Re: OT: For information only !

Tristan Mc Leay wrote:
> Well it is, as far as I know... Certainly the Australian system has been
> described as a Washminster system (Wash- from Washington, DC, -minster
> from Westminster). The Senate of both countries is intended as a house
> of the states more than the people; the states each have equal
> representation regardless of the population (New States of Australia
> would,* and the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory
> do, have fewer Senators though). Both Senates wield a lot of power; one
> of Australia's Prime Ministers, Gough Whitlam, was fired because his
> government had no access to money because the Senate refused to pass the
> Budget. I assumed the American Senate was elected from the word go, but
> apparently it wasn't till 1913 (so Australia's Senate was elected even
> earlier). The Australian Senate wasn't proportional till 1949
Wait ... is Australia's senate proportional representation or equal
representation?

> * According to the constitution they only get two rather than the
> Original States' 12, but there aren't any New States.
To my perspective that seems rather prejudiced against new states ...
why aren't they treated as equal?

> * As I understand, Americans would've said 'The Liberal Party is ... It
> was', and Brits would've said 'The Liberal Party are ... They are'...
> It's not too unusual in my experience to use plural pronouns but
> singular verbs after the actual collective noun itself (they can also
> take singular pronouns, but the British usage is rare). Is that an odd
> Australianism or does it happen elsewhere?
American usage can take either "it" or "they".  In your sentence, I'd
probably use "it", since you're talking about the party itself.  But, if
you were to talk about, say, their proposed legislation, I'd probably
use "they" (as I just did!) because there it focuses more on the
individuals in the party rather then the party itself, and thus refers
to an implicit antecedent "Liberals" rather than "the Liberal Party"

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