For Expats and the Curious... Australia, The ‘Lucky Country&Isquo
Wed Dec 06, 2006 at 03:32:23 AM PDT
No, I do not intend to expound as in a full civics course the make-up and operation of Australian government, but as it is a staunch ally of the US, you might find some interest in it. After all, GWB (and other presidents) rely on it; it should not, though, be taken for granted as a given that its interests are always identical with those of the US. In that light, perhaps you should know something about it, both the nation and its government, yes?
I won’t bore you with statistics of the nation beyond a few. And I will save those, even for below the fold, so to speak (for the sake of brevity and formatting). Likewise, I will save any discussion of government, though in this case, I will limit such discussion to the electoral process.
Interested in the ‘Lucky Country’? Want to know why it is lucky, how the electoral process works, some other interesting facts? Well, the price is right, for sure ... nothing. Just follow me for the facts (and some interpretation).’
First, Australia is a Constitutional government – the Constitution was adopted on 9 July, 1900, effective on 1 January, 1901. Until that time, it had been a British colony, a colony of the Crown. With its Constitution, it ceased to be a colony, per se, yet it remained a member of the British Commonwealth, which it is to this day. The political effects of this are miniscule in this day and age, yet they were huge in years gone by; that is all beyond the purpose of this diary.
What is, IMO, important about the Constitution is that its writers had the benefit of both the British tradition and the US tradition. It seems to me that they picked and chose what they considered the best of both, melding them into a singularly unique Constitution that has served the nation unfailingly well since the time of its adoption.
As some similarities (that can also be correlated to British roots), there are three branches of government, each of which serve in some sense as a balance to others. As in the US, the most visible (if not dominant) is the executive, headed by a Prime Minister. The legislative branch, consisting of a House and a Senate, the two comprising Parliament, functions with some similarity to the Congress in the US, but it has some powers and abilities that are not found in the US Constitution.
Like the British system of government, there are few impediments to the formation of political parties. For that reason, Australia has been governed by some sort of coalition of parties (though not necessarily always). Such is the case with the present government, headed by John Howard, in which a coalition has been effected between the Liberal Party, the National Party, and the Green Party (though the Greens are almost, for now, of negligible importance). The Liberal Party and the Labor Party, the dominant two, neither have the electoral power at this point to capture enough seats in the Parliament to form a government, though that could change. If this is unclear, perhaps the next paragraph may help to explain.
A government is formed, and a PM designated, when one party or a coalition of parties achieves a majority of seats in the House and the Senate combined. With no other intervening factors, law decrees that the PM will serve for four years, at the end of which time another election must occur. BUT, there are two exceptions to that, i.e., the four-year term. The two exceptions can supersede the normal four-year term, and they have occurred in the past. Of course, these exceptions can be used to political advantage, as they have in the past and may well be again.
- The sitting government (essentially the PM) may call an election at any time before the expiration of the PM’s term. The PM essentially dissolves government and secures the blessing of the Governor General (an honorific representative of the Queen) and the date for an election is set. Now, one benefit is, once the election is called, the government is placed in caretaker mode – no new policies, no new legislation, only capable of acting independently in the case of national emergency. That, of course, means no lame duck PM’s, no lame-duck Parliaments, no one capable of carrying out mischief between the time of calling for an election and the election plus installation of the new government itself. Frankly, this is a sensible idea, one that was adapted out of the experience of other constitutional governments, and one that makes infinite sense IMO.
- The sitting government may experience a ‘double dissolution’. This means that government-sponsoredlegislation failed to pass in Parliament. Yet for whatever reason, the sitting government proposed the same program or legislation, and it yet again fails Parliament. In that case, the government is effectively dissolved and goes into the caretaker mode as described above. The double dissolution is declared by the Governor General, and an election is scheduled.
In any event, once the sitting government enters caretaker mode and an election scheduled (which generally occurs in a short period, less than three months... though I need to look up the Constitutional take on that, I admit, the government continues to run the nation on a routine basis, just no new programs, no new legislation.
Ok, so much for the electoral process as it relates to the PM (the executive) and to government, in general. The election process for MPs, Members of Parliament, whether members of the House or the Senate also follows a regular pattern, though not nearly so sexy:) The key point is that there can be no executive, no PM, no formation of government at all unless one party or coalition holds the majority of the combined seats in the House and the Senate.
Now for a few asides, yes?
The Opposition Party is the predominant party that is currently not holding the sitting government. For now it is the Labor Party. Within the Opposition Party, there will be members designated as shadow ministers. Their function is to remain abreast of the policies and operations of the actual government ministry that corresponds to their designation, i.e., the shadow minister for Defense, to develop opposition policy and positions relative to that ministry, and most often (though not assured) upon a change of government, to actually assume the duties of Minister of that particular portfolio. Prior to any change of government, and assuming that the shadow minister, say of Defense, was not a member of a prior sitting government, the shadow minister is not blessed with any special expertise or experience at all, outside of the political realm. There are other mechanisms that take care of that.
Australia is the considers itself [http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/luckycountry/ for a host of reasons]. Not the least of these is that as a continent, it is the driest of all, with less precipitation that even Antarctica or Africa.
IMO, Australia more than pulls its weight in the world community. The population (citizens) is a bit more than 20 million. Counting legal permanent residents who are not citizens, guest workers, international students, visitors, etc., the population at any given time is about 24 million.
Australia and the US are not that different in total land area, though Australia is a bit smaller. If only the mainlands are counted, Australia is about equal to or a small amount larger than the US. (There is a single station -- ranch -- that is a bit larger than Texas!)
The currency is on the decimal system, though there is no Australian penny:) Everything is rounded up or down for cents. Coins are 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, 1 dollar and 2 dollar. ‘Paper currency’ (which is actually not paper) is in 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar denominations. (There may, in fact, be higher denominations, but my economic status makes that a moot point:)
If you want to know other factoids, feel free to ask... I will answer, if I can.
This is dedicated to USXat... in the best of meaning and intent.
Cheers to you all. (Please ask any questions early and quickly, before my digeree doo dries completely!)
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