The Australian Government

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When you think of the “land down under” you don’t really think of the kind of government they have. I chose to write about the Australian government because I really don’t hear much about Australia. It currently has a pretty interesting story to tell when it comes to their government. I became a bit interested in Australian politics when I saw a political animated cartoon on the internet that depicted Kevin Rudd, the last Prime Minister, on a news television show and it was quite humorous. I am going to give a quick history lesson on Australia then go into how the government formed and came to be. Then I will talk about the Australian constitution, the Australian arms of government, their federal system, political parties and Australia’s current Prime Minister. The government of Australia is Constitutional Monarchy and a Federal Parliamentary. According to the Australian Government website, they call it a Constitutional Monarchy because the country was established with a constitution and the Head of State was Queen Victoria (Irving). Queen Victoria was the Queen of England at the time. They also call it a Federal Parliamentary because their Constitution was the birth of their nation and it created a federal system of government (Irving). When a government is deemed a Parliamentary it has a Parliament and means that they elect a Prime Minister. Now I shall give a bit of a quick history lesson. The land of Australia had two types of people living there before the European settlers came to the country the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders and in 1688 a man named William Dampier was the first British man to explore Australia (Austrailian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). This is similar to how America had Native A... ... middle of paper ... ... Irving "Constitution" The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics. Ed Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts. Oxford University Press 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hillsborough CommunityCollege. 23 Farnsworth, Malcolm. Political Parties. 22 June 2011 . Liberal Party. We Believe... 22 June 2011 . National Archives of Australia. Julia Gillard. June 22 2011 . Pat Weller "Prime ministers" The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics. Ed Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts. Oxford University Press 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hillsborough CommunityCollege. 23June 2011 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t250.e290

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