STUDENT VOICE AND LEADERSHIP
Donny's Legal Experts
In this segment, the students of Year 11 Legal Studies (also known as Legal Eagles) will be answering any of your burning questions about rules not only within the school, but also in the wider community. The reason we have decided to do this to provide our students with a voice and apply the content from VCE Legal Studies, to the real world. It also provides students with the opportunity to be the real life version of Harvey Specter.
If you have a question that you would like to have answered, write it down and drop it in the C Block staffroom, or come and see Ms Dulger who is also in the C Block staffroom. We have had two questions come through already, and the fellow Legal Eagles have answered them for you!
What is a leadership spill and what is a Prime Minister?
In Australia, we have a system of government in which the leader of a political party, if elected, becomes the Prime Minister. As we operate under something called a “preferential voting system”, this means that the most popular party at an election wins (75 seats + 1) and their leader becomes the Prime Minister. A Leadership Spill is when the political party does not like their current leader and is doubtful of their abilities. A few of these members can come together and decide that they want to contest the leadership and that they want someone else to be in charge. So essentially, it’s saying “you’re not popular enough so we want someone else who is”. Whilst an election should naturally be held every 3 years, a Leadership Spill typically contests this. Fun fact, Australia has had 7 different Prime Minister since 2000 due to a Leadership Spill. They include (John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison).
Who is Malcolm Turnbull?
Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia and the former Member of Parliament for the Division of Wentworth. Most recently, he was exposed to a Leadership Spill and subsequently, has resigned from Parliament immediately after being thrown out of Power. Malcolm Turnbull was also the individual that was behind the 1999 Referendum to have Australia become a Republic. Some people have questioned whether or not he is in the right political party as his views are more central than right.
Who is our current Prime Minister?
As of the 24th of August 2018, Scott Morrison became the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. Scott Morrison was initially the Treasurer for Malcolm Turnbull. Please also remember to check the battery in your smoke alarm for every Prime Minister that we have (if we continue on this trend).
Why is all this happening?
The leadership spill was a result of a combination of factors. It was triggered by the Liberal party’s stance on an energy bill, which though was generally agreed upon, was deeply opposed by some of the conservative spectrum of Liberal MPs (such as Tony Abbott). This has then been used as a vehicle to push political, personal, and ideological agendas within the Liberal Party; so that very conservative MPs (Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, etc) can have more influential views and powers, than that of the more progressive Liberals (eg Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison). It is also essential to note that this was a very personally driven change, with more backstabbing than what occurs in Macbeth, and really was just another manifestation of the ongoing feud between Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott.
Asli Dulger
Legal Studies Teacher