| Australia is basically six states and two territories.
The colony came together to form the Commonwealth of Australia
in 1901. The federal government controls the national economy
and Reserve Bank, customs and excise taxes, immigration, defense,
foreign policy, and the post office. The state governments deal
with health, education, housing, transport and justice. |
| The Federal Parliament in the lower house is the House
of Representatives made up of 147 members divided among the states.
The upper house is the Senate. Queensland does not have an upper
house. It was stopped in 1922. It is run by a prime minister,
the state governments are led by a premier, and the Northern
Territory by a chief minister. |
| The Federal Parliament is based in Canberra which
is the capital. It is its own separate area of land called Australia
Capital Territory (ACT). It is completely surrounded by New South
Wales. The two main political groups in the Federal Parliament
are the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and the coalition between
the National and Liberal Parties. The next largest party is the
Australian Democrats. |
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