Australian Studies

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Australian Studies

• Politics, States Territories, Foreign
  Relations, Military

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Review
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Australian Coat of Arms

• The Coat of Arms of Australia (formally known as
  Commonwealth Coat of Arms) is the official symbol
  of Australia.

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Australian Flag

• The flag is a defaced Blue Ensign a blue field
  with the Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist
  quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star
  known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist
  quarter.
• The fly contains a representation of the Southern
  Cross constellation, made up of five white stars
  one small five-pointed star and four, larger,
  seven-pointed stars.

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Southern cross

• Southern Cross, is the smallest of the 88 modern
  constellations, but nevertheless one of the most
  distinctive.

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Politics

• The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional
  democracy based on a federal division of powers.
• The form of government used in Australia is a
  constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
  system of government.
• Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a
  role that is distinct from her position as
  monarch of the other Commonwealth realms.

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Politics

• The Queen is represented by the Governor-General
  at federal level and by the Governors at state
  level.
• Although the Constitution gives extensive
  executive powers to the Governor-General, these
  are normally exercised only on the advice of the
  Prime Minister.
• The most notable exercise of the
  Governor-General's reserve powers outside the
  Prime Minister's direction was the dismissal of
  the Whitlam Government in the constitutional
  crisis of 1975.

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Politics

• There are three branches of government

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Politics

• The legislature the Commonwealth Parliament,
  comprising the Queen, the Senate, and the House
  of Representatives the Queen is represented by
  the Governor-General, who by convention acts on
  the advice of his or her Ministers.

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Politics

• 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

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Politics

• The judiciary the High Court of Australia and
  other federal courts. Appeals from Australian
  courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
  Council in the United Kingdom ceased when the
  Australia Act was passed in 1986.

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Politics

• 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,
  with each original state guaranteed a minimum of
  five seats.

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Politics

• In the Senate, each state is represented by 12
  senators, and each of the territories (the
  Australian Capital Territory and the Northern
  Territory) by two.
• Elections for both chambers are held every three
  years senators have overlapping six-year terms,
  and only half of the seats are put to each
  election unless the cycle is interrupted by a
  double dissolution.
• The party with majority support in the House of
  Representatives forms government and its leader
  becomes Prime Minister.

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Politics

• There are two major political groups that form
  government the Australian Labour Party, and the
  Coalition which is a grouping of two parties the
  Liberal Party and its minor partner, the National
  Party.
• Independent members and several minor
  partiesincluding the Greens and the Australian
  Democratshave achieved representation in
  Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.

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Politics

• Since 3 December 2007, shortly after the 2007
  election, the Labour Party led by the Prime
  Minister Kevin Rudd has been in power in
  Canberra, and the party was in power in every
  State and Territory Parliament until the Liberal
  Party formed a minority Government with the
  National Party in Western Australia in September
  2008.

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Politics

• In the 2004 election, the previous governing
  Coalition led by John Howard won control of the
  Senatethe first time in more than 20 years that
  a party (or a coalition) has done so while in
  government.
• Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18
  years and over, in each state and territory and
  at the federal level. Enrolment to vote is
  compulsory in all jurisdictions except South
  Australia.

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Government
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Gough Whitlam

• The Australian constitutional crisis of 1975,
  commonly called The Dismissal, refers to the
  events that culminated with the removal of
  Australia's then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam by
  Governor-General Sir John Kerr and appointing the
  Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Fraser as
  caretaker Prime Minister.
• It has been described as the greatest political
  and constitutional crisis in Australia's history.

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White Australia Policy

• The White Australia policy is a term used to
  describe a collection of historical legislation
  and policies that intentionally restricted
  non-white immigration to Australia from 1901 to
  1973.

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White Australia Policy

• The inauguration of White Australia as government
  policy is generally taken to be the passage of
  the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901, one of
  the first Acts of the new national parliament
  upon federation, with virtually no parliamentary
  opposition.
• The policy was dismantled in stages by successive
  governments after the conclusion of World War II,
  with the encouragement of first non-British and
  later non-white immigration.
• From 1973 on, the White Australia policy was for
  all practical purposes defunct, and in 1975 the
  Australian government passed the Racial
  Discrimination Act, which made racially-based
  selection criteria illegal.

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White Australia Policy

• Restrictions on immigration had preceded
  federation, which began with anti-Chinese
  legislation enacted by individual Australian
  colonies during the Australian gold rushes of the
  1850s.

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States Territories
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States Territories

• Apple Isle a) WA
• Capital Territory b) NT
• Festival State c) SA
• Garden State d) Tas
• NT Outback Australia e) Qld
• Premier State f) NSW
• State of Excitement g) Vic
• Sunshine State h) ACT

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States Territories

• Australia has six states, two major mainland
  territories, and other minor territories. The
  states are New South Wales, Queensland, South
  Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western
  Australia.
• The two major mainland territories are the
  Northern Territory and the Australian Capital
  Territory (ACT).

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Australian States
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States Territories

• In most respects, the territories function like
  the states, but the Commonwealth Parliament can
  override any legislation of their parliaments.
• By contrast, federal legislation only overrides
  state legislation in certain areas that are set
  out in Section 51 of the Australian Constitution
  state parliaments retain all residual legislative
  powers, including powers over hospitals,
  education, police, the judiciary, roads, public
  transport, and local government.

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State Populations
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States Territories

• Australia also has several minor territories the
  federal government administers a separate area
  within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory,
  as a naval base and sea port for the national
  capital.
• In addition Australia has the following inhabited
  external territories Norfolk Island, Christmas
  Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several
  largely uninhabited external territories Ashmore
  and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard
  Island and McDonald Islands, and the Australian
  Antarctic Territory.

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States Territories

• From 1926 to 1931, Central Australia existed as a
  separate territory between the 20th and 26th
  parallels of latitude, before being
  reincorporated into the Northern Territory.
• From 1949 to 1972, the Territory of Papua and New
  Guinea was part of Australia, remaining so until
  the independence of the country of Papua New
  Guinea.

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Foreign Relations

• Over recent decades, Australia's foreign
  relations have been driven by a close association
  with the United States through the ANZUS pact,
  and by a desire to develop relationships with
  Asia and the Pacific, particularly through ASEAN
  and the Pacific Islands Forum.
• In 2005 Australia secured an inaugural seat at
  the East Asia Summit following its accession to
  the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.
• Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of
  Nations, in which the Commonwealth Heads of
  Government meetings provide the main forum for
  cooperation.

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New Australian Flag?
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Foreign Relations

• Australia has energetically pursued the cause of
  international trade liberalisation.
• Australia led the formation of the Cairns Group
  and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
• It is a member of the Organisation for Economic
  Co-operation and Development and the World Trade
  Organization.

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Foreign Relations

• There are several major bilateral free trade
  agreements Australia has pursued, most recently
  the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
  and Closer Economic Relations with New Zealand.
• A founding member country of the United Nations,
  Australia also maintains an international aid
  program under which some 60 countries receive
  assistance.
• The 200506 budget provides A2.5 billion for
  development assistance as a percentage of GDP,
  this contribution is less than that of the UN
  Millennium Development Goals.

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Military

• Australia's armed forcesthe Australian Defence
  Force (ADF)comprise the Royal Australian Navy
  (RAN), the Australian Army, and the Royal
  Australian Air Force (RAAF), numbering about
  51,000.
• All branches of the ADF have been involved in UN
  and regional peacekeeping (most recently in East
  Timor, the Solomon Islands and Sudan), disaster
  relief, and armed conflict, including the 2003
  invasion of Iraq.

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Military

• The government appoints the Chief of the Defence
  Force from one of the armed services the current
  Chief of the Defence Force is Air Chief Marshal
  Angus Houston.
• In the 200607 budget, defence spending is
  A22 billion.
• While the Governor-General is the
  Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence
  Force, he or she does not play an active part in
  the ADF's command structure the elected
  Australian Government controls the ADF.

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Military

• ADF deployments as at June 2007. Deployments of
  over 1000 personnel are coloured red, deployments
  of between 999 and 101 personnel are coloured
  orange and deployments of 100 or fewer personnel
  are coloured blue.

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ANZAC

• ANZAC army formations and units include both
  Australian and New Zealand troops.
• The term ANZAC originated as an acronym for the
  Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, an army
  corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who
  fought against the Turks in 1915 at the Battle of
  Gallipoli during World War I.
• The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was
  disbanded in 1916 and other ANZAC formations were
  then formed and fought during that war in the
  Middle East and on the Western Front.

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ANZAC

• The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was the
  original ANZAC formation.
• It served at Gallipoli under the command of
  General William Birdwood and comprised the
  Australian 1st Division and the New Zealand and
  Australian Division.
• The three Australian and one New Zealand mounted
  brigades were employed as infantry with ANZAC
  during the Gallipoli campaign.
• The Australian 2nd Division began to arrive from
  Australia in August 1915 and some battalions saw
  action on Gallipoli in the final months of the
  campaign.

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Simpson and his Donkey

• John (Jack) Simpson Kirkpatrick (July 6, 1892May
  19, 1915) was a stretcher bearer with the
  Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the
  Gallipoli Campaign, in World War I.
• After landing at Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915, he
  obtained a donkey and began carrying wounded
  British Empire soldiers from the frontline to the
  beach, for evacuation.
• He continued this work for three and a half
  weeks, often under fire, until he was killed.
• Simpson and his Donkey are a key part of the
  "Anzac legend.

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The End