Australia

The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the and the , which is correlated with periodic , and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall (monsoon). has a . (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring and . The interior is to .[125]

According to the 's 2011 Australian Climate Statement, Australia had lower than average temperatures in 2011 as a consequence of a weather pattern; however, "the country's 10-year average continues to demonstrate the rising trend in temperatures, with 2002–2011 likely to rank in the top two warmest 10-year periods on record for Australia, at 0.52 °C (0.94 °F) above the long-term average".[160]

are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised . Throughout much of the continent, regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in 2010, 2011 and 2012 after the .

Australia's are among the highest in the world, lower than those of only a few other industrialised nations.[163]

January 2019 was the hottest month ever in Australia with average temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F).

Biodiversity

Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from heaths to . Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of , and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are . Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without species. may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in the 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species.[169]

are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly trees in the less arid regions; replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. are the (the and ); a host of , including the , , and , and birds such as the and the . including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 . including the ; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them the .

Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and animal, , fungal and plant species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for the protection of threatened species. have been created under the to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 65 are under the , have been established..

Australia is a . political system under its , which is , since in 1901. It is also one of the world's oldest , in which power is divided between the and governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the (a , and strong ) and the (, a and with an elected upper house), along with distinctive indigenous features.

The federal government is into three branches:

reigns as and is represented in Australia by the at the federal level and by the at the state level, who by convention act on the advice of her ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the and the . The governor-general does have extraordinary which may be exercised outside the prime minister's request in rare and limited circumstances, the most notable exercise of which was the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the .[191]

In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory). (the lower house) has 151 members elected from single-member , commonly known as "electorates" or "seats", allocated to states on the basis of population, Elections for both chambers are normally held every three years simultaneously; senators have overlapping six-year terms except for those from the territories, whose terms are not fixed but are tied to the electoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the 76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless the cycle is interrupted by a .[192]

Australia's uses for all lower house elections with the exception of Tasmania and the ACT which, along with the Senate and most state upper houses, combine it with in a system known as the . for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over in every jurisdiction, The party with majority support in the House of Representatives forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases where no party has majority support, the Governor-General has the constitutional power to appoint the Prime Minister and, if necessary, dismiss one that has lost the confidence of Parliament.[197]

There are two major political groups that usually form government, federally and in the states: the and the which is a formal grouping of the and its minor partner, the . Within Australian political culture, the Coalition is considered and the Labor Party is considered . are often considered the "third force" in politics, being the third largest party by both vote and membership.[201]

The was held on 18 May 2019 and resulted in the Coalition, led by Prime Minister , retaining .[202]

States and territories

Australia has six states— (NSW), (QLD), (SA), (TAS), (VIC) and (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the (ACT) and the (NT). In most respects, these two territories function as states, except that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to modify or repeal any legislation passed by the territory parliaments.[203]

Under the constitution, the states essentially have to legislate on any subject, whereas the Commonwealth (federal) Parliament may legislate only within the subject areas enumerated under . For example, state parliaments have the power to legislate with respect to education, criminal law and state police, health, transport, and local government, but the Commonwealth Parliament does not have any specific power to legislate in these areas. In addition, the Commonwealth has the which, coupled with the , has given it the financial means to incentivise States to pursue specific legislative agendas within areas over which the Commonwealth does not have legislative power.

Each state and major mainland territory has its own — in the Northern Territory, the ACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states. The states are sovereign entities, although subject to certain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Constitution. The lower houses are known as the (the in South Australia and Tasmania); the upper houses are known as the . The in each state is the and in each territory the . The Queen is represented in each state by a ; and in the Northern Territory, the ..[207]

The Commonwealth Parliament also directly administers the following external territories: ; ; ; ; ; ; and , a naval base and sea port for the national capital in land that was formerly part of New South Wales. previously exercised considerable autonomy under the Norfolk Island Act 1979 through its own legislative assembly and an to represent the Queen. is administered by Tasmania, by New South Wales.[211]

Foreign relations

Over recent decades, have been driven by a close association with the United States through the , and by a desire to develop relationships with Asia and the Pacific, particularly through , the and the , of which Australia is a founding member. In 2005 Australia secured an inaugural seat at the following its accession to the , and in 2011 attended the in Indonesia. Australia is a member of the , in which the meetings provide the main forum for co-operation.. and .

Australia is a member of the and the , and has pursued several major bilateral free trade agreements, most recently the with New Zealand,—and Japan, in 2011, , and as of November 2015 has put the before parliament for ratification.[223]

Australia maintains a deeply integrated relationship with neighbouring New Zealand, with free mobility of citizens between the two countries under the and free trade under the
Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement., sharing .

Along with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore, Australia is party to the , a regional defence agreement. A founding member country of the United Nations, Australia is strongly committed to for development assistance.'s 2012 .[229]

Military

Australia's armed forces—the (ADF)—comprise the (RAN), the and the (RAAF), in total numbering 81,214 personnel (including 57,982 regulars and 23,232 reservists) as of November 2015. The titular role of is vested in the , who appoints a from one of the armed services on the advice of the government. and .

In the 2016–17 budget, defence spending comprised 2% of GDP, representing the world's .; it about 2,241 personnel in varying capacities to 12 international operations in areas including and .[232]

A wealthy country, Australia has a , a high GDP per capita, and a relatively low rate of poverty. In terms of average wealth, Australia ranked second in the world after Switzerland from 2013 until 2018. Australia's poverty rate increased from 10.2% to 11.8%, from 2000/01 to 2013. It was identified by the Credit Suisse Research Institute as the nation with the highest median wealth in the world and the second-highest average wealth per adult in 2013.[235]

The is the currency for the nation, including Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent of , , and . With the 2006 merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange, the became the ninth largest in the world.[237]

Ranked fifth in the (2017), and has the (nominal) at US$55,692..'s 2014 list of the , in 2010. levels in the world.[244]

An emphasis on exporting commodities rather than manufactured goods has underpinned a significant increase in Australia's since the start of the 21st century, due to rising commodity prices. that is more than 7% of GDP negative, and has had persistently large deficits for more than 50 years.

Australia was the only advanced economy not to experience a recession due to the in 2008–2009.], which in turn has affected Australia, significantly hampering its economic growth in recent years[]. From 2012 to early 2013, Australia's national economy grew, but some non-mining states and Australia's non-mining economy experienced a recession.[251]

The the Australian dollar in 1983 and partially deregulated the financial system. followed with a and the further of state-owned businesses, most notably in the industry. (GST)., personal and company are the main sources of government revenue.[255]

As of September 2018, there were 12,640,800 people employed (either full- or part-time), with an unemployment rate of 5.2%. recipients were registered, a total that increased to 646,414 in March 2013.[259]

Since 2008[], inflation has typically been 2–3% and the base interest rate 5–6%. The service sector of the economy, including tourism, education, and financial services, accounts for about 70% of GDP., Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquified natural gas and coal. Although and natural resources account for only 3% and 5% of GDP respectively, they contribute substantially to export performance. Australia's largest export markets are , , the , , and .

Australia has an average of 3.3 persons per square kilometre of total land area, which makes it is one of the . The population is heavily concentrated on the east coast, and in particular in the south-eastern region between to the north-east and to the south-west.[263]

Australia is highly urbanised, with 67% of the population living in the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (metropolitan areas of the state and mainland territorial capital cities) in 2018., , , and .

In common with many other developed countries, Australia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2018 the of the Australian population was 38.8 years. 1 million or 5% of the total population in 2005.

Ancestry and immigration