Conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia
Conventional short form: Australia
Chief of state: Queen of Australia ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Michael JEFFERY (since 11 August 2003)
Head of government: Prime Minister John Winston HOWARD (since 11 March 1996); Deputy Prime Minister John ANDERSON (since 20 July 1999)
Cabinet: Parliament nominates and selects, from among its members, a list of candidates to serve as government ministers; from this list, the governor general swears in the final selections for the Cabinet
Elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general
Note: government coalition - Liberal Party and National Party
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats - 12 from each of the six states and two from each of the two mainland territories; one-half of the members elected every three years by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (150 seats - this is up from 148 seats in 2001 election; members elected by popular vote on the basis of preferential representation to serve three-year terms; no state can have fewer than five representatives)
Elections: Senate - last held 9 October 2004 (next to be held not later than June 2008); House of Representatives - last held 9 October 2004 (next to be held not later than November 2007)
Election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party (as of 1 July 2003) - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 34, Australian Labor Party 28, Australian Democrats 7, Green Party 2, One Nation Party 1, Country Liberal Party 1, Australian Progressive Alliance 1, independent 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 86, Australian Labor Party 60, Country Liberal Party 1, independent and other 3
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