Editing Prime Minister of Australia (section)

== Powers and responsibilities ==
In common with other political systems based on the [[Westminster system]], the prime minister both leads the [[Executive (government)|executive government]] and wields significant power in [[Parliament]].

=== Executive role ===
[[Cabinet of Australia|Cabinet]], the primary decision-making body of the executive government, is chaired by the prime minister. While the prime minister has been described as the "[[first among equals]]" of the other ministers that make up cabinet, they nevertheless wield primary influence in the body. They set the agenda and processes of cabinet meetings and have the final word where a collective decision cannot be reached. Ministers making up the cabinet are chosen by the prime minister and may be removed at any time. Additionally, the prime minister chooses the portfolio of each minister and a prime minister's resignation or dismissal leads by convention to the resignation of all other ministers.{{Sfn|Elder|Fowler|2018|pp=61–3}} The precise authority of each individual prime minister within cabinet is uncertain, as their deliberations are secret. The prime minister also has the authority  to make independent policy decisions independently from Cabinet, with such decisions colloquially called "captain's calls".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Probyn |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Probyn |date=2019-10-23 |title=Scott Morrison's captain's call inserts medevac critic Sarah Henderson as chair of human rights committee |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/scott-morrison-captain-call-sarah-henderson-parliament-committee/11628368 |access-date= |work=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-01-21 |title=Tony Abbott's 'captain's call' is Macquarie Dictionary's Word of the Year |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/tony-abbotts-captains-call-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-year/7104056 |access-date= |work=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |language=en-AU}}</ref> The prime minister also has significant influence in the setting of foreign policy, through their role as chair of the [[National Security Committee (Australia)|National Security Committee]], a sub-committee of cabinet whose decisions do not need to be endorsed by the cabinet as a whole.{{Sfn|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|2022|p=42}}

The prime minister is also one of the responsible ministers for the [[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet]], whose tasks include general policy development across the government, inter-governmental communications, honours and symbols policy and Indigenous programmes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 December 2022 |title=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |url=https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/prime-minister-and-cabinet/department-prime-minister-and-cabinet |website=Directory |publisher=Australian Government}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 August 2023 |title=Administrative Arrangements Order |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2022Q00008/latest/text |website=Federal Registrar of Legislation |publisher=Australia Government}}</ref>

=== Legislative role ===
Since the emergence of the strong party system in Australia in the 1920s, prime ministers have almost always been the [[parliamentary leader]] of the [[Political party|party]] (or leader of the senior party in a coalition of parties) that has a majority in the House of Representatives (which has been either the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] or the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] in coalition with the [[National Party of Australia|National Party]] since the 1940s). [[Responsible government]] has always required the prime minister and government to have the confidence of a majority of the lower house in order to govern, however the emergence of strong parties with members strongly punished for voting against party policy (also known as [[crossing the floor]]) has meant that most prime ministers and governments have significant control over the passage of bills in this house. However, bills must also be passed by the [[Australian Senate|Senate]] (the upper house) in order to become law and the government rarely has a majority in this house, leading to some checks on the legislative powers of the government. The prime minister also controls the date of elections, through formal advice to the governor-general, with such elections usually occurring within a 6-month period prior to the maximum 3-year term of the House of Representatives expiring.

=== Other responsibilities ===
[[National Cabinet (Australia)|National Cabinet]], the primary inter-governmental decision-making forum between the federal government and the states, is also chaired by the prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Cabinet |url=https://federation.gov.au/national-cabinet |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=Federation.gov.au |publisher=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet}}</ref> While called a cabinet, the body is merely a discussion forum and the principles of secrecy and collective decision making do not apply.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=2021-08-06 |title=Nowhere to hide: the significance of national cabinet not being a cabinet |url=http://theconversation.com/nowhere-to-hide-the-significance-of-national-cabinet-not-being-a-cabinet-165671 |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Since the 1940s, the prime minister has asserted their authority to select the governor-general alone, instead of this being a cabinet decision.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pyke |first=John |title=Government powers under a Federal Constitution: constitutional law in Australia |date=2020 |publisher=Lawbook Co |isbn=978-0-455-24415-0 |edition=2nd |location=Pyrmont, NSW |pages=291–2 |language=en-AU}}</ref> The power is exercised through advice to the [[King of Australia]], who holds the de jure power to make the appointment and is by convention bound to accept such advice. The prime minister can also advise the monarch to dismiss the governor-general, though it remains unclear how quickly the monarch would act on such advice in a [[constitutional crisis]]. This uncertainty, and the possibility of a race between the governor-general and prime minister to dismiss the other, was a key question in the [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|1975 constitutional crisis]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |title=The veiled sceptre: reserve powers of heads of state in Westminster systems |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-29784-5 |series= |location=Cambridge |pages=333–40 |language=en}}</ref>