Across
- 3. a vote by all voters on a question; in Australia, nearly always a public vote on a proposed law to alter the Constitution
- 6. One of a set of seats for members of Parliament who belong to neither the government nor the opposition parties
- 8. No party reaches majority to form government
- 10. a member of a house of Parliament, usually used to describe a member of a lower house and, in Australia, referring to Members of the House of Representatives, who may use the initials M.P. after their names
- 11. The joining together of two or more groups or parties, usually to form a government or opposition
- 12. a system of government originating in Britain, the main features of which are a head of state who is not the head of government, and an executive which is drawn from and directly responsible to the Parliament
- 15. the court set up under the Australian Constitution to decide matters arising under the Constitution, and to hear appeals from the supreme courts of the states and other federal courts
- 17. the second largest political party or coalition of parties after the government party in the House of Representatives which works to oppose what it believes to be wrong in government policies or actions, and which stands ready to form a government should the voters so decide at the next or a subsequent election
- 18. a member of the Australian Senate
- 19. More than half the total votes of all those eligible to vote; in a house of Parliament, one more than half the votes of the total number of members of the house, whether they are present or not, as opposed to a simple majority
- 22. the Member who is elected by the House of Representatives as its presiding officer
- 23. the head of the national government, the chief minister in some countries, including Australia
- 26. a way of governing a country in which the people elect representatives to form a government on their behalf
- 27. the minimum number of members, specified by law, who should be in the chamber before it transacts business (one quarter of all Senators; one fifth of all Members of the House of Representatives)
Down
- 1. a vote where a voter appears to make no choice among the candidates, but numbers preferences for candidates in the order in which they are listed on the ballot-paper
- 2. a special election held to fill the seat of a Member of the House of Representatives who has died or resigned
- 4. the representative of the Queen in Australia at the federal level
- 5. those members of Parliament who are ministers or shadow ministers
- 7. One of the two houses of the federal Parliament of Australia, whose Members are elected on a population basis
- 9. The group of senior ministers in a government
- 13. in a house of Parliament, more than half the votes of those members present and voting, as opposed to an absolute majority
- 14. those members of Parliament who are not ministers, shadow ministers or presiding officers
- 16. in Australia, an assembly of elected representatives, usually having an upper and a lower house which, with the head of state (the Queen, represented by the Governor-General or Governor), makes the laws for the country or state
- 20. The meeting of the parliamentary members of a political party
- 21. the period between sessions of Parliament, but in ordinary usage the word is often used to describe the periods between the main sitting periods each year, as in the winter recess
- 24. One of the two houses of the federal Parliament of Australia, which has 76 Senators, 12 from each of the six states and two each from the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, elected from each state and territory voting as one electorate
- 25. having to do with the national Parliament or government rather that state parliaments or governments