by Nick Manning
What is parliament
Parliament is the top decision-making body in our government system. Only the citizens are higher than parliament:
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The people vote for the members of parliament (politicians) to represent them.
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The members of parliament vote for laws to allow the government Ministers and public servants (paid staff) to do things.
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The government does things (eg. charge taxes, run schools and hospitals, lock people up for different reasons) but only within the limits of the laws voted by parliament.
Australia has a national parliament in Canberra, and each state and territory has their own parliament in their own capital city (eg. the NSW Parliament is in Sydney).
Does parliament really make any difference?
Sometimes a majority of the members of parliament are from the government party, which means that as long as they all vote the same way, they control what happens in parliament. When this happens, parliament is less important - sometimes it is called a rubber stamp, because it simply rubber stamps (approves) whatever the government wants.
At other times the government party does not have a majority of members of parliament, and parliament becomes much more important, because it doesn't always pass the laws that the government wants it to.
2 houses?
Most parliaments have 2 houses (sections), called the lower house and the upper house. (Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory each have only 1 house of parliament).
In past centuries, parliaments were made up of members of the ruling aristocracy (eg. lords and bishops), often appointed by the king or queen. They didn't represent the interests of ordinary people very well. A second section of the parliament developed as a way to give power to the ordinary people, by allowing the people to vote for their own representatives. This second section became known as the lower house, and the first section became known as the upper house.
These days all upper houses in Australia are elected by the people. However, because some people vote for a different party in the lower house to the upper house, and because there is a different vote-counting method for the upper house, upper houses almost always have a different mix of political parties and independents than the lower house.
For parliament to make (or change) a law, it must be voted on twice:
- a majority of members of the lower house must agree to it, and
- a majority of members of the upper house must agree to it.
If only one of the houses agrees to the proposed law, it isn't passed and doesn't become law.
Lower house
The lower house is made up of politicians each representing a different region of the state or country.
Usually the party (or coalition of parties) which has the largest number of seats (members) in the lower house, forms the government.
Upper house: a house of review?
The upper house is sometimes called a house of review because there is more chance to examine bills (proposed laws) and government actions in the upper house than in the lower house. The upper house has committees which specialise in particular issues eg. health or education. Sometimes these committees hold public enquiries and invite the public to write in with their views on the enquiry topic.
Upper houses are more effective as houses of review when the government does not have a majority in the upper house, and so it does not control what happens in the upper house.
When the government has a majority in the upper house, it controls what happens in the upper house. Usually it will try to minimise debate and criticism of the government.
When the government does not have a majority in the upper house, it cannot control what happens in the upper house. The opposition and cross-bench members hold more debates and ask more questions which may reflect badly on the government. They also spend more time researching and exploring issues and debating possibilities for change.
Upper house committees & enquiries
The upper house has a number of parliamentary committees. The role of these committees is to advise the Parliament on making and amending laws, to inquire and report on important issues that will affect the people and to investigate issues that cannot be discussed in detail due to their complexity before reporting back to the house.
The recommendations of a committee are not binding - the parliament and government can ignore them or go against them. However sometimes committees have been very influential in shaping laws and government actions.
From time to time these committees hold public enquiries. This is an opportunity for organisations and ordinary citizens to put their own views and experiences to a group of politicians and try to influence the recommmendations the committee will make.
Published: 2006
