Examine the relationship between the parliament and the executive and the operation of responsible government

What this dot point is asking

This dot point is about the working relationship between the two political branches of government. The Australian system fuses elements of the British Westminster tradition with a federal, written constitution, so the legislature and the executive are deliberately interlocked rather than fully separated.

The composition of Parliament

The Commonwealth Parliament is bicameral and, under section 1 of the Constitution, consists of the King (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives currently has 151 members elected from single-member electorates using preferential voting. The Senate has 76 senators, 12 from each state and 2 from each territory, elected by proportional representation. The House is where government is formed; the Senate is primarily a house of review and a states' house.

Responsible government

Responsible government is the convention that the executive is responsible to Parliament. The party or coalition that commands a majority in the House of Representatives forms government, and its leader becomes Prime Minister. Ministers must be members of Parliament (section 64 requires a minister to gain a seat within three months). This means the people who run the executive sit inside the legislature.

The core principle is that the government governs only while it retains the confidence of the lower house. If a government loses a vote of no confidence or fails to pass supply (its budget), convention requires it to resign or seek an election. Responsible government also includes individual ministerial responsibility (ministers answer for their own conduct and their department) and collective ministerial responsibility (the cabinet presents a united position and ministers who cannot support it should resign).

How a bill becomes law

A bill must pass both houses in identical form and then receive royal assent from the Governor-General. The typical path is: first reading (introduction), second reading (debate on the principle of the bill), consideration in detail or committee stage (clause-by-clause examination), and third reading. The bill then repeats this process in the second house. Most bills are government bills introduced in the House of Representatives, though some begin in the Senate. Section 53 prevents the Senate from initiating or amending money bills (taxation and appropriation), though it can request amendments and can reject them outright.

The Senate as a check on the executive

Because government is formed in the House, the executive usually controls the lower house through party discipline. The Senate is therefore the more important check. When the government does not hold a Senate majority, it must negotiate with the opposition and crossbench to pass legislation, which is the main parliamentary brake on executive power. Senate committees also scrutinise legislation, question ministers and public servants at estimates hearings, and inquire into government administration.

Accountability beyond the houses

Executive accountability is reinforced by question time, the tabling of documents, parliamentary committees, freedom of information laws, the Auditor-General and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. These mechanisms are how Parliament and independent bodies hold ministers to account between elections. Critics argue strong party discipline weakens the lower house as a check, which is why the Senate and external watchdogs carry much of the real accountability load.