Australian Federal Government Model for Institutional Reform in Shangri-La

ASSIGNMENT: INSTITUTIONS LAW
AND GOVERNMENT 2019

Table of Contents
Australian Federal governmentmodel for institutional reform in Shangri-La.................................3
The key advantages of the Australian model in Shangri-La............................................................5
The possible gaps or risks in the model from Shangri-La’s perspective.........................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MODEL FOR
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN SHANGRI-LA
Australia is stated as the Federation of 6 states which combines with 2 self-governing Territories,
have their own constitutions, laws, government and Parliament. Under the federal government
system of Australia, powers are categorized between individual states and the central
government (Fawcett and Marsh, 2017). The Parliament of Australia comprises of the Queen
represented by the Governor-General - the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Federal
Government of Australia is divided into three arms namely; the legislature, executive and
judiciary.
By considering the situation of Shangri-La, it is essential that she considers the structure and
operations of the Australian Federal System, as in this case the country should follow the same
federal structure. However, she also considers that when her son takes her place to govern the
country, his power and role under the new constitution will be very limited.The federal, state,
Northern Territory and Act governments have three arms which are; a legislature who is liable
for debating and voting on the introduction of new laws, an executive who is liable for enacting
and retaining the laws, and a judiciary who is liable for enforcing these laws (Daniell and Kay,
2017).
Federal Parliament members are selected and elected by the people. In addition, voting is
mandatory for the citizens of Australia above the age of 18. It can be said that federal parliament
and can make laws, which are inclusive of International and interstate trade, Foreign affairs,
Quarantine, Defence, Immigration, Taxation, Banking, Insurance, Marriage and divorce,

Currency, weights and measures, post and telecommunications and invalid and old age pensions
(Aroney, 2016).
Since the Shangri-La is facing the issue of the water resources of the Shangri-La river which are
inequitably distributed, and the national government is also not considering and mitigating the
environmental risks placed by climate change. In this aspect, for the current case scenario, the
Australia Federal system will be best applicable as it provides better oversight in areas wherein
waterways crosses the boundaries of state and territory (Allan, 2016). Federal government
legislation also helps in protecting the items of the Shangri-La heritage (natural, cultural and
historic) like sites and objects of significance.The federal government also raises money to
operate the country with the collection of taxes on goods and services, income, profits and
expenditures, such as trade, immigration, environment and defence (Birkland, 2015). Although
Shangri-La is enjoying a strong economy due to a steady increase in immigration, and
consequently, the federal government will help in aiding immigration, which will thereby
increase diversity and multi-culture.
A federal structure will allow the citizens of Shangri-La to make a comparison of the different
political system is working in a similar country and to act on the same comparisons by giving a
vote on their own. The advantage will come in the form of is that it will provide accommodation
of local preferences and diversity (Kay, 2017). In addition, a federal constitution will provide
Shangri-La with the flexibility to lodge variation in the base of economy, attitudes and social
tastes. Further, these traits correlate considerably with geography and state in a federation can be
implemented to local conditions in a manner that is rather difficult to conduct in a national
unitary system. Similarly, with respect to the case, if the country adopts the structure of the