Wowzers I actually can't get past Durack being that big! And with one representative! Outrageous. I mean, like we all of course agree, political facts are always fun, but good lord - that one has actually boggled my brain. Really great video! Definitely subbed :3
Hey, I can offer a possible reason why it's called the upper and lower house. In Britain the House of Commons is the lower house as it is traditionally represented the common folk while the House of Lords is the upper house as it consists of the "upper class" hence the name Lords. May not be correct but that's my guess
Great explanation. Might be(?) be good to add info around how a party chooses to either nominate someone for Senator position or MP position. I'm a bit confused as Prime Minster seems to sit in House of Reps, but all other big shots seem to be Senators(?).
We did not get the two houses from the UK, we got them from the US Congress which is why they’re called the House of Representatives and Senate and not Commons and Lords. Much of our constitution is based on the US too because Britain has no written constitution- it’s why we are referred to as a ‘Washminster’ system.
We get it from both, we inherit the Parliamentary aspect from the UK. In an early draft of the Constitution, the House of Representatives was named the House of Commons. The Senate is coloured red because the House of Lords is red.
The first sitting day after an election the Senate chooses from their members who will be the President. Most popular senator wins. This can be simply to re-elect the same senator as last time to be President.
I have a question: In each state there is an upper and lower house. Are the people who sit in those houses ALSO the ones who travel to Canberra and sit there too? Or are they different people? With different electorates?
Different people. The state parliaments have state electorates with different boundaries to the federal ones, and people serving on a state level can't simultaneously hold office on a federal level and vice versa. Many people however have served moved from state to federal during their careers.
Interesting question. As far as I'm aware there's no rule restricting this. Normally party members are expected to vote in line with party policy regardless of their own personal issues with the bill, though they can rebel and do what's called "crossing the floor" and vote against their own party. Labor members pledge not to do this whereas Liberals don't have a pledge but are expected to uphold the party line anyway (which is probably why statistically Coalition members are more likely to rebel against their own governments. Fun fact.) Usually though crossing the floor involves some kind of disciplinary action which varies between parties because party rules vary a lot. In some instances it might even involve being expelled from the party. There are times where there are conscience votes/free votes (the most recent famous example being that of marriage equality where it wasn't Liberal party policy to enact it, but they allowed their members to vote yes or no depending on how they felt about the results of the postal survey). There's no discipline for going completely against party line here. So usually votes aren't conscience votes which means there's often either the explicit or implicit pressure to vote as the government wants. There's a role called the Party Whip which has the duty of making sure everyone is present and on the right side of the floor vote a vote (yes, politicians sometimes just aren't in the room when a vote happens) so under normal circumstances politicians wouldn't deliberately sink their own bill. However, politics is super complicated and weird and for all I know someone has tried to achieve this exact thing you've mentioned. You could publicly tell everyone the importance of a bill, then deliberately make a point of a conscience vote, secretly tell the whip and senators to "freely" vote to sink it, and repeat the process in 3 months time, then call a double dissolution. There's always a lot of back room discussions and internal party politics happening so this may one day be a very targeted tactic to call an early election to an advantage.
In America, all the political pick up lines are basically, "You hate Trump? Great!" So, yeah. Our politics are just tragic, so....it's just too depressing to make a joke about.
I love how well explained and researched your videos are, they're very informative! I would love to know what the difference is between states and territories, and why the ACT and NT aren't states. Is it just a population thing? If so, why is Tasmainia not a territory, as its population is much closer to that of the ACT then South Australia
Historically Tasmania's population was much more similar to the other states than the two territories. Today I think it would be politically unpopular to try and reduce Tasmania's parliamentary representation so governments have avoided any changes to the constitution. Much more likely is that the ACT gains statehood at some point in the future, or at least increased political representation.
I have a video all about the difference between Federal, State, and Local government (I think it was the 2nd I made so excuse the bad lighting): ruclips.net/video/hSUN2RwefxY/видео.html I also interview a mayor for a local government specific perspective: ruclips.net/video/TRptj5j6F2o/видео.html And interview a state politician to dive specifically into state politics too: ruclips.net/video/_2h2suqV7F0/видео.html I hope that helps!
Yes! It just requires that person to run for the different house at the next election (you can't just transfer you need to be elected). Barnaby Joyce the current Deputy Prime Minister was a Senator from 2005-2013 before running for the House of Representatives where he is today.
"Explained" seems like wild exaggeration. All Australian habit of bleating about the bush on political corruption we're not supposed to notice, like double speaking election promises that turn out the opposite in action or inaction.
I'm from the USA and I have always been interested in how Australian politics worked. Thank you for the video!
I have been learning a lot from you as a immigrant...
Thank you very much.
So clearly explained, thank you. I love the illustrative use of historical examples, it's really helpful.
I'm going to watch all these videos ! Great job explaining everything simply.
Thanks for bringing a chuckle to my morning! Bravo
hahaha 'I've got something else thats marginal" . I literally lost it
I'm looking to emigrate from the UK soon, this series has been so helpful so far, thankyou
Wowzers I actually can't get past Durack being that big! And with one representative! Outrageous. I mean, like we all of course agree, political facts are always fun, but good lord - that one has actually boggled my brain.
Really great video! Definitely subbed :3
Hey, I can offer a possible reason why it's called the upper and lower house.
In Britain the House of Commons is the lower house as it is traditionally represented the common folk while the House of Lords is the upper house as it consists of the "upper class" hence the name Lords.
May not be correct but that's my guess
Great explanation. Might be(?) be good to add info around how a party chooses to either nominate someone for Senator position or MP position. I'm a bit confused as Prime Minster seems to sit in House of Reps, but all other big shots seem to be Senators(?).
thx so much. clear explained
We did not get the two houses from the UK, we got them from the US Congress which is why they’re called the House of Representatives and Senate and not Commons and Lords. Much of our constitution is based on the US too because Britain has no written constitution- it’s why we are referred to as a ‘Washminster’ system.
We get it from both, we inherit the Parliamentary aspect from the UK. In an early draft of the Constitution, the House of Representatives was named the House of Commons. The Senate is coloured red because the House of Lords is red.
is there a senate president election after every election or is there one after the election for the president?
The first sitting day after an election the Senate chooses from their members who will be the President. Most popular senator wins. This can be simply to re-elect the same senator as last time to be President.
I have a question: In each state there is an upper and lower house. Are the people who sit in those houses ALSO the ones who travel to Canberra and sit there too? Or are they different people? With different electorates?
Different people. The state parliaments have state electorates with different boundaries to the federal ones, and people serving on a state level can't simultaneously hold office on a federal level and vice versa. Many people however have served moved from state to federal during their careers.
is a leader allowed to force a double dissolution by having their own senators reject their own bill?
Interesting question. As far as I'm aware there's no rule restricting this. Normally party members are expected to vote in line with party policy regardless of their own personal issues with the bill, though they can rebel and do what's called "crossing the floor" and vote against their own party. Labor members pledge not to do this whereas Liberals don't have a pledge but are expected to uphold the party line anyway (which is probably why statistically Coalition members are more likely to rebel against their own governments. Fun fact.) Usually though crossing the floor involves some kind of disciplinary action which varies between parties because party rules vary a lot. In some instances it might even involve being expelled from the party.
There are times where there are conscience votes/free votes (the most recent famous example being that of marriage equality where it wasn't Liberal party policy to enact it, but they allowed their members to vote yes or no depending on how they felt about the results of the postal survey). There's no discipline for going completely against party line here. So usually votes aren't conscience votes which means there's often either the explicit or implicit pressure to vote as the government wants. There's a role called the Party Whip which has the duty of making sure everyone is present and on the right side of the floor vote a vote (yes, politicians sometimes just aren't in the room when a vote happens) so under normal circumstances politicians wouldn't deliberately sink their own bill.
However, politics is super complicated and weird and for all I know someone has tried to achieve this exact thing you've mentioned. You could publicly tell everyone the importance of a bill, then deliberately make a point of a conscience vote, secretly tell the whip and senators to "freely" vote to sink it, and repeat the process in 3 months time, then call a double dissolution. There's always a lot of back room discussions and internal party politics happening so this may one day be a very targeted tactic to call an early election to an advantage.
In America, all the political pick up lines are basically, "You hate Trump? Great!" So, yeah. Our politics are just tragic, so....it's just too depressing to make a joke about.
I love how well explained and researched your videos are, they're very informative!
I would love to know what the difference is between states and territories, and why the ACT and NT aren't states. Is it just a population thing? If so, why is Tasmainia not a territory, as its population is much closer to that of the ACT then South Australia
Historically Tasmania's population was much more similar to the other states than the two territories. Today I think it would be politically unpopular to try and reduce Tasmania's parliamentary representation so governments have avoided any changes to the constitution. Much more likely is that the ACT gains statehood at some point in the future, or at least increased political representation.
Hey do you have an interest in marginal seats? Because I have a HUGE eLection in my seat right now
Damn, if only I wasn't married that'd make me swoon
I don't know, but if I had to guess, the 'upper house' is 'upper' because it's the house of lords in the uk and lords are upperclass?
That makes sense
God the jokes make me laugh, this is great
What are your thoughts on the changes made to denounce the queens office from our Commonwealth Constituion in 1973, without referendum of the people?
could you elaborate on this event so I can find information about it?
can you please explain the 3 branches in a video soon!!
I have a video all about the difference between Federal, State, and Local government (I think it was the 2nd I made so excuse the bad lighting): ruclips.net/video/hSUN2RwefxY/видео.html
I also interview a mayor for a local government specific perspective: ruclips.net/video/TRptj5j6F2o/видео.html
And interview a state politician to dive specifically into state politics too: ruclips.net/video/_2h2suqV7F0/видео.html
I hope that helps!
Not sure if this was explained, but can a person change from the House of Representatives to the Senate?
Yes! It just requires that person to run for the different house at the next election (you can't just transfer you need to be elected). Barnaby Joyce the current Deputy Prime Minister was a Senator from 2005-2013 before running for the House of Representatives where he is today.
Perhaps South Australia are more keen on barrels of acid than tinder
'those unrepresentative swill over there'
"Explained" seems like wild exaggeration.
All Australian habit of bleating about the bush on political corruption we're not supposed to notice, like double speaking election promises that turn out the opposite in action or inaction.
Hey just curious what state do you live in? You don’t have to answer lol
WA
You need to make your videos shorter. My ADD cannot deal with this.
I absolutely agree. I'm tempted to remake some old vids but shorter