Foreign Correspondence

[fuagf]

Bummer no fixed terms .. muse of an Australian pollie? .. see last link ..

Freedom of speech by country .. Comparison of the Australian, British, and American Political Systems .. sedition laws ..

Lib senators blast Howard Sedition law .. November 29, 2005
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/lib-senators-blast-sedition-law/2005/11/28/1133026406275.html

Howard's sedition laws to be abolished .. December 24, 2008

THE Howard government's controversial ban on sedition will be scrapped and replaced with legislation
that bolsters the protection of free speech under a series of changes to the nation's terrorism laws.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/howards-sedition-laws-to-be-abolished/2008/12/23/1229998526761.html

Sedition Act of 1918 {USA} .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918

USA PATRIOT Act .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act .. the capitalization is theirs ..

Freedom of speech by country .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country

This is an excellent article by John Kilcullen .. tickle ..

A Comparison of the Australian, British, and American Political Systems

The Australian political system is in some ways like the British, in others like the American.

1. Like the American system ours is federal: i.e., there are two levels of government, neither of which can change the powers of the other or make laws within certain fields assigned to the other. The British system is 'unitary': the British parliament can make laws on any matter, local government has whatever powers the national government delegates to it.

2. Like the British, ours is a system of responsible government. The Government (the Prime Minister and cabinet) is 'responsible' to parliament. This means that at any time, simply by vote of no confidence, carried on whatever grounds, the parliament can remove the Government from office or force it to call an election. In the American system the head of the executive Government, the President, cannot be removed by the Congress (except by impeachment, which requires a kind of trial).
.. continued .. http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y67xan1.html ..

Note: our political systems are mix and match with one important
difference .. Australian politicians do not have fixed terms ..