Government Western Australia

Article by: Jay
Last updated: Tuesday, 11-Jul-2006 00:00:00 CEST

Australia's system of government is based on both the British and North American models although it also remains uniquely Australian. 100 years of Federal government has recently been celebrated in Australia. The Australian system has an elected parliament with two chambers, the House of Representatives which is made up of MP's (Members of Parliament) and the Senate which is the same as the House of Lords. This closely follows the British model of Cabinet government.

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The Western Australian Government

The form of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901 Western Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.

Under the Australian Constitution, Western Australia ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.

Western Australia is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of Western Australia, which consists of the Crown, represented by the Governor of Western Australia, and the two Houses, the Western Australian Legislative Council and the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. In practice executive power is exercised by the Premier of Western Australia and the Cabinet, who are appointed by the Governor, but who hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly.

Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Western Australia and a system of subordinate courts, but the High Court of Australia has final jurisdiction. Other federal courts also have jurisdiction over certain matters, but only insofar as the Australian Constitution grants the federal government power to make laws for such matters.

The federal government of Australia

The government of Australia was established in 1901 by the Australian Constitution. The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a federation and a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement between what were previously six self-governing British colonies. The terms of this agreement are embodied in the Australian Constitution, which was drawn up at a Constitutional Convention and ratified by the people of the colonies at referendums. The structure of the Australian Government may be examined in light of two distinct concepts, namely: Federalism and the Separation of Powers into legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government. Separation of powers is implied from the structure of the Constitution which breaks down the branches of government into separate chapters

The Australian Constitution (The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900) creates a federal legislature known as the Parliament of the Commonwealth (Section 1). The bicameral parliament consists of the Queen and two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives (Section 1). Section 51 of the Constitution provides for the Commonwealth Government's legislative powers and allocates certain powers and responsibilities (known as "heads of power") to the Commonwealth government. All remaining responsibilities were retained by the six colonies, which under the Constitution became States of the Commonwealth of Australia. Further, each state has their own State Constitution so that Australia actually has seven sovereign state Parliaments, none of which can encroach on the functions of any other. The High Court of Australia arbitrates on any disputes which arise between the Commonwealth and the States, or among the States, concerning their respective functions.

The Commonwealth Parliament can propose changes to the Constitution. To become effective, the proposals must be put to a referendum of all Australians of voting age, and must receive a "double majority":

- a majority of all votes, and - a majority of votes in a majority of States.

The Commonwealth Constitution also provides that the States can agree to refer any of their powers to the Commonwealth if they choose. This may be achieved by way of an amendment to the Constitution via referendum (a vote on whether the proposed transfer of power from the States to the Commonwealth, or vice versa, should be implemented). More commonly powers may be transferred by passing other acts of legislation which authorise the transfer and such acts require the legislative agreement of all the state governments involved. This "transfer" legislation may have a "sunset clause", a legislative provision that nullifies the transfer of power after a specified period, at which point the original division of power is restored.

In addition, Australia has several territories, three of which are self-governing: the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island. The legislatures of these territories exercise powers delegated to them by the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth Parliament retains the power to override territorial legislation and to transfer powers to or from the territories. While Australian citizens living in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are represented in the Commonwealth Parliament, Norfolk Islanders are not represented federally.

Australia's other territories that are regularly inhabited (Jervis Bay, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands) are not self-governed. Instead, these territories are largely governed by federal law, with Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands also having local governments. Federally, Australian citizens living in Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands are represented by the Northern Territory Member for Lingiari in the House of Representatives and in the Senate by the Northern Territory Senators. Citizens from the Australian Capital Territory are represented by the ACT Member for Fraser and Senators for the ACT

Separation of powers in Australia

Government is undertaken by three inter-connected arms of government:

- Legislature - The Commonwealth Parliament - Executive - The Sovereign, whose executive power is exercisable by The Governor-General, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers, Ministers and their Departments - Judiciary - The High Court of Australia and subsidiary Federal courts.

The Separation of Powers is the principle whereby the three arms of government undertake their activities separate from each other:

- the Legislature proposes laws in the form of Bills, and provides a legislative framework for the operations of the other two arms. - the Executive enacts the laws by Royal Assent, administers the laws and carries out the tasks assigned to it by legislation; - the Judiciary hears cases arising from the administration of the law, using both statute law and the common law. The Australian courts cannot give advisory opinions on the constitutionality of laws. - the other arms cannot influence the Judiciary.