Australia's Three Branches Of Government

Australia was created on January 1, 1901 (Federation Day) when the six British colonies, which are now Australia’s six states, formed a union. The Constitution lays out how their government acts. This Constitution set the rules for the three branches of government. The branches are legislative, executive and judicial, which are very similar to the United States three branches. The legislative branch contains parliament which makes the laws. The executive branch has the power to puts these laws into action, while the judicial branch appoints the judges and establishes the courts of law. This is nothing new because the United States operates similarly. However, Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy, which

The Queen is represented by a Governor General and appoints on recommendations of Australia’s Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is a member of Parliament and occasionally chooses the cabinet. The National Parliament of Australia is also similar to the United States having two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both of these chambers are responsible for national laws and legislation has to be approved by both houses before it can become law. The House has 150 members which are reflected by population and the elections are at least every three years. The Senate contains 76 members with 12 from each state plus two from Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. The two main parties in Australia are Liberal Party (centre-right) which is business and middle class oriented, National Party (conservative) which is rural and agriculture oriented, and Australian Labor Party (social democrat) which is working class and union

Australia has a large immigrant and refugee population which adds to their unique cultural profile. Migrants have enriched much of Australian life, such as the arts, cooking, business, and science. The national language of Australia and most commonly spoken is English. However, roughly 15 percent of Australians speak a language other than English at home and there are more than 200 languages spoken in Australia including indigenous Australian languages. The most common languages other than English include Mandarin, Italian, Arabic, Cantonese and Greek. Because of Australia’s diverse influence they have many different cuisines mainly from Asia and Europe. They are one of the most efficient agricultural nations due to their high quality vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood and cheeses. Some iconic Australian foods are vegemite which is a thick, brown food spread, Australian hamburger, and pavlova which is a dessert filled with whipped cream and fruit. Since Australia is usually warm, sports and outdoor activities are common. Some of the popular sports there include surfing, cricket, rugby, and swimming. As far as religion goes, Australia has no official state religion, but it is mainly a Christian country as 64 percent of Australians identify as Christians. Just like the United States though, many other religions are practiced. Indigenous Australians have their own religious