Governor General

The governor general is Ms Quentin Bryce. (2012)

Info about the Governor General
The Governor General is the  Queen's representative in Australia.
The Governor General does the following:
Dissolving the Parliament and making writes for new elections.
Commisioning the Prime Minister.
Giving assent to laws.
Appointing ambassadors and commisioners.
Appointing senior government officials.

The Australian Constitution

The Australian Constitution is a set of rules for governing a country.
It establishes how the Senate and House of Representatives are formed, the length of terms of office, and how elections are called.

Parties that form the goverment

The two main parties are:
Labor and Liberal

The other parties are:
The Nationals
Australian Greens
One Nation
Australian Democrats

Parliamentary record book

The Parliamentary record book is known as the Hansard.

Lower House

The Lower House is also known as the House of Representatives.
There are 150 representatives in the Lower House.
Lower House politicians are elected for 3 years.
The Lower House creates a new Law called a Bill and then passes it up to the Upper House to confirm.

Upper House

The Upper House is called a Senate.
The number of senators in a Senate are 12 from each state and 2 from each territory.
The total number of senators in the Upper House is 76 senators.
The total number of representatives in the Upper House is 76 reps.
State senators are elected for 6 years.
Territory senators are elected for 3 years.
The Upper House confirms laws passed up by the Lower House.

Facts

Canberra is Australia's Capital City.
It is located in the Australian Capital Territory. (ACT)
It is 150 km inland.
It is 571 metres above the Pacific Ocean.
Population: 358 000 in 2012
The residents of Canberra are known as a Canberran.
Canberra's water comes from Namadgi National Park.
A man called Walter Burtley Griffen designed Canberra.
Canberra is the world wide leader in Nuclear measuremnts..
The Royal Australian Mint was built in 1963.
Canberra was established on the 12th of March 1913.