The Australian government has a three-tier system that is based on the Westminister tradition with the addition of a separation of powers to ensure a system of checks and balances. Australia's variety of proportional representation differs markedly from that of Israel and other PR-theory states. Australian PR is based on a preferential voting system, to be discussed later.
The Australian Federal government consists of three major parts: a bicameral Legislature comprised of the House of Representatives (the Lower House) and the Senate (the Upper House), an Executive (Governor-General) who is the representative of the Queen, and the Judiciary. The House of Representatives has 148 members. The number of members from each of the six states is determined by population. The Senate has 76 members, 12 from each state and two from each of the mainland Territories. The Governor-General is chosen by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Commonwealth of Australia
is divided into six States, eight island Territories and two mainland Territories.
The six States are Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South
Australia, and New South Wales. The two mainland territories are
the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. All
of the States have a bicameral legislature except Queensland, which abolished
its Upper House in 1922. The Lower House in New South Wales, Victoria,
Western Australia and Queensland is known as the Legislative Assembly.
In South Australia and
Tasmania, it is known as the House of Assembly. The five States
call the Upper Houses the Legislative Council.
There are four major political
parties in Australia, with about 65 minor parties. The Australian
Labor Party is on the left of the political spectrum and represents a variety
of Australian society. The Liberal Party is the representative of
the business community and is on the right of the political spectrum.
The National Party, which traditionally represents rural interests, is
also toward the right of the political spectrum. The Liberal Party
has formed a coalition (as explained in the section about Israel) with
the National Party. In the Senate, where neither the Australian Labor
Party or the Coalition has a majority, the Australian Democrats play an
important role by holding the balance of power.
Although their lobbying is a major
influence on the Australian political process, minor parties do not play
as critical a role in the Australian Parliament as they do in Israeli Knesset.
In the 1993 election, all but two of the seats in the House of Representatives
were won by the four main parties, with the Australian Labor Party winning
80 of the (then) 147 seats. The two seats not held by one of the
big four were won by Independents. In the half-Senate election the
same day, the minor parties showed more of a presence. The Australian
Labor Party won 30 seats, the Liberal Party won 30, the National Party
won five, the Australian Democrats won seven, the Western Australian Greens
won two, the Country Liberal Party won one, and the Harradine Independents
won one.
The Senate (Upper House)
and the House of Representatives (Lower House) are elected somewhat differently,
because only one representative is elected for each electoral division,
while more than one Senator is elected per State. In the system used
for the House of Representatives, the voter ranks his or her candidate
preferences in order from first choice to last. To be elected, a
candidate must win an absolute majority of the first preference vote, meaning
50% + 1 of the formal votes. If no candidate wins more than half
of the votes, the candidate with the least number of votes is excluded
and that candidate's votes are transferred to the other candidates according
to the order of preferences. If there is still no candidate with
a majority, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is once again
excluded and the remaining votes are transferred to the other candidates.
This process continues until one candidate has more than 50% of the formal
votes and is duly elected.
The system used for the
Senate is more complicated than that used for the House. It is quota-based
proportional representation. Since the Senate has a number of seats
to fill from each State, a candidate does not need an absolute majority
of formal votes to be elected. To be elected to the Senate, a candidate
needs a "quota" of the votes in the State. This figure is calculated
by dividing the number of formal votes cast in a State by a number equal
to the number of vacancies being contested plus one. If a candidate
receives a quota of first preference votes, he or she is duly elected.
Once elected, his or her surplus votes are transferred to the other candidates
in much the same way as in the House. This process continues until
all of the vacancies are filled by candidates receiving quotas.
The systems used to elect
the members of Parliament in Australia are not indicative of strict proportional
representation. There are quirks in the systems used that allow for
the continuing domination of the government by the major parties.
This tendency is very evident in the House, where there are only two representatives
who are not members of the major parties. The single-member system
basically allows for the winner-take-all results, as the candidate with
the majority of the vote wins the seat, even if the distribution was 49%
and 50%.
As a result of the multi-member
electorate, the electoral system used by the Senate much more closely resembles
the single transferable voting that results in proportional representation.
As can be seen from the 1993 election returns, minor parties have a greater
possibility of winning a seat, even if they do not win the majority of
the formal vote.
The entire basis of the
Australian government and party system is dependent on one party (or coalition
of parties) winning a majority of the House, the traditionally more important
chamber of the Australian Parliament. After an election, the Prime
Minister, who is normally chosen from the House, then appoints the leader
of the party with a majority in the House and that party thus gains control
of the government. This majority party selects the ministers, who
must be members of Parliament, for the Cabinet, which functions as the
key decision making body in the government.
Australian government
is still very much in the control of the party who can garner the highest
majority in a single member electorate. Once a party secures a majority
in the House, they gain control of much of the legislative process.
Therefore the modified proportional representation rules utilized in Senate
elections does not have the level of impact in Australia that it has in
Israel.