When you think of the “land below” you don't really think about the type of government they have. I chose to write about the Australian government because I don't actually hear much about Australia. He currently has quite an interesting story to tell regarding their government. I got a little interested in Australian politics when I saw a political cartoon on the Internet depicting Kevin Rudd, the last Prime Minister, on a TV show and it was quite funny. I will give a short history lesson about Australia, then explain how the government was formed and how it came to be. Then I will talk about the Australian Constitution, Australian governing bodies, their federal system, political parties and the current Australian Prime Minister. The Australian government is a constitutional monarchy and a federal parliament. According to the Australian government website, they call it a Constitutional Monarchy because the country was founded with a constitution and the head of state was Queen Victoria (Irving). Queen Victoria was the Queen of England at the time. They also call it a federal parliamentarian because their Constitution was the birth of their nation and created a federal system of government (Irving). When a government is considered parliamentary it has a Parliament and it means that it elects a Prime Minister. Now I'll give a quick history lesson. The land of Australia had two types of people living there before European settlers came to the country, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and in 1688 a man named William Dampier was the first Briton to explore Australia ( Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). This is similar to how America had the natives A...... middle of paper...... Irving "Constitution" The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics. Ed Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts. Oxford University Press 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hillsborough Community College. 23Farnsworth, Malcolm. Political parties. 22 June 2011. Liberal Party. We believe... 22 June 2011 .National Archives of Australia. Julia Gillard. 22 June 2011 .Pat Weller "Prime Ministers" The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics. Ed Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts. Oxford University Press 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Hillsborough Community College. June 23, 2011 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t250.e290