英语国家概况15Chapter17.ppt

Australia Government and society Election Australia is one of the few nations that have compulsory voting. Of all the elections,the general election is the most important,the result of which determines which party leader will rule the country as the Prime Minister.A general election can be called before the parliament has served its full term. There are 3 main electional system,namely the simple majority system,the preferential voting system and the proportional representation system. 3.Economy prosperous Werstern-style capitalist economy high economic performance stems from effective economic management and ongoing structural reform self-sufficient in food:sheep cattle and grain have long been the countrys major occupations industrialized country foreign trade:chief export commodities are metals, minerals, wool,beef,mutton,cereals,and manufactured product. leading imports:machinery,trasportation and telecommunications equipment,computers and office machines,chemicals and petroleum products around 27,700 different plants leading supplier of mineral resources to international market almost all the ore production is exported one of the worlds leading exporters of angricultural products Manufacturing: developed in the late 19th century in 1908,take measures to promote the development of manufacturing,mainly through tariffs. by the end of World War II，contribute more than one-fourth of GDP,peaking about one-third from 1959 to 1960. now employs about10%of the labor and contributes about 9% of GDP. Foreign trade: played an essential role in Australias economic growth,largely dominated by the countrys rich natural resources and comparatively small population.Today to be the best -performing industry in Australia largest trading partners are China,Japan,theUnited States,New Zealand,the Republic of Korea,Britain and Germany. a country of foreign investment,with its foreign capital coming maily from Britain a