Year 10 Commerce Research/Report Assignment Practice
Political Parties

The purpose of this report will be to compare the similarities and differences of the Australian Labor Party and The Liberal Party of Australia. By examining various websites, the two parties will be compared in relation to their history, structure and organisation, original support base, political ideology, place on the political spectrum, and current leadership issues. It will also examine the parties’ key policies leading up to the 2013 Federal election.
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Federal Parliament and Commonwealth Parliament, is the legislative branch of the Government of Australia. It is based on both the Westminister System of Britain and the federalist Senate of United State Congress. It is a bcameral Government and consists of The Queen represented by the Govener General, the Senate and the House of Represntatives. It is in the House of Representatives were the Australian Labor Party and The Liberal Party of Australia are part of.

Brief History
Australian Labor Party–
The ALP is the oldest of the two parties founded in 1891, and was represented in the first Federal Parliament in 1901. It was more or less creted by the trade union movment in 1880s, and the attempts to give workers some represrtnation in colonial parliaments. Leaders of the trade union became convinced in 1890 that a different form of political organisation was necessary to face the consequences of the economic depression of that decade and the attitude of employers to trade unionism. The catalyst for this change of strategy was a intercolonial strike in that year that involved almost all unions but was especially threatening to those in the rural (especially shearers and naval industries (dockworkers and seamen).
There have been 11 labour prime ministers to date in the federal government. Chris Watson was the first labor pime minister in 1904 for four months, forming the first minority government and was responsible for labors rapid growth early on. Other famor prime ministers followed including Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, and Paul Keating. In 2007, Kevin Rudd was elected as prime minister and finished in 2010. During his time as prime minister, Kevin Rudd gave the sorry speech, withdrew soldiers from Iraq amd held the 20 20 summit. However at the 2010 election the first hung parliament occurred in 70 years, the incumbent Gillard Labor government forming a minority govermment and winning the election. Gillard has held on as Prime Minister thus far, introducing the tax cuts, health care agreements, and dental insurance through medicare.

Liberal Party of Australia –
The second major political party of Australia, the liberal Party of Australia, is younger than the Australian Labor Party, formed in 1945. It replaced the United Australia Party and was formed due to Menzies conference of conservatist parties and other groups who opposed of the ruling of the Australian Labor Party. Robert Menzies continued then to outline his vision of political movement, maintinain a public profile with his seris of ‘The Forgotten People’ radio talks. He talked about how the middle class are the back bone of Australia, but havng been taken for granted by political parties. The formation of the party was announced in 1945 and took the name Liberal in honour of the old Commenwealth Liberal Party. Various smaller groups merged with the party and soon became a 90 000 member group in September of 1945. In 1996, the Liberal Party Of Australia held power until 2007 with the Howard Government. Howard differed from his prdeccesor PAUL Keating as he supported traditional Australian Instutitions ike the monarchy of Australia and Anzac Day which helped him stay as prime Minister for so long. Since 2007, the Liberal Party have stayed in opposition thus far, with three leader changes. Tony Abbot is the current party leader.

Structure and Organisation
The Australian Labor