Can Responsible Government Survive in Australia?
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Can Responsible Government Survive In Australia? DAVID HAMER Department of the Senate Published by The Department of the Senate Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia First published 1994 This edition, revised by the author in 2001, published 2004 © Barbara Hamer This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher and the copyright owner. National Library of Australia cataloguing-in-publication data Hamer, David Can responsible government survive in Australia? Bibliography ISBN 0 642 71433 9 1. Parliamentary practice—Australia. 2. Representative government and representation— Australia. 3. Australia—Politics and government. 4. Canada—Politics and government. 5. Great Britain— Politics and government. 6. New Zealand—Politics and government. I. Australia. Parliament. Dept. of the Senate. II. Title. 320.30994 Printed by the Department of the Senate, Canberra. Foreword to the second edition This book was originally published in 1994. The author had just completed work on a second edition when he died in January 2002. At the request of his widow, Mrs Barbara Hamer, the Department of the Senate undertook to edit and publish the manuscript. We did so because Can Responsible Government Survive in Australia? has proved to be an invaluable and unique repository of comparative information about the powers and practices of twenty legislatures in Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. I know of no other book like it. David Hamer, apart from his career as a great parliamentarian, was an enthusiastic and colourful writer and a man of firm opinions. Needless to say, in publishing this book neither the Senate nor its staff endorses all the author’s views. Much of the content is historical in nature and the overwhelming majority of the text does not suffer greatly from the fact that it does not cover events since January 2002. To have brought it up to date would have required not only the updating of facts but also the modification of some of the conclusions and judgements that the author had made on the basis of the facts as they stood in 2002. It was considered best therefore to leave the text, apart from copy editing, largely as David Hamer left it. We have also retained the author’s original introduction and the foreword to the first edition by Professor Don Aitkin. HARRY EVANS CLERK OF THE SENATE Foreword to the first edition David Hamer is one of a small band of politicians who have had experience in both houses of the Australian Parliament. The passage between chambers is best known in the movement from the Senate to the House, and usually occurs when an aspirant for the highest executive office moves to the only house in which a prime minister can now expect to sit. David Hamer’s movement was in the opposite direction, and perhaps it is not surprising that one outcome of such a political experience is this thoughtful and important book on ‘responsible government’, a phrase much used at times of political drama, but not well understood. The focus of the book, understandably, is on the institution of parliament. But it is worth saying something about the people for whom, by whom and of whom the parliament is constituted—the citizens, or the electorate. It is common to blame parliamentarians for their sins of commission and omission. Since they have all in some sense been elected, however, some responsibility surely lies also with the electors. What we know of Australian electors, through survey and other evidence, is that they are not schooled in the history or philosophy of responsible government. They do have a strong belief in the virtues of voting, and they see their power as negative in character rather than positive—that is, their job is to put governments in and let them get on with the job; if a government does its job badly they will eventually ‘turf it out’ and put the other lot in. They are practised voters, and believe not only that they themselves should vote, but that all other electors should also vote. Although compulsory voting was instituted by parliamentarians who wanted cheaper elections for their parties, it is undoubtedly supported by the electors themselves and is in no serious danger of being dismantled. The other plainly important characteristic of electors is that they are partisan: they prefer (and vote for) one party rather than another, and their preference tends to be a continuing one. It is that which is largely responsible for the great stability of the Australian party system, which shows little sign of change, despite wars hot and cold, depressions and recessions, immigration, environmental concerns and the changing balance between the sexes. v Partisanship and frequent elections are the conditions in which the Australian Parliament operates. Australian politics is in every way as good an example as manufacturing of the division of labour that so characterises western societies. The electors rely on the parliamentarians to do the job they have been elected to do. Having followed their partisanship and flexed their electoral muscles, Australian citizens return to their absorbing lives after election day with the satisfaction of those who think they have done a good day’s work. Politics for them is not a matter of daily concern. In all of this they are not very different from British, American, Swedish or Belgian citizens. The twentieth century did not produce the nineteenth century dream of a lively citizenry continually occupied with the great questions both of the day and of existence. Paradoxically, that makes the task of parliament, and the business of parliamentary reform, even more urgent. David Hamer’s long experience of the Parliament’s two chambers, and his obvious capacities for analysis and reflection have combined to produce a book of great importance, not just to the parliamentarians themselves, but to all of us who care that our society constantly gets better, not just economically, or musically, or gastronomically, but in the way it governs itself. DON AITKIN Vice-Chancellor University of Canberra April 1994 Contents Foreword to the second edition iii Foreword to the first edition iv Introduction xvii PART 1 The beginnings of the Westminster system 1 THE ORIGINS OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 3 United Kingdom 4 Canada 9 Australia 14 New Zealand 18 2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTMINSTER SYSTEM 21 United Kingdom 21 The House of Lords 21 The House of Commons 23 Electoral systems 24 Devolution of power to Scotland and Wales 25 Northern Ireland Parliament 26 Heads of state 28 Election of parliamentary leaders 28 The European Union 29 Canada 32 The Constitution 33 Quebec 34 The Senate 36 The Privy Council 39 The Governor-General 40 Federal elections 40 The Canadian provinces 42 Provincial upper houses 42 Lieutenant-governors 44 Electoral systems 44 viii Australia 46 Federation conferences 46 The Constitution 48 Electoral system 51 The Governor-General 52 Australian independence 52 The republic issue 53 The Australian states 55 State constitutions 55 Upper houses 56 Electoral systems 56 State governors 58 State governments 59 New Zealand 60 The Constitution 60 The upper house 61 Voting systems 61 Foreign policy 62 PART 2 The performance of the Westminster system parliaments in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, 1970–2000 3 CHOOSING A GOVERNMENT—LOWER HOUSES AS ELECTORAL COLLEGES 66 The US model 67 A fair and decisive result? 68 United Kingdom 68 Canada 70 Australia 72 New Zealand 74 Summary 77 Distribution of electorates 77 Introduction 77 United Kingdom 78 Canada 79 ix The Canadian provinces 80 Australia 82 The Australian states 82 New Zealand 83 Voting systems 84 Compulsory voting 84 Proportional representation 85 Minority governments 88 Public financial support to political parties for election campaigns 91 United Kingdom 91 Canada 92 Australia 92 New Zealand 93 Recall of members of parliament 93 The power of parliament to ‘dismiss a ruler’ 94 Changes of prime minister 95 United Kingdom 95 Canada 96 Australia 96 New Zealand 97 How long a term? 98 United Kingdom 99 Canada 100 Australia 100 New Zealand 102 Fixed terms for lower houses 102 Upper houses forcing elections 106 United Kingdom 107 Canada 107 New Zealand 107 Australia 107 The role of the head of state 110 Conclusions 110 x 4 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT 113 Executive councils 114 Power of the prime minister 115 Size of the ministry 117 United Kingdom 118 Selection of the ministry 120 Ministerial membership of parliament 124 Cabinet committees 126 Ministerial administration 127 The executive government by-passing the parliament 130 Defence 130 Foreign Affairs 132 Executive federalism 137 Obligations of ministers 137 Dismissals of ministers 139 Resignations of ministers 140 Resignations over the collective responsibility of Cabinet 142 Resignations for personal errors 144 Resignations because of unacceptable personal behaviour 145 Extra-parliamentary political bodies 148 Appointment of judges 149 Conclusions 151 5 CURIOUSLY ILL-DEFINED—THE ROLE OF THE HEAD OF STATE 154 Approval of legislation 156 Dissolution of parliament 157 Appointment of a prime minister 163 xi Dismissal of a prime minister 165 Summoning of parliament 166 Codification of the head of state’s powers 168 Appointment and dismissal of the head of state 169 Conclusions 171 6 PASSING LAWS—LOWER HOUSES AS LEGISLATURES 173 The ideal legislature