AU/NZ Government

[Kel_ee]

With America's Government underway, I was wondering if you could explain how your government works?

Who runs? Who are runs who pass laws? How long is each term? Do your people vote for authority? What decided your country to go to war in Iraq, or did you?

Thanks for all you input!

 

[tigercub]

I'm in a huge rush so I can't really type out a good response yet, but here is a link to the wiki page on the Austraklian Government.

As for who sent us to Iraq...that was former Prime Minister John Howard (diminutively known as 'Lil Johnny) almost everyone else disagreed, including the Australian public (but 'Lil Johnny was well-known for ignoring public opinion).

 

[DavinMochrie]

With America's Government underway, I was wondering if you could explain how your government works?

Who runs? Who are runs who pass laws? How long is each term? Do your people vote for authority? What decided your country to go to war in Iraq, or did you?

Thanks for all you input!

Your thread title includes two countries. We are not joined, even though CF puts us together.

Australia has invasion plans to bomb the sheep out of NZ anyways and steal all their cheeses. We shall enslave the hobbits and burn the shire!

 

[marktheblake]

With America's Government underway, I was wondering if you could explain how your government works?

Well i have a very basic understanding of your system so i will compare to that as an example.

You have 3 Elections, the President, the House, and the Senate.

Well here in Oz we only have elections for the House and the Senate. The Political party who wins majority in the house becomes the Government and their elected leader becomes Prime Minister (who must be a member of the house)

Thus the people do not vote for PM, their elected representatives do.

For that reason the Government can vote out and replace the Prime Minister at any time during his term in Office, whilst rare it does happen.

Legislative changes first get passed in the House, then through the Senate, which i think is the same as your system.

When it comes down to "executive powers" such as held by your President, I do not understand how to compare that to our country.

 

[Monarchist]

Two party system similar to Englands and yours. Only the politicians win.

 

[HazelAngel]

I hope these answers answer NZs elections

1 - Who runs? ~ Simple answer to your question here ... National and Labour are the main parties like yours is Republican and Democrats.

2 - Who are runs who pass laws? ~ They pass laws, they make the rules, they do the government spending and all that kind of stuff.

3 - How long is each term? ~ 3 years.

4 - Do your people vote for authority? ~ The New Zealanders vote for either National or Labour, the MPs decide who is the leader of their party.

5 - What decided your country to go to war in Iraq, or did you? ~ Helen Clark did ... blame her John Key said he would, thought about it and then said he wouldnt.

Australia and NZ or New Zealand are two different countries Kel Eee ... and David Mochre, I bet the plans havnt happened. You cant steal our cheeses, bomb the sheep and burn the shire ... the shire isnt real, too many sheep to bomb and the cheese factor is New Zealands cheese, we have the Kiwifruit though, but you have the Vegimite

 

[DavinMochrie]

Seriously though... I've heard the economic downturn has hit NZ bad.
The price of Lamb has gone up.....to $50 an hour!

 

[Kel_ee]

Well i have a very basic understanding of your system so i will compare to that as an example.

You have 3 Elections, the President, the House, and the Senate.

Well here in Oz we only have elections for the House and the Senate. What are these two parties called? The Political party who wins majority in the house becomes the Government and their elected leader becomes Prime Minister (who must be a member of the house)

Thus the people do not vote for PM, their elected representatives do. The people here vote, but do not actually chose their president. The elected representatives for their state do. The representatives generally vote what majority of their people vote, but have the choice to vote opposite. MY QUESTION: Do your two parties decide your PM according to the majority of their people?

For that reason the Government can vote out and replace the Prime Minister at any time during his term in Office, whilst rare it does happen. Our government can also do this, but i'm not sure if the process is more difficult here.

Legislative changes first get passed in the House, then through the Senate, which i think is the same as your system. Yes it is.

When it comes down to "executive powers" such as held by your President, I do not understand how to compare that to our country. Not sure what you mean by "executive powers"... could you give an example?

In Obama's case, many, if not all, of his decisions will be passed because majority if the Senate and House are Democrat. Which is a bit scarey because republicans cannot out vote the democrats.

 

[Kel_ee]

2 - Who are runs who pass laws? ~ They pass laws, they make the rules, they do the government spending and all that kind of stuff.
Does your PM have any say in passing the laws?

4 - Do your people vote for authority? ~ The New Zealanders vote for either National or Labour, the MPs decide who is the leader of their party.
Do the MPs vote for the majority of the people?

Australia and NZ or New Zealand are two different countries Kel Eee.
I knew this... lol figured that was a gimmie.

Thank you for taking the time to comment.

 

[marktheblake]

What are these two parties called?

Labour (blue collar) & Liberal (white collar). also a smaller party the Nationals (farmers) form a partnership with the Liberals

MY QUESTION: Do your two parties decide your PM according to the majority of their people?

No - they have no way of determining who the majority want except by random media polls.

N

ot sure what you mean by "executive powers"... could you give an example?

Your president has the ability to make decisions on his own well at least thats what i get from watching movies.

 

[Kel_ee]

Your president has the ability to make decisions on his own well at least thats what i get from watching movies.

lol funny... no he can't. He has to be approved by congress. Although... Democrats now have majority over the house and Senate, so Democrat Obama will probably get pretty much what he wants.

thanks for you input!

 

[marktheblake]

Doesnt your president have a big button he can press?

 

[Radagast]

With America's Government underway, I was wondering if you could explain how your government works?

Australia has an upper and lower house, much like the US, but no president.

The lower house majority leader basically becomes the Prime Minister and runs the country. Each party announces their leader well before the election, so that potential Prime Ministers campaign against each other. However, since they are also members of the lower house, they also have to campaign in their local area.

Voting is compulsory, and there is no shortage of polling booths, so we always get close to a 100% voter turnout.

The Governor General (representative of the Queen) does virtually nothing, but can remove the Prime Minister in the event of deadlock between the two houses (and, rather controversially, this has happened once).

Australia has three main parties:

• Liberals -- more like your "moderate" democrats than your republicans
• Labor -- much like your "liberal" democrats (currently running the country)
• Green -- socialist and strongly pro-environment (a small party, but with several senators)

Many of the Obama policies that some US voters were dubious of (such as universal health care) have actually been part of Australian society for decades.

As to your other question, from Wikipedia:

"Australia and New Zealand both provided military units, including special forces and naval ships in support of the US led 'Operation Enduring Freedom' (support for anti-Taliban forces in the Afghan civil war in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks). The ANZUS treaty's provisions for assistance when a member nation comes under threat were officially invoked for the first time by Australia, to justify the Australian commitment in Afghanistan."

 

[HazelAngel]

Does your PM have any say in passing the laws? ~ They do, they make them and we dont have a choice but all we have to do is follow them.

Do the MPs vote for the majority of the people? ~ No, the people decide who the MPs and the PMs are, we just do the party and the liberal vote and the leader of the party, e.g National, choose whos on the list.

I hope this has answered your question Kal_Eee

 

[Kel_ee]

The lower house majority leader basically becomes the Prime Minister and runs the country. Each party announces their leader well before the election, so that potential Prime Ministers campaign against each other. However, since they are also members of the lower house, they also have to campaign in their local area. Because the PMs are chosen well before the election, the people basically are choosing their PM with the party they are voting for.


The Governor General (representative of the Queen) does virtually nothing, but can remove the Prime Minister in the event of deadlock between the two houses (and, rather controversially, this has happened once). I didn't know you had a queen... I will have to look more into this, interesting.




Australia has three main parties:

• Liberals -- more like your "moderate" democrats than your republicans
• Labor -- much like your "liberal" democrats (currently running the country)
• Green -- socialist and strongly pro-environment (a small party, but with several senators)

This makes your parties clear to me. thanks.

Many of the Obama policies that some US voters were dubious of (such as universal health care) have actually been part of Australian society for decades. Health care is a big issue. I am lucky to have good insurance through my husbands work. I know so many who are in much more need of health care and cannot go to see a doctor because they don't have the money.

"Australia and New Zealand both provided military units, including special forces and naval ships in support of the US led 'Operation Enduring Freedom' (support for anti-Taliban forces in the Afghan civil war in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks). The provisions for assistance when a member nation comes under threat were officially invoked for the first time by Australia, to justify the Australian commitment in Afghanistan." So you basically had to go beacuse of a treaty. Australia had make good the commiment to stand by the United States in war. I think... something like that?

Thanks for explaining. I went to ask France about them abstaining from the war, but I saw that they were speaking French. Most Americans really resented the fact that they didn't support and go to war, but I'm sure it is seen different now.

 

[Radagast]

Because the PMs are chosen well before the election, the people basically are choosing their PM with the party they are voting for.

Exactly. Our current Prime Minister and the Labor party campaigned as "Kevin 07."

I didn't know you had a queen....

It's the English queen. Not everyone is happy with that, but people are reluctant to change a system that works.

So you basically had to go beacuse of a treaty.

ANZUS is the less-well-known cousin of NATO.

 

[Kel_ee]

I received this in an email and was wondering what you all thought and how does your government deal with these issues?

Letter by a Florida teacher................

This is a subject close to my heart. Do you know that we have adult students at the school where I teach who are not US citizens and who get the PELL grant, which is a federal grant (no pay back required) plus other federal grants to go to school?

One student from the Dominican Republic told me that she didn't want me to find a job for her after she finished my program, because she was getting housing from our housing department and she was getting a PELL grant which paid for her total tuition and books, plus money leftover.

She was looking into WAIT which gives students a CREDIT CARD for gas to come to school, and into CARIBE which is a special program ( check it out - I did, http://www.caribeprogram.com/ <http://www.caribeprogram.com/> See below) for immigrants and it pays for child care and all sorts of needs while they go to school or training. The one student I just mentioned told me she was not going to be a US Citizen because she plans to return to the Dominican Republic someday and that she 'loves HER country.'

I asked her if she felt guilty taking what the US is giving her and then not even bothering to become a citizen and she told me that it doesn't bother her, because that is what the money is there for!

I asked the CARIBE administration about their program and if you ARE a US Citizen, you don't qualify for their program. And all the while, I am working a full day, my son-in-law works more than 60 hours a week, and everyone in my family works and pays for our education .

Something is wrong here. I am sorry but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written. The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close. Sorry if this offends anyone but this is MY COUNTRY.

IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along. I am not against immigration -- just come through like everyone else.

Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

It is Time for America to Speak up If you agree -- pass this along&#8230;

If you don't agree --- delete it, you're part of the problem.!

 

[Radagast]

I received this in an email and was wondering what you all thought and how does your government deal with these issues?

Because we're an island, we have very little illegal immigration. The many people that come here from around the world are encouraged to become citizens, and most people do.

We have nothing like the US situation, where a huge slice of the population (so large that the economy probably couldn't survive without them) seems to be technically illegal.

We've had some national debate on how much immigration we should allow, and what to do with the small numbers of people that do enter illegally, but we do have a tradition of absorbing people from around the world.

Here is a recent video clip (30 seconds) from the Victorian state government, and here are some of the places people have come to Australia from recently:

 

[SiyoNqoba]

I didn't know you had a queen... I will have to look more into this, interesting.

The queen of England is also the queen of all the English colonies.

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is that New Zealand (I don't know about Australia - I'm feeling a little ignorant right now, lol) has a lot of parties. Some think there are way too many. National and Labour are the main two, and Green are getting pretty popular. But there are quite a few more who are completely legitimate, though their leaders don't really have that much of a chance of being the Prime Minister.

 

[Radagast]

The rather unique voting system in NZ makes it very easy for small parties to win seats, as far as I can tell, and pretty much seems to guarantee that the government will be a coalition.

But I'll leave it to the Kiwis to explain how the system works...