Australian Politics and Government

This article discusses the unique features of Australian politics and government, including the constitutional monarchy, mandatory voting rights, and the existence of racism. It also explores the role of the Australian Constitution in protecting citizens' fundamental rights and promoting social cohesion. The article concludes by discussing the government's treatment of aboriginal Australians and the steps taken to ensure their safety and security.

Running Head: AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
W2.
According to Hawkesworth (2015) politics are actions or activities resembled with the
notion of power in a country or society. In other words, it can be argued that politics is referred
to the process of becoming the centre of the power through personal relationship or working
together. It is always associated with the practice to grab the power or control in a government
within the nation or a region and procure effective measures to retain it.
In this regard, it is unique for the Australian politics to focus on the liberal democratic
traditions that includes the religious tolerance and freedom of speech. In this regard, it is
important to know that the Australia is a commonwealth nation and practiced the constitutional
monarchy. In this regard, to understand the Australian politics, it is essential to facilitate a better
connection since the inception of the white settlement in Australia. Walker (2015) advocated that
there was a sharp distinction between the so called Australian politics and indigenous culture.
Therefore, it is important for the researcher to understand the political formation in Australia and
the way it shaped through neglecting the aboriginal people deliberately.
As far as the politics in Australia is concerned, it is based on some key features that
distinguish the Australian politics among the international democratic formation. For an instance,
Bader (2014) mentioned that one of the major feature lays within the federal election of Australia
where the ruling party enjoys only three years of term. Secondly, Australia is one of the 22
countries where mandatory voting rights are enjoyed. It means people who will skip the election
have to pay fines. Thirdly, the research of Walker (2015) there is still the existence of racism
within the Australian politics where the leading political parties are openly support the practice
of racism. It creates huge debate and further introspection into the political nexus in Australia.

2AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
The book of Paul Kelly, The End of Certainty rightly portrayed the real image of the
Australian politics. According to her theory, there are five principles that led to the growth of
present day Australia, such as, White Australia, Industry Protection, Wage arbitration, State
paternalism and Imperial benevolence (Kelly 1994). White Australia defines the White settlers
who were the so called sole bearer of civilisation into the land. It can be stated that the entire
constitution of the nation was constructed by those white settlers. Moreover, the initial
protectionist policy of the Australian government was also responsible to solidify the economic
backbone of the country. As a result of that the foreign business companies could not find the
way to penetrate into the economy of Australia. Besides this, unionisation of the wage led to a
more effective measure for the industrialists and the government as well to settle out with the
labourers. Therefore, any possible outrage had been nullified in the inceptive phase. In addition
to this, the state paternalism was also identified an important aspect that helped the country to
foster its control over the common people. Moreover, showing the liberal approach of the Crown
government towards the White settlers curbed down atrocities and protests that ushered a steady
development for the Australian nation.
W3
Constitution is considered to be the foundation of democracy. According to Beveridge
(2017) the strong edifice of democracy is safeguarded by the constitutional mechanism. It is
associated with the fundamental rights and the rights for the citizens of any democratic nation.
As a matter of fact, the government is also abided by the constitution. From the research of
Walker (2015) it can be argued that constitution encompasses a set of laws and regulation that
facilitates minimal coordination among all the members of a society. In other words, it can be
stated that constitution plays a pivotal role in protecting the social cohesion among citizens.

3AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Moreover, the notion of separation of power paves an advantage for the constitution to keep the
government in limit. Therefore, the government is compelled to respect the interests of the
citizens and take adequate measures for their benefits. As a matter of fact, the paradigms of
equality and justice are also incorporated into the structure of constitution that fosters justice for
all irrespective of religion, case, creed, race or colour. In this regard, Landemore (2015) opined
that constitution is a set of rule that controls the government and the majority section in the
society to unleash tyranny and sectarian practices. From that point of view, it can be remarked
that the significance of constitution is still relevant today.
For an example, in the case of treating the aboriginals and the Torres Straight Islanders,
the role of Australian constitution is highly relevant. Since the draft of the constitution, the
constitution deliberately isolated the aboriginal Australians from their jurisdiction. The
stereotypes about the indigenous people of Australia made the white settlers sceptical about their
culture and taboos that were identified as uncivilised in the glance of the so called civilised
White settlers. There were a number of amendments and strong protests from the indigenous
people to get their own rights. In course of time, the government also realises the versatility of
the cultural exchange and importance of enacting some regulations and principles to fulfil the
interests of the minorities. Based on this, currently the Australian Constitution takes some
significant steps in order to ensure the safety and security of the aboriginal culture. for an
instance, the Aboriginal Protect Act, 1869 was the most crucial step in the history of Australian
Constitution (Wensing and Porter 2016). It was followed by several other reforms that the
government had to taken for coping with the constitution. In addition to this, the Aboriginal Land
Rights Act in 1976 has come into action in order to offer the native Australians to get their lands
and ensure equality within the country. Moreover, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

4AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Commission Act also instigates the authority to take adequate steps for the betterment of the
native Australians. Therefore, it can be concluded that constitution has a great influence in the
government decision making on behalf of the citizens.

5AUSTRALIAN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Reference
Bader, V., 2014. Sciences, politics, and associative democracy: democratizing science and
expertizing democracy. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 27(4),
pp.420-441.
Beveridge, R., 2017. The (ontological) politics in depoliticisation debates: Three lenses on the
decline of the political. Political studies review, 15(4), pp.589-600.
Hawkesworth, M., 2015. Contending Conceptions of Science and Politics Methodology and the
Constitution of the Political. In Interpretation and Method (pp. 59-81). Routledge.
Kelly, P. (1994). The End of Certainty: Power, Politics, and Business in Australia. 2nd ed. Allen
& Unwin.
Landemore, H., 2015. Inclusive constitution‐making: The Icelandic experiment. Journal of
Political Philosophy, 23(2), pp.166-191.
Walker, G., 2015. The right to energy: meaning, specification and the politics of
definition. L'Europe en Formation, (4), pp.26-38.
Wensing, E. and Porter, L., 2016. Unsettling planning's paradigms: towards a just
accommodation of Indigenous rights and interests in Australian urban planning?. Australian
Planner, 53(2), pp.91-102.