of the new laws and amendments or changes to existing laws, to determining the governmentThe House of Commons（下议院）is the U.K.- center of the parliament power.2、the executive-executive authority is vested(归属) in the Governor G

11、eneral（总督), who is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister-the head of the majority party in parliament-The king or queen is recognized as the royal head of the state, but has no real power in the government and plays a merely symbolic role- the Governor General（总督) has

12、many important constitutional official and ceremonial duties to perform, and can only act on the advice of the federal executive council or the cabinet comprised of senior ministers and the Prime Minister are accountable to parliament ( U.K.Cabinet; U.S. Congress )wb.each state has its own Supreme J

13、udicial Court (SJC最高法院), District3、The Judiciary-the government branch concerned with the administration of justice-including Commonwealth High Court (the supreme legislative body), the Federal Court (established in 1977), and the Family Court (dealing with marriage problems), and courts of the six

14、states and two territories.-function: to check the concentration of government powerU.S.-the Supreme Court( the highest court of the United States), the Courts of Appeals, the District Courts） 4、Political Parties-There are three main parties in Australia: Australian Labor Party(澳大利亚工党),Liberal Party

15、(自由党), and National Party（国家党）-All of them are nationwide（全国性的）Political Parties,have their federal executingorganization(执行机构）,hold national meetings.-All parties propose the country should be governed by law and support parliamentary democracy and individual freedom (including views onpolitics,rel

16、igions)(U.K.- the Conservative Party, the Labor Party, the Liberal Party ; U.S.-the Democratic Party ,and the Republican Party)Three Main Political PartiesLabor Party: The Australian Labor Party (ALP) nominally representing the trade unions and liberal groups , was founded in1891.It is the oldest an

17、d the largest political party in Australia. It had been ruled the country for 11 times since 1940Liberal Party: The Liberal Party nominally represents urban business-related groups, is a relatively young party which was formed in1944 by Sir Robert Menzies (孟伯特.孟席斯) , has enjoyed a long period of suc

18、cess from 1949 to 1983(except for 1972-1975).National Party: The National Party, the most stable party which was created in 1922 as Country Party originally, but adopted the name National Party in 1975 and changed to the present name in1982 .It mainly represents the benefits of farm-owners.5、election-Australia is one of the few countries that have compulsory voting(义务投票). at election time, it is compulsory for all citizens over the age of 18 to enroll and vote at a polling station-Three important electoral systems: the simple majority system(简单多数制), and preferential representation syst