AUSTRALIA
BASIC INFO:
Population 2017 23,232,413
GDP per capita 2017 (PPI, US$)... 50,3000
GDP 2017 (PPI, US$ billions) 1,246
Unemployment 2017 5.6%
Total Area 7,741,220 sq km
Urban Population 86%
Life expectancy at birth (years) 82.3
Mortality rate, (per 1,000 live births) 4.3
Illiteracy (% of population age 15+) 1%
History
In 1770 Captain James Cook discovered Australia in 1770. The British first settled Australia in 1788 as a penal colony. On January 1 1901 a commonwealth was declared in Australia. Australian forces fought in both World Wars. In 1973 racially discriminatory immigration policies were ended. IN 1998 the Australian Constitutional Convention voted to sever all ties with Great Britain. A national referendum failed to approve this move.
Government
Government type:
parliamentary democracy (Federal Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Capital:
name: Canberra
geographic coordinates: 35 16 S, 149 08 E
Administrative divisions:
6 states and 2 territories*; Australian Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Dependent areas:
Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island
Independence:
1 January 1901 (from the federation of UK colonies)
National holiday:
Australia Day (commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of Australian settlers), 26 January (1788); ANZAC Day (commemorates the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915)
Constitution:
history: approved in a series of referenda 1898 through 1900, became law 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901
amendments: proposed by Parliament; passage requires approval of a referendum bill by absolute majority vote in both houses of Parliament, approval in a referendum by a majority of voters in at least four states and in the territories, and Royal Assent; proposals that would reduce a state’s representation in either house or change a state’s boundaries require that state’s approval prior to Royal Assent; amended several times, last in 1977 (2017)
Legal system:
common law system based on the English model
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 4 years
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen of Australia ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Gen. Sir Peter COSGROVE (since 28 March 2014)
head of government: Prime Minister Malcolm TURNBULL (since 15 September 2015)
cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the prime minister from among members of Parliament and sworn in by the governor general
elections/appointments: the monarchy 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 majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general
Legislative branch:
description: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of:
Senate (76 seats; 12 members from each of the 6 states and 2 each from the 2 mainland territories; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms with one-half of state membership renewed every 3 years and territory membership renewed every 3 years)
House of Representatives (150 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by majority preferential vote; members serve terms of up to 3 years)
elections: Senate - last held on 2 July 2016 (next to be held in 2019)
House of Representatives - last held on 2 July 2016; this election represented a rare double dissolution where all 226 seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives were up for reelection
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - Liberal/National Coalition 35.2%, ALP 29.8%, the Greens 8.7%, Pauline Hanson's One Nation 4.3%, Nick Xenophon Team 3.3%, other 18.7%; seats by party - Liberal/National Coalition 30, ALP 26, The Greens 9, Pauline Hanson's One Nation 4, Nick Xenophon Team 3, other 4
House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - Liberal/National Coalition 42%, ALP 34.7%, The Greens 10.2%, Nick Xenophon Team 1.9%. Katter's Australian Party 0.5%, other 7.8%, independent 2.8%; seats by party - Liberal/National Coalition 76, ALP 69, The Greens 1, Katter's Australian Party 1, Nick Xenophon Team 1, independent 2
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): High Court of Australia (consists of 7 justices, including the chief justice); note - each of the 6 states, 2 territories, and Norfolk Island has a Supreme Court; the High Court is the final appellate court beyond the state and territory supreme courts
judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the governor-general in council for life with mandatory retirement at age 70
subordinate courts: subordinate courts: subordinate courts at the federal level: Federal Court; Federal Magistrates' Courts of Australia; Family Court; subordinate courts at the state and territory level: Local Court - New South Wales; Magistrates' Courts – Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory; District Courts – New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia; County Court – Victoria; Family Court – Western Australia; Court of Petty Sessions – Norfolk Island
Political parties and leaders:
Australian Greens Party [Richard DI NATALE]
Australian Labor Party or ALP [Bill SHORTEN]
Country Liberal Party or CLP [Gary HIGGINS]
Liberal National Party of Queensland or LNP [Deborah FRECKLINGTON]
Liberal Party of Australia [Malcolm TURNBULL]
The Nationals [Michael MCCORMACK]
Nick Xenophon Team [Nick XENOPHON]
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation [Pauline HANSON]
People:
Australia is a land of immigrants. All but 300,000 Australians descended from immigrants who began arriving with the settlement of British convicts in 1788. Native Australians are called aborigines. Australia is a progressive western society with almost uniform literacy. As of 2016, Australia's est. population was24.21 million. Out of the population, 92 % are Caucasian, 7% are Asian, with only 1% aborigines and other ethnicities.
AUSTRALIA National Air Transport System
number of registered air carriers: 25
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 583
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 69,294,187
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 1,887,295,820 mt-km (2018)
Civil aircraft registration country code prefix:
VH (2016)
Airports:
480 (2013)
country comparison to the world: 16
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 349
over 3,047 m: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 14
1,524 to 2,437 m: 155
914 to 1,523 m: 155
under 914 m: 14 (2017)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 131
1,524 to 2,437 m: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 101
under 914 m: 14 (2013)
Heliports:
1 (2013)
Pipelines:
condensate/gas 637 km; gas 30,054 km; liquid petroleum gas 240 km; oil 3,609 km; oil/gas/water 110 km; refined products 72 km (2013)
Railways:
total: 33,343 km
broad gauge: 3,247 km 1.600-m gauge (372 km electrified)
standard gauge: 17,446 km 1.435-m gauge (650 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 12,318 km 1.067-m gauge (2,075.5 km electrified)
other gauge: 35 km (2015)
country comparison to the world: 7
Roadways:
total: 873,573 km
urban: 145,928 km
non-urban: 727,645 km (2015)
country comparison to the world: 9
Waterways:
2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling River systems) (2011)
country comparison to the world: 42
Merchant marine:
total: 549
by type: bulk carrier 4, general cargo 83, oil tanker 10, other 452 (2017)
country comparison to the world: 39
Ports and terminals:
major seaport(s): Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Fremantle, Geelong, Gladstone, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Adelaide, Port Kembla, Sydney
dry bulk cargo port(s): Dampier (iron ore), Dalrymple Bay (coal), Hay Point (coal), Port Hedland (iron ore), Port Walcott (iron ore)
container port(s) (TEUs): Brisbane (1,152,000), Melbourne (2,638,000), Sydney (2,330,000) (2015)
LNG terminal(s) (export): Darwin, Karratha, Burrup, Curtis Island
Tourism
Tourism is a very important industry for Australia. International tourism in 2017 brought in a record $41.3 billion which was an increase of 6% from the previous month. Chinese tourist spent the most money in Australia. There were a total of 9 million tourist in Australia in the year ending in May of 2018 and increase of 6.2% over the year before.
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