What is the difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate in Australia?
They work together to make laws for Australia, scrutinise the government to keep it accountable and represent the people of Australia. The House of Representatives is recognisable by its green seats and carpet. The Senate is recognisable by its red seats and carpet. The 76 senators represent their state or territory.
What is a crossbench Australia?
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber.
How is the election to the Senate different from the House of Representatives?
You are right; the voting systems for the Senate and House of Representatives are quite different. In the House of Representatives one candidate is elected from each electorate. Proportional voting in the Senate has resulted in more independent and minor party senators being elected to the Senate than in the House.
What is the difference between a senator and a member of Parliament?
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”. The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power.
Why are there two houses in Parliament?
A further rationale for having two chambers is to ensure that the Parliament can properly perform its role of holding the government to account and checking or restraining the use of government power. A second chamber with broadly equal powers to the first provides a more effective check on government conduct.
What is the difference between crossbench and non affiliated?
Most non-party Lords Temporal are crossbenchers. Members with senior official roles are counted as non-affiliated while they hold them, to preserve their neutrality; they may (re-)affiliate to a group at the end of their term of office.
What does it mean to sit on the crossbench?
crossbench. one of a set of seats for members of Parliament who belong to neither the government nor the opposition parties; seats for minor parties and independents.
Is the Senate higher than the House of Representatives?
The Senate has 100 members and is the upper house of the United States Congress. It is called the upper house because it has fewer members than the House of Representatives and has powers not granted to the House, such as giving approval to appointments of Cabinet secretaries and federal judges.
What is the purpose of the Senate?
The framers of the Constitution created the United States Senate to protect the rights of individual states and safeguard minority opinion in a system of government designed to give greater power to the national government.
Why is the Senate important in Australia?
senators represent the views of Australians and discuss matters of national and international importance. national laws are made and changed, by debating and voting on bills – proposed laws.
What is the role of a Member of Parliament in Australia?
Members of parliament assist constituents who may be having difficulties with issues such as pensions, migration and taxation. Members of parliament also represent Australians by considering how bills and decisions of Parliament will affect those in their electorate or state/territory.
What is the role of the crossbench in Parliament?
In Parliament’s upper house, senators assume the role of gatekeepers, deciding which laws will pass. The support of the crossbench can be critical. These confident candidates are not the only ones hoping to shape the agenda of the future government.
How many senators does the coalition have in Australia?
Party representation in the Senate has changed from the 44th Parliament: Coalition parties now have 30 Senators (down from 33) and the ALP 26 (up from 25). The Senate crossbench now contains 20 Senators: nine Australian Greens (down from 10) and 11 minor party Senators (up from eight).
How did the new Senate crossbench come about?
Here’s how it all happened. Nick Evershed. Scroll down. After the 2016 double-dissolution election, the new Senate crossbench is made up of four One Nation senators, three from the Nick Xenophon Team, senators Jacqui Lambie, David Leyonhjelm and Derryn Hinch, and Family First’s Bob Day.
How many seats do the Australian Greens have in the Senate?
The Australian Greens retained nine seats (down from 10) and the rest of the crossbench expanded to 11 senators, up from eight in the 44th Parliament. Crossbench minor party representation in the Senate is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkjCXFyqKJI