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The Government of Australia
The government of Australia is like the United States in some ways. They have a House of Representatives, a Senate, and a section of their government that is divided up into Judicial, Executive, and Legislative. Though they have a lot of the same features, they are considered a Parliamentary Democracy, meaning they are still loyal to the Queen of England. They have a Prime Minister and a Governor-General.
The Prime Minister is the head of the party that wins the election. The current Prime Minister is the Honorable John Howard. The position of the Prime Minister is in control of the ministry, the head of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He makes supreme decisions in the court.
One of the most important places is the Governor-General. The person appointed to this position is chosen by the Queen on advice of the Prime Minister. The Governor-General can be used for good or bad, like most positions. In 1975 the Governor-General John Robert used his power to remove the Prime Minister from office.
The Senate sits for hours considering questions, petitions, and other matters of importance. It is one of the two major houses in the house. The current president of the Senate is the Honorable Margaret Reid. Her chief functions are to oversee the happenings in the Senate. There are two different senators: state and territory. The Senate is made up of 76 senators. Each of the six states elects 12 senators and each inland territory elects two. The state senators are in for six year terms. While territory senators are only up to three years.
There are 150 electoral divisions with one representative for each. Each one is in for term up to three terms. The members of the House of Representatives are involved in law-making and committee work. The current speaker for the House of Representatives is the Honorable Neil Andrew. He is the 26th speaker for them and has also been a member of Parliament since 1983.