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Question

Difficulty: MediumForming the Australian Government

In the Australian parliamentary system, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are responsible for representing the people and making laws. However, only one of these houses is used to determine which political party or coalition of parties will form the Australian Government after an election. Which house is this?

  1. The House of RepresentativesAnswer
  2. B
    The Senate
  3. C
    Both the House of Representatives and the Senate equally

Answer

The House of Representatives is the house where the Australian Government is formed.
The correct answer is the House of Representatives because it is the chamber where the party or coalition with the most seats is invited by the Governor-General to form the Australian Government. The leader of this majority party becomes the Prime Minister.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two houses of the Australian Federal Parliament.
The two houses are the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).
Understanding the structure of Parliament is necessary to distinguish between their different roles.
2
Recall the specific rule for forming the executive government.
The party or coalition of parties with the majority of seats in the House of Representatives forms the government.
This is a fundamental principle of the Westminster system of government used in Australia.
3
Select the house that matches this requirement.
The House of Representatives.
The Senate does not have the power to determine the formation of the government based on its seat count.

Key Concept

The Australian Government is formed by the majority in the House of Representatives.

Hints

1
Think about which house is often called the 'Lower House'.
2
The Prime Minister is almost always a member of this specific house.
3
Government is formed by the party that wins at least 76 of the 151 seats in this house.

Practice More

Review the roles of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to see how they lead the government formed in the House of Representatives.
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Forming the Australian Government

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