US Election Day

is getting almost as much coverage here as one of our own might. Yes, it does have implications for Downunder. 

I may just need to prowl off and talk to the Senior Cat about something else altogether....origami perhaps? He has been "fiddling" with yet another pattern. I need to take more plain paper to him. It is easier to see what you are doing with plain paper.

It has made me think of plain other things as well. Our federal system has been muddied by party politics. There was a comment on yesterday's post which makes me think I should try and explain something.

Downunder is a federation of states. We have state governments and a federal government. They have separate powers and shared powers. There are state constitutions and a federal constitution. The system of government within each state and how they are elected are all slightly different. One state has only one house, others have two. Although they can (and do) prevent things from being done it is my personal opinion that two houses are better than one. They are the safety valve on the pressure cooker which is parliament.

The situation at the federal level is slightly different. Yes, there are two houses but the original intention of those houses was different. The House of Representatives is where our local representatives sit - our "local MP" as we usually refer to them. It is their job to represent our interests. This is what they are meant to do even if they do not actually do it. Party politics can get in the way. Like everyone else they want to keep their jobs and the idea that they may not get re-selected as a candidate by their own party usually keeps trouble makers in line. 

It is the Senate which is another story. The founding fathers of Downunder did not see this as a party political house. They saw it as a place where those chosen were there to represent the state they came from. Party politics was not supposed to enter into this. It was an idealistic point of view which has not worked over time. The Senate is now divided along party lines. Senators will vote against the interests of their own state if party policy requires it. They will go back to their own states and say, "I needed to do that so that we can win the next election. That is in the best interests of the country." It might not be, in some instances certainly has not been, but it is the way the system works."

The Senate can also block supply - money without which the country cannot run. Governments wanting to get potentially unpopular or even illegal legislation through have sometimes tried to tie it to a money bill. The most notable attempt was the one which caused the downfall of the the Whitlam government and the ensuing constitutional crisis. It is a powerful tool.

Many Downunderites are completely unaware that the Senate is supposed to the states' house and that Senators are supposed to be there to represent their state. It has become something else altogether. 

The system still works after a fashion. The bushfires last summer and the pandemic during the year have raised questions about the division of powers between state and federal governments. Our current Prime Minister was heavily criticised in the media and elsewhere for not doing certain things - things he has no power to do because they are state responsibilities and the federal constitution gives him no power to intervene even in a crisis.

We need a number of referenda to provide federal parliament with the more power to intervene in what can be national emergencies. It would be useful to educate politicians and the rest of us about the responsibilities of the Senate at the same time. Neither is likely to happen.