Лекция: STATE SYSTEM OF AUSTRALIA

Australia is a federation of six states and two territories. Under the written Constitution (1901) the Federal government is mainly responsible for the national economy and Reserve Bank, customs and excise, immigration, defence, foreign policy and the postal system. The state governments are chiefly responsible for health, education, housing, transport and justice. There are both federal and state police forces.

Australia has a parliamentary system of government based on that of the UK, and the state and federal structures are broadly similar.

In Federal parliament, the lower house is the House of Representatives, the upper house the Senate. The House of Representatives has 147 members, divided among the states on a population basis. Elections for the House of Representatives are held at least every three years. The Senate has 12 senators from each state, and two each from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory. State senators serve six-year terms, with elections for half of them every three years; territory senators serve only three years, their terms coinciding with elections for the House of Representatives.

The federal government is run by a prime minister, while the state governments are led by a premier and the Northern Territory by a chief minister. The party holding the greatest number of lower house seats forms the government.

Australia is a monarchy, but although Britain's king or queen is also Australia's, Australia is fully autonomous. The British sovereign is represented by the governor-general and state governors, whose nominations for their posts by the respective governments are ratified by the monarch of the day.

Federal parliament is based in Canberra, the capital of the nation. The state parliaments are in each state capital.

***