New South Wales Parliament

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Parliament House

The Parliament of New South Wales , located in the Parliament House of Sydney , is the legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales . It is a two-chamber parliament elected by the citizens of New South Wales. It shares power with the Australian Parliament in Canberra . It is Australia's oldest parliament.

Parliament draws its authority from Queen Elizabeth II through the Governor of New South Wales. It consists of a lower house, the parliamentary assembly and an upper house, the parliamentary council. Both are elected directly by the people every four years.

history

The New South Wales Parliament is Australia's oldest parliament. A small parliamentary council met for the first time in 1824 to advise the governor. In 1843 this council was expanded and two-thirds were elected by the adult male population who met certain property regulations. In 1856 a fully elected parliamentary assembly was added as part of a new constitution. All adult men have been able to vote since 1858.

In 1859, Queensland was split off from New South Wales as an independent colony . The parliamentary assembly was therefore reduced from 80 to 72 seats. In 1901 New South Wales became a state of Australia and ceded many rights to the Australian government.

Women were allowed to vote for the first time in the Australian Commonwealth elections in April 1902 and in the election to the Parliamentary Assembly in August 1902. Since 1918 women have been allowed to vote themselves, but this happened for the first time in 1925. The first women on the parliamentary council were Catherine Green and Ellen Webster, both appointed on November 23, 1931.

Between 1925 and 1929, Prime Minister Jack Lang attempted to abolish the parliamentary council, but failed. In 1933, the laws were changed so that every three years a quarter of the members of the parliamentary council are elected by members of the parliamentary assembly instead of being appointed by the governor as before. In 1962, the Aborigines gained the right to vote in all state elections. Since 1978 the members of the parliamentary council have been directly elected and the number of seats has been reduced to 45. Another reform in 1991 reduced the number of seats to 42 and half of the members elected every four years. In 1991 the number of seats in the Parliamentary Assembly was reduced from 109 to 99 and then further reduced to 93 in 1999.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b About Parliament . NSW Parliament.
  2. ^ The history of the Council . NSW Legislative Council.
  3. ^ Women's Franchise Act 1902 (NSW) . NSW Government.
  4. ^ The role of the Legislative Assembly . NSW legislative assembly.