Australian Demographics

o Population: 20,600,856o Most people are 15-64 years oldo Life expectancy: Male: 78 years old

Female: 83 years oldo Ethnic Groups: White 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal and

other 1%o Religions: Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, Other

Christians 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%o Language: English 79.1%o Literacy Rate: 99%o Government Type: Federal parliamentary democracyo Unemployment Rate: 4.4%

History o 68,000 BC – 40,000 BC ~ Aboriginal tribes

arriveo 1606 ~ Dutch spot Australian mainlando 1770 ~ English Lieutenant James Cook explores Eastern

coast and claims it for Britaino 1778 ~ First fleet from England arrives and founded

first European settlement and colony at Sydneyo 1808 ~ The Rum Rebelliono 1829 ~ The whole of Australia is claimed as British

territoryo 1891 ~ First attempt at Federal Constitution is

draftedo 1891 ~ Severe depressiono 1898 ~ The convention agrees on a final drafto 1901 ~ Australia becomes a Federation

History – cont.

o 1902 ~ Franchise Act guarantees women the right to voteo 1903 ~ High Court of Australia is establishedo 1914 ~ Takes part in WWIo 1939 ~ Australia enters WWIIo 1950 ~ Korean Waro 1963 ~ Indigenous Australians are given full rights as citizenso 1972 ~ The first Labor Government is elected since 1942 under the leadership of Gough Whitlamo 1987 ~ Hoddle Street Massacre and Queen Street Massacreo 1999 ~ A referendum to changing to a Republic is unsuccessfulo 2007 ~ Labor Party elected – Kevin Rudd is PM

Aborigineso Aborigine: People who were here from the beginning

o Account for 2% of Australia’s population

o Migrated from somewhere in Asia around 30,000 years ago

o Believe in a close relationship between humans and land

o By the late 1880’s most Aborigines had joined the white, rural and urban communities

o Land and property rights fueled an important civil rights movement in the 1970’s

o Aborigines spoke out for land rights that had been taken by British settlers

Executive Brancho Chief of State: Queen of Australia Elizabeth II who is represented by Governor General Major General Michael Jeffery

o Head of Government: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

o Deputy Prime Minister: Julia Gillard

o Cabinet: prime minister nominates, from among members of Parliament, candidates who are subsequently sworn in by the government general to serve as government ministers

o Elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general

Prime Minister – Kevin Rudd

o Most powerful political office in Australiao Always the leader of the political with the majority in the

Houseo Kevin Rudd is the leader of the Labor Partyo Knocked out John Howard (PM 1996-2007)o The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor Generalo Has a Cabinet and a Federal Executive Councilo Can be voted out by a vote of no confidence

The Governor General

o The representative in Australia of the British monarcho Currently Michael Jeffery representing Queen Elizabeth IIo Exercises supreme executive powero Appoints ministers, ambassadors and judgeso Gives royal assent to legislationo President of the Federal Executive Councilo Acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australiao Mostly a ceremonial role

Preferential Votingo Voters rank a list or group of candidates in order of preference

o Voter writes #1 by first choice, #2 by second, etc.

o Used in instant run-off voting and single transferable vote system

Legislative Brancho Bicameral Federal Parliament

o Consists of the Senate and House of Representatives

o Most Recent Election Results:

o Senate

Liberal Party-National Party coalition 37

Australian Labor Party, 32

Australian Greens, 5

Family First Party, 1

Other, 1

o House of Reps

Australian Labor Party, 83

Liberal Party, 55

National Party, 10

Independents, 2

Parliament – House of Reps.

o House of Rep (150)o 3 year termo Represent a separate electoral division –

instant run-off votingo The party with majority support in the House

forms the governmento Members may have other functions in the

Parliamento Have a Question Timeo They are involved in law making, committee

work and in representing their electors

Parliament - Senate

o Senate (76)o 12 elected for each State and 2 for each territoryo State senators 6 year term and Territory senators

3 year termo Proportional representation – single transferable

voteo In order for a bill to become a law, must agree

with Houseo Highly developed committee systemo Senators spend much time on committee work

Parties of Australia

o Australian Labor Partyo Liberal Partyo The Nationalso Australian Democratso Australian Greenso One Nation

Australian Labor Party

o Oldest political party – formed in 1890o Continuously represented in the House

since 1901o Experienced 3 splits and in turn lost seats

in the Parliamento A lot of government spending for

businesseso Pro Union

Liberal Party of Australia

o Formed in 1910o Liberal party has governed in coalition with the National

Party for 36 of the last 52 yearso Economy is based on private economy, free enterprise and

competitive marketso Government should not provide services that can be better

delivered by competitive enterpriseo Limited governmento Similar to American Republican Party

The Nationals

o Originally known as the Country Partyo Has held seats in Parliament since 1919o Rural-based partyo Believe in security for the nationo Want strong economy built on private industryo Seek better health careo Support Australian farming

Australian Democrats

o Formed in 1977 by Don Chippo Most successful minor political partyo Have elected 5 different women as leaderso Want uniform healthcare systemo In favor of tax increaseo Expenses paid educationo Very concerned about the environment

Australian Greens

o The newest party, launched in 1992

o Started because of environmental conflict in the 1980’s

o Big emphasis on environment

o Health care and human rights platforms are abundant

o Emphasis on farming and agricultural development

One Nation

o Representing the people of Australia who are concerned that their will is being ignored by the two-party system

o Global warming is not an issue

o Focus on foreign affairs

Judicial Branch

o Highest court is the Australian High Courto Chief Justice and 6 other Justices are appointed by the Governor

Generalo Common Law systemo There are 3 other Federal courts:

o The Federal Court of Australiao The Family Court of Australiao The Federal Magistrates Court

o The High Court has judicial review and interprets the Constitution of Australia

o All Federal judges and magistrates can serve until they are 70 years old

o The High Court was constituted by the Judiciary Act of 1903

The Bureaucracy

o Not the strongest part of the government in Australia

o Many civil service offices are present but they aren’t very well represented

o The Australians don’t seem to like the bureaucracy very much

Economy of Australia

o GDP is on par with the four dominant Western European economies

o Extremely strong currencyo Agricultural products are main exportso Budget has been in surplus since 2002 due to strong

revenue growtho Unemployment rate 4.4%o Main industries are mining, industrial and transportation

equipment, and food processingo Currency is the called the Australian Dollar

Political Cultureo British influence is extremely importanto Voter turn out is high due to fining if one does not participate in

votingo Women received the right to vote in the nations historyo Decline of cleavageso The biggest cleavages are class and gendero Australians do believe that women should have equal rightso Most Australians support their government and what it doeso The Question Time for the government helps to improve

legitimacy and trust from the people

Foreign Policyo Large supporters of the U.S.o Close ties with Britaino Tend to take the side of Britain during wartimeo Main goal is to start new relationships with other countries

and develop coalitions of mutual interestso Looking to form free trade agreements with Singapore,

Thailand, and the U.S.o The ANZUS Treaty says that Australia and the U.S. are allies

during wartimeo Working to expand securityo Many goals for the South-Pacific region

Australian Capital Territory

o It is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australiao It’s the smallest self-governing internal territoryo It is an inland enclave in New South Waleso Conceived during the federation conventions of the late

1800so Following the Federation of 1901, land would be given to

the new Federal Governmento The capital is Canberra, since 1913

Electoral Map of New South Wales & the ACT

     Liberal Party (LP)      Australian Labor Party (ALP)      National Party (NP)      Independent (IND)      Northern Territory Country Liberal Party (CLP)

Australian Defence Force

o Established in 1976o Consists of the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, and

the Royal Australian Air Forceo Relatively small but it’s the largest military in Oceania o Their priority is to maintain the capability to defend

Australian territoryo Working with other countries on peace keeping operationso Contribute to international coalitions of forces outside of

Australia’s immediate region