The Australian Constitution

The Australian Constitution The set of principles that govern our country Created January 1, 1901. There are 8 chapters or sections in the Australian constitution…

Eight Chapters or Sections Chapter 1: The Parliament Chapter 2: The Executive Government Chapter 3: The Judicature Chapter 4: Finance and Trade Chapter 5: The States Chapter 6: New States Chapter 7: Miscellaneous Chapter 8: Alteration of the Constitution

Eight Chapters or Sections Chapter 1: The Parliament: How it is run - power Chapter 2: The Executive Government: GG Chapter 3: The Judicature: Judges & the courts Chapter 4: Finance and Trade: Economy Chapter 5: The States: Their rights and roles Chapter 6: New States: Creation of new states Chapter 7: Miscellaneous: Location of capital Chapter 8: Alteration of the Constitution: Change

Creation of the Constitution Created January 1, 1901… Planned and developed during 1890s. Drafted in 1897 Changes made in 1899 Approved by the colonies, except WA, via referendums in 1899 Sent to the British Parliament for approval WA later agreed and was written into the constitution British Parliament passed the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in July 1900 Queen Victoria signed it in September 1900

Why do you think the new constitution had to be approved by the British Parliament in London?

Queen Victoria

Why do you think it was Queen Victoria that signed the law that approved Australia’s new constitution?

The Constitution

The Houses of Parliament The Australian Parliament has a “two-house” system of government That means we have two houses or sections in which new laws are planned, debated, made and passed There is an upper house and lower house

The Houses of Parliament The upper house is known as the Senate The lower house is known as the House of Representatives This system is known as a bicameral system of government http://www.aph.gov.au/

The Houses of Parliament

The House of Representatives The House of Representatives has members of parliament (MP) that represent the people in their electorate There was one MP for every 3000 people in Australia Members of parliament are elected for a term of three years

The House of Representatives

The Senate The Senate was set up to make sure that each of the states had equal representation in the parliament This was to make sure that the states with more people did not out vote the states with fewer people There were 36 senators - six from each state Half of the 36 senators are elected every three years

The Senate

The Governor General The British monarch or ruler appointed a governor-general The governor-general was the representative of the crown (the power of the reigning monarch) Sir Isaac Isaacs, Australia’s first Australian born GG

The Governor General This is the official document or ‘letters patent’ that was actually signed by Queen Victoria when she created the position of Governor General of Australia.

The Governor General http://www.gg.gov.au/ Powers of the governor-general included: Giving royal assent to bills passed by parliament and this would make the Acts and laws Swearing in the elected prime minister and government ministers Issuing writs for elections Dismissing a government that did not operate within the Australian constitution http://www.gg.gov.au/