It was the first time in a Westminster democracy that citizens were given the chance to change their electoral system. The rest is history.
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As shocking at Morrison’s behaviour was, it may be that the failure of the Coalition parties to clearly condemn it that inflicts the greater long-term damage.
People who claim the law was not broken by the scandal are missing the point. It’s about the conventions and accountability that is embedded in the Westminster system.
A review of Question Time in the House of Representatives aims to make it more democratic and more edifying. But it’s not the structure as much as the culture that needs fixing.
The fundamental structure of the current constitution, which is cast in classical Westminster conceptions, is unsuited for modern-day constitutionalism.
Canada has the largest cohort of political staff in any Anglo-Westminster country. Is it time for reform?
South Africa’s parliamentary system would make it difficult to achieve a fusion of parties.
Australia’s minimal legal and political regulation of ministerial advisers has led to an accountability deficit.
When Attorney-General George Brandis was asked on Q&A about a parliamentary vote on the decision to go to war, he said that was not part of the Westminster tradition. Is that right?
Australia’s Constitution sets the ground rules for its system of government. But many things one might expect to be in the Constitution are simply not there.
The public service is meant to be independent and bipartisan. But “political” appointments and funding arrangements can hamstring their ability to give fair and frank advice.
Across the world, debates have emerged around the extent to which the legislative branch should be involved in – and even have the final say on – authorisation of military deployment.
Political conventions may be challenged and redefined by every new government, but it is their role in promoting political accountability that ensures the health of our democracy.
The upper house has humiliated the government, and now there’ll be hell to pay – or will there?
Since 2007 Australia has not really had prime ministers of sufficient calibre. Instead, we have had an incessant struggle for power by those who believed they had the goods.
Collective responsibility – or cabinet solidarity – is an axiom of political prudence that has mutated into a constitutional convention of how ministers should behave.
Ed Miliband’s recent proposal to hold regular Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) with members of the public was met with derision from some commentators. In typical critical fashion, Telegraph blogger Dan…
It was revealed last week that prime minister Tony Abbott personally authorised the disclosure of the former Labor government’s cabinet papers in response to a summons by the royal commission into the…
A long-standing principle in Australian politics, one derived from Westminster and British experience over hundreds of years, is that incoming governments do not use the confidential discussions of cabinet…
Prime minister Kevin Rudd’s proposal to prevent the ALP caucus from deposing a sitting prime minister has raised the hoary issue of the Westminster system. The dominant view among pundits is that under…
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