自学考试英美国家概况503-517第三十一章

Chapter 31
Goveirnme t and P lities - . The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation. It came into be- ing on January 1, 1901 when the Commonwealth of Australia Con- stitution Act was enacted by the British Parliament. The six colonies joined together as sovereign States. They agreed to divide power be- tween themselves, on the one hand, and the Con-imonwealth or fed- eral government on the other. In this way a federal system of gov- ernment was established in Australia. Generally, the Australian fed-
eration has a three-tier system of government: the federal parliament and government, six State parliaments and governments, and about 900 local governments at the city,, town, municipal and shire level. The powers of the federal parliament are defined in a written Consti- tution. Australia is independent but still has constitutional links with Britain. Britain's monarch is also formally Australia's and is represented in Australia by the Governor-General and six State gov- ernors. They are head of state and formally chief executive. Apart from the federal system, the Constitution and Parliament, govem- ment. of Australia is also carfied out through other political institu- I .
tions. They include the High Court, Cabinet, political parties, elec- tions, and the public service.
The basic structure of Australian government is based on both the British and American models. There are also some significant Aus- tralian variations.
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I . I he Constitution
. Unlike Britain, Australia has a written Constitution. It came m- to effect when the six colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 The Australian Constitution deals with the composition of the Australian federal government and the
that government and the relationship between the federal govem- I - . ment and the governments of the States. It consists of eight parts or 91, chapters. Chapter I deals with ''The Parliament which covers areas such as the Governor-General, the Senate, the House of Represen- . tatives. It is a very long chapter containing 60 of the total 128 Sec-
"The Executive Govern- tions of the Constitution. Chapter II,
ment'', deals with the Governor-General, the ~6ppointment and dis- missal of Ministers and the public service. Other important chapters are Chapter III covering the Jud* * iciary, establishing federal courts such as the High Court, and Chapter IV, covering Finance and Trade, deals with financial payments from the Commonwealth to the States .
The Constitution can be changed only by referendum. A referen- dum is a vote in which all the people in . a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political question - In Australia a referendum.proposal cannot become law un- less it is approved (1) by an absolute majority of electors and (2) by a majority of electors in a majority of the States - In other words, formal changes to the written Constitution must be approved by a majority of people and a majority of States. Even if approval is ob- tained, those sections amended by referendum can still be chal- lenged in, and interpreted by, the High Court. Since 1901, the
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Australian people have voted on 42 proposals formally to change the Constitution. Only 8 have been accepted.
The Australian Constitution is based on the principle of federalism and the principle of responsible government. Federalism is a system of govemment in which political functions are divided constitution- ally between two tiers of government. This division of power creates two spheres of jurisdiction, the centre and regional governments, in the case of Australia, the Commonwealth and the States. Each of them is entitled to exercise its allotted powers independently of the other. In this respect the Australian system of government is based on the American model. Federalism is a political bargain or compro-mise between different levels of government. But conflict often aris-
P why the federal sys-es over the terms of the original bargain. That s
tem requires that the original bargain be set down in the form of a written Constitution.
Responsible goverriment is a system of government in which exec-
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utive authority is vested in a ministry whose members in Australia must be Members of Parliament. All ministers are responsible to
• . Parliament for the affairs of their own departments. All ministers
are responsible to Parliament and the electorate for the overall con- duct of government policy - In this respect the Australian system of government is based on the British model, often referred to as the '''Westminster system". However, in Australia executive authority also divided between the ministry and the Governor- General, who
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acts on the advice of the Prime Minister on behalf of the ministry or government.
In the Australian Constitution federalism is clearly stated but the basic rules of responsible government are not. The Constitution has separate sections covering the powers and responsibilities of both the
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I Governor-General and the Senate which functions to protect the
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rights of the States. But the Constitution mentions neither Prime Minister nor Cabinet. This central part of the principle of responsi-
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ble government is governed solely by convention. A constitutional convention is a code of political behaviour which comes into existence and survives because of its value in facilitating the government of the
country. In other words, without conventions the functioning of government would be at risk.I
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In Australia what the Constitution says in writing and how the
.system actually works are quite different. That's why there is some-
times a conflict between the literal interpretation approach to the Constitution and the conventional/ responsible government approach
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to the Constitution. This may lead to a crisis as in the 1975 consti-
tutional crisis.
1I . Parliament
The Australian Federal Parliament is modelled on the Westminster
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system. It is the Legislature. That is, it has the power to make and
change laws. It consists of the Queen (repr nted by the Govemor-General) and two Houses of Parliament: the-House of Repr nta-
tives (the Lower House) and the Senate (the Upper House). The
two Houses have equal powers except that the Senate cannot origi-
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money bills , which may be initiated only in the House of Representatives.
1 . The Governor-General
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In Australia the Queen is represented by the Governor-General.
The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen under advice from
the Prime Minister of Australia. Under the Constitution the Gover-504
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nor-General exercises the exective power of the Commonwealth of Australia, and other powers and functions conferred by the Consti- . tution - They include appointing times for the holding of sessions of
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I Parliament, the proroguing of Parliament, and the dissolution of Parliament. The Governor-General assents in the Queen's name to proposed laws passed by both Houses. On the advice of the Prime
Minister the Governor-General chooses and summons Executive Councillors, who hold office during the Govemor-General's plea- sure, appoints Ministers of State and is commander- in- chief of the def ence forces. .
s powers were formal and Until 1975 it was widely believed that the Governor-General could exercise his or her powers only on the advice of the Prime Minister and goverriment formed in the House of Representatives. It was thought that the Governor-General' I rather archaic. The principle of responsible government required
that advice flow from the people through the majority party in the House of Representatives to the government and thus to the Gover-
nor-General. Yet this connection was broken, both when the Gover- Gough Whitlam, and when he dissolved Parliament and authorized &19 elections on the advice of a caretaker'' Prime Minister who did not ntatives
have majority support in the House of Representatives. The events of 1975 drew attention to, but did not rescdve, the tension between responsible government and federalism. Unless the Constitution is changed, it is by no means impossible for the same events to happen again in Australia.
2. The House of Rep Each member of the House of Representatives represents an elec- torate, that is , a specified area of Australia for which the member is
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the representative. There are now 147 seats in the House of Repre- . sentatives. They are divided among the States on a population basis: 50 from New South Wales, 38 from Victoria, 25 from Queensland, 12 from South Australia, 14 from Western Australia, five from Tasmania, two from the Australian Capital Territory, and one from the Northern Territory. Elections for the House of Representatives are held at least every three years.
3. The Executive
The Executive is the government of the day. It is formed by the party or coalition of parties, which has a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The Executive consists of the Prime Min- ister and the other members of the ministry. The ministers are di- f4 ~9 I'll • . 496 vided into an inner ministry and an ''outer ministry. The inner • . 1-1
ministry becomes the Cabinet. It consists of the most senior and • . experienced ministers. In 1993 there was a federal cabinet of 19 members with an additional outer ministry of 14. The Cabinet is very influential. It is the major decision-making body in the whole system of government.
The Constitution requires membership of the House of Represen- tatives to be- as nearly as practicable twice~ that of the Senate.
4. The Senate
The Senate in Australia is an -elected house. That is, senators are elected directly by the voters. In the British Parliament
membership
of the House of Lords is by title which may be inherited or granted by the monarch. The Senate in Australia has -functioned as a house of review where the legislation is examined and amendments sug- gest6d. It has also set up a committee system to review policy on a range of matters. This has become a very important function of the
Senate - Since the Australian system is a federal one, the Senate was 506
given a further function-to represent the States. The Constitution provided for equal numbers of senators for each State, regardless of size. At present there are 12 senators from each State and two each from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The Senate is now made up of 76 members. Normally, senators from the States serve a six-year term, half of them retiring every three years-. Senators elected to represent the Territories serve a maximum of three years and their terms coincide with those of mem- bers of the House of Representatives.
- . As has been mentioned above, under the Constitution the Senate is almost as powerful as the House of Representatives. It can make laws. It can delay and reject any laws put to it. The Constitution provides means for resolving a deadlock between the two houses, in- cluding a.double dissolution. A double dissolution is the dissolving of both Ho of Parliament by the Governor-General at the request of the Prime Miruster. This occurs when a bill has been'passed by the House of Representatives and rejected by the Senate, and, after three months have elapsed, again passed by the Representatives but rejected by the Senate. A general election may then be called in an attempt to solve the deadlock. This procedure inevitably involves a lot of delay.
5. State Parliaments
All parliaments, except those of Queensland, the Northern Terri- tory and the Australian Capital Territory, have two chambers. Queensland abolished its Upper House in 1922.
Victoria, The Lower House is known in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia as the Legislative Assembly. In South Australia and Tasmania it is called the House of Assembly. Each of the five Upper Houses is known as the Legislative Council.
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The States administer areas such as education, transport, law en- forcement, health services and agriculture.
6. Local Govemment
sewerage The powers and responsibilities of local government vary from State to State. Generally, they include town planning; construc- tion and maintenance of roads, street and bridges, water, and drainage systems, public health and sanitary services, supervi- sion of building, administration of weights and measures and other regulations, and the development and maintenance of parks, recre- ation grounds, swimming pools, public libraries and community cen- tres .
111. Political Parties
Political parties are focal points in the system of parliamentary government. This is also the case in Australia. Since Federation, in 1901, the party system has been the core of the federal parliamen- tary system.
In the 18th and 19th centuries there were only loose political groupings in the colonies in Australia, with little organizational backup. The Labour Party in the 1890s was the first to develop a tightly controlled organization. However, in the 20th century, the party structure has become very prominent - Most Australians broad- ly see themselves as being affiliated with a political party although only a small percentage actually belong to a party.
The pinnacle of power for a political party is to -gain government after a federal election. Minor parties, although they cannot aspire to govern by themselves, aim to obtain the balance of power in ei- ther House so that they can exert power on the party or parties
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which form the government.
Party politics in Australia started in 1910 when Australian voters were confronted with a choice between the Australian Labour Party (ALP) and a Liberal party - Over the next 30 years the Liberal Par- ty overwent a number of changes of name and structure before going back to the title Liberal Party of Australia in 1945. For most Aus- tralians the party choice has remained between the ALP and a Liber-al party from 1910 to the present time.
Does Australia have a two-party system or a multi-party system?
The answer to this question needs some explanation. Around 1920 a third party was formed in Australia. It became known as the Country Party. However, within a few years it became clear that
this party would only operate in some kind of alliance with the eral Party. So the choice remained one between the ALP and one or
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more non-Labour parties. During the 1970s the Country Party changed its name to Nalional. It wanted to broaden its base and to
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seek support in the major cities as well as in rural areas and country towns, but it has had little success. So the major division between Labour and non-Labour could be said to date from 1910. This is still the case in Australia today. Although there are quite a few minor parties in Australia, the basic political choice has remained un- changed. Since the Liberal Party and the National Party always op- erate in coalition with each other, we can say that Australia has a two-and-a-half party system of the ALP on one side and the Liberal
and National parties on the other.
In the past, it has usually been suggested that the ALP is outdat-.' ed and likely to be replaced or at least reduced to minor importance. Less was heard of this during the 1980s, when in fact the ALP was electorally dominant. More attention was given to the largest minor
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party of the decade,the Australian Democrats.The Australian Democrats took support from both Liberals and Labour. The Nus- tralian Democrats reached a peak at the 1990 election, when they polled 11% of the formal votes for the House of Representatives, but this declined to 4 % in 1993.
1. The Australian Labour Party
The ALP is the oldest of the Australian parties. It was formed at the time of Federation ( 1901 ) from Labour parties founded in the various colonies in 1890 and the following years. Since at least 1910 it has been the largest single party in terms of electoral support. Labour won five successive federal elections between 1983 and 1993. It secured office until 1996 when it was defeated by the Liberal Par-
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ty at the- general election. This record is unprecedented in the
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party's history. Its best previous record was to win two successive federal elections and to remain office from 1941 to 1949. Its recent
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success owed much to its Accord with the trade unions and also dis-cord within the Liberal Party.
The ALP is partly composed of trade unions. That is, trade u-nions. not only give it support, but actually form part of its member-ship through affiliation.
While there is a close relationship between the party and trade unions, only about 55% of Australia's unionists belong to unions which are affiliated with the ALP. This proportion has tended to fall. This is because few unions of white-collar workers, especially
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those in the public sector, have affiliated. There have been very few new union affiliations during the last 50 years. On the other hand, more and more unions have joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). All unions with more than 10, 000 members, and mdny smaller ones,belong to the ACTU. And since the late 510
1970s, especially since the election of the Hawke federal government in March 1983, there have been unprecedented close relations be- tween the party and the ACTU. Between 1983 and 1993 there were seven agreements between the Labour government and the ACTU. These agreements are known as the Accord. They are mainly con-cerned with economic and social policies such as wage policies. Another development of recent years has been the formal recogni- tion of factions within the party. Factionalism has a long history in the ALP. But in the past factionalism was always denounced as lead- ing to disunity and defeat . Now factions are formally recognized within the party. Different factions now have their own leaders. They hold meetings regularly. They have more or less fixed mem- bership. In the federal parliamentary party there are a Labour Uni- ty (or Right) faction; a Left faction; and a Centre Left faction. These factions have different views of what the party should ing to achieve, but they are differences of degree. For example, al-
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though the Left is opposed to privatization in principle, it has not se-riously attempted to resist these developments and certainly does not demand any large-scale extension of public ownership.
2. The Liberal Party of Australia
The pr nt form of the Liberal Party of Australia was refounded in 1945 by Sir Robert Menzies. Since then it has remained one of Australia's major parties and has enjoyed a long period of success. It has been in power at the federal level (in coalition with the Coun- try, or later the National, Party) from 1949 to 1983, except for 1972-75. Generally it was also successful at the state level, especial- ly in Victoria where it held office alone from 1955 to 1982. The 1980s were a time of failure. In 1989 the party was in opposition in the federal parliament and in all but one state (New South Wales).
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Although its fortunes did not turn at the federal level,they did at the state level. By 1994 it was in power in all states except Queens- land. In the 1996 federal election the Liberal Party in coalition with the National Party was returned to power with a big majority. This is a new beginning for the Liberal Party.
Despite its title, the Liberal Party of Australia is a conservative party. It has many of the characteristics of conservative parties else- where. That is, it supports the capitalist system with a market economy. It emphasizes individual rights and civil liberties. It sup- ports the principle of federalism. It usually opposes attempts to in- crease federal power at the expense of the states. However, during the past 20 years, in most of these respects, differences between the L iberal Party and the ALP have tended to become less and less clear -
3. The National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia was first called the Country Party (from 1920) and then the National Country Party (from 1975). The party adopted its present name in 1982. The National Party of Australia has traditionally represented the interests of rural Aus- tralians. It is the third-largest party in Australian federal politics. Although it has never won a majority of seats in the House of Repre- sentatives, it has the ability to hold a balance of power in the federal parliament. At the federal level the National Party has been a part- ner in every non-Labour government since its first coalition with the Liberal Party in 1923, except for two brief periods in the 1930s. At the State level the National Party was particularly successful in Queensland, where it was the senior partner in the coalition govern- ment 1957-83 and then governed alone until it was defeated by Labour in 1989. The party has also been important in New South 512
Wales, but less so in Victoria,South Australia and Western Aus-
tralia.
Like the Liberal Party, the National Party of Australia is also a conservative party. On a variety of social issues it can be said to be
. more conservative than the Liberal Party. For example, on the is-
sue of a possible Australian republic, the clearest opposition among the major parties will come from the National Party. The National Party has traditionally protected the special interests of the rural mi-
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nonty, including rural industry. In the past, the latter objective in-volved support for government regulation of the marketing of prima-ry products. During recent years, when the Liberal Party (and even the ALP) has sought extensive deregulation of the economy, this could have produced serious conflict between the Liberals and Na- tionals. However, it seems likely that the National Party will grad- ually weaken its commitment to defend the systems of public regula- tion of the marketing of primary products. During recent years there has also been talk of a possible merger of the Liberal and National parties. The future of the Nationals is quite uncertain.
4. The Australian De ocrats
The Australian Democrats were founded in 1977. The party has held a balance of power in the Senate since 1980 and has representa- tion in the upper houses of some States. Its position on policy mat- ters could be described as falling between the two major parties in some respects, but it seeks to outdo them all in others. It is clearly not a socialist party, even in the vague sense in which the ALP sometimes applies that term to itself. On the other hand it has been generally favourable to social welfare policies. It has shown an inter- est in questions of environmental protection and quality of life. It has been definitely opposed to the mining and export of uranium and
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is more neutralist in its policy stances on foreign policy than the ALP
and even more so than the Liberal and National parties.
IV. The Judiciary
The federal political system in Australia consists of three compo- nents. They are the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary.
We have already dealt with the first two components. Now what is
the Judiciary in Australia?
The Judiciary is the judicial arm of the political system the sys-
tem of courts and judges. It includes the High Court of Australia,
I the Federal Court of Australia, and the Family Court of Australia.
All States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Terri-
tory have their own court systems.
The High Court is the most superior. It is at the top of Austra-
& lia's judicial system. It consists of a chief justice and six justices.
. Most of the ca~eaid by the High Court are appeals but it also has original jurisdiction, most notably over interpretation of the Consti-
tution. Decisions of the High Court are binding on all other Aus-
tralian courts.
The Federal Court of Australia was established in 1977. It exer-
cises jurisdiction under several federal acts, in matters such as indus-
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trial proceedings, bankruptcy, and restrictive trade practices. It at-
so hears appeals against some decisions of State courts.
The Family Court was established in 1976. It is a more informal
court than other -courts. It hears applications for dissolution of mar-
riage. It can make orders in relation to maintenance, matrimonial
property and custody of children.
In each State there is a Supreme Court. Below it are intermediate
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courts commonly called District or County Courts. Below them are Magistrates Courts, Local Courts or Courts of Petty Sessions.
9 P or
I . What is the basic structure of Australian government? How is it different from
that of Britain and the US?
2. Does Australia have a written Constitution? What are the main contents Of
the Australian Constitution?
3. What are the two principles the Australian Constitution is based on? Are both
clearly defined in the Constitution?
4. What are the powers the Constitution confers on the House of Representa-
tives?
5. What is the role of the Senate?
6. Who is head of state in Australia according to the Constitution? What is the
role of the Governor- General?
7. What is a constitutional convention? How important are conventions to the
functioning of government in Australia?
8. What are the ways of changing the Constitution?
9. What are the characteristics of Australia's party system?
10 . What is the High Court in Australia? What are the powers the Constitution
confers on the High Court?
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