Conventions of Executive Government in Australia

Executive Government Conventions in Australia

All ministers must be members of parliament. This requirement is stipulated in Section 64 of the Constitution.

The Westminster system requires that the ministry must command the support - "confidence" - of the lower house, the House of Representatives. This convention is reinforced by the requirement of Section 53 that all appropriation bills must originate in the House of Representatives. Without the ability to secure "supply" from the House of Representatives, a ministry is obliged to resign or call an election. This last occurred in 1941 when the House of Representatives voted to reduce the size of the government's budget by one pound. The then Prime Minister, Arthur Fadden, resigned and the ALP's John Curtin was commissioned to form a government.

Under Section 61 of the constitution, Executive power resides in the hands of the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General. Section 62 stipulates that there shall be an Executive Council to advise the Governor-General. Section 64 says that ministers of state hold office during the "pleasure" of the Governor-General, whilst Section 67 provides for the Governor-General in Council to appoint civil servants. By convention, however, all these powers reside in the hands of the government, and specifically the Prime Minister, of the day. The Governor-General, by Westminster convention, acts on the advice of ministers. The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government on November 11, 1975, is the most notable example of an occasion when the Governor-General acted against the advice of the Prime Minister.

The principle of Collective Ministerial Responsibility applies in Australia. Cabinet meets in secret and speaks with one voice. Ministers who are not prepared to accept the collective decisions of Cabinet are expected to resign. Ministers who speak out in public against Cabinet decisions can expect to be dismissed by the Prime Minister. In 1989, for example, a minister in the Hawke ALP government, Gary Punch, resigned from the ministry because of his disagreement with a Cabinet decision involving the extension of the runway at Sydney Airport in his electorate of Barton. Conversely, cabinet solidarity is not always maintained. In coalition government, Liberal and National Party ministers have been known to disagree with one another. The Labor government during the late 1980s and early 1990s occasionally saw public disagreements between ministers over issues such as telecommunications.

The principle of Individual Ministerial Responsibility applies in Australia. Ministers are expected to take responsibility for the administration of their departments, the actions of their staff and themselves. This principle has become increasingly difficult to interpret and enforce, given the size and complexity of modern government. Often, the political support of the Prime Minister is the most crucial factor determining whether ministers survive scrutiny and criticism of their conduct. This was evident in the survival of Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, in 1996, after claims that he misled Parliament. Similarly, Health Minister, Dr. Carmen Lawrence, survived criticism during 1995 because of support from the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating.

In recent times ministers have come under attack over conflict of interest claims. This led to the resignation of Assistant Treasurer, Senator Jim Short, in 1996. Furthermore, allegations of misconduct by ministers in relation to Travel Allowance claims led to the resignations of three ministers (John Sharp, David Jull and Peter McGauran) in September 1997.

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