Preview

Explain How And Why Is Power Divided In Australia Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
908 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Explain How And Why Is Power Divided In Australia Essay
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
How and why is power divided in Australia? Is a good and commonly asked question by looking at the Australian Constitution, and federalization it is possible to understand how power is divided within Australia. Through the ideas of the three arms of government following the Montesquieu view, the Washminster hybrid, Westminster and Washington systems of government which all influence Australia’s political system to shape it to what we know it as today. One demonstrates why power is divided in Australia. By doing this it will be easy to see and understand why it is necessary for power to be divided in Australia and how it is done to form a responsible and representative government.

Australia became an independent nation on 1st of January 1901 when the British parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern their own rights as part of the commonwealth. The commonwealth was established as a Constitutional Monarchy, constitutional in that it was established with a written constitution and monarchy because the head of state is the Queen. Australia’s constitution was approved on the 9th of July 1900 and was in effect on the 1st of January 1901. Some aspects of the constitution are model on the U.S. constitution but it doesn’t include a bill of rights like
…show more content…
Under a federal system of government powers are divided through a bicameral parliament which consists of a monarch and two houses the senate and the House of Representatives. Further more it is split between different levels of government, commonwealth, state and local. The constitution allocates certain powers and responsibilities to the Commonwealth government. All remaining responsibilities are handled by the States. Further, each state has its own constitution so that Australia has seven separate Parliaments, none of which can effects the functions of any

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Australia's collective desire of nationalism as well as patriotism lead to its formation as a federation and this willingness to unify the divided colonies was a reflection of an ulterior, racist purpose. Federation is the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate colonies or states. Before Australia's eventual federation on January 1 of 1901, there had been years of debate, since the idea was first introduced in Sydney during an inter-colonial conference until its implementation almost twenty years later, on whether or not Australia should federate. Prior to 1901 the country was divided into 6 separate, self-governing colonies, each ultimately under Britain's rule and numerous politicians had been pushing for Australia to federate and after being initially rejected during a conference in Melbourne in 1899 it was later given Royal Assent on 9 July, 1900. There were a number of reasons that opposed the idea to federate. Fears of smaller colonies being overpowered, patriotic feelings towards a particular colony, the cost of running a central parliament would be too high, as well as rising hostilities between colonies. However the grounds in favour of the idea for a federal government took precedence, almost all revolving around a very prejudicial concept. Australia had a very strong sense of nationalist pride, the desire to become a unified nation. They wished to evolve from their origin as second class convicts and uphold the British way of life. This is reflected in their motives to federate: to create a unified immigration legislation to restrict the entry of non-Europeans and creating tariff barriers to protect Australian from foreign contest. Furthermore, supporters of federation reasoned that it was part of ones patriotic duty to keep the nation "snowy" white and that it was vital to maintain the purity of their race. "The Mongolian Octopus - His Grip on Australia," a cartoon published by Bulletin Magazine in 1886 was a mode of…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The role of the minor parties within the Australian political system can be as their title suggests, quite minor. On the other hand, a minor party can influence the political proceedings of this country in more ways than one. Minor parties can highlight socio-economic problems that quite often fly under the radar of the larger political parties, or simply can broaden electoral debate. Often spawning from a social, or in the case of the Greens, an environmental movement, minor parties tend to only last through one election, due to a lack of support and relevance in the mainstream social fabric. The minor parties can become crucial players come election time, due to Australia’s law of Compulsory preferential voting. Jaensch (1983, p.21) observes that, the system of compulsory preferential voting guarantees minor parties with two things, the minor parties supporters will turn out and vote, and secondly, preferences as a result of their votes will be shown. There are currently 70 political parties registered with the Australian Electoral Commission, most of which are minor parties.…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many reasons for and against the federation of Australia. These reasons will be conveyed in this essay. Before the federation Australia consisted of six colonies of Britain. Before 1872 the British colonies had nothing to do with each other, although a telegraph linked the colonies and the idea of being “Australian”. By the 1890’s songs and poems were being written to celebrated a nation and the idea of becoming a federation was becoming much more popular. There were many fears in Australia and that the colonies will be attacked by neighbouring countries. Other fear like the big colonies like New South Wales and Victoria will dominate the smaller colonies like South Australia, which had only been less than 50 years old. Mark Anderson and Paul Ashton (Historians) support this. There are many reasons for the federation, which will be looked at later on. These are some of the reasons against the federation of Australia.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In January 1901, the six separate, self-governing colonies of Australia united in federation, consequently creating the continent- nation, the Commonwealth of Australia. A constitution was drawn up modelled similarly, upon the British and American constitutions. As an outcome of federation, the life of the separate states, and individual citizens shifted. Edmund Barton, the introductory prime minister of federal government supported the growth of the nation 's economy, and developed the creation of a fused defence system. In the following subsections, we will discuss the reasons for the states, desiring federation, and the benefits they obtained, in signing the historical Commonwealth of Australia Act in the June of 1900[Western Australia signed…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia was born and became a recognised nation on 1 January 1901 with a federal government to govern it. This nation is a federal state with a constitution, which is a set of rules that govern Australia. The Australian constitution was drafted at a series of conventions which were held in the 1890’s. The constitution was later passed by Britain as part of the Commonwealth of Australia act 1900 and it took effect on 1 January 1901. Unlike many other states, Australia is the only democratic nation in the world without a national bill of rights.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When comparing the communist nation of China with the democratic nation of Australia many differences are apparent. The application of the legislative (law making and modifying function), executive (administrative function) and judiciary (law enforcing and dispute resolving function) is vastly different between the two nations as can see when we compare and contrast the underlying principles of each system of government. Firstly, both nations claim to uphold the concept of the rule of law, although due to corruptive forces surrounding the Chinese court system, this concept is often thwarted and equality before the law is not upheld. Within the constitutions of both nations the basic principles of separation of powers have been applied; however on examination of the practice of separation within the nations we find that convention (in the case of Australia) and the corruptive influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have not allowed such separation. Finally, the representation of the people by each nation’s governments will be compared through examining contrasting election and law making practices. With reference to the three arms of government, the comparisons made between the underlying principles of both China and Australia’s systems of government will support the understanding that democratic nations are a government of the people, by the people, for the people; making them just, whilst communist nations often struggle to provide the same justice and citizen involvement in their political process.…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The journey toward Australia’s legal independence has been characterized by evolution not revolution, hence the lack of any one event and consequently a particular date to celebrate Australia’s legal independence. No particular dramatic event marked Australia’s gaining independence from England, Australian independence was gradual and incredibly slow, and in fact some would argue that it is still not wholly independent owing to residual links and the continuation of a British monarch as the Australian head of state. Australian independence has been reached through largely informal progress with key moments being legal and political milestones enshrined in the statutes of the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia respectively. Examples of these statutes include the Statute of…

    • 1804 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia does not need to become a republic to demonstrate its independence as a nation. Australia behaves like a republic and has the characteristics of one, and therefore does not need to officially become a republic to prove its independence. These republican-like actions include having our own flag, singing our own national anthem and playing international sport under our…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For over 100 years now, Australia has operated under its rather prized constitution that is in hindsight evidently lacklustre in respect to individual rights and freedoms. The Australian constitution was thought to be sufficient in regards to rights and freedoms despite the lack of an entrenched bill of rights. However, when one dissects the constitution, it becomes increasingly evident that constitutional implications are not an effective way of protecting individual rights and freedoms, and the only way to achieve this is through a bill of rights.…

    • 2521 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    commonwealth law

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to Harvey(2009), the Commonwealth of Australia was first formed under the the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 in July 1900 after most of the people in Australia has agreed to the formation of the federation of Australia passed under the British Constitution. In 9 May 1901, the land of Australia was free from the control of the Britain when the all six colonies were united under a nation and the first Commonwealth Parliament of Australia was established at Melbourne, opened by Prince George, as stated in Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia (Australian Electoral Commission 2013). At the same time, Edmund Barton from the Commonwealth Parliament was appointed as the first Prime Minister of Australia. The current Prime Minister of Australia is Julia Gillard.…

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Macquarie Dictionary). In a republic a head of state is a citizen of that country elected by fellow citizens. If birthright determines the head of state of a country then that country is a monarchy, which at the moment Australia is. Our head of state is currently the Queen, but the Governor-General, who is appointed by the federal government (does not need to be an Australian) represents her. We are a monarchy because of Britain’s colonisation of Australia in 1778. The British brought their way of life, culture and most importantly their way of government with them. This system of government has remained to this day. Becoming a republic would not mean that we would lose that history we have with Britain and that if we were to become a fully independent nation it would not severe ties. The Queen has also stated that this was an issue that should be left for Australians to decide.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Non-voters are often generalized as lazy or selfish, but it viable that it is in their own self-interest not to vote. Forcing someone to betray their own self-interest it strictly undemocratic. A non-vote can mean apathy, but it can also mean disagreement or contentment with all candidates. Even if a compulsory system could be considered constitutional, how would the finer point be determined? To what extend will the United States go to enforce it? Furthermore, to what degree of punishment does the citizen have to pay if they neglect the “democratic duty” to cast a vote? Even further, how many strikes does that citizen get? Will the punishments continue to get worse as they continue to abstain from placing their vote? These are all crucial questions that would take…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It began during 1901 where six self-governing colonies collectively became the states of the Commonwealth of Australia. The constitution stated that ‘in reckoning the numbers of people Aboriginal natives shall not be counted”. It was also stated that the Commonwealth would legislate for any race except Aboriginal people.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to involvement in World War 2, 1942-1943 were times of considerable social changes in Australia. With the men all off fighting in the war, women's roles changed to fill the places left by men. Wartime controls as well as the American Forces arriving in Australia and the introduction of the National Security Act by the Menzies Government also had an impact on life in Australian society.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The federal government of the U.S. is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is known as the United States of America. The federal government comprises of three branches of government: a legislative, an executive, and a judiciary. These branches and their various powers are explained in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. These include the powers to levy and collect taxes, to coin money and regulate its value, provide for punishment for counterfeiting, establish post offices and roads, promote progress of science by issuing patents, create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court combat piracies and felonies, declare…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays