Australian Federal Parliament

APH: The Australian Federal Parliament was established in 1901 and consists of the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each member of the House of Representatives represents a constituency and is elected through a preferential voting system. The term of office is generally 3 years (until the next general election).

The party that wins the majority of seats in the House of Representatives in the general election becomes the ruling party, the leader of the party becomes the prime minister, and the ministers of various departments are appointed from the partys federal members and senators. The current House of Representatives was elected in November 2001 and has a total of 150 members, including 68 sea ts for the Liberal Party, 64 seats for the Australian Labor Party, 13 seats for the National Party, 1 seat for the Country Liberal Party, 1 seat for the Green Party, and 3 seats for independents.

The main duties of the House of Representatives are to legislate or amend existing laws; supervise government policies and control government financial expenditures; and express the will of voters. The House of Representatives meets for about 20 weeks each year, generally from February to March, May to June, and August to December, and the weekly session is from Monday to Thursday.