Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
has ensured that major parties (Labor, Liberal and National) dominate. 5 This is
why ‘hung’ parliaments or minority governments are historically rare events.
Nonetheless, there is a high level of bicameralism evident in the Australian
parliament. The Senate is rarely dominated by the government of the day because
of the electoral system used. The proportional voting system provides a greater
likelihood of independents and minor parties being elected. 6 For details on the
different systems operating across Australia, refer to Table 1.
The origins of the Australian parliament
The parliamentary system in Australia was modelled on the ‘mother of Parliaments’,
located at the Palace of Westminster in England. This enduring legacy contributes
to its traditions, practices and conventions. Independence from Britain began in
the Australian colonies in the mid-19th century. Each colony’s parliament was
established on Westminster principles, characterised by governments formed from
those elected to the lower house. Ministers are appointed from the government side
and are responsible to parliament for their actions. Because the operation of the
Westminster parliamentary system was well understood, there was little in the way
of written constitutions and significant reliance on tradition or convention. While
all Westminster jurisdictions share similar traditions, each has adapted their system
of government to suit their own unique circumstances.
Compromise and pragmatism were needed in order to get each of the colonies
in the 1890s (which later became the states) to overcome their parochialism and
deep-seated suspicion to join together as one nation in 1901. The Australian
parliament met in Melbourne until 1927, when its original building, now called
‘Old Parliament House’ and operating as a museum, was built in Canberra.
While remaining rooted in the British tradition, Australia’s system of government
also reveals influences from other places. Government in Australia combines Westminster
principles of responsible government with a federal structure, consisting of
the six states, with federal responsibilities set out in the Commonwealth Constitution.
The Constitution limits the areas in which the Commonwealth parliament has
exclusive jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction with the states. 7 The Senate was
envisaged by the drafters of the Constitution as a state house, providing each state
with an equal number of elected members, rather than a proportion based on
5 The lower houses in the states and territories generally have one member per seat. In Tasmania
and the ACT, five members represent each state seat. This is an example of multi-member seats,
known in Australia as the Hare-Clark system.
6 Federally, the House of Representatives is elected using the full preference, transferable
single-member constituency vote, while the Senate is elected by a system of proportional
representation.
7 The Commonwealth Constitution preserves the parliamentary powers and the laws in force in
each of the states, but provides that where a state law is inconsistent with a Commonwealth law,
the Commonwealth law prevails (to the extent of the inconsistency).
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