Australian Parliament

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Parliament of Australia
Australian Parliament
National coat of arms Parliament building
logo Parliament building
Basic data
Seat: Parliament House ,
Canberra
MPs: 227 (151 MPs and 76 Senators )
Current legislative period
Last choice: 18th May 2019
Chair: Monarch
Elizabeth II

Governor General
David Hurley

President of the Australian Senate
Scott Ryan ( Liberal )

Speaker of the House of Representatives
Tony Smith ( Liberal )
Website
aph.gov.au

The Australian Parliament ( Parliament of Australia ), also Commonwealth Parliament ( Commonwealth Parliament ) is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Australia . It is a bicameral parliament based on the Westminster system , but with some additional influence, modeled on the United States Congress . According to Section 1 of the Australian Constitution , Parliament has three components: the Queen of Australia (the one in personal union with the Queen of the United Kingdom as well as the otherCommonwealth Realms ), the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives . The Queen is represented by the Governor General .

The House of Commons , the House of Representatives, consists of 151 members who represent the various Australian constituencies. This number is not fixed and may change from time to time along with changes in the electoral system. The 1984 federal elections saw the largest increase in membership. The number of people's representatives increased from 125 to 148 this year. In the 1993 elections there were only 147 members, while in 1996 there were again 148 members. From the federal elections 2001 to 2019 the number of MPs remained constant at 150, since 2019 there have been 151. Each electoral district (English: division ) is represented by one MP. There are 76 members in the Senate. Each state has twelve of them. There are also two members per territory. The senators are elected in the form of a transferable individual vote. The representatives of both houses meet in various chambers of parliament in Parliament House in the capital, Canberra . The current parliament (as of 2018) is the 45th parliament since the founding of the Australian Confederation in 1901.

history

The Commonwealth Parliament was opened in Melbourne on May 9, 1901 . The only building in Melbourne that was big enough for 14,000 guests was the Royal Exhibition Building . From 1901 to 1927 they met in the Old Parliament House , on loan from the Parliament of Victoria (which instead moved to the Royal Exhibition Building ). On May 9, 1927, Parliament moved to the new capital Canberra . The Australian Parliament finally met for over 60 years in a house intended only as a temporary building. The current Parliament House opened on May 9, 1988. Australia has the fourth longest running democracy in the world.

composition

Section 1 of the Australian Constitution states that the British Queen is part of Parliament. The Australian Governor General , however, is an active representative of the British Crown in daily political affairs. The latter is appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The House of Lords in the Australian Parliament is the Senate with 76 members. Like the United States Senate , after which it was modeled, the Senate has an equal number of members from every state regardless of population. The Constitution allows Parliament to change the number of Senators, but all six Australian states must be equally represented. Furthermore, each founding state must be represented by at least six senators.

Until 1949, each state could elect the minimum constitutional number of six senators. From 1949 there were initially ten and since 1984 twelve representatives of each state who could be appointed.

Parliament can determine the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. According to the constitution, the number should be at least twice that of the senators. According to the constitution, the lower house has 151 members. Each state receives seats according to its population, with each founding state having at least five seats. According to the constitution, no representation of the territories is guaranteed. The Northern Territory received a seat in 1922, and so did the Capital Territory in 1948. This limited representation was only valid until 1968.

From 1901 to 1949 there were always 74 and 75 members in the house. Between 1949 and 1984 it had between 121 and 127 members. Since 1984 the House of Commons has had between 148 and 151 members.

Functions

The main function of parliament is to pass laws. Any MP or Senator can introduce a bill, but this is mostly done by ministers due to the weighting. Proposals must go through both Houses to become law. The Senate cannot issue tax laws, it can only pass or reject them.

Privileges

Members of the Australian Parliament have no immunity . You can be punished just like any other Australian citizen. However, they have indemnity , which means that they cannot be prosecuted for things that they have said in Parliament themselves.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Archive link ( Memento from March 11, 2010 on WebCite )
  2. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/silence-in-the-house-for-new-mps/1163821.html (link not available)