Architectural Type and Purposes

The Two Houses

Currently there are two houses. The lower house (House of Representatives), or the 'peoples house', contains 150 members who each represent an electoral division (PoA, 2005). Each electorate is distributed equally so that they contain approximately the same number of voters. Each House of Reps continues for up to three years, after which a new election is held.

The upper house (Senate), contains 76 senators. Under the constitution, all states in the Australian Federation, regardless of their populations, have an equal number of senators. This was to ensure that states with smaller populations were not neglected in parliament (PoA, 2011). Twelve senators each represent each of the six states, and are elected for a period of six years (PoA, 2011).

Creating a Third House

Currently the two houses operate purely on a representational basis. On many occasions the lack of public involvement can allow political parties to force through their own agendas regardless of whether they are popular or not among most Australians. Our idea involves possibly adding a third house that would facilitate public contribution to the parliamentary discussion and ensure that the legislative process is on tier with the collective mindset of Australians. The diagram below shows how the third house could exist virtually and be represented through the guild system.

References

Parliament of Australia (PoA). (2005). "House of Representatives". Australian Government. retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/general/index.htm

Parliament of Australia (PoA). (2011). "Senate". Australian Government. retrieved August 22, 2011 from http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/brochure/index.htm