Australian Politics: The history, the institutions, and the issues

Australian Institutions & Party Politics
A Comparison to Great Britain

Institutions

Party Politics

The key institutions and party politics of Australia are similar to those of Great Britain, for Australia has a heritage of being a colony of Great Britain; both nations have similar legislative and executive branches, as well as similar party structures. Australia differs with Great Britain mainly with its written constitution established in 1901 (the British have no single written constitution) and its federalism composed of six states and two territories ("The Australian Government"). While Great Britain and Australia are constitutional monarchies and parliamentary democracies, Australia is also a federation ("Parliament An Overview"). Perhaps the most obvious similarity in the key institutions of Australia and Great Britain is their identical ties with the Queen or King of England, who both nations recognize as their monarch. The ceremonial duties of the monarch are more symbolic than practical; the day-to-day duties of government are left to the Prime Minister. As in Great Britain, the Australian Federal Parliament is comprised of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate ("Federal Parliament"). The House of Representatives contains 148 members, and elections are held at least every three years, while the Senate contains 76 members Ð twelve from each state and two from each territory. Senators serve a six-year term, and the people of each state and territory vote as single electorates ("The Australian Government"). The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen of England, who takes the advice of the Prime Minister, much like she does in selecting a British Prime Minister. The duties of the Governor-General include assenting to bills, appointing ministers, and summoning and dissolving Parliament, all under the advice of the Ministers, who lead the Australian cabinet ("The Australian Government"). The Governor-General and the Prime Minister are parallel in their leadership of the executive and legislative branches, respectively.

The party setup in Australia is similar to that of Britain, for each major Australian party has a British counterpart holding similar political beliefs. The Australian Labor Party is AustraliaÕs oldest political party, formed in 1891 ("Australian Labor Party"), and it parallels the Labour Party in Great Britain. The main aspect of the Australian Labor Party that compares it to the Labour Party is its characteristic of the unions being directly affiliated with the party, forming part of the partyÕs formal structure ("About Us-An Introduction"). Both parties fight for more state ownership of some industries, and both believe in "achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth, income and status" ("What Labor Stands For"). The Australian Labor Party dominated Parliament for a historic five terms, the last two lead by Paul John Keating, until its defeat to the Liberal Party in 1996 ("Paul John Keating"). The Australian Labor Party is involved in the most controversial event in the history of the Australian Federation: the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government. The Australian Labor Party was elected in 1972, headed by Gough Whitlam who promised party reform, for the first time in 23 years.

"The years 1972-1975 were a whirlwind of activity, controversy and change, culminating in the dramatic events of October 1975 when the coalition parties in the Senate used their numbers to delay passage of the government's Supply Bills. A three-week constitutional impasse followed, culminating in Whitlam's dismissal by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, on November 11." ("The Whitlam Dismissal")

The event is still relevant today, for it offers evidence in support of an Australian Republic by bringing into question the Australian Constitution and whether the Senate had the right to block money bills ("The Whitlam Dismissal"). The power of the Australian Labor Party fell into the hands of the Australian Liberal Party, whose main beliefs included privatization of industry and lifting of burdensome taxes ("Our Beliefs"). The Australian Liberal Party, which took power in 1996 under Prime Minister John Howard, promising industrial relations reform and improving the health care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and is still in power today ("The Honourable John Howard PM"). The Australian Liberal Party has many policies in common with the British Conservative Party, which also advocates privatization of industry and reducing governmental involvement in the economy. Third parties in Australia include the National Party, which advocates rural and family values (National Party of Australia: Platform 2000), the Green Party, an environmental party with power in Tasmania ("Australian Greens"), and the ultra-conservative One Nation Party, a new party led by outspoken Pauline Hanson supporting white interests over Aboriginal concerns and against globalization (Rowe). The Australian party system is much like that of Great Britain, for the two main parties dominate Parliament while smaller but growing third parties challenge the big parties in elections. The Australian party system is like the British party system because Australia was a colony of Great Britain for more than a century, its colonists acquiring views similar to the views of their British counterparts. Unlike the United States, however, Australia did not begin a fiery revolution that placed Great Britain as the enemy, criticizing its laws and political procedures as Americans did. Thus, the Australians when they became independent of Great Britain in 1901 still valued the British model of government.