Parliament of New South Wales - History

History

The Parliament of New South Wales is Australia's oldest legislature. It had its beginnings when New South Wales was a British colony under the control of the Governor. A small, appointed Legislative Council began meeting in 1824 to advise the Governor on legislative matters. By 1843, this had been enlarged with two-thirds of its members elected by adult males who met certain property requirements. In 1856, under a new Constitution, the Parliament became bicameral with a fully elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council with a Government taking over most of the legislative powers of the Governor. The right to vote was extended to all adult males in 1858.

In 1850 the Australian Colonies Government Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament. This expanded the New South Wales Legislative Council so that by 1851 there were 54 members – again, with two-thirds elected. In 1853, a select committee chaired by William Wentworth began drawing up a Constitution for responsible self-government. The Committee’s proposed Constitution was placed before the Legislative Council in August that year and, for the most part, accepted. The Constitution, with an upper house whose members were appointed for life, was sent to the Imperial Parliament and was passed into law on 16 July 1855. The new Parliament of New South Wales was to be a bicameral legislature, similar to that of the United Kingdom. On 22 May 1856, the newly constituted New South Wales Parliament opened and sat for the first time. 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 1859 Queensland was made a colony separate from New South Wales. The Legislative Assembly was reduced from 80 to 72 members by the loss of the Queensland seats. In 1901, New South Wales became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia and many government functions were transferred to the new Commonwealth government.

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, although no woman was elected until 1925 when Millicent Preston-Stanley was elected to represent Eastern Suburbs. That same year, a proportional representation system was introduced for the Legislative Assembly with multiple representatives from each electorate; this system lasted until it was abolished in 1926.

In 1925, 1926 and 1929, Premier Jack Lang made attempts at abolishing the Legislative Council, following the example of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1922, but all were unsuccessful. The debate did, however, result in another round of reforms, and in 1933, the law was changed so that a quarter of the Legislative Council was elected every three years by members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, rather than being appointed by the Governor. In 1962 Indigenous Australians gained the right to vote in all state elections. In 1978, the Council became a directly 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, and 44 from 1981 to 1984. 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 was reduced from 109 to 99 Members and then to 93 members in 1999.