Political, Legal, and Ethical Environment
Australia has a federal system of government and under that system the powers are divided between a central government and individual states. Power is divided between the Commonwealth Federal Government and the six state governments. Australian Parliament consists of the Queen (which is represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives. There are three arms to the government of Australia—the legislature (Parliament), the executive branch (the Australian Government), and the judiciary branch (legal arm of the federal government). The Parliament of Australia is made up of a total of 226 people who are elected to the Senate and House of Representatives. The office
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That basically means you are required to vote if you are an eligible Australian citizen (eligible being of 18 years or older and be a legal Australian citizen). If you do not vote, you have to have a valid reason as to why you did not participate in voting, or pay a $20 fine. Then if you do not give a valid reason or pay the fine, then you may be referred to court. The Australian Electoral Commission helps to register voters in Australia to vote.
Political Risk In terms of political risk, Australia has a very low political risk. The AMB Country Risk Report gives an assessment on three categories of risk economic, political, and financial. According to the AMB Report (2015), “Australia’s legal system is very strong, stable and transparent with minimal corruption. The stable regulatory environment and fair treatment of foreign investors make the country a destination for foreign direct investment.” Based on the Regional Political Risk Index (2015), Australia has a number of 88 on the global scale as of April 2015. That ranking sets it to number 6 on the global scale. The Political Risk Index is based off different criteria such as turmoil, financial transfer, direct investment, export markets
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Thanks in part to microeconomic reforms in the 1980s, Australia has experienced two decades of continuous growth, low unemployment, controlled inflation, very low public debt, and a strong and stable financial system (Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2013-2014). Australia has an efficient government sector, a flexible labor market, and a very competitive business sector (About Australia Pty Ltd, 2015). The four main components that make up the Australian market economy are trade, manufacturing, services, and finance. The services sector represents the largest part of the Australian economy, accounting for 75% of all jobs and nearly 70% of the overall GDP (Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency,
The Australian Government, as does every government of our world, creates laws, which ensure the greater good of the people, and these are found in the Constitution of Australia. The Constitution is a set state of rules in
This means they have religious tolerance and freedom of speech. The Australian Constitution was written on January 1 1901. The government has three branches which are legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is in charge of making the laws. The executive administers the laws which are made by the legislative branch. The judiciary is the country’s court system and are able to remove one of its judges. (What does this mean?) Australia is known as a constitutional monarchy, meaning they have a Queen or King as the head of state, but they are limited to what they can do by the Constitution. Currently, the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. She has been the head of state since 1952. She is also the Queen of the UK, but they are both separate by law and by the constitution. Even though she is the Queen, she plays no role within the Australian system, she is basically just a figurehead. The Governor General appoints the Queen to pick a Prime Minster of Australia. The National Parliament has two chambers which are the House of Representatives and the Senate. They are both responsible for the national laws. They are responsible for trade, taxation, immigration among other things. The House of Representatives currently has 148 elected members. The Senate has 12 senators from each state and two from each of their two territories. Each state and Territory has its own Constitutional Act, but they also have to go by the national constitution. Also, the states and territory are responsible for the public health, education, roads and emergency services for their state and
During the last decade the Australian economy has experienced continuous growth and has featured contained inflation, low unemployment and a strong and stable financial system. By 2012, Australia has experienced more than 20 years of continuous economic growth, averaging 3.5% a year. Australia was comparatively unaffected by the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 as the banking system remained strong and inflation was controlled to a manageable point, this event has benefited Australia as a whole allowing the country to excel further than other economies that faced the worst of the Global financial Crisis, a core reason to this resistance is the strong and well established regulatory body systems that Australia had put in place. These
GDP growth, unemployment figures, inflation rates and money aggregate figures are important interrelated indicators that can help to determine the health of the Australian economy. The patterns evident in these indicators represent practical expressions of economic health and can be seen as the result of action taken by the Reserve Bank to achieve the three key objectives:
Voting. In a country of representative democracy, it can define your future. It ensures that our elected representatives are preferred by most of the electorate. This is why it is compulsory, to vote if you are enrolled, in all Federal, State and local government elections, statutory elections and polls. It is the right and the responsibility of everyone on the electoral roll to vote. You must be at least 18 years of age to vote in Australia. 18! What about 17 and 16 year olds. When you turn 16 you can leave school, be employed for a full-time job and be liable for tax , just to list a few rights. Why is this list missing the eligibility to vote? This is
Australia's economy is dominated by its services sector, yet its economic success is based on abundance of agricultural and mineral resources. Australia's comparative advantage in the export of primary products is a reflection of the natural wealth of the Australian continent and its small domestic market.
Like, Austria, Australia is also one of the largest mixed market economies in the world. Its economy is primarily driven by its service sector, comprising 68% of its GDP. Other sectors (and biggest employers) include mining, manufacturing, agriculture, finance, tourism, media, education, and logistics. It is the 12th largest in the world in terms of GDP. Unemployment here is higher by a small margin at 5.8%, but still very low in overall scale.
Australia has an AAA international credit rating with a well-developed financial market, regulated in compliance to international standards. Australia’s four largest banks are well respected in terms of financial security and international rankings.
Australia’s economy is considered stable and increasing slightly over the past couple of years. Its stability influences businesses to maintain the demand of goods and services. This can be analysed through unemployment rates remaining low with little movement, the GDP steadily increasing, and the inflation and interest rates remaining consistent. Overall Australia’s economy is doing well and looks to have a stable future because of the suggested economic indicators.
In likeliness to the British concept, the legislative limb and the executive limbs are linked together; though paralleling the American system, a strict distinction between the judiciary and the other two limbs is carefully maintained. This is a Westminster based system. Australia operates a system of responsible governing and law making, this upholds fundamentals that the executive be authoritative to the legislature, however the ministers are members of the legislature and the executive. The separation of the powers is exercised through the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, it dictates that each arm of the government must operate and not obtain the powers or functions of the other branches. However Australian government does not exercise a rigid strict separation of power because the legislature and the executive are not completely separated. Like most modern Westminster systems, to a various degree, the doctrine of separation of powers is ignored. Australian government does not enforce a strict separation due to constraints placed through following a the more principle doctrine of responsible
Prior to the Global Financial Crisis Australia experienced strong economic growth, low levels of unemployment and strong growth in both the housing and share market. This was due to the mining boom and strong demand for Australia’s commodity exports.
The Australian economy in the course of recent years has demonstrated a more prominent level of adaptability than was the situation in the 1970s and 1980s. This has made it stronger to the different outside stuns that have been experienced over the period: the Asian emergency; the breakdown of the website bubble; and the late crumple of the US sub-prime credit rise, to name a portion of the more serious.
Australia can boast of having one of the world’s largest economies; however, with the mining and the commodities boom at an end, the economy is slowing down. The economy grew by 0.9% in the March quarter of 2015. Job vacancy figures of the mining industry have demonstrated a decline of 10.9% in a year. As of July 2015, the unemployment rate had risen from 6.1% to 6.3%. Despite the weakening economy, low consumer confidence and sales, Australians are still spending 2.7% more on other goods than in 2014.
To be able to vote, you would need to be an Australian citizen or a British subject who was on a commonwealth electoral roll on the 25th of January since 1984. Australia is one of the few countries who has compulsory voting. If a citizen, you must register first before you vote. Your name will be entered on a list of electors which would be sent to the commonwealth of
The Australian system of government is a federal system incorporating characteristics of both the British system and that of the United States. The Australian Constitution provides for a Westminster type parliament, an upper house (Senate) and