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.