The 'Washminster' hybrid
The Australian system of government is a hyrbrid. When the Australian Founding Fathers wrote the Australian Constitution in the 1890s they combined elements of the British parliamentary model and the federal model of government from the United States of America into something uniquely Australian.
The 'Washminster' mutation is used to remind us that while the British heritage, Westminster, is dominant, the influences of the American model, Washington, on our system of government are substantial and cannot be ignored.
Westminster:
From the British tradition Australia's founding fathers borrowed:
Washington:
From the US tradition they borrowed:
The 'Washminster' mutation is used to remind us that while the British heritage, Westminster, is dominant, the influences of the American model, Washington, on our system of government are substantial and cannot be ignored.
Westminster:
From the British tradition Australia's founding fathers borrowed:
- a constitutional monarch (who is a non political, non-executive head of State)
- the Westminster model of representative parliamentary democracy and responsible Cabinet government
- the English legal system
Washington:
From the US tradition they borrowed:
- a federal system where powers are divided between the central (Commonwealth) and regional (state) governments
- an entrenched constitution which provides the fundamental law, limiting the sovereignty of Commonwealth and state parliaments
- a Supreme Court (the High Court), which rules on the validity and constitutionality of Commonwealth and state laws
- a Senate, or "States House", as part of the legislature with equal representation from each state
- different parliamentary terms for both Houses of Parliament, and a rotating system of election for Senators
- relatively short terms for the House of Representatives of up to 3 years.
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
washminster_hybrid.pdf |