1. Westminster System
Legal Studies 3C

2. Westminster system – Australian parliamentary system
Westminster system consists of:
Doctrine of Separation of Powers
Responsible Government
Representative Government
Structure of Parliament
Bicameral system
Role of Governor/Governor-General
Parliamentary Committees

3. Revision – structure of parliament
Federal Parliament State Parliament

4. Within Federal Government
What’s the difference between Executive Government and Cabinet?
Executive government includes the Governor-General, Prime Minister and ministers.
Cabinet is a group within the executive government consisting of the Prime Minister and top-level (senior) ministers. Cabinet is the main decision-making group within the executive government

5. Roles Executive Government
Administer the government (government departments) and execute the laws passed by Parliament.
Cabinet
Cabinet direct government policy and make decisions about national issues.
In Cabinet meetings, ministers also present bills (proposed laws) from their government departments. Cabinet examines these bills, especially the costs, and recommends to ministers whether bills should proceed to Parliament or changes should be made.

6. Structure of parliament cont…
Queen’s representative
Governor-General of Australia (Sir Peter Cosgrove)
Governor of Tasmania (Kate Warner)
Role of the Crown
Give royal assent to all bills passed through parliament
Appoints executive council (made up of Prime Minister and senior ministers) and performs duties of the executive council
Acting as head of state
Bring a session of parliament to an end and dissolving the House of Representatives to bring about an election
Appointing judges to the courts
Exercising reserve powers

7. Reading and questions
Read page textbook Blue edition(Role of the Crown)
Read page 21 – 23 textbook (Red edition)
Q1: Explain the reserve powers of the governor-general and the governors of each state.

8. Structure of parliament cont…
Parliamentary committees examine laws, the conduct of public administration and policy issues. Senate Estimates Committees examine government spending.
3 types of parliamentary committees:
Joint committees – made up of members of both houses that investigate issues on behalf of parliament
Standing committees – appointed for the life of a parliament and provide ongoing check on government activities
Select committees – appointed for a specific purpose as the need arises

9. Parliamentary Committee example
Tobacco Free Generation
(Bill)
Fact%20Sheet.pdf (Fact sheet)
2nd reading Legislative Council -

10. Appeared in The Mercury Newspaper on Saturday 9th May 2015

11. Structure of parliament cont…
es/Powers%20practice%20and%20procedure/00%20- %20Infosheets/Infosheet%204%20-%20Committees (Handout)
Read page 78 textbook (blue edition)
Read page textbook (red edition)

12. Parliamentary committee questions
Explain the 3 types of parliamentary committees
Why are parliamentary committees formed?
What do parliamentary committees do?
Explain 2 reasons why parliamentary committees are important?
List the powers of committees
Briefly outline how committees investigate

13. representative government
Government which represents the views of the majority of the people. Represented by:
Regular elections (universal suffrage – the right to vote if over 18)
Government voted out of office if it does not represent the needs of the majority
Established in the Constitution - members of House of Representatives and Senate chosen directly by the people (S7 and S24)
Present in bicameral system – lower house reflects the will of the people and each state is equally represented in the upper house

14. Representative government
Examples:
Plastic Shopping Bags Ban Act 2013 (Tas)
Workplaces Protection from Protestors Act 2014 (Tas)
Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (Cth)
Minority governments – representative government???

15. Responsible government
Government’s responsibility to the voters.
A democratically elected government must be answerable and accountable to the people for its actions.
Principles include:
Ministers are responsible to parliament (scrutinised through question time and parliamentary committees)
Members of parliament have the opportunity to question ministers
Ministers must carry out their duties with integrity and propriety or resign
Public scrutiny – Hansard, public viewing of parliament and media
If government loses support of the lower house it must resign (no confidence motion)

16. Responsible government
quits/story-e6frg6ox (responsible ministers)
fails u9by.html (no confidence motion)

17. Representative and responsible government
Reading:
Read page 27 – 28 textbook (blue edition)
Read page …… textbook (red edition)
Responsible government document (handout)
Activity: groups of 2 – 3
Representative and Responsible government – how is this demonstrated throughout the Parliamentary System of Government in Australia?

18. Two party system
Political parties exist to represent the interests of different groups and individuals in society; their ultimate goal is to have members elected to represent these interests.
The two major parties are the Liberal Party of Australia and the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
Party discipline is very strong and party members are expected to vote with their party.
The ALP is the only party that has formal party rules to discourage its members voting against the party, or ‘crossing the floor’.
Both houses may contain independent members of parliament.

19. Doctrine of Separation of powers
Three separate types of power (or arms) in our parliamentary system.
These powers are held by separate bodies so that no one body has absolute power or control over the functions of the political and legal systems.
Constitution makes provision for each of these separate powers to operate at a federal level.

20. Doctrine of Separation of powers
Executive power – the power to administer the laws and manage the business of government (Executive government)
Legislative power – the power to make laws (Parliament)
Judicial power – the power given to courts and tribunals to enforce the law and settle disputes (High Court, Federal & State Courts)
The parliament makes the laws, the executive administers them and the courts determine that they are legal and constitutional.

21. Doctrine of separation of powers - example
The Tasmanian Parliament (………………… arm) passed the Criminal Code Act 1924 to define unlawful behaviour that warrants a sanction to reflect society’s condemnation of that conduct.
The Tasmanian Police (………………….. arm) enforces the Act by investigating crimes, arresting suspects and laying charges.
The offender is prosecuted in either the Magistrates Court or the Supreme Court (………………….. arm) by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (……………………… arm).
If the offender is convicted, the court could order his or her detention in prison which is managed by the Department of Correctional Services (………………….. arm).

22. Example 1
A long-term alcoholic who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a 71 year old grandmother on a Hobart street last year will spend at least five years in jail.
Robert Frederick Bowden was sentenced to a maximum of eight years behind bars for the unprovoked daylight attack on Carmel Nettlefold.
The court heard Ms Nettlefold was taking a Saturday morning walk along New Town Road on October 4 last year when Bowden joined her on a traffic island.
The defendant, who had mixed alcohol and Valium the night before, suddenly raised two arms and violently shoved Ms Nettlefold in the chest.
The push was with such force that she fell backwards and hit her head on the road. Her head took most of the impact.
Ms Nettlefold was transferred by ambulance to the Royal Hobart Hospital but her condition deteriorated and she died four days later.

23. Example 2
Textbook Page (blue edition)
The Malaysian Solution

24. Separation of powers Why do we have 3 separate powers?
Are there really 3 separate powers?
Legislature / Executive / Judiciary
Suggest some interrelationships and overlaps

25. Separation of powers Interrelationships and overlaps – some examples:
Legislative power and executive power are combined.
Prime minister and cabinet (executive power) are also part of parliament (legislative power).
Governor-General (Queen’s representative) is part of the executive power as well as the structure of parliament or legislative power (including the giving of royal assent to laws passed).
State and Federal governments (executive power) appoint the judges (judicial power)

26. Separation of powers
Page 28 – 34 textbook (Blue edition)
Page ….. textbook (Red edition)
Readings on WordPress site