Politics of Victoria (Australia)
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Victorian politics takes place in context of bicameral parliamentary system. The two main parties are the governing Liberal Party of Australia and the Australian Labor Party opposition. Other minor parties include the National Party (who have at times acted in Coalition with the Liberals, including currently), the Greens, and the Democratic Labor Party.
The Victorian Government is often referred to as Spring Street, a metonym of the street of that name where the Parliament House of Victoria is located in Melbourne.
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[edit] Government
The Australian state of Victoria has a bicameral parliament. The Legislative Assembly (lower house) is composed of 88 members of parliament, each of whom represent a single electorate. The voting system is preferential. Until recently, Members of the Assembly serve for between three and four years, but the Bracks Government has made terms a fixed length of four years. The Legislative Council (upper house) has 40 members. The state is organised into 8 electoral provinces, each with five members. These members are elected at the same time as Members of the Legislative Assembly using a proportional voting system. This method of organising the Legislative Council was adopted by the Parliament in 2003 on the advice of a Constitutional Committee convened in 2001. Prior to this, the Legislative Council was organised into 22 electoral provinces, each with two members. Council members served for two terms of the Assembly, with half submitting themselves to the electorate at each election. Hence, the Council never formally dissolved. The Queen of Australia has a representative called the Governor who formally appoints the elected Premier. In practice the Governor has no real power.
[edit] Notable Victorian political figures
Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix (opponent of conscription in World War I)
John Wren - notorious bookmaker, underworld figure and politician. The famous novel Power Without Glory by Communist author Frank Hardy was allegedly based on his exploits, although a short TV documentary appearing on Rewind showed Hardy's portrayal of Wren as a lifelong crime figure was itself politically motivated. Unsuccessful attempts were made to suppress the novel on the grounds of libel, although these backfired and caused the fictional life of Hardy's John West to become tangled with Wren's in the minds of most Australians.
Robert Menzies: Australia's longest serving Prime Minister held office during the 1950s and 1960s. Remembered for anti-communism, extreme devotion to the Queen and Empire, and for a period of particular prosperity and a sense of well-being and stability in Australia.
Henry Bolte: Premier of Victoria from 1955 to 1972. Was notable for his conservative populist style and for his role in the last judicial execution (the hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967) in Australia.
Jeff Kennett: Premier from 1992 to 1999. His aggressive reforms and populist style led to a surprise electoral loss in 1999 to Steve Bracks.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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