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98-710: Electorates (also known as electoral divisions or seats ) of the Australian House of Representatives are single member electoral districts for the lower house of the Parliament of the Commonwealth . There are currently 151 electorates. Section 24 of the Constitution of Australia specifies that the total number of members of the Australian House of Representatives shall be "as nearly as practicable" twice as many as
196-694: A document, or later being found to have lied to or misled a committee. Anyone who attempts to influence a witness may also be found in contempt. Other powers include, the ability to meet throughout Australia, to establish subcommittees and to take evidence in both public and private hearings. Proceedings of committees are considered to have the same legal standing as proceedings of Parliament, they are recorded by Hansard , except for private hearings, and also operate under parliamentary privilege . Every participant, including committee members and witnesses giving evidence, are protected from being prosecuted under any civil or criminal action for anything they may say during
294-569: A hearing. Written evidence and documents received by a committee are also protected. Types of committees include: Standing committees , which are established on a permanent basis and are responsible for scrutinising bills and topics referred to them by the chamber; examining the government's budget and activities and for examining departmental annual reports and activities. Select committees , which are temporary committees, established in order to deal with particular issues. Domestic committees , which are responsible for administering aspects of
392-563: A majority in the House of Representatives (which has been either the Labor Party or the Liberal Party since the 1940s). Responsible government has always required the prime minister and government to have the confidence of a majority of the lower house in order to govern, however the emergence of strong parties with members strongly punished for voting against party policy (also known as crossing
490-412: A maximum 10% variation, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 105,000 voters. However, the baseline quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Consequently, the electorates of the smallest states and territories have more variation in the number of voters in their electorates. Additionally, each state is guaranteed
588-455: A minimum of five seats in the Constitution, which has the effect of granting Tasmania extra seats than they would otherwise be entitled to due to the their population. Federal electorates have their boundaries redrawn or redistributed whenever a state or territory has its number of seats adjusted, if electorates are not generally matched by population size or if seven years have passed since the most recent redistribution. Full preferential voting
686-468: A particular inquiry is completed the members of the committee can then produce a report, to be tabled in Parliament, outlining what they have discovered as well as any recommendations that they have produced for the government to consider. The ability of the chambers of Parliament to establish committees is given in section 49 of the Constitution, which states that, "The powers, privileges, and immunities of
784-576: A regular basis. The most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election , increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election , returned to 148 at the 1996 election , increased to 150 at the 2001 election , and stands at 151 as of the 2022 Australian federal election . The House of Representatives chamber is designed to seat up to 172 members, with provision for an ultimate total of 240 to be accommodated. Each division elects one member using full-preferential voting . This
882-403: A result, the speaker often has to use the disciplinary powers granted to him or her under standing orders. Since 2015, Australian Federal Police officers armed with assault rifles have been present in both chambers of the federal Parliament. From the beginning of Federation until 1918, first-past-the-post voting was used in order to elect members of the House of Representatives but since
980-491: A vote of no confidence in the government or due to a failure to pass supply through the lower house. In either event, the prime minister is required by convention to either resign or call an election. Whether a prime minister is required to resign or call an election following an inability to pass supply through the Senate was the animating issue of the 1975 constitutional crisis . In that event, governor-general Sir John Kerr dismissed
1078-870: Is the Lodge in Canberra . Most prime ministers have chosen the Lodge as their primary residence because of its security facilities and close proximity to Parliament House. There have been some exceptions, however. James Scullin preferred to live at the Hotel Canberra (now the Hyatt Hotel) and Ben Chifley lived in the Hotel Kurrajong . More recently, John Howard used the Sydney prime ministerial residence, Kirribilli House , as his primary accommodation. On her appointment on 24 June 2010, Julia Gillard said she would not be living in
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#17328815328101176-404: Is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution alongside the Senate. Elections for members of the House of Representatives are often held in conjunction with those for the Senate. A member of the House may be referred to as a "member of parliament" ("MP" or "member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "senator". Under the conventions of
1274-529: Is also present, which such decisions also colloquially called "captain's calls". The prime minister also has significant influence in the setting of foreign policy, through their role as chair of the National Security Committee , a sub-committee of cabinet whose decisions do not need to be endorsed by the cabinet as a whole. The prime minister is also the responsible minister for the Department of
1372-534: Is currently the Ambassador to the United States. The deputy prime minister becomes acting prime minister if the prime minister is unable to undertake the role for a short time, for example if they are ill, overseas or on leave (and if both are unavailable, then another senior minister takes on this role). The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 confers upon acting ministers "the same power and authority with respect to
1470-596: Is entitled (called apportionment ) and the boundaries of each electorate, in a process known as redistribution . Such apportionment and redistributions apply to the next federal election, but not to any by-elections. The last apportionment determination was made in July 2020. The resulting redistribution took place during 2021 and was used in the 2022 federal election , which was held on 21 May 2022. Within each state and territory, electoral boundaries are redrawn from time to time. This takes place at least once every 7 years, or when
1568-458: Is entitled to become prime minister and form a government. Generally, a party or coalition will have a majority in the lower house in order to provide confidence, however in periods of minority government, the larger party will rely on confidence and supply from minor parties or independents. By convention, the prime minister must be a member of the lower house. The only case where a member of the Senate
1666-542: Is escorted by police vehicles from state and federal authorities. Politicians, including prime ministers, are usually granted certain privileges after leaving office, such as office accommodation, staff assistance, and a Life Gold Pass which entitles the holder to travel within Australia for non-commercial purposes at government expense. In 2017, then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the pass should be available only to former prime ministers, though he would not use it when he
1764-517: Is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia , the upper house being the Senate . Its composition and powers are set down in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia . The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House
1862-410: Is the ability to summon people to attend hearings in order to give evidence and submit documents. Anyone who attempts to hinder the work of a Parliamentary committee may be found to be in contempt of parliament . There are a number of ways that witnesses can be found in contempt. These include refusing to appear before a committee when summoned, refusing to answer a question during a hearing or to produce
1960-422: Is the case in most other legislatures around the world. Most divisions are named in honour of prominent historical people, such as former politicians (often Prime Ministers ), explorers, artists and engineers. There is also a preference for retaining names used since Federation. In some cases where a division is named after a geographical locality, the connection to that locality is sometimes tenuous. For instance,
2058-445: Is used in elections. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal. This allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote . Under section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a population quota determined from the "latest statistics of the Commonwealth". These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51(xi) . Until its repeal by
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#17328815328102156-464: The 1918 Swan by-election which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote due to vote splitting amongst the conservative parties, the Nationalist Party government, a predecessor of the modern-day Liberal Party of Australia , changed the lower house voting system to full preferential voting , as of the subsequent 1919 election . This system has remained in place ever since, allowing
2254-610: The 1947 New Year Honours . In addition to these honours, all deceased former prime ministers of Australia currently have federal electorates named after them. The most newly created of these electorates is the Division of Hawke , named in honour of the recently deceased Bob Hawke in 2021. The longest-serving prime minister was Robert Menzies , who served in office twice: from 26 April 1939 to 28 August 1941, and again from 19 December 1949 to 26 January 1966. In total Robert Menzies spent 18 years, 5 months and 12 days in office. He served under
2352-695: The 1949 election , Bill Spooner was appointed a minister in the Fourth Menzies ministry on 19 December, however his term as a Senator did not begin until 22 February 1950. The provision was also used after the disappearance and presumed death of the Liberal prime minister Harold Holt in December 1967. The Liberal Party elected John Gorton , then a senator, as its new leader, and he was sworn in as prime minister on 10 January 1968 (following an interim ministry led by John McEwen ). On 1 February, Gorton resigned from
2450-455: The 1967 referendum , section 127 prohibited the inclusion of Aboriginal people in section 24 determinations as including the Indigenous peoples could alter the distribution of seats between the states to the benefit of states with larger Aboriginal populations. The total number of seats representing states in the House of Representatives must be "as nearly as practicable, twice the number of
2548-837: The 2022 Australian federal election , based on the 2021 apportionment, there were 151 divisions: 47 in New South Wales, 39 in Victoria, 30 in Queensland, 15 in Western Australia, 10 in South Australia, 5 in Tasmania, 3 in the ACT and 2 in Northern Territory. The divisions of the House of Representatives are unusual in that many of them are not named after geographical features or numbered, as
2646-558: The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have at least one member each. According to the Constitution, the powers of both Houses are nearly equal, with the consent of both Houses needed to pass legislation. The difference mostly relates to taxation legislation. In practice, by convention, the person who can control a majority of votes in the lower house is invited by the governor-general to form
2744-763: The Australian Federal Police College when in Canberra. During his first term, Rudd had a staff at the Lodge consisting of a senior chef and an assistant chef, a child carer, one senior house attendant, and two junior house attendants. At Kirribilli House in Sydney, there are a full-time chef and a full-time house attendant. The official residences are fully staffed and catered for both the prime minister and their family. In addition, both have extensive security facilities. These residences are regularly used for official entertaining, such as receptions for Australian of
2842-552: The Centre Alliance and Katter's Australian Party held their current standing of one seat each, and independents gained seven seats to bring their total to ten, six of these being teal independents . On 23 December 2022, Andrew Gee MP quit the National Party to become an independent, citing his disappointment over the party's opposition to the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament . On 1 April 2023, Labor's Mary Doyle
2940-500: The Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats. Full-preference preferential voting re-elected the Hawke government at the 1990 election , the first time in federal history that Labor had obtained a net benefit from preferential voting. From 1949 onwards, the vast majority of electorates, nearly 90%, are won by the candidate leading on first preferences, giving the same result as if
3038-670: The Division of Werriwa , created in 1901, was named after the Aboriginal word for Lake George in the Canberra region. However, Werriwa has not contained Lake George for many decades, and has steadily moved some 200 km north to the south-western suburbs of Sydney over the past century. The divisions that existed at the 2022 Australian federal election appear in the table below. These divisions no longer exist: Australian House of Representatives Opposition (55) Coalition Crossbench (18) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The House of Representatives
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3136-591: The Northern Territory should have only one electorate based on their population, parliament have legislated that they receive two (by setting the quota for seat allocation using the harmonic mean for territories, meaning only around 1.3 quotas rather than 1.5 quotas are needed to have two seats). In addition, Section 29 forbids electorate boundaries from crossing state lines, forcing populated areas along state and territory borders to be placed in different electorates, such as Albury in New South Wales being part of
3234-703: The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was accepted by all prime ministers until 1983 (with the exception of Alfred Deakin, Chris Watson and Gough Whitlam), with Malcolm Fraser being the last prime ministerial appointee. Since its introduction in 1975, former prime ministers of Australia have been appointed to the Order of Australia and to its highest level – Companion: Whitlam (1978), Fraser (1988), Gorton (1988), Howard (2008), Gillard (2017), Rudd (2019), Abbott (2020), and Turnbull (2021). Keating refused appointment in
3332-463: The Privy Council of the United Kingdom . A minister must be a senator or member of the House of Representatives at the time of their appointment, or become one within three months of their appointment. This provision was included in the Constitution (section 64) to enable the inaugural ministry, led by Edmund Barton , to be appointed on 1 January 1901, even though the first federal elections were not scheduled to be held until 29 and 30 March. After
3430-506: The Westminster system and responsible government . The prime minister is formally appointed by the governor-general , who is ordinarily constrained by convention to choose the parliamentarian able to command the confidence of the House of Representatives (the lower house). Since Federation , this has almost always been the leader of the majority party or coalition . In practice, this means
3528-430: The Westminster system were thought to be sufficiently entrenched in Australia by the authors of the Constitution that it was deemed unnecessary to detail these. Indeed, prior to Federation in 1901 the terms "premier" and "prime minister" were used interchangeably for the head of government in a colony. Following a resignation in other circumstances or the death of a prime minister, the governor-general generally appoints
3626-508: The Westminster system , the government of the day and the prime minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power. The House of Representatives currently consists of 151 members, elected by and representing single member districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions , which are required on
3724-469: The deputy prime minister as the new prime minister, until or if such time as the governing party or senior coalition party elects an alternative party leader. This has resulted in the party leaders from the Country Party (now named National Party ) being appointed as prime minister, despite being the smaller party of their coalition. This occurred when Earle Page became caretaker prime minister following
3822-471: The 1940s, the prime minister has asserted their authority to select the governor-general alone, instead of this being a cabinet decision. The power is exercised through advice to the King of Australia , who holds the de jure power to make the appointment and is by convention bound to accept such advice. The prime minister can also advise the monarch to dismiss the governor-general, though it remains unclear how quickly
3920-399: The 1970s. Prior to that, in accordance with longstanding Australian constitutional practice, convention held that an outgoing prime minister would stay on as a caretaker until the full election results were tallied. Starting with the 1972 Australian federal election on 2 December 1972, Gough Whitlam and his deputy were sworn in on 5 December 1972 to form an interim government for two weeks, as
4018-417: The 1997 Australia Day Honours, saying that he had long believed honours should be reserved for those whose work in the community went unrecognised and that having been Prime Minister was sufficient public recognition. Bob Hawke was appointed a Companion in 1979, for service to trade unionism and industrial relations, before becoming prime minister in 1983. Menzies was appointed to the higher grade of Knight of
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4116-405: The ACT and the whole of Jervis Bay Territory ), and the Division of Lingiari (covering part of the Northern Territory and the whole of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands ). The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 sets out further provisions. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) determines the number of members of the House of Representatives to which each state and territory
4214-580: The Cabinet are members of the Executive Council. A senior Cabinet member holds the office of Vice-President of the Executive Council and acts as presiding officer of the Executive Council in the absence of the governor-general. The Federal Executive Council is the Australian equivalent of the executive councils and privy councils in other Commonwealth realms such as the King's Privy Council for Canada and
4312-538: The Cabinet as a legal entity; it exists solely by convention. Its decisions do not in and of themselves have legal force. However, it serves as the practical expression of the Federal Executive Council , which is Australia's highest formal executive body. In practice, the Federal Executive Council meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. All members of
4410-545: The House chamber. Due to the unique role of what was then called the Main Committee, proposals were made to rename the body to avoid confusion with other parliamentary committees, including "Second Chamber" and "Federation Chamber". The House of Representatives later adopted the latter proposal. The concept of a parallel body to expedite Parliamentary business, based on the Australian Federation Chamber,
4508-412: The House of Representatives and the Senate. The Federation Chamber is a second debating chamber that considers relatively uncontroversial matters referred by the House. The Federation Chamber cannot, however, initiate or make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between. The Federation Chamber was created in 1994 as the Main Committee, to relieve some of
4606-427: The House of Representatives in a newly federated Australia . The House is presided over by the speaker . Members of the House are elected from single member electorates (geographic districts, commonly referred to as "seats" but officially known as " Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives "). One vote, one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the same number of voters with
4704-590: The House's own affairs. These include the Selection Committee that determines how the House will deal with particular pieces of legislation and private members business and the Privileges Committee that deals with matters of parliamentary privilege. Legislative scrutiny committees , which examine legislation and regulations to determine their impact on individual rights and accountability. Joint committees are also established to include both members of
4802-438: The Lodge until such time as she was returned to office by popular vote at the next general election , as she became prime minister by replacing an incumbent during a parliamentary term. Tony Abbott was never able to occupy the Lodge during his term (2013–15) because it was undergoing extensive renovations, which continued into the early part of his successor Malcolm Turnbull 's term. Instead, Abbott resided in dedicated rooms at
4900-544: The Order, which is no longer awarded, in 1976. John Howard was also appointed to the Order of Merit in 2012, whose appointments are within the personal gift of the monarch. Menzies' Knight of the Order of the Thistle awarding was also in the personal gift of Queen Elizabeth II in 1963. Although not strictly an honour, one former prime minister was raised to the peerage; Stanley Bruce was created 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne in
4998-487: The Prime Minister and Cabinet , whose tasks include general policy development across the government, inter-governmental communications, honours and symbols policy and Indigenous government programmes. Since the emergence of the strong party system in Australia in the 1920s, prime ministers have almost always been the parliamentary leader of the party (or leader of the senior party in a coalition of parties) that has
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#17328815328105096-476: The Senate and of the House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament, and until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth." Parliamentary committees can be given a wide range of powers. One of the most significant powers
5194-493: The Senate are usually more meaningful. The House's well-established committee system is not always as prominent as the Senate committee system because of the frequent lack of Senate majority. In a reflection of the United Kingdom House of Commons , the predominant colour of the furnishings in the House of Representatives is green. However, the colour was tinted slightly in the new Parliament House (opened 1988) to suggest
5292-486: The Senate to stand for the 24 February by-election in Holt's former House of Representatives electorate of Higgins due to the convention that the prime minister be a member of the lower house. For 22 days (2 to 23 February inclusive) he was prime minister while a member of neither house of parliament. On a number of occasions when ministers have retired from their seats prior to an election, or stood but lost their own seats in
5390-651: The UK), and Frank Forde was re-elected to the Queensland Parliament (after his term as High Commissioner to Canada, and a failed attempt to re-enter the Federal Parliament). As well as Reid and Forde, five other prime ministers went on to hold diplomatic posts. Andrew Fisher, Joseph Cook and Stanley Bruce also served as High Commissioners to the United Kingdom, Gough Whitlam had served as Ambassador to UNESCO and Kevin Rudd
5488-602: The United Australia Party and the Liberal Party respectively. The shortest-serving prime minister was Frank Forde , who was appointed to the position on 6 July 1945 after the death of John Curtin , and served until 13 July 1945 when Ben Chifley was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party . The most recent prime minister to serve out a full government term in the office was Scott Morrison , who won
5586-466: The Whitlam government following the Senate's deferral of the government's budget and demand that they would not pass supply until the government called an election. The constitutional propriety of the governor-general's action during that period remains subject to vigorous debate. Despite the importance of the office of prime minister, the Constitution does not mention the office by name. The conventions of
5684-489: The Year finalists. The prime minister receives a number of transport amenities for official business. A Royal Australian Air Force operated Airbus KC-30A , transports the prime minister overseas, with two Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes available for shorter flights. For ground travel, the prime minister is transported in an armoured BMW 7 Series model. It is referred to as "C-1", or Commonwealth One, because of its number plate. It
5782-524: The absent Minister's statutory responsibilities". If the prime minister were to die, then the deputy prime minister would be appointed prime minister by the governor-general until the government votes for another member to be its leader. This happened when Harold Holt disappeared in 1967, when John McEwen was appointed prime minister. On the other two occasions that the prime minister has died in office, in 1939 and 1945 , Earle Page and Frank Forde , respectively, were appointed prime minister. In
5880-462: The brief transition periods during changes of government or leadership elections, there have only been a handful of cases where someone other than the leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Representatives was prime minister: Compared to other Westminster systems such as those of Canada 's federal and provincial governments, the transition from an outgoing prime minister to an incoming prime minister has been brief in Australia since
5978-531: The burden of the House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Federation Chamber, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the deputy speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large. The Federation Chamber
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#17328815328106076-472: The cabinet are chosen by the prime minister and may be removed at any time. Additionally, the prime minister chooses the portfolio of each minister and a prime minister's resignation or dismissal leads by convention to the resignation of all other ministers. The precise authority of each individual prime minister within cabinet is uncertain, as their deliberations are secret. The authority of the prime minister to make independent policy decisions apart from Cabinet
6174-542: The colour of eucalyptus trees. Also, unlike the House of Commons, the seating arrangement of the crossbench is curved, similar to the curved seating arrangement of the United States House of Representatives . This suggests a more collaborative, and less oppositional, system than in the United Kingdom parliament (where all members of parliament are seated facing the opposite side). Australian parliaments are notoriously rowdy, with MPs often trading colourful insults. As
6272-470: The death of Joseph Lyons in 1939, and when John McEwen became caretaker prime minister following the disappearance of Harold Holt in 1967. However, in 1941, Arthur Fadden became the leader of the Coalition and subsequently prime minister by the agreement of both coalition parties, despite being the leader of the smaller party in coalition, following the resignation of UAP leader Robert Menzies. Excluding
6370-446: The early 20th century, overseas travel generally required long journeys by ship. As a result, some held the position of acting prime minister for significant periods of time, including William Watt (16 months, 1918–1919), George Pearce (7 months, 1916), Alfred Deakin (6 months, 1902), Joseph Cook (5 months, 1921), James Fenton (19 weeks, 1930–1931), John Forrest (4 months, 1907), and Arthur Fadden (4 months, 1941). Fadden
6468-431: The election, they have retained their ministerial offices until the next government is sworn in. In addition to the work of the main chamber, the House of Representatives also has a large number of committees which deal with matters referred to them by the main House. They provide the opportunity for all MPs to ask questions of ministers and public officials as well as conduct inquiries, examine policy and legislation. Once
6566-450: The electorate of Farrer , while nearby Wodonga in Victoria is part of the electorate of Indi . The same restriction does not apply to territories, and several current electoral divisions incorporate electors from multiple territories. This is currently the case for the Division of Bean (covering part of the ACT and the whole of Norfolk Island ), the Division of Fenner (covering part of
6664-522: The first of whom was Edmund Barton taking office on 1 January 1901 following federation of the British colonies in Australia . The longest-serving prime minister was Robert Menzies , who served over 18 years, and the shortest-serving was Frank Forde , who served one week. In common with other political systems based on the Westminster system , the prime minister both leads the executive government and wields significant power in Parliament . Cabinet ,
6762-426: The floor ) has meant that most prime ministers and governments have significant control over the passage of bills in this house. However, bills must also be passed by the Senate (the upper house) in order to become law and the government rarely has a majority in this house, leading to some checks on the legislative powers of the government. The prime minister also controls the date of elections, through formal advice to
6860-465: The full allocation of preferences, it is possible to derive a two-party-preferred figure, where the votes have been allocated between the two main candidates in the election. In Australia, this is usually between the candidates from the Coalition parties and the Australian Labor Party . Under the Constitution, the governor-general has the power to appoint and dismiss the "Queen's Ministers of State" who administer government departments. In practice,
6958-440: The government accountable as much as possible by asking questions of importance during question time and during debates on legislation. By contrast, the only period in recent times during which the government of the day has had a majority in the Senate was from July 2005 (when the senators elected at the 2004 election took their seats) to July 2008 (when the senators elected at the 2007 election took their seats). Hence, votes in
7056-436: The government. In practice that means that the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with a majority of members in the House becomes the prime minister , who then can nominate other elected members of the government party in both the House and the Senate to become ministers responsible for various portfolios and administer government departments. Bills appropriating money (supply bills) can only be introduced or amended in
7154-521: The governor-general chooses ministers in accordance with the traditions of the Westminster system that the government be drawn from the party or coalition of parties that has a majority in the House of Representatives, with the leader of the largest party becoming prime minister . A sub-set of the most important ministers then meet in a council known as Cabinet . Cabinet meetings are strictly private and are frequently held to discuss vital issues and make policy decisions. The Constitution does not recognise
7252-467: The governor-general, with such elections usually occurring within a 6-month period prior to the maximum 3-year term of the House of Representatives expiring. National Cabinet , the primary inter-governmental decision-making forum between the federal government and the states, is also chaired by the prime minister. While called a cabinet, the body is merely a discussion forum and the principles of secrecy and collective decision making do not apply. Since
7350-406: The influence of the Senate in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. Another reason was to make it harder politically for the House of Representatives to be increased, thereby maintaining the smaller states over representation in the lower house due to their constitutional minimum of five seats. The requirements for territory seats are set via legislation, which currently requires that
7448-443: The lower house and thus only the party with a majority in the lower house can govern. In the current Australian party system, this ensures that virtually all contentious votes are along party lines, and the government party usually has a majority in those votes in the lower house. The opposition party's main role in the House is to present arguments against the government's policies and legislation where appropriate and attempt to hold
7546-477: The lower house (at which point they generally become leader of the opposition or resign) or through replacement by their parliamentary party colleagues. This later method has become increasingly common, with the office changing hands four times due to parliamentary spill and only twice due to an election in the period following the election defeat of John Howard in 2007 to the election of Anthony Albanese in 2022. A prime minister may also lose their position following
7644-400: The monarch would act on such advice in a constitutional crisis . This uncertainty, and the possibility of a race between the governor-general and prime minister to dismiss the other, was a key question in the 1975 constitutional crisis . [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In ordinary circumstances, the leader of the party or coalition that has the confidence of the House of Representatives
7742-507: The number of members of the Australian Senate . The section also requires that electorates be apportioned among the states in proportion to their respective populations; provided that each original state has at least 5 members in the House of Representatives, a provision that has given Tasmania higher representation than its population would otherwise justify. There are three electorates in the Australian Capital Territory and even though
7840-446: The number of voters vary by more than 3.5% from the average projected enrolment 3.5 years into the future. However, due to various reasons, larger seats like Cowper in New South Wales contain 80% more electors than that of smaller seats like Solomon in the Northern Territory . In 2018, seats in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia were also abolished, in order to make way for seats in similar locations but with different names. At
7938-472: The opposition Albanese -led Labor Party gaining 77 seats in the 151 seat House of Representatives, for a two-seat majority government , while the Coalition lost 18 seats to finish with 58 seats, their worst result since 1946 (the first election after the formation of the current Liberal Party). On the crossbench , the Australian Greens gained three seats, upping their total from one to four, while
8036-413: The primary decision-making body of the executive government, is chaired by the prime minister. While the prime minister has been described as the " first among equals " of the other ministers that make up cabinet, they nevertheless wield primary influence in the body. They set the agenda and processes of cabinet meetings and has the final word where a collective decision cannot be reached. Ministers making up
8134-400: The prime minister (and all other ministers) must be a parliamentarians or become one within three months to be a minister. There are no term limits for the prime minister, and they are generally entitled to continue in their role whilst they retain the confidence of the lower house. Individuals most commonly cease to become prime minister after losing an election by not obtaining a majority in
8232-500: The prime minister most often changes after an election results in a different party gaining control of the lower house or as a result of the majority party changing its leader internally between elections. The office of prime minister comes with various privileges, including the use of two official residences: The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney , as well as an office at Parliament House . Thirty-one people (thirty men and one woman) have served as prime minister,
8330-531: The principles of responsible government , the prime minister is both responsible to and a member of the Commonwealth Parliament . The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party , who assumed the office on 23 May 2022. The role and duties of the prime minister are not described by the Australian constitution but rather defined by constitutional convention deriving from
8428-689: The remainder awarded after leaving office. Reid ( GCB , 1916), Menzies ( AK , 1976) and Fadden (GCMG, 1958) were awarded a second knighthood after leaving office. Non-titular honours were also bestowed on former prime ministers, usually the Order of the Companions of Honour . This honour was awarded to Bruce (1927), Lyons (1936), Hughes (1941), Page (1942), Menzies (1951), Holt (1967), McEwen (1969), Gorton (1971), McMahon (1972), and Fraser (1977), mostly during office as prime minister. In almost all occasions these honours were only accepted by non-Labor/conservative prime ministers. However, appointment to
8526-400: The same votes had been counted using first-past-the-post voting . The highest proportion of seats (up to 2010) won by the candidate not leading on first preferences was the 1972 federal election , with 14 of 125 seats not won by the plurality candidate. The main elements of the operation of preferential voting for single-member House of Representatives divisions are as follows: Following
8624-422: The senators", according to section 24 of the Constitution. This requirement is known as the "nexus provision". This requirement was included in the Constitution in order to maintain the power of the Senate relative to the House of Representative: both due to the belief by the drafters of the Constitution that a numerically weaker Senate would inherently lead to a lower "influence, prestige, and dignity" and to ensure
8722-404: The state's entitlement to the number of members of the House of Representatives changes. Boundaries are drawn by a Redistribution Committee, and redistributions within a state are on the basis of the number of enrolled voters , rather than total residents or "population". The number of enrolled voters in each division cannot vary by more than 10% from the average across a state or territory, nor can
8820-412: The vote was being finalised and the full ministry makeup was being determined. On 23 May 2022 Anthony Albanese became prime minister with an interim four person ministry, two days after his victory in the election . This rapid shift was done in order for the new PM to attend a Quad meeting scheduled shortly after the election. When the results of the election were more clearly known the entire ministry
8918-644: Was acting prime minister for a cumulative total of 676 days (over 22 months) between 1941 and 1958. Prime ministers have been granted numerous honours, typically after their period as prime minister has concluded, with a few exceptions. Nine former prime ministers were awarded knighthoods: Barton ( GCMG , 1902), Reid (GCMG, 1911), Cook (GCMG, 1918), Page (GCMG, 1938), Menzies ( KT , 1963), Fadden (KCMG, 1951), McEwen (GCMG, 1971), Gorton (GCMG, 1977), and McMahon (GCMG, 1977). Of those awarded, Barton and Menzies were knighted while still serving as prime minister, with Page awarded his before becoming prime minister, and
9016-488: Was appointed prime minister was John Gorton , who subsequently resigned his Senate position and was elected as the member for Higgins in the House of Representatives. The prime minister is formally appointed to the role by the governor-general under section 64 of the Australian Constitution, however their choice is limited in normal circumstances to the individual with the confidence of the lower house. However,
9114-410: Was created through the House's standing orders: it is thus a subordinate body of the House, and can only be in session while the House itself is in session. When a division vote in the House occurs, members in the Federation Chamber must return to the House to vote. The Federation Chamber is housed in one of the House's committee rooms; the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble
9212-579: Was elected in a by-election for the division of Aston , replacing former Liberal cabinet minister Alan Tudge and increasing the Labor majority to three seats. Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia . The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government . Under
9310-408: Was mentioned in a 1998 British House of Commons report, which led to the creation of that body's parallel chamber Westminster Hall. The current Parliament is the 47th Australian Parliament. The most recent federal election was held on 21 May 2022 , with the 47th Parliament first sitting in July 2022. The 2022 election saw the incumbent Liberal / National Coalition government defeated, with
9408-521: Was no longer PM. Only one prime minister who had left the Federal Parliament ever returned. Stanley Bruce was defeated in his own seat in 1929 while prime minister but was re-elected to parliament in 1931 . Other prime ministers were elected to parliaments other than the Australian federal parliament: Sir George Reid was elected to the UK House of Commons (after his term as High Commissioner to
9506-403: Was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election , which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote and the help of vote splitting in the conservative parties. The Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election . The Constitution of Australia of 1900 established
9604-491: Was sworn in on 1 June 2022. As of 27 August 2023, Australia's prime minister is paid a total salary of A$ 586,950 . This is made up of the 'base salary' received by all members of parliament ( A$ 225,750 ) plus a 160 percent 'additional salary' for the role of prime minister. Increases in the base salary of MPs and senators are determined annually by the independent Remuneration Tribunal. The prime minister has two official residences. The primary official residence
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