Australian Political System

     Australia's system of government is based on the liberal democratic tradition, which includes it religious tolerance, and freedom of expression and association. Shape and implementation reflects British and American models of government but remains distinctive Australia. 

    Before 1900, Australia was not an unity. It was consists of six colonies, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia and now become the sixth state of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia was founded on January 1, 1901, which is also known as Federation Day. The Australian Constitution, which first entered into force on 1 January 1901, laid the foundations for the Australian system of government.

Constitution

    The Australian Constitution sets out the rules and responsibilities of government and sets out them the powers of the three branches of government - legal, executive and judicial.

    The legislature contains a parliament that is, the body that has legislative powers to make laws. 

    The Executive Government carries out the laws made by the legislature. 

    While the judiciary ensures the functioning of the courts, and appointment and dismissal of judges. The function of the court is to interpret all laws, this includes the Australian Constitution, and upholds the rule of law.

Australia's Constitutional Monarchy

Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia

    Australia is known as a Constitutional Monarchy. This means Australia is a country who has a king or queen as head of state whose authority is limited by Constitution. Australia's head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. Even though she is also the Queen England, these positions are slightly separate, both in law and practice governance / constitutional.

    In reality, the Queen does not have any role in the Australian political system and only functions as a symbol / figure. In Australia, the Queen is officially represented by one Governor-General appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Australian Prime Minister. The queen doesn't have any role in the daily duties of the Governor General.

Governor General and Governor / Head of State

    Although the Governor General admitted that he was the representative of the Queen of England in Australia, his position was not necessary follow directions, supervision or veto power of the Queen and the British Government.

    In the Constitution, the authority and duties of the Governor General include summoning, stop the hearings of legislators, and dissolve parliament, approve draft regulations, appoint ministers, define departments in government, and appoint judges. However, based on the convention, the Governor-General only acts at the request of the Minister in almost all matters. Figure appointed to the position of Governor Generals are selected based on  Government considerations. The six state Governors carry out the same role in their respective regions.

Commonwealth / Federation or Central Government Government

    The central parliament is bicameral in nature, which has two chambers: the House of Representatives or the Lower House and the Senate or Upper House.

    Both are responsible for enacting laws on a national scale such as: trade, taxation, immigration, citizenship, social security, industrial cooperation and external relations country. The draft Law / Government Regulation must be passed by both houses before becoming a Law / Government Regulation.

    The House of Representatives, proposes most of the draft laws / regulations Government. The  assembly is made up of 148 members who are elected by election, every where members represent approximately 80,000 votes. The political party that has the most seats in the lower house has the right to form a government.

State and Territory Governments

    Matters that are not regulated by the Federal Government are the responsibility of the Government

States and Territories.

    Each state and territory has a parliament and laws and regulations (parliamentary deeds) themselves (which can be amended by local parliaments) but they too remains bound by the state constitution. When a State Law is still under constitutional authority Federation, the laws of the federation government apply above the authority of the laws regulations states.

    All state Parliaments except Queensland, are bicameral. It's mean they have the lower house and the upper house. Meanwhile the parliaments of the two territories (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory) has only one assembly. State and territory governments address public health, education, road facilities, public land use, police equipment, fire engines and ambulance service, as well as the presence of local governments in their respective areas.

Local Government

    There are about 900 local government agencies in Australia. Local government powers differ for each state and is the responsibility of the respective state government. Several local government agencies are responsible for running the company transportation / transport and energy, most states charge tariff rates and receive funding from higher levels of government. 

    Specifically, local government responsibilities include urban planning / planning, supervision building permits, local road facilities, clean water supply, sewers and drainage, garbage and cleaning services and community entertainment facilities.

Relations between the Federal and State Governments

    The Federation and state governments cooperate in various fields, simultaneously officially is the responsibility of the states and territories; such as education, transportation, health and law enforcement. Income tax is collected federally, and debate in between all levels of state government regarding access to income is an old feature of Australian politics.