Австралия в современном мире

Made by Ekaterina Moskovkina

Australia is an island continent and the world's oldest and sixth largest country (7,682,300 sq km).

Lying between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the country is approximately 4,000 km from east to west and 3,200 km from north to south, with a coastline 36,735 km long.

Australia has six states:

• New South Wales
• Queensland
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia

and two major mainland territories:

• the Northern Territory
• the Australian

Capital Territory (ACT).

Canberra is Australia's capital city. With a population of approximately 320,000 people and situated in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra is roughly half way between the two largest cities Melbourne and Sydney.

Population

As of February 2010, Australia's population is roughly 22 million people. The most populous states are New South Wales and Victoria, with their respective capitals, Sydney and Melbourne, the largest cities in Australia.

Australia's population is concentrated along the coastal region of Australia from Adelaide to Cairns, with a small concentration around Perth, Western Australia. The centre of Australia is sparsely populated.

Australia has 17 listed World Heritage properties. Australia is also famous for its landmark buildings including the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

When the Australian colonies federated to form the

Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, the British

flag had been the official flag for more

than 100 years. The birth of a new nation

created the opportunity to develop an

emblem that represented Australia alone.

An official competition for a design attracted

32 823 entries.

The Australian national flag symbolises

Australia’s historical links with Britain

(represented on the flag by the British flag)

and Australia’s location in the

southern hemisphere (represented on

the flag by stars of the Southern Cross).

The larger seven-pointed star represents

the six original states and the territories of

the Commonwealth.

National colours

Green and gold were

proclaimed Australia’s national

colours by the Governor-General on

19 April 1984.

The golden wattle was proclaimed the official national floral emblem in August 1988.

Since 1912, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, wattle has been included as the decoration surrounding the Commonwealth coat of arms and it has also been used in the design of Australian stamps and many awards in the Australian honours system.

Australia’s coat of arms - the official emblem of the Australian Government - was granted by King George V in 1912. The arms consist of a shield containing the badges of the six States. The supporters are native Australian fauna - a kangaroo and an emu. A yellow-flowered native plant, the wattle, also appears in the design.

The Australian Government uses the coat of arms to authenticate documents and for other official purposes. Its uses range from embellishing the Australian passport to forming part of all Australian government departmental insignias.

Australia has never adopted any official faunal or bird emblem, but, by popular tradition, the kangaroo and emu are widely accepted as such.

Australia has no official motto. For many years, the motto ‘Advance Australia’ appeared on unofficial coats of arms, even before the federation of the states in 1901. It was included in the 1908 arms, and was popularly

accepted in association with the 19th century song ‘Advance Australia Fair’. A revised version of this song became Australia’s official national anthem in 1984.

Australia is a federation of six States which, together

with three self-governing Territories, have their own

constitutions, parliaments, governments and laws.

Australia’s formal name is the Commonwealth of Australia. The form of government used in Australia is a Constitutional Monarchy – ‘Constitutional’ because the powers and procedures of the Commonwealth Government are defined by a written constitution, and ‘Monarchy’ because Australia’s Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II.

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 when six independent British colonies agreed to join together and become states of a new nation. The rules of government for this new nation were enshrined in the Australian Constitution, which defined how the Commonwealth Government was to operate and what issues it could pass laws on.

State and Territory Government

Although the six states joined together to form the Commonwealth of Australia and the Commonwealth Government, they still each retain the power to make their own laws over matters not controlled by the Commonwealth under Section 51 of the Constitution. State governments also have their own constitutions, as well as a structure of legislature, executive and judiciary.

Local Government

Local governments are established by state and territory governments to take responsibility for a number of community services. Local government have a legislature and an executive but no judiciary. Their powers are defined by the state or territory government which established them.

There are three ‘arms’ of

the Commonwealth Government

the executive power

the judicial power

the legislative

power

to carry out and

to interpret laws and

to make laws

enforce the laws

to judge

whether they apply

in individual cases

The principle of the separation of powers is that, in

order to prevent oppressive government, the three

powers of government should be held by separate

bodies—the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary—

which can act as checks and balances on each other.

The Parliament consists of the Queen, represented by the Governor-General, and two Houses—the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Executive Government in

practice

In reality, the executive power is possessed by the

Prime Minister and Cabinet (senior Ministers). Their

power derives:

• constitutionally from their membership of the

Federal Executive Council—see below—and status

as ‘advisers’ to the Governor-General;

• politically, from the people at elections for the

House of Representatives; and

• from convention—that is, custom and tradition.

Neither the Prime Minister nor the Cabinet are

mentioned in the Constitution—the framers of the

Constitution took their existence for granted, as they

did the various conventions of the Westminster system

of government inherited from the United Kingdom.

Composition of the Ministry

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is the head of the Government. He

or she achieves this position by being the elected

leader of the party in government (in the case of a

coalition government, the major party).

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia since June 2010. Leader of the Labor Party.

Cabinet

The Cabinet, consisting of senior Ministers presided over by the Prime Minister, is the Government’s preeminent policy-making body. Major policy and legislative proposals are decided by the Cabinet. The Prime Minister selects Ministers for Cabinet positions. The strictly private Cabinet meetings occur once a week to discuss vital issues and formulate policy. Outside of the cabinet there are a number of junior ministers, responsible for a specific policy area and reporting directly to any senior Cabinet minister. The Constitution of Australia does not recognise the Cabinet as a legal entity, and its decisions have no legal force. All members of the ministry are also members of the Executive Council, a body which is – in theory, though rarely in practice – chaired by the Governor-General, and which meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. For this reason, there is always a member of the ministry holding the title Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Ministers

Ministers are selected by the Prime Minister. There are

currently 30 Ministers. The maximum number can be

increased by legislation. About 17 or so senior

Ministers administer the major departments and are,

usually, members of Cabinet. Other Ministers are

responsible for particular areas of administration within

a major department, or may be in charge of a small

department, or have responsibility for an area of

government which involves more than one department

(e.g. the Minister for Climate Change and Water).

Ministers are appointed from both Houses of

Parliament, although most (about two thirds) are

Members of the House of Representatives.

Parliamentary Secretaries

Up to 12 Members and Senators are appointed by the

Prime Minister as Parliamentary Secretaries to assist

or represent Ministers in their administrative

responsibilities.

The role of the

Governor-General

The Governor-General performs the ceremonial

functions of head of state on behalf of the Queen.

While executive government powers are exercised by

the Governor-General or in his or her name, such

actions are carried out as advised by the Prime

Minister and Ministers.

Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, AC, is the 25th and current Governor-General of Australia (the first woman to hold the position) and a former Governor of Queensland.

Under the Constitution

the Governor-General:

• appoints and dismisses Executive Councillors;
• appoints and dismisses Ministers to administer the

public service departments and agencies;

• appoints judges (the dismissal of judges can only

be initiated by the Parliament);

• is the commander in chief of the defence forces;
• decides when the Parliament meets (subject to

some constitutional requirements), and may

prorogue (suspend) or dissolve it;

• issues writs for general elections;
• initiates government expenditure by recommending

appropriations to the Parliament;

• converts proposed laws to Acts of Parliament by

assenting to legislation that has been passed by

both Houses;

• may block or propose amendments to any law

passed by the two Houses of Parliament.

The Governor-General’s reserve

powers

In some matters the Constitution gives the Governor-

General powers to act independently. These include

the power to dissolve the House of Representatives

and, in certain situations, both Houses. However, in other than exceptional circumstances, the Governor-General will follow the advice of a Prime Minister who retains the confidence of the House.

The powers that the Governor-General has to act

without advice are referred to as ‘prerogative’ or

‘ reserve’ powers and are not clearly defined in the

Constitution. Constitutional experts do not agree on

their precise extent or on the nature of the exceptional circumstances in which they may be exercised.

The role of the Federal Executive

Council

The Federal Executive Council is the constitutional

mechanism for providing ministerial advice to the

Governor-General. It is not a forum for policy debate or

deliberation and its proceedings are entirely formal. All

Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries become

members of the Executive Council. They receive the

title ‘Honourable’. Meetings of

the Council are presided over by the Governor-General

or a deputy appointed by the Governor-General

(usually the Minister with the title Vice President of the

Executive Council). The matters dealt with at each

meeting are recommendations by Ministers, for the

approval of the Governor-General in Council, that

something be done—for example, that a regulation be

made, a treaty be ratified, or a person be appointed to

a position.

The role of the Queen

Australia is a constitutional monarchy. A monarchy is a

country where the position of head of state is inherited.

Australia’s head of state is Queen Elizabeth II . Queen

Elizabeth is also Queen of the United Kingdom and

several other countries which used to be part of the

former British Empire. The Queen’s role as Queen of

Australia is quite separate from her role as Queen of

the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom Government

plays no part in the Queen’s role as Queen of Australia.

In Australia the powers of the Queen have been

delegated by the Australian Constitution to her

representative in Australia, the Governor-General. That

is, while Australia’s head of state is the Queen, the

functions of head of state are performed by the

Governor-General. The Queen’s only necessary

constitutional function is to appoint the Governor-

General, and in doing this the Queen acts as advised

by the Australian Prime Minister. The Constitution gives

the Queen the power to disallow an Australian Act of

Parliament, but this has never been done and it is

extremely unlikely that it would ever be done.

The Judiciary

The Constitution vests the judicial power of the Commonwealth—the power to interpret laws and to judge whether they apply in individual cases—in the High Court and other federal courts. The High Court is established by the Constitution. Other federal courts are created by legislation of the Parliament. Judges are appointed by the Governor-General acting on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Judges can

only be removed from office by the Governor-General following a request for the removal from both Houses of Parliament on the ground of proved misbehaviour or

incapacity.

One of the major functions of the High Court is to interpret the Constitution. The High Court may rule a law to be unconstitutional—that is, beyond the power of the Parliament to make—and therefore of no effect.

While the Parliament may override a court’s interpretation of any ordinary law by passing or amending an Act of Parliament, the Parliament is subject to the Constitution. The Constitution cannot be changed by an Act of Parliament alone—a referendum

of the people is necessary.

Thank you for

your attention!!!