The+Commonwealth+Parliament

@http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Work_of_the_Parliament/Forming_and_Governing_a_Nation/parl

The Parliamentary System
The Australian Constitution of 1901 established a federal system of government. Under this system, powers are distributed between a national government (the Commonwealth) and the six States (three Territories - the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Norfolk Island have self-government arrangements). The Constitution defines the boundaries of law-making powers between the Commonwealth and the States/Territories. The Constitution: Full Description [|(HTML version] )| [|PDF] ] [|Back to top]




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 [|大耳朵英语] 　 [|http://www.bigear.cn] 　 2011-11-30 21:42:54　 【】 AUSTRALIA

History

The continent of Australia has been inhabited for over 40,000 years by Indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the north and by European explorers and merchants starting in the 17th century, the eastern half of the continent was claimed by the British in 1770 and officially settled as the penal colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were successively established over the course of the 19th century.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed, as a Dominion of the British Empire. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was formed from New South Wales in 1911 to provide a location for the proposed new federal capital of Canberra (Melbourne was the capital from 1901 to 1927). Australia willingly participated in World War I; many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation - its first major military action. Much like Gallipoli the Kokoda Track Campaign is regarded by many as a nation defining battle from World War II.

The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and Britain, but Australia did not adopt the Statute until 1942. Britain"s defeat in Asia in 1942 and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia to turn to the United States as a new ally and protector. After World War II, Australia encouraged mass immigration from Europe, and since the 1970s and the abolition of the White Australia policy from Asia and other parts of the world; radically transforming Australia"s demography, culture and image of itself. The final constitutional ties between Australia and Britain ended in 1986 with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, ending any British role in the Australian States, and ending judicial appeals to the UK Privy Council. Although Australian voters rejected a move to become a republic in 1999 by a 55% majority, Australia"s links to its British past are increasingly tenuous. Since the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, there has been an increasing focus on the nation"s future as a part of the Asia-Pacific region. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm.

Geography

The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world"s smallest continent and a number of islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Australia"s neighbouring countries are Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

Australia"s 7,686,850 km² landmass is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian, Southern and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas. Australia has a total 25,760 km of coastline and claims an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 km² (excluding the Australian Antarctic Territory). Climate is highly influenced by ocean currents, including the El Niño southern oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Australia is the driest inhabited continent, the flattest, and has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only the south-east and south-west corners of the continent have a temperate climate. The northern part of the country, with a tropical climate, has a vegetation consisting of rainforest, woodland, grassland and desert. The Great Barrier Reef, the world"s largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 km. The world"s two largest monoliths are located in Australia, Mount Augustus in Western Australia is the largest and Uluru in central Australia is the second largest. At 2,228 m, Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland.

Political System

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The Queen is nominally represented by the Governor-General; although the Constitution gives extensive executive powers to the Governor-General, these are normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The legislature: the Commonwealth Parliament, comprising the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Representatives; the Queen is represented by the Governor-General, who in practice exercises little or no power over the Parliament.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The executive: the Federal Executive Council (the Governor-General as advised by the executive councillors); in practice, the councillors are the prime minister and ministers of state, whose advice the Governor-General accepts, with rare exceptions.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">The bicameral Commonwealth Parliament consists of the Queen, the Senate (the upper house) of 76 senators, and a House of Representatives (the lower house) of 150 members. Members of the lower house are elected from single-member constituencies, commonly known as "electorates" or "seats". Seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to states on the basis of population. In the Senate, each state, regardless of population, is represented by 12 senators, with the ACT and the NT each electing two. Elections for both chambers are held every three years; typically only half of the Senate seats are put to each election, because senators have overlapping six-year terms. The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms Government, with its leader becoming Prime Minister.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">澳大利亚

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">历史

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">本土澳大利亚人在澳大利亚居住了40，000多年. 17世纪，在北部渔夫和欧洲勘探家、商人的零星造访后，1770年英国人想得到澳大利亚东部的一半大陆并于1788年1月26日被官方正式收纳为新南部威尔士殖民地. 由于人口的不断增加和新土地的开发，19世纪，另外五个大的自治英国直辖殖民地已被成功建立.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">1901年1月1日，六个殖民地结成联盟，澳大利亚联邦形成，接受英国的统治. 澳大利亚首都于1911年从新南部威尔士改成了新提议的联邦首都堪培拉（墨尔本是1901－1927年间的首都）. 澳大利亚自愿加入第一次世界大战；很多澳大利亚人把澳大利亚和新西兰军在Gallipoli的战败―第一次主要的军事战斗，看作是国家的诞生. 象Gallipoli战争一样，Kokoda Track Campaign被看作二战中国家形成的战役.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">1931年，威斯敏斯特法规（Statute of Westminster）正式结束了澳大利亚和英国之间的宪法联系，直到1942年澳大利亚才拥有自己国家的法令. 1942年英国在亚洲战争中的失败和日本入侵的威胁使澳大利亚转向和美国结成联盟，寻求其的保护. 二战后，澳大利亚鼓励欧洲更多的移民进入本国，自20世纪70年代以来，来自亚洲和世界其他地方的白色澳大利亚政策已经被废除；澳大利亚的人口统计，文化和自身形象已基本形成. 1986年澳大利亚和英国的宪法联系最终结束，英国在澳大利亚的角色及英国枢密院的司法控制也同样宣告完结. 1999年，虽然澳大利亚的55％的投票者反对澳大利亚成为共和国的决策，但是它与英国的联系越来越淡化.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">地理

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">澳大利亚联邦位于南半球，包含了位于世界最小的大洋洲的澳大利亚大陆和南部，印度洋和太平洋的一些岛屿. 澳大利亚北部是印度尼西亚、东帝汶和巴布亚新几内亚，东北部是所罗门岛，瓦努阿图和新喀里多尼亚，东南部是新西兰.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">澳大利亚7,686,850平方米的陆地是在印度－澳大利亚板块上. 被印度，南太平洋围绕，并被阿拉弗拉海和帝汶岛海洋划分开. 澳大利亚有长达25760的海岸线，并声称要扩张到8,148,250平方米专属经济区(Exclusive Economic Zone).

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">澳大利亚大部分是沙漠和半干旱地. 东南和西南中心气候温和. 国家北部是热带气候，拥有由雨林、草原和沙漠组成的植被. 位于东北部海岸大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef）是世界上最大的珊瑚礁，长达2，000多公里. 世界上最大的两块巨石都在澳大利亚，西部Mount Augustus是最大的一块，中部的Uluru排名第二. 澳大利亚境内的最高峰是科修斯科山（Mount Kosciuszko），2,228米之高.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">政治体系

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);"> 澳大利亚联邦是个拥护宪法的君主国，拥有政府议会制度. 名义上, 伊丽莎白二世是澳大利亚女王. 王后有位总督代表，虽然宪法能给予广泛的行政权力给总督，但仅限于给总理提出建议时才能使用该权限.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">立法机构

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">联邦国会，包含女王、参议院和众议院；女王由位总督代表, 实际上权力有限, 没有权力监督参议院和众议院的操作.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">行政人员

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">联邦执行委员会；实际上，议员是总理大臣和国务大臣，他们的建议几乎都会被总督采纳，很少有异议.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">两院制的联邦议会包括女王，参议院（上议院）有76个参议员，众议院 （下议院）有150个成员. 众议院是从单选区民中选举出来的. 众议院的席位是在人口的基础上被分配. 每个州，无论人口的多少，普选12个参议院议员作其代表. 澳洲首都区(ACT) 和北I地（NT) 则各选举两位参议院代表. 两院的选举每三年举行一次. 但由于参议院的任期是六年，只有一半的参议院席位参与每届的选举.  赢得多数众议院议位的政党组成政府而其领袖成为总理大臣.

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<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);"> 大耳朵编辑：anmy