The_Australian_Constitution

The Constitution   The Purpose of the Australian Constitution: The Australian Constitution serves many purposes but its most important purpose is to distribute power within the Australian political system. It unifies the Australian colonies as a single nation, and creates laws under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates.   Main Features of the Australian Constitution: • Chapter 1 establishes the Commonwealth Parliament as the Legislative Branch of government. • Chapter 2 deals with the Executive Government, the branch of government which carries out and enforces the laws. • Chapter 3 provides for the establishment of the Judicature, the branch of government dealing with the courts of law. • Chapter 4 deals with finance and trade. • Chapter 5 deals with the States, providing for the continuance of their constitutions, parliamentary powers and laws. • Chapter 6 deals with the procedures for the establishment of new States and provides for the surrender of territories to the Commonwealth by States. • Chapter 7 has two sections, one dealing with the establishment of the seat of government, the other providing for the appointment of deputies of the Governor-General. • Chapter 8 deals with Alteration of the Constitution. It provides that proposals for constitutional alteration be initiated by the Parliament and approved in a referendum by a majority of voters Australia-wide and a majority of voters in a majority of States. The High Court The Role of the High Court of Australia: The High Court is the highest court in the Australian legal system. It was established in 1901 under Section 71 of the Constitution. Its functions are: • To interpret and apply the law of Australia • To decide cases of special federal significance • To hear appeals from Federal, State and Territory courts. Operation of the High Court: The High Court of Australia is able to deal with cases which come to it on appeal or which begin in the High Court itself. Cases which involve interpretation of the Constitution are normally determined by a full bench comprising all seven Justices if they are available to sit. Other cases which come to the High Court include appeals against the decisions of the Supreme Courts of the states and territories, the Federal Court of Australia and the Family Court of Australia. These are dealt with by a full court of not less than two Justices. There are certain matters which can be heard and determined by a single Justice. The court hears cases of a range of subject matters, including contract, company law, copyright, criminal law and procedure, tax law, insurance, personal injury, property law, family law, etc. There are Rules of Court, which are made by the Justices, which set out the steps that lawyers must comply with in preparing a case for hearing. An Appeal Book must be prepared by the appellant's lawyer, and contain basic documentation which is necessary background for the Court to consider the issue raised by the appeal. During the hearing, barristers representing the parties present their arguments orally to the Court. The High Court will rarely give its decision at the end of a hearing. Rather, the decision is "reserved" and presented some time after the hearing. Each Justice makes his/her own decision on cases, and where decisions are not all the same, the decision of the majority is used. Republic Report A republic is a form of government where there is participation by the citizens and there is no monarch or hereditary ruler. The word republic comes from the Latin words res publica, which means "public affair". In a republic, there are checks and balances to ensure that political power is not abused. Some republics have constitutions that guarantee political freedom and individuals’ rights. Other republics are governed by self-appointed rulers who are more dictatorial, and have little regard for the rights of others. A referendum was held in November 1999 asking the public to vote on whether Australia should become a republic. Many people believed, yes, it is time to break away from the United Kingdom and the hereditary head of state, and to become a republic with an Australian head of state. The debate was split into three differently viewed sections: • Australia should remain as a constitutional monarchy • Australia should become a republic with a popularly elected head of state • Australia should become a republic with a head of state chosen by a two thirds majority of parliament. If Australia were to become a republic, the Constitution would have to be changed to remove reference to the Queen and the governor-general. This section of the Constitution would be replaced with reference to the powers of the president of Australia. It is likely that an Australian head of state would have similar powers to the governor-general. Australia has a large number of young people and also migrants from a variety of countries. Therefore, most of the population have no reason to have loyalty to the Queen. For others, the monarchy holds little significance for them. Australia is no longer dependent on England, who was known as the ‘mother country’; therefore, there should be an Australian as head of state, rather than someone from the United Kingdom who holds the position by birthright. The change to a republic, and the break from the United Kingdom, will help Australia develop its national identity. However, the change to a republic would not be as easy as it may seem. One reason for this is that removing the Queen requires the Constitution to be changed. This requires a referendum to be put to the people, and it is quite difficult to get a consensus about changes to the Constitution. A change from a constitutional monarchy to a republic would require more than simply replacing the Queen with an Australian citizen. We would have to consider many other factors, such as, whether there would be a president, would the president be elected by the people or parliament, what powers would the president have, and whether the Australian flag would be changed. In my opinion, Australia should not become a republic. Approximately $920 million would be spent if Australia became a republic; $920 million, which could be spent on health, education, and infrastructure. The present system of a constitutional monarchy is working well, so there is no need for anything to be changed. Issue map: Done By: Rahma 10A ----------------------- Should Australia become a republic' Migrants have no allegiance to the Queen. Australia is no longer dependant on England. Australia needs to develop its national identity. A referendum has to be held, and a consensus has to happen. Nothing is wrong with Australia’s current system. The Constitution has to be changed. Bibliography: • http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/general/constitution • http://www.hcourt.gov.au • http://www.statusquo.org • http://www.republic.org.au • http://www.australianpolitics.com/constitution