Political Parties: Family First Party

The Family First Party is a minor Australian political party, but currently it is not being represented in parliament. In previous years, Steve Fielding was representing the party in the Senate. However, just recently in July, after Steve finished his six-year term, he lost his seat in parliament. This was due to insufficient votes from the public in the 2010 federal election. In the years that are yet to come, members of the Family First may be re-elected in parliament!

The Family First Party’s aim is to make Australia the best country in the world to raise a family. The Family First Party prioritises the health and well-being of Australian families and considers issues such as jobs, hospitals, housing, education, drugs, child abuse and the environment. Their purpose is to give Australian families a voice in parliament. Some issues the party is against include: abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.

Activities

1. Who is the current representative of the Family First Party?

2. Is the Family First Party part of the state or federal government?

3. Where did the Family First Party first originate – Which State?

4. Which year was the Family First Party founded?

5. Who was the founder of the Party?

The Three Levels of Government

Before a law is made, an idea is proposed. This proposition is called a Bill. This is then introduced through government. Any Member of Parliament may put forward a Bill. Even Non-Parliament may introduce Bills for discussion and consideration. These Bills are called Private Members’ or Private Senators’ Bills. Bills are then read in federal Parliament, in House of Representatives, and in the Senate. These laws are then discussed and voted on in the state/territory and local governments. When a law is not agreed on in State and/or Parliament, Federal Parliament can overrule both governments, and decide what to do with the law.

As Australia has 3 different levels of authority and Government, they have different Federal laws are set in effect throughout Australia and its territorial waters and every person who lives in Australia must abide by these laws. These laws include categories of:

• international and inter-state trade
• taxation
• defence
• insurance
• currency, weights and measures
• foreign affairs
• immigration
• banking
• marriage and divorce
• post and telecommunications

The State powers and laws only have effect in that particular state or territory, and all residing in that state. Although state parliament is mostly in charge of main roads and justice, local government is also in charge of local road maintenance. State Government also maintains:

• hospitals
• public transport
• wildlife protection
• tourism
• schools
• police
• emergency services
• roads and motor registration

Local government takes care of the small details, which are vital to be attended to. Should such details not be maintained, the standard of this country would be in shambles. These include:

• sports grounds
• rubbish collection
• street signs
• building permits
• animal control
• libraries
• traffic control
• footpaths and drains

Scenarios

An unrestricted plane, carrying many bombs and other weapons is headed straight for Parliament House is Canberra. The plane is contacted and the only thing heard is a threat to kill everyone in government if they don’t get 10 000 000 dollars before they run out of fuel. But they didn’t tell us how much fuel they have left.

• Something must be done, what is done and which level of government does it?

We refuse, and the plane continues on course towards Parliament House and drops two bombs over a garbage disposal factory, destroying it.

• Who is in charge of repairing the factory?

As the terrorists realise that there is another aircraft in the air, they pull out a 50 cal. Machine gun from a slot on the side of the plane and shoot down the government resistance fighter.

• Who will pay for another fighter?

The terrorist aircraft is eventually shot down by more fighters but the high-jacked 747 crashes into a major freeway in NSW.

• Who fixes the freeway?

The world wide media has begun writing stories and articles about the incident. Many police, fire and ambulance officers are at the scene.

• Who is in charge of paying and maintaining the police, fire and ambulance officers?

What things must be fixed before things can go back to normal?

• Spend 5 minutes in your groups discussing what level of government would have to do to help bring things back to normal.

Examples:

Media stories that make the situation seem a lot worse than it is.

The effect on surrounding schools of the plane accident.

Australian Citizens feeling insecure on the relationship Australia has with other nations.

Federation

Before 1901 Australia did not exist as a nation. It was a collection of six British colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania as well as Western Australia which was the last colony to join the federation.

Federation goes a long way back. Henry Parkes (Premier of NSW) is often called the ‘Father of Federation’. He was a long-time agitator for the cause – he convinced the other Premiers to discuss federation. The smaller colonies where worried that the larger ones would have more power in Federal Parliament and so did not completely agree with the idea. They solved that problem by making sure each State always has the same number of representatives.  During the 1880’s and 1890’s the idea of federating became more popular, as people started thinking they would be a stronger nation if they stood together.

The Constitution had to be agreed to by the British Parliament before federation could proceed. A delegation (assignment) travelled to London to present the Constitution to the British Parliament. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed by the British Parliament in July 1900. This allowed the six Australian colonies to become states of Australia and the Parliament of Australia was formed.

On 1 January 1901 at a ceremony held in Centennial Park in Sydney and the Commonwealth of Australia was declared. The Australian’s then welcomed nationhood with up to 500,000 people joining the federation parade. This demonstrated that Australians were ready to unite under the slogan ‘one people, one flag, one destiny.’

The Capital city was placed in-between Melbourne and Sydney, because both cities wanted to be the nation’s capital.

Activity

Federation Crossword

Political Parties: The Greens

About The Greens!

Favoured by the prime minister of Australia; Julia Gillard the Australian Greens were the first political party by that name anywhere in the world, established in 1972 the Greens were first under the name of the United Tasmania Group. The Greens say that they are an environmentally focused party, promoting meaningful and smart solutions to ensure future generations of Australians have clean air, clean water and clean soil – the Greens are also working in many other areas to improve and support integrity, decency and fairness. Or so they say. To date, the Greens currently have five members of parliament in the Federal parliament and twenty-two greens members in the state parliament.

About Bob Brown

After spending ten years as an MHA in Tasmania’s state parliament, in 1996 Bob Brown was elected to the Senate as the leader of the Australian Greens party.

There have been numerous issues that have been raised by Bob Brown; starting with his first speech in the Senate, Bob raised the very real threat posed by climate change. Government and opposition members laughed at his warning of sea level rises and it has taken 10 years for them to finally begin to acknowledge the causes and effects of climate change.

Since his election into the Senate, Bob has continued to take a bold and often politically lonely stand on issues across the national and international spectrum. Some of the many issues that Bob has raised in the Senate include petrol sniffing in Central Australia, self-determination for West Papua and Tibet, saving Tasmania’s ancient forests, opposing the war in Iraq, justice for David Hicks, stopping the sale of the Snowy Hydro scheme and opposing the dumping of nuclear waste in Australia

Here are some questions about the Greens Party

1)      What issues do the Greens party support?

2)      Who makes up the Greens party?

3)      What is the Greens party’s goal?

4)      Who is Bob Brown?

5)      How many members of parliament are from the Greens party?

6)      Do they have Senators in voted into parliament?

7)      Is the Greens party popular, yes or no? Why?

8)      When was Bob Brown elected to the Senate?

9)      How many members of parliament do the Greens have in the State Parliament?

10)   Where was the first Greens party established?

11)   How many years did Bob Brown spend in Tasmania before becoming the leader of the Greens?

12)   State two political stands Bob Brown took during his lengthy campaign to become the leader of the Greens?

13)   How many members of parliament do the Greens have in the Federal parliament.

14)   Who in the Government really likes the Greens?

Australia: The Republic Debate

Australia has its own constitution which limits her power to a minimal and ceremonial role, and the Queen is technically the head of state, and be represented by the governor general.

Republic system of goverment want a president who replace the gorvernor and reflect the independence as a general nation of Australia. They said Australia should move from a monarchy to a republic, because the monarchy is not an appropriate symbol for an egalitarian and independent nation.

The rejection indicate that we should stay exactly the same way because the goverment is working well and we don’t have to cut off the relationship with England. Britain is still part of our identity.

There are still many argument about the national identity of Australia, even through some people  believe that we can move from that history and become a new, independent nation, the Australian people still derive strong sense of identity from the queen and monarchy. The Queen’s representative is adequate as a head of state, but if Australia becomes a republic, could it remain within the commowealth or would it have to leave? Certainly, it would establish a fully-independent, self-contained leadership structure in Australia, the republic system believes it can stay as’commonwealth republic’.

The debate can be framed by multiple questions:

1. Is republican goverment need to break the bond with the English monarchy to show the independece?
2. Do we have enough independence to move away from that history and show a new face of Australia to the world?
3. Is the Queen showing as a foreign leader of as a head of the state in Australia?
4. Is a republic important to Australian independence from England?
5. Can Australia autually remain in the commonwealth as a republic?
6. Is republicanism more modern than constitutional monarchy?
7. Do monarchies risk bringing completely incapable people to power?
8. Does the Australian monarchy ensure stability?
9. Is establishing a republic feasible in Australia?
10. Is it better to not to rush a republic in Australia?

Although the issue seems to be temporarily off the table, it is possible that there will be another referendum in our generation. This is one issue which might change the future of the country you live in.

Parliament at Work: Making Laws

Law Making in Australia

­­Laws in Australia are made in Parliament. Making laws is one of the main jobs of the Parliament whether to change old laws or make new ones. Laws are rules that help manage our society. Different types of laws are made in State Parliament or the Federal Parliament.

There are 3 steps involved to introduce a bill. These steps are Introducing Bills, Debating/Passing Bills and Amending Bills.

Introducing Bills
The term “Bill” means a proposal for a new law. Bills are introduced into the Parliament by the government. Bills can be started either in the House of Representatives or the Senate. Money and taxation bills have to be introduced in the House of Representatives. More than 85% of bills are started in the House of Representatives. This is where most ministers sit.

Debating/Passing Bills
Before a Bill can be law it must go through multiple stages. The members of Parliament will debate on whether the bill should become law. The Bill will go through the House of Representatives and the Senate before it can be amended.

Amending Bills
The term “Amendments” means changes. A bill must go through amendment to see if any modifications need to be made before it is law. Amendments can be considered in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.  The government may have to negotiate with independent Senators, minor parties or the opposition to agree to make amendment to the bill before it is passed. Amendments do not have to be made to a bill before it is passed.

Usual Stages of a Bill

(These steps will happen in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, where it starts depends on the Bill)

1^st Reading – Bill is introduced
2^nd Reading – Members debate and vote on the main idea of the bill
3^rd Reading – Members vote on the bill in its final form
Bill is Agreed
The Governor General Signs the bill
Bill becomes law for Australia.

ACTIVITY – The Best Law Rules All

In this game everyone will be split into 2 groups. Everyone must work as a team and do their own job to complete this activity in time. You will have 10 minutes to make up your own law. You must write it up and it must be related to a topic that we give you. Your group shall have the same topic as everyone else’s group and the group with the most creative and reasonable law will receive some LOLLIES!!!!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!

1. We will give you a subject to make a bill about.
2. You will then have 10 minutes to brain storm with each other and right up your bills.
3. Each group will have to give each member a role to work quickly and efficiently to finish writing laws in time.
4. In both groups one member shall introduce the bill to the class. Another member must provide an argument on why it should become Australian law.
5. Three people will have the role of judging each bill and deciding which bill to pass because there can only be one winner even if both are really good ideas. It’s up to those three people which they think is best.
6. Doesn’t matter if you lose you might get lollies if there are any lollies left.

We will provide each group with one sheet of A3 paper to write your bill on and two sheets of A4 paper for your rough sketches.

Electing the Parliament (Federal)

A member of parliament is someone  who has been elected by the community. These people then listen to the people in their community and then bring the complaints, questions and requests to the parliament. Each year there is a federal election and in this these people are either re elected or someone else in their community gathers more votes than they did and so they become the new parliamentarian.

There are more than just one person in the community who gets a chance to represent the commuity. There is a choice between a labour, liberal, green, independent and other minor parties and whoever gets the most votes becomes the member of that electorate. Once all the people from the electorates have been voted in the side with the most people becomes the new government (labour or liberal etc). In Victoria there are 128 members of parliament who represent the people of victoria. There are 88 members of the Legislative Assembly, each representing one district, and 40 members of the Legislative Council. Victoria is divided into eight regions and five Council members represent each region. As a result each citizen is represented by one Assembly member and five Council members in the Parliament of Victoria.

 

Word Search

n b m b r a i l g b p s l n l l l e b n e m n u a m i n o r p a r t i e s n v b t i i o e u r y o i b t c r m s e b a l i p t s e n i c a o n e i i r t t t e l n r a r c l c e u e i u t e a l l c l n z e z l z a o r m e o r o r i c r o t i l g i l c n e a l g g a o e r b i g v o m c n a e e i e i l e z y l b m e s s a e v i t a l s i g e l l l i e l y l z r t i r e r n l t a s l n r a s r i l r b o c i a s a g n n o l t m n t m e a i c r t p r r e c l i o a t i t e b l e u e r o a e e s e r e i c e l a o n e s t t i r b e l a b m l o c g b r l a m c a g t i u l a n t s v l t c v n r e r e o i l a m e i a a a b i o i c l s t e l e e i e c r r e r o u r y e o g p b n e c u b e i r n m r m u s m e i n i e r m a r r

greens minor parties labour liberal electorate legislative assembly citizen council parliament victoria

The Australian Labour Party

The Australian labour party(ALP) led by Julia Gillard(Australia’s current prime minister) is currently Australia’s government. The ALP was led by Kevin Rudd until the 2010 federal election where Julia Gillard took over  him. The ALP was founded in 1891 by the emerging labour movement in Australia, The ALP is the country’s longest running political party. The ALP contested state seats from 1891 and federal seats following the Federation at the 1901 federal election. The ALP was also the first party in Australia to win a majority in either house of the Australian Parliament, at the 1910 federal election.

Leader of the ALP

Julia Gillard became the Prime Minister on 14 September 2010 following the 2010 Federal Election. Julia Gillard born in Barry, Wales in 1961. Daughter of a nurse and aged care worker. Her family migrated to Australia in 1966 and she grew up in Adelaide. Julia Gillard became an Australian citizen in 1974 along with the rest of her family, and renounced her British citizenship before entering Parliament. Ms Gillard was educated at Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School in South Australia. Julia Gillard started her Arts and Law degrees at the University of Adelaide. In 1983 she was elected national Education Vice-President of the Australian Union of Students (AUS) and moved to Melbourne to complete her degree at Melbourne University. Later that year, she was elected President of the AUS. After graduating, Ms Gillard began work as a solicitor in Melbourne with the law firm Slater and Gordon and became a Partner in 1990. Ms Gillard’s work at the firm focused on employment law where she worked on securing fairer treatment for workers and fought for clothing trades outworkers who had been underpaid. In 2010 she got elected as the prime minister of Australia

How the ALP works

The foundation of the ALP is the local branch and Party members. All Party members belong to a branch. Labor Prime Ministers, past and future, will have attended them as part of their involvement in the Party. These branches elect an executive to organise their business and conduct their regular meetings. Also elected by the local branch are delegates to other electorate council meetings, forums and state conferences.  Branches fall within State and Federal Electorates. Normally most electorates will have a number of branches. Branch meetings are a great way to connect with the local residents to voice out their thoughts, ideas or complaints. Branch meetings can also provide an avenue for stimulating policy discussion. Members may submit motions for discussion and consideration at their local branch, which may then be put to the state (and possibly national) conferences for the Party. With this, it is possible for an everyday member’s idea to find its way into the Party’s national platform and even as national law.

National Policy Committee

The National Policy Committee (NPC) is elected every three years by the National Executive. Its primary role is to prepare the draft National Platform which is debated by delegates to the triennial National Conference. Branches and other Party units can send motions and suggestions to the NPC for its consideration.

National Conference

National Conference is the ALP’s highest decision-making forum and the National Platform outlines Labour’s long-term principles. The conference is held usually every three years to consider amendments to the Party platform, resolutions, and conduct other business. The National President chairs the National Executive.

National Executive

The National Executive is the chief administrative body of the Australian Labour Party between National Conferences. The National Executive is directly elected by delegates at the National Conference. The National Presidents, National Secretary, the leader of the Federal Labour Parliamentary Group and State Secretaries all sit on the National Executive, usually as non-voting members unless otherwise elected as a delegate.

National Secretary

The National Secretary oversees the running of the National Secretariat, which is the organisational head office of the ALP. As the Australian Labour Campaign Director for federal elections the National Secretary plays a critical role in electing Labour Governments. The National Secretariat provides support to all state branches and party units.

Federal Labour Parliament group

Labour’s enduring values, which were born in the collective struggle for better living and working conditions, are reflected in the progressive and reformist tradition which the Party embodies, and in the continuing pursuit of a society which values equality and security, fairness and compassion, environmental sustainability, enterprise, opportunity and aspiration.

In the 1890s when the ALP was first conceived, its purpose was to afford workers parliamentary representation to advance their position. Given these origins, the Federal Labour Parliamentary Group have an important role to play in the organisation.

The Federal Parliamentary Labour Party are empowered by the ALP to represent the views of the Party and the constituents they represent in the Federal Parliament, guided by the enduring values and positions espoused by the members of Australian Labour through the Party Platform.

Labour MPs remain answerable to their members, and attend their branch meetings for this purpose. This reflects the original strategy of the shearers under the Tree of Knowledge – to choose from among themselves someone to stand for parliament in order to promote their interests and conduct good and fair governance. In this way, what happens at local branch meetings goes full circle in the organisation the Australian Labour Party.

Major Agenda’s

1. Carbon Tax: The ALP believes that “A price of carbon pollution is the best way to transition into a low-carbon economy and  drive innovation and investment needed to build a clean energy nation. Bringing down carbon dioxide levels is critically important to our children’s future so as to ensure they have an environment they can live in”. And so the ALP has decided to carry out this idea of pricing carbon(carbon tax) so as to create a clean energy future for Australia. In doing so, the money collected from carbon tax will go to assist households, support more jobs and tackle climate change.
2. Budgeting of 2011-2012:The ALP thinks that in order to face the challenges of the 21^st century, Australia needs to build an educated and skilled workforce to ensure that there are opportunities for all  Australians to experience to benefits of work. And so the ALP has decided to form a budgeting plan for Australia. In doing so Australia will save 3.0 billion dollars over six years, reform the training system, deploy more jobs around Australia, improve incentives in the tax system, support single parents to engage in work and create a new approach to addressing entrench disadvantages in targeted locations.

The Australian Constitution

The Australian constitution is basically a set of rules for governing a country; it is made up of 8 chapters and 128 sections. This constitution provides the rules for governing the nation.

When the constitution was made it was referred to as the birth certificate of the nation because it united the 6 self-governed colonies.
BUT each state still kept their own parliaments. This constitution created the Commonwealth (federal parliament).  Australia was giving a federal system of government because of the sharing of responsibilities between the states and the Commonwealth.

The constitution also tells us what the federal parliament can make laws about how it shares power with the other 6 states. The
parliaments in all 6 state tackle local or issues that only effect that state  whether as the federal parliament tackles national issues.

When the constitution was made it established 3 groups,

1. The Parliament, which was made up of; the Queen (represented by the governor general), the senate, and the House of
   Representatives.  The parliament was and is allowed to make and change laws.
2. The Executive, which was made up of; the Prime Minister, and the ministers. The executives would carry out the laws and
   business of the government.
3. The Judiciary is made up of the high court and all federal courts. The High Court act like a referee. It gives interpretations
   of the constitution and laws that already exist, and can take care of the disagreements between the Federal and state parliaments.  It is also the highest court in Australia.

The power of managing federal laws and the order of making them are split between the Parliament, the Executives and the Judiciary. This is implied so that none of the groups in parliament have too much power, or say. But Australia don’t have a complete separation of powers, this is because the roles of the Executives and Parliament overlap.

The Australian constitution can only be changed if us, the people agree, and the proposal must be approved by the Federal government. If the proposal is agreed upon a peoples vote occurs which is called a referendum, in order for the law to be changed it must be a double majority. It must also be approved by a majority of voters in a majority state ( at least 4 of the 6 states). Half or more than half of the people who are voting must also agree in order for the law to change.

ACTIVITY

In groups of five or six discuss these contradictions in the law:

• A life sentence is 25 years.
• Children may not purchase cigarettes, but they may smoke them.
• You may never leave your car keys in an unattended vehicle
• It is illegal to roam the streets wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the
  tools of a cat burgular.
• It is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath.
• Under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, a modem can’t pick up on the first ring.
• Only licensed electricians may change a light bulb.
• It is illegal to wear hot pink pants after midday Sunday.
• You must have a neck to knee swimsuit in order to swim at Brighton Beach.
• Until the Port Arthur Killings it was legal to own an AK-47 but not legal to be gay.

Australia: The Monarchy

What is a Monarchy?
A political system in which a state is governed by a ruler. The ruler can have many titles which mostly includes king or queen. However sometimes titles can include: emperors, grand dukes and princes. The word monarch mean “single ruler”.

How does Australia relate to a Monarchy?
Australia’s formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia uses a constitutional monarchy – “constitutional” because powers and dealings of the government are defined by a written constitution and “monarchy” because Australian’s head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.

How is the Queen represented in government?
The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who has reigned since the 6th of February 1952. She is represented in Australia by the Governor-General in agreement with the Australian Constitution and written letters from the Queen. In each state of Australia the monarch is represented by a governor who is selected directly by the Queen on the guidance of each of her individual state governments.

What is the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth is a group of 54 nations, spread over every continent in the world. It is an intergovernmental organization of member states that were formally part of the British Empire. This established from the former colonial relationship of these countries to Britain, but now they are self-governing and legally different.