Political and Governmental Issues in Australia

The system of government in this country is based on the liberal democratic tradition. This kind of government is one based on the values of religious tolerance and gives its citizens the freedom of speech. The citizens also have the freedom of association which arises from the rule of law that has been put in place to ensure that no individual is discriminated against. The practices of the government and the institutions present in the Australian government are those that reflect the British and North American models and are seen as being uniquely Australian. Being a responsible government, it houses some of the oldest democracies in the world in the sense that it has the commonwealth of Australia which was created in 1901. This happened in a period when the six states had agreed to federate. The first Australian government adopted such measures as one man one vote and suffrage of women. Women were not allowed to take part in activities involving the government.

The Australian colonies had adopted several traditions from Britain and among them were the limited franchise and public voting by many citizens. Bribery and intimidation of the voters was on the rise during that period making citizens to become less interested in voting. This prompted the government to initiate several changes in the voting system. They adopted reforms that changed the electoral practice in order for them to adopt the modern democracies. The secret ballot method of voting was introduced and this granted each voter a right in the voting system. This was known throughout the world as the Australian ballot (Columbus, 2007). They went ahead to eliminate the professional and property qualifications that gave individuals certain rights when it came to ...

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...ent. It had become a challenge for them to obtain any vital information from their leaders who were in parliament. This indicates that in any political situation it is vital to have transparent leadership in order for the whole country to be at peace.

Works Cited

Columbus, F. (2007). Asian Economic and Political Issues, Volume 12. New York: Nova Publishers.

Corson, D. & Wodak, R. (1997). Language Policy and Political Issues in Education. Toronto: Springer.

Rumley, D., Forbes, L.V. Grifin, C. & (2006). Australia’s Arc of Instability: The Political and Cultural Dynamics of Regional Security. New York: Springer.

Sriramesh, K. & Vercic, D. (2009). The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research and Practice. New York: Taylor and Francis.

The Socialist Equality Party (Australia). (14 June 2011). The Political Issues Facing NSW (Australia) Workers.