THE SENATE

The SENATE is made up of 76 senators:

12 from each STATE
and
2 from each TERRITORY

2
12
12
12
12
2
12
12
 THE SENATE
 The SENATE = the “Upper House” of the Federal
Parliament. Also sometimes: The house of review.

 Any BILL that is debated, must be agreed to by the

SENATE before it can become a LAW.
THE SENATE
THE SENATE
 Bills and Acts

A bill is a proposal for a new law.

An Act of parliament is another word for a law.

A bill becomes an Act of Parliament (=law) when:

 it has been passed by the House of Representatives
 It has been passed by the Senate
 It has been signed by the Governor-General (given
Royal Assent.)
The three levels
 STATE AND TERRITORY
GOVERNMENT
 The States have the power to make their own
laws over matters not controlled by the
Commonwealth.

 State governments have their own constitutions

 Some State Parliament
focus areas:
 Health
 Education
 Infrastructure
 Housing
 Power
 Tourism
 STATE AND TERRITORY
GOVERNMENT
 The Queens representative at the State Level is called
the GOVERNOR
 State and Territory Governments are bicameral ( 2
houses) as well.
 The two houses are:

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

(UPPER HOUSE)
AND
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
(LOWER HOUSE)
 THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

 The Legislative Council is the Upper House of

the State Government.
 The Legislative Council is similar to the the
SENATE: any BILL must be consented to by
the Leg. Council before it can become a
STATE LAW.
 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

 The Legislative Assembly is the (Lower House)

of State and Territory Government. Similar to
the House of Representatives.

 The leader of the majority party in Legislative

Assembly is the PREMIER.

John Brumby
Premier of Victoria
 Third level: LOCAL
(MUNICIPAL) GOVERNMENT

 COUNCILS are responsible for the specific

local needs of people in a city or shire.
 There are approx. 900 local governments.
 A council makes “by-laws” = a local law which
applies only in that council.
 LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 A council area is divided up in WARDS.
 A ward is an electoral area.
 Each councilor in the council represents his or
her ward.
 Council elections are held every four years.
 LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
 The major parties (Labor, Liberal, Greens) are
represented in the council, but there may also
be independent councilors who specifically
champion local issues.
 LOCAL (MUNICIPAL)
GOVERNMENT
Generally, councils are responsible for:

 Building permits  Pests

 Citizenship  Pollution (environmental)
 Rates
 Dogs and cats
 Roads and streets
 Footpaths
 Rubbish, garbage and
 Free trees recycling
 Graffiti  Sewer
 Immunisation  Smoke emissions and
backyard burn-offs
 Libraries  Stormwater
 Markets  Street light - poles only
 Noise  Tree removal
 Overgrown land  Water
POLITICAL PARTIES
•A political party represents people with a
shared view on politics and society.

•They are formed with the intention of being

elected and influencing the Australian
government.

•You need a minimum of 500 members to

form a political party.
POLITICAL PARTIES
POLITICAL PARTIES
THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM
POLITICAL PARTIES
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
 An ELECTORATE can be defined as a body of
qualified voters enrolled in a geographically-
defined area.

 An ELECTORATE can also be referred to as a

DIVISION, or a SEAT.
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
 The Australian House of Representatives is
elected from 150 single-member districts called
DIVISIONS or SEATS throughout the nation.
FEDERAL ELECTORAL
DIVISIONS IN VICTORIA
 The state of Victoria has 37 available seats in
a Federal Election.
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
 Melbourne Federal Electorate Divisions
ELECTORAL DIVISIONS
 In a STATE election, Victoria has 88 available seats for
the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

 There are 44 available seats for the LEGISLATIVE

ASSEMBLY

 The party who wins the most amount of seats in a

STATE election forms the government in the
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

 For example, the Brumby Government currently holds 62

of the 88 available seats and therefore holds power over
the STATE OF VICTORIA
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 All Australians who are eligible to vote elect
people to represent them in the two houses of
Parliament.
 A citizen of Australia is eligible to vote at the age
of 18, yet can enroll to vote at 17
 In Australia, voting is compulsory
 Australia implements a “Preferential” voting
system
 Many other nations use a “First Past the Post”
voting system – ex. America or Canada
THE VOTING PROCESS

“PREFERENTIAL” VOTING
VS.
“FIRST PAST THE POST” VOTING
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 “First Past the Post” Voting is a system where
the representative with the most votes wins.
 Countries like America use this system in their
elections.
 A problem with this system is that it does not
always fairly represent the majority
THE VOTING PROCESS
Preferential Voting Ballot
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 “Preferential” Voting is a system in which voters rank a list or
group of candidates in order of preference.

 In the House of Representatives election candidates who

receive an absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) are elected.

 The distribution of preferences is required when no candidate

receives an absolute majority.

 This process is continued until one candidate obtains an

absolute majority of formal votes and is elected.
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 Here is a brief example of how “Prefencial” Voting
works.
 Fred, Ben, Anna and Pat stand for election. They
receive the following first preference or number '1'
votes.
 Fred 10,000
 Ben 18,000
 Anna 19,000
 Pat 13,000
 THE VOTING PROCESS

 This is a total of 60,000 formal votes. To be

elected a candidate needs at least 30,001 votes
(50% + 1) of the total votes for an absolute
majority.
 As none of the candidates have an absolute
majority, the candidate with the least number of
votes - that is Fred - is excluded
 His ballot papers are transferred to the other
candidates according to where each voter has
marked the number '2' on them.
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 Fred's votes are transferred as follows:
 2,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a total of
20,000 votes
 5,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a total of
24,000 votes
 3,000 are transferred to Pat giving her a total of
16,000 votes
 Even following this distribution of preferences, the
three remaining candidates still do not have an
absolute majority.
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 So the candidate with the least number of votes -
that is Pat - is excluded
 Her ballot papers are transferred to the remaining
candidates according to the next available
preference marked on them by the voter.
 This could be the number '2' or even '3' in the
case of Pat's votes and the number '3' from the
3,000 received from Fred.
 THE VOTING PROCESS
 Pat's votes are transferred as follows:
 12,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a
total of 32,000 votes
 4,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a total
of 28,000 votes
 Ben now has 32,000 votes, or an absolute
majority, so he is declared the winner.