Another day... Another Prime Minister...

So, the Commonwealth of Australia has a new Prime Minister.
This means that we will have had 5 PMs in 5 years... I'd chalk this up to another achievement to the bloodsport that is Australian Politics!

As with everything, there is the usual cries of "We didn't elect this New PM..." which then leads to the insinuation that a Coup d'etat  has occurred within the Government of the day.

I would like to humbly point out that this IS NOT THE CASE.

In the Australian political system, a person votes for a local member of parliament, NOT a Prime Minister. Despite the "presidential" style of electioneering that is ever so popular in Australia these days, the Australian Citizen DOES NOT directly vote for a Prime Minister. We never have. And, Unless the entire system changes, We NEVER will.

"WE" (the electorate) vote for a local member to represent us in the parliament; the Elected Members who group together to form a government then get to choose the Prime minister. The states are governed in the exact same way.

I have never understood why there was so much confusion over this. It's not as though we directly elect our head of state; after all, Just like Canada & New Zealand & numerous other member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, in our constitutional monarchy style of Government, the King or Queen of the day IS the head of Australia; as this Monarch resides in England, a Governor (General) governs in their stead; why don't people complain about this lack of representation?

So to clear this up, here is my quick, rough & ready explanation of the responsibility of the elected governments:

"WE" get to vote for a candidate at an election.

The elected members represent the interests of their electorate in the parliament.

The Local representative in the Federal Parliament will act on behalf of their constituents in regards to Trade, Commerce, banking, International Affairs, Defense, Communications (and Marriages!) etc... What the Feds are responsible for is specifically written into the Australian Constitution.

The State Member will act on behalf of their constituents on Police, Health & education which is basically all the things that the Federal Govt is not specifically tasked with.

Local Government is effectively the the service provider government for the sates & also overseas those pesky noisy dog complaints... By the way, Local Government (City & Shire Councils) are not recognized actually constitutionally, so they are a bit different in what they are responsible for across the country.

So what am I going to do about it?
Well, I will point out the above fact to all those that say this is somehow undemocratic, or do not understand why these situations occur. I feel that the by increasing the understanding of the Australian Political Process & by increasing the engagement of the layman & woman to it, "WE" will get better value & representation from our elected representatives, AND, to anyone who has made it this far in my rant, I hereby challenge you to do the same!