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Asia and Oceania
Australia |
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Last updated: 21 May 2009 |
Country information
Politics
Kevin Rudd was elected Prime Minister on 24 November 2007. Members of the House of Representatives (Lower House) serve three-year terms. Senators serve fixed six-year terms. (from 1 July). It is usual to hold a full House of Representatives and a half-Senate election simultaneously every three years.
State/Territories
The federal Australian Labor Party's election victory in November 2007 saw wall-to-wall Labor governments across Australia until August 2008, when the Western Australian Liberal Party won in a closely fought State election. In March 2009 Anna Bligh led the Queensland Labor Party to a third successive election victory and became the first female elected Premier in Australia.Victorian State elections are next scheduled for 27 November 2010. Tasmania's elections will also be held in 2010 as will South Australia’s in March 2010. The next NSW State elections are scheduled for 26 March 2011.
Indigenous Aboriginal Community
The treatment of the indigenous Aboriginal community (2.4% of the population) has challenged successive Australian governments. A central point of the current Labor Government’s election campaign was to address the challenges facing the indigenous population. On the first day of the new Australian Parliament in February 2008, Kevin Rudd made a formal apology on behalf of the government to Australia’s indigenous population for the treatment of the 'Stolen Generation' (government-backed schemes between 1920 and 970 to remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their parents and place them with white families). A bipartisan 'war cabinet' announced by Rudd on 13 February 2008 and committed to improving the lives of Indigenous people is yet to deliver any concrete outcomes.
Republic Debate
In a constitutional referendum held on 6 November 1999, Australia voted to remain a constitutional monarchy (55% to 45%). Voters were offered a choice between the status quo and the republican model approved by the 1998 Constitutional Convention: a President appointed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Debate focused principally on the republican model rather than on the monarchy. Republicans wanting a directly elected president formed an unlikely coalition with monarchists to defeat the referendum. Despite the result, there is extensive republican sentiment in Australia. The Australian Labor Party supports a republic as does the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Turnbull.
