Oceania Studies on Austrialian political system (:

So, on my Political Systems course we have to write a paper on the state system of a chosen country. And I happened to choose Australia

So, could you give me a hint about where I could find Austrialian constitution (I assume you're better than the UK here and you have one ) and some further information about your state? Ah, and I'm going to poll you about your opinion on it, too.

Thanks in advance

 

This website should be a good starting point for you, but that's as much information as I'm willing to give - I'm sure I'd get half of it wrong if I tried to explain anything.

 

I can help, a little.

And everything the Green Party says is a lie.

"My name is Bob Brown"
"LIAR!"

E_S

 

THIS STATEMENT IS A LIE

 

Everything I tell you is a lie.

 

Except that. And that. And that, AndthatAndthatAndthatAndthatAnd that...

 

This is the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution.

(ie our Constitution).

Read the individual sections by clicking on the various section numbers.

 

Reds under the bed!

 

I'm very grateful that you're so eager to talk about your politics... However, I can't see how does it differ from Polish




Thanks for the links. I'll ask you if I couldn't understand something.
Now please continue the discussion...

And one more thing. I see that in the UK tradition is one of the major sources of constitutional law. Does Australia have any political traditions that influence your political life? Those kind of things are sometimes dismissed in works about political systems.

 

Ender_Sai might've looked at this in more detail, but the way I understood it, the 'traditions' that affect our system are really the entirety of the Westminster system itself--i.e. your way of running Parliament. The Houses of Representatives and the Senate here basically are the equivalent of the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the UK, respectively. Our system is essentially a pale reflection of the English parliament with all its attendant flaws. So the tradition of the leader of the party in power being the 'Prime' Minister, the Speaker of the House, the Black Rod, the Mace, etc., etc ... all these things are reflections of the Westminster system.

We haven't really developed independent traditions as such mostly because our Commonwealth parliament's still quite young; it's only been around in the most formal way since 1901, and at most the Parliaments could only be 200-odd years old, since 1788 was the year of colonisation. By contrast the UK Parliament is at least a few hundred years older than that...

 

i.e. your way of running Parliament

I'm from Poland, actually, but my studies concern political systems of the UK, the US, France, Germany, Switzerland (obligatory) and Australia (my choose).

the Black Rod, the Mace

^ what are those?

We haven't really developed independent traditions as such mostly because our Commonwealth parliament's still quite young; it's only been around in the most formal way since 1901, and at most the Parliaments could only be 200-odd years old, since 1788 was the year of colonisation. By contrast the UK Parliament is at least a few hundred years older than that...

Well, I could only smile at it. You're talking to a person form country that had almost ten constitutions during the last century

 

The Mace
A crude weapon of war in ancient times, the Mace is the symbol of authority and is the ensign of the Speaker's Office. The Sergeant-at-Arms carries the Mace before the Speaker at the start of each day's proceedings. The Mace rests on the Table of the House when the Speaker or his or her deputy is in the chair.

[image=http://www.peo.gov.au/images/homework/serjeant.jpg]

Black rod

[image=http://www.peo.gov.au/images/homework/usher1.jpg]

 

Can the Queen remove the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom like she can here?

 

Actually it's debatable whether she (through the Governor-General) can even remove him here. Let's not start the Cough-drop, er, Gough Whitlam debate again.

In theory, back in medieval/Renaissance times, the king was the supreme authority and could sack a prime minister, but as the years went on more and more of the monarch's powers were devolved and were given to Parliament. The monarchy doesn't hold a lot of power any more. For example, the Queen can't object to the elected government of the day, although as the head of state and as supreme ruler she theoretically should have the power to do so. In modern times it's customary for the Queen (or the Governor-General in the case of countries like Australia who haven't broken completely from England) to follow the prime minister's advice under all circumstances.

Actually, if you want to see an interesting 'alternate history' showing a modern-day 'what if' of Prince Charles becoming Charles III and being at odds with the government of the day, see the BBC miniseries "To Play the King" (and "House of Cards" which preceded it.)

 

Actually, parliament has a better record for getting rid of the monarch rather than the other way around.

Charles I
James II

 

You forgot Charles III.

(Whoops, sorry. Gotta stop peering into the future like that.)

 

Apathy

 

Q: What's the difference between ignorance and apathy?
A: I don't know and I don't care!

 

Wait a minute, why are you talking about apathy? How is apathy possible is you're fined for not voting?

 

Apathy doesn't mean you don't vote; it's just you vote but don't really care about the result. And in the most technical terms, you don't get fined for not voting--you get fined for not turning up at a polling place and getting your name ticked off the electoral roll. What you do with the ballot paper after you've received it is a matter for you. And the lack of appreciable difference in the slime quotient between various politicians does cause a considerable return on polling day for "Mr. Informal." Or Darth Vader, the candidate one of my friends always casts his vote for...by adding a box at the bottom of the ballot sheet.

 

Didn't they try to make Jedi an official religion here a little while ago?

 

You haven't even smelled apathy. Here, when 30% of potential voters came to the polling places for the municipal elections, everybody was amazed

About the Jedi religion, I've heard about it too. I don't remember why they didn't claim it as official, though.

 

Maybe because our politicans are being influenced by the Dark Lord of the Sith.

 

Be sure that I'll mention that in the 'Personal comments' part of my paper.

 

OK, two things.

First, lol at you not having any political customs. Neither the institution of the Prime Minister, nor the government itself are even mentioned in your constitution

Second, I have a problem with your constitution...

BUT:

So... There are electors or not?