The Australian
constitution came into force on January 1, 1901 when a federation of six states and two
territories joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Although nominally under the
British monarchy, Australia is a fully independent Parliamentary Democracy. The Federal
Government structures are similar to those of Britain. The lower house is the House of
Representatives and the upper house is the Senate with 12 senators representing each
state. Elections for the house are held every three years and for the Senate every six
years. The party with the most seats in the House of Representatives forms the government.
The Prime Minister heads the Federal Government, while Premiers head individual state
governments. The executive arm of the government is the cabinet of ministers.
The Federal Capital of Australia is Canberra, situated on the southern
coast of Australia, a territory much like Washington D.C. and not part of any state. All
states have their own capitals. Voting is compulsory for any citizen above 18, and is a
bit confusing because of the preferential system of voting where candidates are listed in
order of preference. The two major parties are the Australian Labour Party (ALP) and the
coalition between the Liberal Party and National Party. Currently, a coalition government
is in power under Prime Minister John Howard, a die- hard monarchist and so efforts to
make Australia a Republic are not going to happen anytime soon. A referendum on the
subject was defeated in 1999.
