federal Parliament—makes laws for the whole of Australia. 6 state and 2 mainland territory parliaments—make laws for their state or territory. over 500 local councils—make local laws (by-laws) for their region or district.
1.1 Head of State and Governor-General
Australia's Head of State is the King of Australia, His Majesty King Charles III. Under the Australian Constitution, executive power is exercised by the Governor‑General as the King's representative.
Major State responsibilities include schools, hospitals, conservation and environment, roads, railways and public transport, public works, agriculture and fishing, industrial relations, community services, sport and recreation, consumer affairs, police, prisons and emergency services.
Under the Australian Constitution, former royal prerogatives—including the power to make war, deploy troops and declare peace—are part of the executive power of the Commonwealth. Executive power is recognised in section 61 of the Constitution.
The Australian Constitution makes no reference to 'overthrowing governments' or 'tyrannical' behaviour. The Constitution outlines how the Australian Government is formed and how members of parliament are elected by the Australian people.
Australia currently has provisions for conscription, only during times of war if it is authorised by the governor-general and approved within 90 days by both houses of Parliament, as outlined in Part IV of the Defence Act 1903.
How Can Conscription be Introduced? As noted, conscription was abolished by law in 1973. But the Defence Act 1903 as amended retained a provision that it could be reintroduced by proclamation of the Governor-General. Potentially all Australian residents between the ages of 18 and 60 could be called up in this way.
The Government has deployed Australian Defence Force personnel to operations overseas and within Australia to protect Australia and its national interests. ADF members are actively protecting Australia's borders and offshore maritime interests.
The Minister for Home Affairs may permit recruitment of a person or class of persons to serve with an armed force of a foreign country if it is in the interests of the defence or international relations of Australia. It is not an offence under Part 5.5 for an Australian to join the armed forces of a foreign country.
The final constitutional ties between the United Kingdom and Australia ended in 1986 with the passing of the Australia Act 1986. Formal economic relations between the two countries declined following Britain's accession to the European Economic Community in 1973.
The present monarch is Charles III, styled King of Australia, who has reigned since 8 September 2022. He is represented in Australia as a whole by the governor-general, in accordance with the Australian Constitution and letters patent from the king.
Under section 109 of the Australian Constitution, if a state parliament and the federal Parliament pass conflicting laws on the same subject, then the federal law overrides the state law. Section 122 of the Constitution allows the federal Parliament to override a territory law at any time.
Her Majesty (the Sovereign in particular) is the ultimate authority in the United Kingdom and rules over the nation as well as parliament through the Royal Prerogative*, which are powers that are used according to the laws enacted in Parliament or within the confines of precedent and convention.
Arguably, Australia is already an energy superpower - but of the 'non-renewable' or 'fossil-fuel' variety – being the world's largest exporter of coal, and one of the largest exporters of gas and uranium.
For 2022, Australia is ranked 17 of 142 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. It holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.2377 (a score of 0.0000 is considered 'perfect').
Australia and Russia share membership of key multilateral forums including the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN Regional Forum, East Asia Summit (EAS) and the Group of 20 (G20).
In 2014, Australia was granted NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner status as a 'valuable, capable and reliable partner', alongside Finland, Georgia, Jordan, Sweden and Ukraine. Australia's relationship with NATO continues to evolve in response to today's complex security environment.
Australia does not possess any nuclear weapons and is not seeking to become a nuclear weapon state. Australia's core obligations as a non-nuclear-weapon state are set out in the NPT.
Since that time, United States has been the most important security ally. The close security relationship with the United States was formalized in 1951 by the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security (ANZUS) Treaty which remains the cornerstone of Australian security arrangements.
However, Axis surface raiders and submarines periodically attacked shipping in the Australian coastal waters from late 1940 to early 1945. Japanese aircraft bombed towns and airfields in Northern Australia on ninety-seven occasions during 1942 and 1943.
Australia's history is different from that of many other nations in that since the first coming of the Europeans and their dispossession of the Aboriginals, Australia has not experienced a subsequent invasion; no war has since been fought on Australian soil.
Although Australia is not a member of NATO, it has cooperated with NATO forces by sending military units to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Constitutional convention requires that the declaration of war or commitment of British armed forces is authorised by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Crown. Parliament has no official constitutional role in the process. However, ministers are still accountable to Parliament for the actions they take.
The Armed Forces
However, Hennessy says that "war is an intensely prime ministerial activity." The decision to deploy the armed forces overseas rests with the prime minister or the Cabinet, through the exercise of the royal prerogative.