Activity 7m

1. The task word ‘compare’ means to point out both similarities and differences. Students should note that similarities and differences cannot be merely implied or suggested by two independent sentences – even if the two independent sentences are technically connected by a word such as ‘however’. The connection must be expressly made between them. For example, a student might argue that one difference between the lower house and the upper house in law-making is that the upper house reviews and scrutinises new bills, making more amendments, while the lower house simply passes many of them without scrutiny – because most bills are government bills and the lower house is controlled by the government.

2. Some similarities between the roles played the Crown and the lower house in law-making include:

• the Crown is similar to the lower house in that its involvement – in the form of royal assent – is just as necessary for the establishment of laws as the support of the lower house through voting is.
• the Crown, at federal level, is similar to the lower house in that it holds the ability to prevent new laws from being enacted. The Crown can refuse royal assent, and either house can refuse to vote in favour.
• the Crown is similar to the lower house because both have the responsibility to represent “the people”: the lower house is the popular people’s house, and the Crown takes on the ceremonial role of representing all Australians, especially those in disadvantage or making contributions to society.
• the Crown is similar to the lower house because they both have the power to dismiss the Government and select a new one. The lower house can do this if they lose confidence in the Government, and the Crown can do it if an occasion calls for them to use their reserve powers.

Some differences between the roles played the Crown and the lower house in law-making include:

• The lower house is where government is formed whereas the Crown provides royal assent. The lower house acts as “the people’s house” and is where most new bills are initiated whereas the Crown acts as head of the executive government and performs a ceremonial role.
• The Crown is different from the lower house in that it is not elected to its position, and therefore does not have the electoral mandate to govern or represent electorate interests that both of the houses have (albeit in slightly different ways). The Crown is different from the lower house in that part of its ceremonial role is to represent the needs of disadvantaged and special interest groups in the community, whereas the lower house tends more to represent majority interests.
• TheCrown is different from the lower house because the lower house is the seat of government and the Crown is expected to appoint or dismiss the Government on advice of the lower house (or the existing Government). It does not have the discretion the lower house does.
• The Crown is different from the houses in that it can exercise executive power, while the houses can only influence executive power – the houses are part of the legislative arm of government, though, so are at least nominally separate from the Government. The Crown can make regulations; the houses cannot.

3. The task word ‘compare’ means to point out both similarities and differences. Students should note that similarities and differences cannot be merely implied or suggested by two independent sentences – even if the two independent sentences are technically connected by a word such as ‘however’. The connection must be expressly made between them. For example, a student might argue that one difference between the upper house and the Crown in law-making is that the upper house’s primary role is legislative, while the Crown plays only a very small legislative role. The Crown is limited to providing royal assent to bills – even if it has the power to refuse assent or request amendments, it does not use this power.

This question asks for a comparison by feature – this means that students should point out similarities and differences by feature. For example, both the upper house and the Crown have a representative function – the Crown is similar to the upper house in that both of them have more of an ability to represent the needs and wishes of minority and disadvantaged groups than the Government-dominated lower house does. However, the Crown is different from the upper house in that it is not elected to its position, and therefore does not have the electoral mandate to govern or represent electorate interests that the upper househas.