Aurisian House of Representatives
House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
| ??th Parliament of Australia | |
| File:Coat of arms of Aurisia.svg | |
| Type | |
| Type | of the Parliament of Aurisia |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 225 |
| File:Aurisian House of Representatives chart.svg | |
Political groups | Government (112) Labor (84) |
Length of term | 3 years |
| Elections | |
| Instant-runoff voting | |
Last election | 2022 |
Next election | 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
| House of Representatives Chamber Parliament House Koloberra, Aurisian Capital Territory Commonwealth of Aurisia | |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Aurisia |
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| Constitution |
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The Aurisian House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Aurisia, sitting alongside the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Aurisian Constitution.
The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House. Elections for members of the House of Representatives are often held in conjunction with those for the Senate. A member of the House may be referred to as a "Member of Parliament" ("MP" or "Member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "Senator". The government of the day, and by extension, the Prime Minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power.
The House of Representatives currently consists of 225 members, elected by and representing single member districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, which are required on a regular basis. The Chamber of the House of Representatives is designed to seat up to 246 members, with provision for an ultimate total of 314 to be accommodated.
Each division elects one member using full-preferential instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 19?? by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote and the help of vote splitting in the conservative parties. The Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preferential voting, effective from the 19?? general election.
Origins and role
Electoral system
Current House of Representatives
House of Representatives primary, two-party and seat results
Committees
In addition to the work of the main chamber, the House of Representatives also has a large number of committees which deal with matters referred to them by the main House. They provide the opportunity for all members to ask questions of ministers and public officials as well as conduct inquiries, and examine policy and legislation. Once a particular inquiry is completed, the members of the committee can then produce a report to be tabled in Parliament, outlining what they have discovered as well as any recommendations that they have produced for the Government to consider.
Types of committees include:
Standing committees
- Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Appropriations and Administration
- Culture and Sports
- Economics, Tax and Revenue
- Employment, Education and Training
- Environment, Water and Energy
- Health and Social Care
- Indigenous Affairs
- Industry, Science and Innovation
- Petitions and Publications
- Privileges and Members' Interests
- Procedure
- Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport
- Selection
Joint committees
- Aurisian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
- Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings
- Corporations and Financial Services
- Electoral Matters
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
- Government Procurement
- Human Rights
- Intelligence and Security
- Law Enforcement
- Migration
- National Capital and External Territories
- National Disability Insurance Scheme
- Parliamentary Library
- Public Accounts and Audit
- Publications
- Public Works
- Trade and Investment Growth
- Treaties
Federation Chamber
The Federation Chamber is a secondary debating chamber that considers relatively uncontroversial matters referred by the House. It cannot, however, initiate or make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between.
The chamber was created in 1994 as the Main Committee, to relieve some of the burden of the House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Federation Chamber, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the Deputy Speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large.
The Federation Chamber was created through the House's Standing Orders: it is thus a subordinate body of the House, and can only be in session while the House itself is in session. When a division vote in the House occurs, members in the Federation Chamber must return to the House to vote. The chamber is housed in one of the House's committee rooms; the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble the House chamber.
Due to the unique role of what was then called the Main Committee, proposals were made to rename the body to avoid confusion with other parliamentary committees, including "Second Chamber" and "Federation Chamber". The House of Representatives later adopted the latter proposal.
The concept of a parallel body to expedite parliamentary business, based on the Aurisian Federation Chamber, was mentioned in a 1998 Erealandian House of Commons report, which led to the creation of that body's parallel chamber - the Westhaughton Hall.
Relationship with the Government
Under the Constitution, the Governor-General has the power to appoint and dismiss the "ministers of State" who administer government departments. In practice, the Governor-General chooses ministers in accordance with the traditions of the Westhaughton system that the Government be drawn from the party or coalition of parties that has a majority in the House of Representatives, with the leader of the largest party thus becoming Prime Minister.
The ministers then meet in a council known as Cabinet. Cabinet meetings are strictly private and are frequently held to discuss vital issues and make policy decisions. Although the Federal Executive Council is, in practice, Aurisia's highest formal governmental body, it meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. All members of the Cabinet are members of the Executive Council. While the Governor-General is nominal presiding officer, he almost never attends Executive Council meetings. A senior member of the Cabinet holds the office of Vice-President of the Executive Council and acts as the Council's presiding officer in the absence of the Governor-General. The Federal Executive Council is the Aurisian equivalent to other councils in other Commonwealth realms such as the King's Privy Council for Mardisia and the Privy Council of Erealand.
A minister is not required to be a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives at the time of their appointment, but their office is forfeited if they do not become a member of either house, within three months of their appointment. This provision was included in the Constitution (section 64) to enable the inaugural ministry, led by Edmund Hallingsworth, to be appointed on January 1, 1905, even though the first federal elections were not scheduled to be held until March ?? and ??.
The provision was also used after the disappearance and presumed death of the Liberal Prime Minister ??? in December 196?.
In many cases, when ministers retired from their seats before an election, or stood for election but lost their seats, they retained their ministerial posts until the next government was sworn in.