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History
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a Federation, and the
Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has
maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a
Commonwealth Realm. The capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian
Capital Territory. The current national population is around 20.6 million
people, and is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Politics
The bicameral Commonwealth Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (the
upper house) of 76 senators, and a House of Representatives (the lower
house) of 150 members. Members of the lower house are elected from
single-member constituencies, commonly known as 'electorates' or 'seats'.
Seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to states on the basis
of population. In the Senate, each state, regardless of population, is
represented by 12 senators, while the territories (the ACT and the NT) are
each represented by two. Elections for both chambers are held every three
years; typically only half of the Senate seats are put to each election,
because senators have overlapping six-year terms. The party with majority
support in the House of Representatives forms Government, with its leader
becoming Prime Minister. |
There are three major political parties: the Labor Party,
the Liberal Party and the National Party. Independent members and several
minor parties — including the Greens and the Australian Democrats — have
achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses,
although their influence has been marginal. Since the 1996 election, the
Liberal/National Coalition led by the Prime Minister, John Howard, has been
in power in Canberra. In the 2004 election, the Coalition won control of the
Senate, the first time that a party (or coalition of governing parties) has
done so while in government in more than 20 years. The Labor Party is in
power in every state and territory. Voting is compulsory for all enrolled
citizens 18 years and over in each state and territory and at the federal
level.
The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of
Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other
Commonwealth Realms. The Queen is nominally represented by the
Governor-General at Federal level and by the Governors at State level.
Although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the
Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the
Prime Minister. The most notable exercise of the Governor-General's reserve
powers outside the Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of the
Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975.
States and territories
States and territories of Australia.Australia consists of six states, two
major mainland territories, and other minor territories. The states are New
South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western
Australia. The two major mainland territories are the Northern Territory and
the Australian Capital Territory. In most respects, the territories function
similarly to the states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can override any
legislation of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislation overrides
state legislation only with respect to certain areas as set out in Section
51 of the Constitution; all residual legislative powers are retained by the
state parliaments, including powers over hospitals, education, police, the
judiciary, roads, public transport and local government.
Each state and territory has its own legislature (unicameral in the case of
the Northern Territory, the ACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the
remaining states). The lower house is known as the Legislative Assembly
(House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania) and the upper house is
known as the Legislative Council. The heads of the governments in each state
and territory are called premiers and chief ministers, respectively. The
Queen is represented in each state by a governor; an administrator in the
Northern Territory, and the Governor-General in the ACT, have analogous
roles.
Australia also has several minor territories; the federal government
administers a separate area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory,
as a naval base and sea port for the national capital. In addition Australia
has the following, inhabited, external territories: Norfolk Island,
Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely uninhabited
external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard
Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.
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