1. Chapter 2 The Australian Parliamentary System Wednesday 8 February 2012

2. Westminster System  Bicameral – two houses – Upper and Lower  Head of Parliament is the Sovereign/Crown/Monarch (the QUEEN)  Parliament is supreme

3. Australia’s Parliament  Terra nullius  Federation – rationale: to create a central authority to create laws/policies for national issues  The Constitution – gives us the structure of government and its powers; established the High Court

4. Key Principles  Separation of Powers  Representative Government  Responsible Government

5. Separation of Powers  The legal system has 3 main functions: legislative (makes the laws); executive (administers the law); and judicial (interprets/applies the law)  These 3 functions are given to different bodies to perform  Provides a system of checks and balances so that no single body holds absolute authority (and therefore prevents abuse of power).

6. Representative Government  Central to our system of government- democracy  Represents the views of the majority of voters  Government formed by party with majority of seats in the lower house  Lower house represents the will of the majority  Upper house represents the interests of each state/region

7. Responsible Government  Government is answerable to parliament  Parliament can establish committees to investigate government actions  Parliamentary debate and Hansard provide for public scrutiny

8. Legislative Assembly

9. Legislative Council

10. Learning Objectives  Explain the need for a separation of powers  Explain the features of representative and responsible government  Explain why laws may need to change

11. DO NOW  What do the following have in common:  Legislative assembly and House of Representatives  Governor and governor general  Senate and Legis. Council  Statute law, acts of parliament, delegated legislation

12. Changing the law  Predict what we will learn in Chapter 3  Why do laws need to change?