The Role Of Scrutinising The House Of Representatives
The Senate’s main roles are initiating and making legislation, being a house of review and acting as a states’ house. The Senate is able to initiate bills and pass legislation that has been processed by the House of Representatives. Unlike the lower house, they cannot propose money bills but have influence on the bills in parliament. Legislation begins at the lower house of parliament whether it is firstly discussed in the lower or upper house. The Constitution positions the Senate to provide equal representation for each state, regardless of the size or population of the state. This is to maintain confidence and be assured that the parliament is impartial and not biased in representation or power. The Senate scrutinises the House of Representatives’
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The Senate is less likely able to scrutinise and evaluate the government’s proposal if the governing party has a majority in both the lower and upper house. Any proposed bill in the lower house will then be able to be successfully passed through the upper house. Therefore, if the Senate was not ruled by the opposition, it would pass bills without extensive inspection and requirement for amendments. Laws passing without these measures can disregard smaller parties and the people’s perspectives. If the Senate does not use its powers appropriately, its power to maintain the government’s accountability becomes flawed. On the other hand, the Senate can also be an obstruction to making legislation due to it prolonging the process. If the Senate is ruled by the opposing party, it will prefer for the Government to not pass laws. Especially if the Government is introducing legislation against the perceptions of the Senate’s leading party, the bill will be rejected. This can cause many complications as both houses can fail to reach a resolution from the lack of agreement. If the law is highly wanted by the public, and required to be applied quickly, the Senate would become a delay. For example, prevention of a new harmful crime is in need of enforcement but the law cannot be passed due to disagreement. In crucial circumstances, it can lower society’s confidence in Parliament and its effectiveness and credibility. The Senate won’t serve its purpose of being a house of review because it is supposed to maintain the government’s responsibility, not hinder legislation (Sharman, 2016,
The Senate is less likely able to scrutinise and evaluate the government’s proposal if the governing party has a majority in both the lower and upper house. Any proposed bill in the lower house will then be able to be successfully passed through the upper house. Therefore, if the Senate was not ruled by the opposition, it would pass bills without extensive inspection and requirement for amendments. Laws passing without these measures can disregard smaller parties and the people’s perspectives. If the Senate does not use its powers appropriately, its power to maintain the government’s accountability becomes flawed. On the other hand, the Senate can also be an obstruction to making legislation due to it prolonging the process. If the Senate is ruled by the opposing party, it will prefer for the Government to not pass laws. Especially if the Government is introducing legislation against the perceptions of the Senate’s leading party, the bill will be rejected. This can cause many complications as both houses can fail to reach a resolution from the lack of agreement. If the law is highly wanted by the public, and required to be applied quickly, the Senate would become a delay. For example, prevention of a new harmful crime is in need of enforcement but the law cannot be passed due to disagreement. In crucial circumstances, it can lower society’s confidence in Parliament and its effectiveness and credibility. The Senate won’t serve its purpose of being a house of review because it is supposed to maintain the government’s responsibility, not hinder legislation (Sharman, 2016,