General

13.1. The National Executive shall consist of the President and the Chief Executive Officers of Government Departments.

This arrangement takes the Executive out of the Parliament and achieves the separation of powers so necessary for good government but lost with the Westminster system of government. It allows all Representatives to participate fully in Parliament. That is, there are no “backbenchers” with little or no input to debate. All Representatives have equal opportunity to have a say in debates - there are no Ministers dominating the Parliament.

13.2. The Executive shall be accountable to the Parliament. 

13.3. The President shall create such National Government Departments as are necessary for good governance. Some departments shall be large enough to implement those aspects of governance for which the National Executive has implementation responsibility. The remainder of departments shall be small organisations designed to generate and monitor National policy.

Although the National Parliament has responsibility for determining policy on most issues, implementation of much of that policy falls on Regional Assemblies. The National Parliament only retains implementation responsibilities for those aspects of governance where centralised command and control is essential. See paragraph 13.6.

13.4. To each of these Departments, the President shall appoint a suitably qualified person as Chief Executive Officer.

Currently, the heads of government departments have control of the resources necessary for the implementation of government policy and this gives them enormous power. However, under the “Westminster” system they have no responsibility because the Minister is deemed responsible. The system outlined above puts responsibility for outcomes where it belongs – with the person who has control of the resources.

The Role of the Executive

13.5. The role of the Executive is to implement, administer and monitor the will of the Australian People as expressed by their elected representatives in the Parliament.

This means that the Parliament decides policy and the Executive is charged with the responsibility of implementing that policy.

Specific National Implementation Responsibilities

13.6. In addition to overall responsibilities for policy, the National Executive shall be responsible for implementation of the following aspects of governance:

a.    Law and Order

b.    Defence

c.    National Security

d.    Foreign Affairs

e.    Customs

f.     Immigration

g.    Quarantine

h.    Overseas Trade (Imports & Exports)

i.      The National Economy

j.      Citizenship

k.    Energy

l.      Taxation

m.   Fiscal Policy

n.    Monetary Policy

o.    Land

p.    Mining

q.    Fisheries (Other than inland fisheries)

r.     Post

s.    Telecommunications (including the Internet)

t.      Banking & Commerce

u.    Intellectual Property

v.    Patents

w.   National Statistics

x.    Transportation

y.    Maritime Operations and Sea-lanes

z.    National Infrastructure, including:

(i)            Roads (the primary links between Regions)

(ii)          Railways (other than intra-Regional)

(iii)         Air Traffic Control & Air Safety

(iv)         Airports

(v)          Water

(vi)         Ports

Implementation of policy in the Regions including the implementation of national policy in public services such as health, education, etc. shall be the responsibility of Regional Assemblies. It is anticipated that the People of each community will elect voluntary Boards to run hospitals and schools.

Chief Executive Officers

13.7. Chief Executive Officers of Departments (including the Chief of the Defence Force Staff and Chiefs of Navy, Army and Air Force) shall be responsible and accountable to the Parliament for the activities of their Departments and for the efficient and effective implementation of policy.  They shall report to Parliament on a regular basis as determined by the Parliament and may be summoned to the Parliament for questioning at any time.  They shall provide advice to the Parliament and Parliamentary Committees on an 'as-required' basis.

13.8. Chief Executive Officers shall be responsible for forward planning in their area of responsibility.

13.9. The President shall appoint the Chief of Defence Force Staff, and Chiefs of the Navy, Army and Air Force after taking advice from the Services.

13.10. The President shall appoint Chief Executive Officers of Departments after taking advice from the Public Service Board. Chief Executive Officers of Departments shall usually be senior public servants with experience in the field to which they are appointed. In the event the President is satisfied a suitably qualified and experienced public servant is not available, the President shall appoint Chief Executive Officers from outside the public service.

13.11. Appointments of Armed Services Chiefs and Chief Executive Officers shall be subject to veto by the Parliament.

This provision is a check on the power of the President and is designed to prevent nepotism or cronyism.

13.12. Appointment and tenure of Chief Executive Officers shall be at the pleasure of the President subject to veto by the Parliament.

Accountability

13.13. In the first instance Chief Executive Officers shall be accountable to the President and may be dismissed by the President. Chief Executive Officers are also accountable to Parliament and can be dismissed by a 75% vote of the Parliament for incompetence, misconduct, malfeasance or malpractice.

This means in practice that the President is responsible for getting the job done and has the power to hire and fire to achieve that. However, if the Parliament is dissatisfied with the implementation of policy in certain areas, the Parliament has the option to dismiss specific Chief Executive Officers rather than dismissing the President.

The Public Service Board

13.14. The Public Service Board shall have a Chairman and 12 members appointed by the President.  A quorum shall consist of eight members.

13.15. The Public Service Board shall comprise some Departmental CEOs, Chief of the Defence Force, and representatives from organisations such as the Federation of Australian Business, the Business Council of Australia and the Public Service Union as decided by the President. 

13.16. Appointments to the Public Service Board shall be subject to veto by the National Parliament.

13.17. The Public Service Board shall be responsible to the President for the Personnel Management of the Public Service.

13.18. The Public Service Board shall sit at least bi-monthly.

The Public Service Board will have a bureaucracy that handles the day to day personnel management of the Public Service.

Implementation of National Legislation by the Executive

13.19. After signing legislation into law the President shall forward the new law to the appropriate Department(s) with instructions for implementation.

13.20. Regulations prepared by Departments shall be reviewed by the Parliament before being published or implemented.

International Treaties

13.21. Australia shall support and promote International Treaties to resolve problems of the world on the basis of “simultaneous policy”. That is, agreement to implement policies, only when an appropriate majority of other nations agree to implement such policy at the same time. The Parliament shall determine the appropriate majority of nations for each treaty.

13.22. Australia shall adopt international treaties only if there is a sunset clause requiring further ratification after a time lapse appropriate to allow assessment of the full impact.

13.23. International treaties shall become law in Australia only when signed into law by the President following a nation-wide debate and acceptance by the People voting at a referendum.

International treaties are in fact a diminution of national sovereignty and must be enacted only by the sovereign People of Australia.

·=============== ===============·

Return to Contents List