Au s t r a l i a Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2013/14 131 Other federal courts include the Federal Court and the Family Court – each presided over by a chief justice – and the Federal Magistrates Court. The Federal Court’s jurisdiction encompasses almost all civil matters arising under Australian federal law and some summary criminal cases. The Family Court is the country’s superior court in family law. The Federal Magistrates Court was established in 1999. Each of the states and territories has a supreme court presided over by a chief justice. The state and territory courts deal with most criminal cases and all matters under state or territory law. Judges are appointed by the government which does not have the power to sack them. Government and politics Last elections: 7 September 2013 Next elections: September 2016 Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General, Quentin Bryce (2008–) Head of Government: Prime Minister Tony Abbott Ruling party: Liberal–National coalition Prime Minister John Howard’s Liberal–National coalition was comfortably returned for a third consecutive term in November 2001, winning 81 seats (Liberal Party 68, National Party 13) to Labor Party’s 65. In an election dominated by the issue of Asian immigration, the government’s firm action in August 2001 of denying a shipload of Afghan asylum-seekers entry into the country seemed to have proved decisive. The October 2004 election which had been thought too close to predict was again won comfortably by the Liberal–National coalition and Howard was returned to government, winning 85 seats (Liberal Party 73, National Party 12) while the Labor Party took 57. Kevin Rudd became the Labor Party leader in December 2006. In the fiercely fought contest, in November 2007, the Labor Party took 84 seats, the Liberal–National coalition 64 and independent candidates two; Rudd became Prime Minister and immediately signalled a significant shift in domestic and foreign policy by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. In September 2008, Quentin Bryce was sworn in as Australia’s 25th Governor-General; she is the first woman to hold the post. In June 2010, after a dramatic fall in the popularity of Prime Minister Rudd, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard successfully challenged Rudd for the Labor Party leadership and became Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the post. In the early general election in August 2010 neither Labor (winning 72 out of 150 seats in the lower house) nor the Liberal–National coalition led by Tony Abbott (73 seats) was able to secure a parliamentary majority. The remaining seats were won by the Green Party (one) and independents (four). After several weeks of negotiations with these members, Gillard was successful in winning the support of the Green Party member and three of the independents, giving the Labor party a narrow overall majority. In June 2013, when polls suggested the Labor Party would lose the September election, Rudd ousted Gillard in a Labor Party leadership election (57:45). On 27 June he was sworn in as Prime Minister. The Labor government was ousted in the federal election of 7 September 2013. The Liberal–National coalition led by Tony Abbott secured 90 seats and the Labor Party 55. The remaining seats were won by the Green Party (one), Katter’s Australian Party (one), Palmer United Party (one) and independents (two). Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott was sworn in as Prime Minister. Governance institutions Australian Electoral Commission: www.aec.gov.au Parliament of Australia: www.aph.gov.au High Court of Australia: www.hcourt.gov.au Commonwealth Ombudsman: www.ombudsman.gov.au Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet: www.dpmc.gov.au Attorney-General’s Department: www.ag.gov.au Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport: www.regional.gov.au Department of Finance and Deregulation: www.finance.gov.au Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education: www.innovation.gov.au Australian Local Government Association: www.alga.asn.au Reserve Bank of Australia: www.rba.gov.au Australian Securities Exchange: www.asx.com.au Standards Australia: standards.org.au Prudential Regulation Authority: www.apra.gov.au Securities and Investments Commission: www.asic.gov.au Communications and Media Authority: www.acma.gov.au
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