Practice SAC answers:
1.
The second reading occurs after the bill is first introduced and the
title is read out in the first reading. During the 2nd reading, the Minister responsible for
the bill provides detailed explanation and justification for its purpose to parliament. Members are then given the opportunity to debate and analyse aspects of the bill. If it is a non-controversial draft of legislation, it can be voted upon and passed up to the Upper House.
2.
Representative government refers to the notion that members of
parliament must uphold and speak on behalf of the people. As MPs are elected
into power by a democratic election, this principle reinforces the idea that
these individuals should act as the collective voice of their people in
parliament. If governments are found not to uphold the people’s views, they face
not being re-elected.
3.
The bicameral structure of Australia’s parliament is important because
it provides a system of review for legislation being made and introduced by
government. The Upper House, also referred to as the Senate has the
responsibility to analysing and scrutinising bills initiated by the Lower House
to ensure that they don’t unfairly disadvantage the states. This system ensures
that legislation are fair and don’t just represent the interests of the
government of the day.
4.
One difficulty faced by parliament when passing legislation is the
wording of the law. When bills are rushed through parliament without adequate
consideration, terms used may be too broad in order to define or too ambiguous.
As such, people may face difficulty interpreting the law and law enforcement may
struggle to enforce the law within society.
5.
The doctrine of separation of powers relates to the division of law
making powers within Australia’s legal system. This structure involves three
branches: the legislative function is given to parliament to make laws. The
executive branch is awarded to the Cabinet to implement and administers laws
into society. Lastly the judiciary function involves the interpretation and
application of laws into society and resolving disputes. This is awarded to the
courts and judges. This principle thus ensures that power is not concentrate and
a system of checks and balances exists.
6.
One of parliament’s strength is that they are a democratically elected
body. This means that members of parliament must uphold and the dominant values
and views of the people in which they represent. To do so, they should initiate
laws and make decisions that reflect these ideas and values. Another strength of
parliament is that it can delegate law making powers. This involves parliament
being able to assign areas of law making to subordinate authorities in order to
address certain or specialist areas such as tax and road rules.
Despite this, there are obvious weaknesses. One clear disadvantage of parliament is that they are often fear not being re-elected and therefore are hesitant to legislation in areas that are
politically sensitive. Areas such as same sex marriage and euthanasia are often
a divisive issue in society and MPs often worry about isolating the people of
their electorate hence refusing to legislate on these matters despite notions
that society supports these changes. This creates a situation where parliament
becomes stagnant and non-progressive. Another clear disadvantage is members
within delegated authorities are democratically elected. Here, parliament has
assigned areas of law making to groups that have not been placed in power by the
people. This can lead to laws being made that don’t reflect community values
leading to discontentment and confusion.
7.
One of parliament’s disadvantages is that they tend to give into
pressure initiate by lobby groups. These groups tend to be very vocal and public
in their demonstrations that demand for changes in the law. Despite not
representing the majority of the people’s views and not an elected body,
parliament will tend to bow to the pressure created by these groups because they
don’t want to be publically seen as irresponsive or powerless. Another aspect of
parliament’s flaw is that it can become affected by the rubber stamp effect. If
the government dominates both Houses of parliament then bills that are initiated
may automatically pass through both Houses because the Upper House will tend to
automatically support the bill from the Lower House. This is a flaw in
parliament’s structure as it means that bills don’t receive the same level of
scrutiny and analysis if there wasn’t a dominant government in both Houses.
In saying that, parliament has the ability to involve the public in the law making process. Through resources such as the Victorian Law Reform Commission, parliament is able to gain input and suggestions from members of society that are directly affected or are
knowledgeable in the area. This ensures laws that are made are consistent,
effective and accepted by society. Another benefit of parliament’s ability is
that it can make laws in futuro or ‘for the future’.Here, if parliament can
foresee an issue or problem arising in society, it can try can to introduce
legislation to act as a preventative measure to minimize or contain the
potential issue. An example of this would be parliament’s response by
introducing the Vicious and Lawless Act in Queensland to stem further issues
arising out of crimes by bikie gang members.
1.
The second reading occurs after the bill is first introduced and the
title is read out in the first reading. During the 2nd reading, the Minister responsible for
the bill provides detailed explanation and justification for its purpose to parliament. Members are then given the opportunity to debate and analyse aspects of the bill. If it is a non-controversial draft of legislation, it can be voted upon and passed up to the Upper House.
2.
Representative government refers to the notion that members of
parliament must uphold and speak on behalf of the people. As MPs are elected
into power by a democratic election, this principle reinforces the idea that
these individuals should act as the collective voice of their people in
parliament. If governments are found not to uphold the people’s views, they face
not being re-elected.
3.
The bicameral structure of Australia’s parliament is important because
it provides a system of review for legislation being made and introduced by
government. The Upper House, also referred to as the Senate has the
responsibility to analysing and scrutinising bills initiated by the Lower House
to ensure that they don’t unfairly disadvantage the states. This system ensures
that legislation are fair and don’t just represent the interests of the
government of the day.
4.
One difficulty faced by parliament when passing legislation is the
wording of the law. When bills are rushed through parliament without adequate
consideration, terms used may be too broad in order to define or too ambiguous.
As such, people may face difficulty interpreting the law and law enforcement may
struggle to enforce the law within society.
5.
The doctrine of separation of powers relates to the division of law
making powers within Australia’s legal system. This structure involves three
branches: the legislative function is given to parliament to make laws. The
executive branch is awarded to the Cabinet to implement and administers laws
into society. Lastly the judiciary function involves the interpretation and
application of laws into society and resolving disputes. This is awarded to the
courts and judges. This principle thus ensures that power is not concentrate and
a system of checks and balances exists.
6.
One of parliament’s strength is that they are a democratically elected
body. This means that members of parliament must uphold and the dominant values
and views of the people in which they represent. To do so, they should initiate
laws and make decisions that reflect these ideas and values. Another strength of
parliament is that it can delegate law making powers. This involves parliament
being able to assign areas of law making to subordinate authorities in order to
address certain or specialist areas such as tax and road rules.
Despite this, there are obvious weaknesses. One clear disadvantage of parliament is that they are often fear not being re-elected and therefore are hesitant to legislation in areas that are
politically sensitive. Areas such as same sex marriage and euthanasia are often
a divisive issue in society and MPs often worry about isolating the people of
their electorate hence refusing to legislate on these matters despite notions
that society supports these changes. This creates a situation where parliament
becomes stagnant and non-progressive. Another clear disadvantage is members
within delegated authorities are democratically elected. Here, parliament has
assigned areas of law making to groups that have not been placed in power by the
people. This can lead to laws being made that don’t reflect community values
leading to discontentment and confusion.
7.
One of parliament’s disadvantages is that they tend to give into
pressure initiate by lobby groups. These groups tend to be very vocal and public
in their demonstrations that demand for changes in the law. Despite not
representing the majority of the people’s views and not an elected body,
parliament will tend to bow to the pressure created by these groups because they
don’t want to be publically seen as irresponsive or powerless. Another aspect of
parliament’s flaw is that it can become affected by the rubber stamp effect. If
the government dominates both Houses of parliament then bills that are initiated
may automatically pass through both Houses because the Upper House will tend to
automatically support the bill from the Lower House. This is a flaw in
parliament’s structure as it means that bills don’t receive the same level of
scrutiny and analysis if there wasn’t a dominant government in both Houses.
In saying that, parliament has the ability to involve the public in the law making process. Through resources such as the Victorian Law Reform Commission, parliament is able to gain input and suggestions from members of society that are directly affected or are
knowledgeable in the area. This ensures laws that are made are consistent,
effective and accepted by society. Another benefit of parliament’s ability is
that it can make laws in futuro or ‘for the future’.Here, if parliament can
foresee an issue or problem arising in society, it can try can to introduce
legislation to act as a preventative measure to minimize or contain the
potential issue. An example of this would be parliament’s response by
introducing the Vicious and Lawless Act in Queensland to stem further issues
arising out of crimes by bikie gang members.