Dwight Said:

Can somebody give me the following information about australian political things?

We Answered:

http://www.aph.gov.au/parl.htm

Tammy Said:

Australian Govternment / Law?

We Answered:

Links to Australian government law sites, including courts and tribunals, legislation, case law and commonwealth, state and territory Attorneys-General departments. Links are also available to the State and Federal police services under 'Government - Australian Federal' and 'Government - Australian States and Territories'.

Joanne Said:

Can someone please explain the US voting system?

We Answered:

Most Americans vote today, but some states have also permitted early voting. The results are tallied tonight.

Unlike the Australian system, we vote for the individual person, not the party. So, a person who is normally Republican could vote for Mr. Obama, and a person who is normally Democratic could vote for Mr. McCain.

A tricky thing about the U.S. system is that the votes are tallied state-by-state, and each state has a certain number of electoral votes in the process.

For this reason, certain large or swing states (large states like New York or California, and swing states like Florida and Ohio) have a great deal of importance in the American election.

Because of the way electoral votes are allotted, it would be possible for a candidate to have more popular votes -- but still lose the nationwide election!

That actually happened in 2000, when Mr. Gore had more popular votes cast for him by individuals nationwide, but he still lost because Mr. Bush got the required number of electoral votes to beat him.

So in Australia, a candidate for prime minister wins because his party wins.

In the U.S., a candidate for president wins because he gains the support of the most populated states by electoral votes; and in turn the popular vote in each state determines who won that individual state.

So, for example, if Mr. Obama wins the popular vote in the state of New York, he receives the electoral votes OF THAT STATE. Likewise down the line. So if he wins New York, California and other large and influential states, he can win the election by gaining those states.

I hope that makes sense, lol.

NOTE: This is very bizarre, but In actuality, our true election occurs in December, when the representatives of those states gather to turn in their votes. These people are called "The Electoral College" and are appointed by their states to represent the people of the state and to cast their votes for president.

So what voters in America are REALLY doing today, is choosing the Electors who will actually vote for the president later this year! Strange but true!

Dana Said:

Why did you introduce a major change to our taxation system from sales tax to GST without a referendum?

We Answered:

Yes, remember him saying "there will never, ever be a GST (under my government)"?
The old core and non-core promises?
Had to love Janette recently saying in defense of her deceitful hubby that sometimes he just says he's going to do something but that doesn't mean he is going to really, or something hilarious to that effect.

It was inevitable since the Asprey Report in the 70's that under a Liberal government at some point we were going to get a high-revenue-raising broad-based tax such as GST, of which a greater burden is borne by low income earners because it is not a progressive tax. Liberals opposed the Labor introduced capital gains tax which is essentially a tax on wealth and is fair under our progressive tax system (i.e. the greater your means are, the more tax you pay). That nicely illustrates the traditional difference between the parties as far as their views on social welfare and equity are concerned.

Eileen Said:

How does the current Australian Political System work in terms of funding?

We Answered:

if you get over 4% of the vote you get like $2 for every vote cast for you in state elections and about $4 in the federal election