Senate (Australia)
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The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I, Part II of the Australian Constitution. Each Australian state is represented by twelve senators, regardless of population. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators serve staggered six-year terms; however after a double dissolution some senators only serve three year terms. Significant power is conferred upon the Senate by the Constitution, including the capacity to block legislation initiated by the government in the House of Representatives, making it a distinctive hybrid of British Westminster bicameralism and US-style bicameralism.
The present Parliament, as elected at the 2010 election, is the 43rd Federal Parliament since Federation. In the 76-seat Senate, where no party tends to have a majority of seats, the Greens gained the sole balance of power with a total of nine seats, previously holding a shared balance of power with the Family First Party and independent Nick Xenophon. Labor holding 31 seats, they require an additional eight non-Labor votes to pass legislation. The Coalition holds 34 seats, while the two remaining seats are occupied by Xenophon and Democratic Labor Party Senator John Madigan.
Read more about Senate (Australia): Origins and Role, Where The Houses Disagree, Blocking Supply, The Membership of The Senate, The Composition of The Senate
Famous quotes containing the word senate:
“We have been here over forty years, a longer period than the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness, coming to this Capitol pleading for this recognition of the principle that the Government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. Mr. Chairman, we ask that you report our resolution favorably if you can but unfavorably if you must; that you report one way or the other, so that the Senate may have the chance to consider it.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (18471919)