What does Member of Parliament in the Senate do different to those in the House of Representatives?
The members of the Federal House of Representatives (MHR) are responsible for representing their constituents of their electorate on a local level. Members of the Senate represent the interests of their individual state or territory. The Senate is responsible for a more thorough examination of bills passed by the House of Reps and initially (many years ago), the theory was that Senators were former solicitors or judges or in high positions of authority and MHR’s were ordinary members of their own community elected to office. The senate is just basically a second level of checks and balances in parliament to reduce the chance that a government controlling the House of Reps can’t just pass any legislation they want (like for instance the “Kill all blue eyed babies at birth” bill which was a fake example my legal studies teacher often used in class). We’ve been lucky in Australia to often have more cross-benches (minor parties) and opposition members in the Senate – which prevents an easy
