Vous partez en stage linguistique en Australie et souhaitez mieux comprendre la politique du pays et la nature de son régime ? L’organisme LEC fait le point.
Australia is a member of the Commonwealth
Le nom officiel et complet de l’Australie est « Commonwealth d’Australie » ou Commonwealth of Australia en anglais. Le pays fait en effet partie du Commonwealth of Nations, organisation intergouvernementale composée de plus de 50 États membres qui sont presque tous d’anciens territoires de l’Empire britannique.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy
From this British heritage, Australia has retained both its form of government and its head of state. The former is a constitutional monarchy; the latter is none other than Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General.
A bicameral federal parliament
In Australia, as in the United Kingdom, the head of government is the prime minister. The federal parliament, meanwhile, consists of two chambers:
- the House of Representatives, on the one hand: its 150 members are elected for a three-year term by direct universal suffrage using a ranked-choice voting system, also known as preferential voting. Each district elects one representative.
- the Senate, on the other hand: its members are elected through a system of proportional representation
Political parties in Australia
Although it consists of several parties, the Australian political landscape is dominated by three of them:
- the Liberal Party of Australia, a center-right party
- the National Party of Australia, a conservative party
- the Australian Labor Party (also known by the acronym ALP), a social democratic party
However, other political parties manage to stand out, such as the Australian Greens, a party dedicated to environmental protection.