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PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION
References:Class textwww.aph.gov.au (Australian Parliament Homepage)
www.parliament.vic.gov.au/ (Victorian Parliament Homepage)
www.aec.gov.au (Australian Electoral Commission)
www.vec.vic.gov.au (Victorian Electoral Commission)
Parliament vs Government
Parliament – all elected members of both houses of parliament, plus the Crown’s representative (at both state and Federal levels)
Government – the political party with the majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament.
Federal Electorates for House of Representatives
Australia is divided into 150 divisions with each division representing approximately 80000 electors. Therefore the physical size and number of divisions varies from state to state (minimum of 5) according to the population. Each division or electorate elects one person to represent them in House of Representatives.
Federal electorates for the Senate
Each State in Australia elects 12 Senators/ representatives, regardless of their population. There are two representatives for each Territory. This structure is designed to protect the smaller states from being dominated in Parliament by larger, more populous states.
Composition of House of Representatives by political party as at January, 2008
House of Representatives
Australian Labor Party 83
Liberal Party 55 National Party 10
Independents 2
TOTAL 150
Australian Labor Party forms government
Composition of The Senate by political party as at:
January 2008 July 2008Australian Democrats 4 Australian Greens 4 5Australian Labor Party 28 32Country Liberal Party 1Family First 1 1Liberal Party 34 32National Party 4 5Independents 1TOTAL 76 76
Note that the new Senators elected in November 2007 will commence their terms on July 1 2008
Role of Houses
Role of House of Representatives - http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/general/index.htm
Role of Senate - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/briefs/brief10.htm
Federal Electorates in Melbourne Metropolitan area
Examples:1. http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/j/jagajaga.htm Jagajaga – represented by Jenny Macklin (ALP)2. http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/m/mcewen.htm
McEwan – represented by Fran Bailey (Liberal Party)
For a complete map of all federal electorates see http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/profiles/boundary_map_2007.pdf
State Parliament Electoral Districts and Regions
http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/images/maps/stateAllRegionsandDistricts.pdf
Legislative Assembly – 88 Districts, with each district electing one representative.
Legislative Council – 8 Regions (5 metropolitan and 3 country) with each region electing five representatives.
ActivitiesUsing web and text resources, complete
the following activities:1. Complete the summary table
comparing the upper and lower houses of Federal Parliament.
2. Compare and contrast the roles of the lower and upper houses of Federal Parliament.
Houses of Federal Parliament – a comparison
Feature House of Representatives
Senate
Colour
Number of Members
Method of Voting Used
Type of Representation
Term of office
Functions
Presiding Officer
Examples of Committees
Activities
3. Explain what is meant by a bicameral system of parliament.
4. Some states have considered abolishing their upper house of parliament (Queensland abolished their upper house in 1922). Suggest arguments for and against Victoria abolishing the Legislative Council.
Activities 5. Find the Federal electorate that you live
in (lower house) and outline the following:a. it’s nameb. the suburbs it includesc. your sitting member and the political party they belong tod. any other special features you find interesting.
Activities6. Find the names and political parties of the Senators who represent Victoria.
7. Find the Victorian Parliament District and Region that you live in and, for each, outline the following: a. it’s name b. the suburbs/towns it includes c. the members who represent you for both the
lower and upper house of Victorian Parliament and the political party they belong to.
Activities
8. Explain the meaning of a federal system of government. Is this system the best way for Australia to be governed?
9. Compare the composition of the current Senate with the Senate from July 1, 2008. Discuss the implications, if any, of the changes.
10. Distinguish between representative government and responsible government.