1.
Parliament of South Australia
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The Parliament of South Australia at Parliament House, Adelaide is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly and the 22-seat Legislative Council, all of the lower house and half of the upper house is filled at each election. It follows a Westminster system of parliamentary government, the fourth-term South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party has been in government since the 2002 election. The Queen is represented in the State by the Governor of South Australia, however, the same role and powers are granted to them. The 47-seat lower house consists of 24 Labor,21 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock, following the 2014 election, the lower house consisted of 23 Labor,22 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock and Bob Such. Hamilton-Smith became an independent shortly after the election, reducing the Liberals to 21 seats, both Hamilton-Smith and fellow independent Geoff Brock are in cabinet and provide confidence and supply while retaining the right to vote on conscience. Labor went from minority to majority government when Nat Cook won the 2014 Fisher by-election which was triggered by the death of Bob Such, despite this, the Jay Weatherill Labor government kept crossbench MPs Brock and Hamilton-Smith in cabinet, giving the government a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority. As with the rest of the crossbench, Bedford will continue to provide confidence, the 22-seat upper house consists of eight Labor, eight Liberal, two Greens, two Family First, one Dignity for Disability and one Nick Xenophon Team MLCs. The Parliament of South Australia began in 1857, when the colony was granted self-government, women gained the right to vote and stand for election in 1895, taking effect at the 1896 election. South Australia became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 following a vote to Federate with the other British colonies of Australia, while smaller than the Eastern states, South Australia has often been at the vanguard of political and social change in Australia. The House of Assembly is made up of 47 members who are elected by the full-preference instant-runoff voting system in single-member electorates. The leader of the government becomes the Premier, while South Australias total population is 1.7 million, Adelaides population is 1. At the 2014 election for example, although the state-wide two-party vote was 47. 0% Labor v 53. 0% Liberal, the metropolitan area recorded a 2PP of 51. 5% Labor v 48. 5% Liberal. The Legislative Council is made up of 22 councillors who are elected for the state by the single transferable voting system to serve for a term of 8 years. Elections for the Legislative Council are staggered so that 11 seats are up for re-election every 4 years, the primary function of the Legislative Council is to review legislation which has been passed by the House of Assembly. The seat of the Parliament of South Australia is Parliament House in the capital of Adelaide. Parliament House sits on the North-Western corner of the intersection of King William Street, list of elections in South Australia Parliaments of the Australian states and territories Official openings by the monarch in Australia Parliament of South Australia Homepage
2.
Australian House of Representatives
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The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses, a member of the House may be referred to as a Member of Parliament, while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a Senator. The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve, the House of Representatives currently consists of 150 members, elected by and representing single member districts, known as electoral divisions. The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, the most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned to 148 at the 1996 election, each division elects one member using full-preference Instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote, the Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preference preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election. This system has remained in place since, allowing the Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker, Members of the House are elected from single member electorates. One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the number of voters with a maximum 10% variation. However, the quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Meanwhile, all the states except Tasmania have electorates approximately within the same 10% tolerance, voting is by the preferential system, also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal and this allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote. Under Section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a quota determined from the latest statistics of the Commonwealth. These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51, the parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. This is known as the Nexus Provision, the reasons for this are twofold, to maintain a constant influence for the smaller states and to maintain a constant balance of the two Houses in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. The population of state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members, the Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each
3.
Australian Senate
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The Australian Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I, there are a total of 76 senators,12 senators are elected from each of the six states and two from each of the two autonomous internal territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single vote system of proportional representation. As a result of proportional representation, the features a multitude of parties vying for power. Senators normally serve fixed terms, unless the Senate is dissolved earlier in a double dissolution. Following a double half the state senators serve terms ending on the third 30 June following the election with the rest serving three years longer. The term of the territory senators expires at the time as there is an election for the House of Representatives. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the Senate as part of the new system of government in newly federated Australia. From a comparative perspective, the Australian Senate exhibits distinctive characteristics. Unlike upper Houses in other Westminster system governments, the Senate is not a body with limited legislative power. Rather it was intended to play – and does play – an active role in legislation, the Constitution intended to give less populous states added voice in a Federal legislature, while also providing for the revising role of an upper house in the Westminster system. In practice, however, most legislation in the Australian Parliament is initiated by the Government and it is then passed to the Senate, which has the opportunity to amend the bill or refuse to pass it. In the majority of cases, voting takes place along party lines, since 2015, armed officers of the Australian Federal Police have been placed on duty to protect both chambers of the Federal Parliament. The system for electing senators has changed several times since Federation, the original arrangement involved a first-past-the-post block voting or winner takes all system, on a state-by-state basis. This was replaced in 1919 by preferential block voting, block voting tended to produce landslide majorities and even wipe-outs. For instance, from 1920 to 1923 the Nationalist Party of Australia had 35 of the 36 senators, and from 1947 to 1950, the Australian Labor Party had 33 of the 36 senators. From the 1984 election, group ticket voting was introduced in order to reduce a high rate of voting that arose from the requirement that each candidate be given a preference. As a result of the changes, voters may assign their preferences for parties above the line, or individual candidates below the line, both above and below the line voting now use optional preferential voting
4.
Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer in the house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was created by section 35 of the Constitution of Australia, the authors of the Constitution intended that the House of Representatives should as nearly as possible be modelled on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Speaker is the officer of House of Representatives debates. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, the office of Speaker is currently held by Tony Smith since 10 August 2015. The Deputy Speaker is Mark Coulton, who was elected Deputy Speaker on 30 August 2016, if the Speaker is absent the Deputy Speaker becomes the Acting Speaker. The Second Deputy Speaker is Rob Mitchell, the Clerk of the Australian House of Representatives conducts the election. In accordance with longstanding tradition, the MPs who move and second the nomination of the successful candidate drag him or her to the chair after his election, unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons in Britain, the Speaker generally remains an active member of their party. If a party member, the Speaker will continue to party meetings. There were two exceptions to this, the first Speaker, Frederick Holder and Peter Slipper, who resigned from their respective parties upon election as Speaker, and sat as independents. A Speaker ceases to hold office if, for any reason. Because the Speaker is always the nominee of the governing party, while the Opposition usually nominates one of its own members for Speaker after a general election, this is understood to be a symbolic act, and party discipline is always followed in any ballot. By reason of section 40 of the Constitution, while in the Chair, a Speaker does not have a vote, but if there is a tie in votes. Most Speakers have been senior backbenchers of the party holding office at the start of a new Parliament, two were former state premiers, Holder and Watt. Bronwyn Bishop was elected Speaker on 12 November 2013, as the Coalitions first female Speaker of the House, the Parliament was the first Australian federal parliament to have had three Speakers, Harry Jenkins, Peter Slipper, and Anna Burke. The name Speaker originates from olden times in the United Kingdom House of Commons, mr Speaker was a description rather than a title, the speaker being the Member of Parliament chosen to speak for them to the king. The first recorded use of the term Speaker was in 1377, during earlier times when the king was very powerful, he would usually only call the Parliament together to get it to agree to levy taxes. The speaker would report parliaments decisions to the king, which proved to be if it was not what the king wanted to hear
5.
New South Wales Legislative Council
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The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly, both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the house and the Council as the upper house. It is normal for legislation to be first deliberated on and enacted in the house, and then considered in the upper house. The Council has 42 members, elected by proportional representation in which the state is treated as a single electorate. Members serve eight-year terms, which are staggered so half the Council is up for election every four years—roughly coinciding with elections to the Legislative Assembly. The parliament of New South Wales is Australias oldest legislature and it had its beginnings when New South Wales was a British colony under the control of the Governor and was first established in 1823 by the New South Wales Act. A small, 5-member appointed Legislative Council began meeting on 24 August 1824 to advise the Governor on legislative matters and it grew to seven members in 1825, and between ten and fifteen in 1829. In 1851 the Council was enlarged to 54 members with 36 of its members elected by adult males who met property requirements and 18 appointed members. The right to vote was extended to all males in 1858. On 22 May 1856, the newly constituted New South Wales Parliament opened, with the new 54-member Legislative Assembly taking over the council chamber, a second meeting chamber for the 21-member upper house had to be added to the Parliament building in Macquarie Street. In 1901, New South Wales became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1902, women gained the right to vote and the current Constitution of New South Wales was adopted, and in 1918, reforms permitted women to be members of parliament. In 1925,1926 and 1929, Premier Jack Lang made attempts to abolish the Legislative Council, following the example of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1922, in 1962 Indigenous Australians gained the right to vote in all state elections. In 1978, the Council became an elected body in a program of electoral reform introduced by the Wran Labor government. The number of members was reduced to 45, although transitional arrangements meant that there were 43 members from 1978 to 1981, further reform in 1991 by the Greiner Liberal-National government saw the size of the Legislative Council cut to 42 members, with half being elected every 4 years. In 1991, the Legislative Assembly reduced from 109 to 99 Members, as with the federal parliament and other Australian states and territories, voting in the election to select members for the Council is compulsory for all New South Wales citizens over the age of 18. As the result of a 1995 referendum, every four years half the seats in the Council come up for election on the fourth Saturday in March, barring exceptional circumstances
6.
Speaker (politics)
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The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer. The title was first used in 1399 in England, the speakers official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial, the title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerford in the Parliament of England. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as Mister Speaker, if a man, or Madam Speaker, in other cultures other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English chairman or president. Many bodies also have a pro tempore, designated to fill in when the speaker is not available. The Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives is the officer of the Australian House of Representatives. The President of the Australian Senate is the officer of the Australian Senate. Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role, in Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected lower house. The speaker is a Member of Parliament and is elected at the beginning of new parliament by fellow MPs. The Speakers role in presiding over Canadas House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the Westminster system. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie, by convention, if required to vote, the Speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved. The Speaker of the Senate of Canada is the officer of the Senate of Canada. The Speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of procedure and parliamentary privilege. The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the Governor General of Canada from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the Prime Minister, the Speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails, at the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the Speaker in all provinces except Quebec, where the term President is used. The presiding officer fulfills the role as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the elected to preside over the elected House of Commons
7.
Liberal and Country League
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The Liberal and Country League was the major conservative party in South Australia from 1932 to 1974. This arrangement was retained even as Adelaide, the state capital, additionally, with a decisive advantage to the LCL, swing voters may have been more likely to vote for the expected status quo LCL government. It was succeeded by the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in 1974, traditionally a socially conservative party, the LCL contained three relatively distinct factions whose ideologies often conflicted, Farmers, graziers and rural property owners. The Adelaide Establishment of old families and those fortunate enough, through marriage. The urban middle class, who continued to support the party although they had little say in its running, indeed, it was not until the election of Robin Millhouse in 1955 that someone from this third faction was elected to parliament. Richard Layton Butler who served as Premier of South Australia until shortly after the 1938 election, sir Thomas Playford who served as Premier from 5 November until his electoral defeat at the 1965 election nearly 27 years later. Steele Hall who succeeded Playford as leader of the LCL following Playfords 1966 resignation as party leader, bruce Eastick who succeeded Hall as leader of the LCL following Halls 1972 resignation as party leader. It was Playford that the LCL would become synonymous with over his 26 years and 125 days as Premier, the LCL became so strongly identified with Playford that during election campaigns, voters were asked to vote for The Playford Liberal and Country League. Playford gave the impression that the LCL membership were there solely to raise money and run election campaigns and this treatment of rank and file party members continued to cause resentment throughout the party, the first public inkling of which was the reformation of a separate Country Party in 1963. Although a shadow of its former self, the reformed Country Party served as a call to Playford that there were problems within the LCL. The LCL was thus caught unawares in the early 1960s, when Labor eschewed a statewide campaign in favour of targeting marginal LCL seats. Due to these factors, the LCLs grip on power began to slip in the 1950s, due to its paper-thin base in the capital, the LCL never held more than 23 seats at any time during Playfords tenure. Under Frank Walsh, Labor won a decisive 54.3 percent of the two-party preferred vote, however, due to the Playmander, Labor only picked up a two-seat swing, leaving it one short of a majority. The two independents threw their support to the LCL, allowing Playford to remain in office, the LCL lost government for the first time at the 1965 election. Despite winning the same two-party vote as it had three earlier, the Playmander was strong enough that Labor was only able to win government by two seats. Playford resigned as party leader in 1966 and was succeeded by Steele Hall, at the 1968 election, Labor won a 53.2 percent two-party vote, but suffered a two-seat swing, resulting in a hung parliament. The lone independent in the chamber, Tom Stott, threw his support to the LCL, Hall was embarrassed that his party was in a position to win power despite having clearly lost the vote. Concerned by the level of publicity and public protest about the issue, Hall reduced the rural weighting, the reforms fell short of one vote one value, as Labor had demanded, since rural areas were still overrepresented
8.
South Australian House of Assembly
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The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council and it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. The fourth-term South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party has been in government since the 2002 election, the 47-seat house consists of 24 Labor,21 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock and Martin Hamilton-Smith. Following the 2014 election, the house consisted of 23 Labor,22 Liberal and 2 independents, Geoff Brock. Hamilton-Smith became an independent shortly after the election, reducing the Liberals to 21 seats, both Hamilton-Smith and fellow independent Geoff Brock are in cabinet and provide confidence and supply while retaining the right to vote on conscience. Labor went from minority to majority government when Nat Cook won the 2014 Fisher by-election which was triggered by the death of Bob Such, despite this, the Jay Weatherill Labor government kept crossbench MPs Brock and Hamilton-Smith in cabinet, giving the government a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority. As with the rest of the crossbench, Bedford will continue to provide confidence, the House of Assembly was created in 1857, when South Australia attained self-government. In 1895, the House of Assembly granted women the right to vote – the second place in the world to do so after New Zealand in 1893 – and the first to allow women to stand for election. The House of Assembly has had 47 members since the 1970 election, each coming from a single-member constituency and these are commonly known as seats, and are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by preferential voting with complete preference allocation, as with the equivalent federal chamber, all members face re-election approximately every four years. The most recent election was held on 15 March 2014, most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party becomes Premier of South Australia, as Australian MPs almost always vote along party lines, almost all legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the House of Assembly. As with the parliament and Australian other states and territories. Voting in the House of Assembly had originally been voluntary, while South Australias total population is 1.7 million, Adelaides population is 1. At the 2014 election for example, although the state-wide two-party vote was 47. 0% Labor v 53. 0% Liberal,24 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation
9.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
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The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council, both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is presided over by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Assembly has 93 members, elected by single-member constituency, which are commonly known as seats. Voting is by the preferential system. Members of the Legislative Assembly have the initialism MP after their names, from the creation of the assembly up to about 1990, the initialism MLA was used. The Legislative Assembly was created in 1856 with the introduction of a parliament for the Crown Colony of New South Wales. In the beginning, only men were eligible to be members of the Assembly, following Australias federation in 1901, the New South Wales parliament became a State legislature. Women were granted the right to vote in 1902, and gained the right to be members of the Assembly in 1918, the Legislative Assembly sits in the oldest legislative chamber in Australia. Originally built for the Legislative Council in 1843, it has been in use since 1856. The colour of the Legislative Assembly chamber is green, which follows the British tradition for lower houses, most legislation is initiated in the Legislative Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes Premier of New South Wales, as Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the Legislative Assembly. As with the parliament and other Australian states and territories. Elections are held four years on the fourth Saturday in March, exceptional circumstances notwithstanding. 47 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation, the clerk of the house of the NSW Legislative Assembly is the senior administrative officer. The clerk advises the speaker of the Assembly and members of parliament on matters of parliamentary procedure, the office is modelled on the clerk of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The serjeant has the authority to remove disorderly people, by force if necessary, once a meeting has started in an Assembly, the serjeant will usually stand at the door to keep authority and make sure no one else comes in or out
10.
George Charles Hawker
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George Charles Hawker was an Australian settler and South Australian politician. Hawker was born in London, the son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi. He was educated partly on the continent, and he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, together with his brother Charles, Hawker went to South Australia in 1840 travelling aboard the Lysander. He had two brothers with him at first and all three soon adapted themselves to conditions, some of the early station buildings in fact were put up with their own hands. In 1841 they were members of a party of 10 that went out to reclaim a large number of sheep that had fallen into the hands of the aborigines. The aborigines heavily outnumbered them and they were fortunate in escaping with the loss of one horse with one member of their party wounded, Hawker eventually bought out his brothers and extended his land until he had some 80,000 acres. Much attention was paid to the breeding of his sheep, in 1851 Hawker was a candidate for Stanley in the South Australian Legislative Council, but was defeated. He was successful in this position carrying out its duties with tact and dignity and he retired from parliament in 1865, went to England with his family, and did not return until 1874. He again entered parliament and, except for a few months, was a member until his death and he was twice asked to form a ministry and declined on each occasion, but several times held office. He was Treasurer of South Australia in the third Arthur Blyth ministry for a few days in 1875 and he was commissioner of public works in the third Boucaut ministry from October 1877 to September 1878, and held the same position in the William Morgan ministry until June 1881. In 1889 he visited India to inquire into the irrigation question and he died on 21 May 1895 in Medindie, if he had lived a few days longer he would have been created K. C. M. G. His widows appeal for an award was approved by the Queen in September 1895. Hawker held a position as a citizen of South Australia. He was much respected in parliament through his career of 26 years. In his earlier days Hawker was an excellent speaker who rose to eloquence, as an old man he contented himself with short speeches. He showed distinct administrative ability during his term as commissioner of public works, on 16 December 1845, George married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Seymour, pastoralist at Naracoorte. Known as Bessie, her younger sister Jane married in 1856 to pastoralist, having survived her husband, Bessie was granted the rank of the widow of a knight. Lady Hawker died in June 1901 and they had six sons and six daughters
