Levels of Government Essay

Submitted By bobmcbobbb
Words: 1106
Pages: 5
Open Document
The Commonwealth Government also known as the Federal Government is the topmost tier of the three levels of government. It effectively holds the most important powers and overrules laws and powers of lower tiers of government.
There is only one Commonwealth Government and its leader is called the Prime Minister. In the present day, that is Julia Gillard.
The State Government is the middle tier government. In Australia, there are six state governments and two self-governing territories. The two are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. Other minor territories take their own self-governance.
The leader of each state is called the Premier, while the leader of each territory is called the Chief Minister.
The Local Government also called council, city or shire, is the bottom tier of the government hierarchy. There are around 565 local governments in Australia, divided around Australia, bounded by each state.
The leader of a local government is called the mayor of shire president.
The Australian Constitution, formulated at Federation, in 1901, is the document that provides the overall framework for Australia’s system of democratic government and the relationship between the Commonwealth and state governments. The Commonwealth Government, and sometimes the State Government, as stated in certain sections, directly follows under this supreme law.
Specifically, Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia lists the 39 ‘heads of power’ of the Commonwealth Government.
The main heads of power include economy, which allows the Commonwealth Government to raise or lower taxes, determine government expenditure and other economic decisions. Defence refers to the ability for the Commonwealth Government to control and manage the Australian Defence Force and its actions domestically and internationally. The Government can also determine the numbers of immigrants, both coming in and going out. It can influence this by implementing certain immigration policies. The Government also serves as the authoritative body registering official marriages and divorces in Australia. Recently, this certain factor has been much debated, on whether this applies to gay marriages. The Government also manages Indigenous relations, in terms of reconciliation and social welfare payments.
Over the years, the powers of the Federal Government have changed. For example, in Section 51 (xxvi) used to allow the Government to determine special laws for Aboriginal people and discriminate against them. Following the 1967 referendum, this was effectively changed.
Also, recent debates in the application of gay marriages in the Constitution can soon result in changes.
Sometimes, powers between Commonwealth and State Governments can conflict, in most cases, Commonwealth law completely overrules State law. However, in times of disputes, the High Court of Australia can determine the result and effectively has absolute jurisdiction.
The Parliament of Australia is bicameral, meaning it has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The first of which, holds 150 members of Parliament, representing each electorate in Australia. The members are chosen through a nationwide compulsory preferential voting system, for a three-year term or less, after which another election occurs.
The Senate holds 76 members, 12 per state and 2 per territory. These members are voted in for six-years by single transferable voting. However, every three years, half are re-elected.
To be the Australian Government, a party must achieve absolute majority in the House of Representatives in a federal election. The winning party chooses its leader who will become the Prime Minister of Australia. The official location of meeting is at Parliament House, Canberra.
The State Government have less important powers and a more limited variety of roles, due to the fact that federal powers overrule them. However, the State Government has the ability to understand and
Show More

Related Documents: Levels of Government Essay

explain the government levels of parliament Essay

The Electoral Process There a many different types of elections in the UK the main elections are General Elections and Local Elections. These two elections are can be based around who stands for the role of the vacancy wether it be for prime minister In the general elections or local member of parliament in the local election. Only certain people may stand for an election, to win an election you must; Over 21 Years of Age Be a British, commonwealth or Republic of Ireland Citizen Must be nominated…

Words 355 - Pages 2

Pros And Cons Of A Strictopian Government

our government is full of corruption. The government complicates things to try and hide its corruption, but all that does is make Strictopians trust it less. Strictopians feel the need to form a more perfect society so that everything will be fair. Strictopia will be less complex than our predecessors’ society. Strictopia will share minimal similarities with our old society. These similarities will consist of a money system like what was used and basic human rights. Strictopia’s government will…

Words 934 - Pages 4

Canadian Elections Essay

Government Essay Canada is a physically large country with a relatively small population. Having a country as large as ours requires multiple levels of government to maintain control over the population. Here in Canada we have three levels of government, Federal, Provincial, and Municipal. The federal government maintains general control over Canada but has little influence on provincial and municipal matters. The Provincial government, under the jurisdiction of the Federal government, Maintains…

Words 363 - Pages 2

Federalism Vs Cooperative Federal Government

1860. The national government and the state government during this time seem to stay worlds apart. State government agencies were independent and they had powers to make decisions. However, the national government still had a finger on the pulse of the nation. Not like cooperative federalism (1930 – 1960) where there a fine line in the powers of local or state governments. The theory of cooperative federalism is for both forms of governments work side by side. Each level of government has a voice in…

Words 325 - Pages 2

Essay about Evaluate the Effectiveness of Australian Government Economic Policies in Achieving Their Objectives

of Australian Government economic policies in achieving their objectives. The government implements an economic policy mix involving macroeconomic and microeconomic policy in order to achieve their objectives. The three main objectives include: • Internal stability – low inflation (price stability) and full employment • External stability – stable exchange rate, a sustainable level of foreign debt and the current account deficit (CAD)  • Economic growth Other government objectives include…

Words 1952 - Pages 8

United States Education System

education, the government is involved. The United States has the federal government to make choice on the whole country's education system and the states government…

Words 904 - Pages 4

Essay on ECON4 Jan 2013

cuts in government spending to lower the budget deficit might affect living standards in the UK. Living standards are measured by GDP per capita, and include income levels and incorporate a range of other indications such as healthcare and education. Government spending is a form of AD, and so reduced spending will reduce AD and so reduce the level of output. Since O=E=Y, this would also reduce income levels since unemployment would increase, as labour is derived demand. If income levels fall in…

Words 761 - Pages 4

United Kingdom and Northern Ireland assembly Essay

Evaluate the responsibilities of different level of government in the UK. I think that the most important level of Government is Central Government because it is the government at the level of the nation-state; it is normally located at the Capital City. Sticking to national security and exercising international diplomacy, this includes having the right to sign binding treaties; this is one of many responsibilities that the Central Government have to do. This system of administration operates…

Words 1631 - Pages 7

Three Types of Government Essay

A unitary government is often described as a centralized government. Under this system of government, all powers held by the government belong to a single, central agency. Although most governments in the world are unitary, Great Britain is probably the best example. The Parliament—a single central organ—holds all the power of the British government. There are still local governments, but their purposes are merely to relieve the Parliament of burdens that cause extreme difficulty and inconvenience…

Words 498 - Pages 2

Federal Government Case Study

1. Contrast the federal government’s reasons for and practices of incurring debt with those of state and local governments, and the means they use to borrow funds. The federal government annual budget is enormous compared to a state a local government budget. The federal budget has to maintain the infrastructure across America. As our book points out, there is an $846 billion dollar gap in repairing or replacing roads and bridges. Plus, on top of the gap, there is a yearly cost of $20 billion dollars…

Words 630 - Pages 3