Composition and Powers
Proportional representation in which the whole state is a single electorate means that the minimum quota for election is small; this guarantees a representation of minor parties in the Legislative Council. In the 1999 elections, a record number of parties contested seats in the house, resulting in an unwieldy ballot paper. Party registration requirements have since been made more restrictive (i.e., requiring more voters as members), reducing the number of parties contesting elections so that only 3 minor parties are now represented in the Legislative Council.
Read more about this topic: New South Wales Legislative Council
Famous quotes containing the words composition and/or powers:
“The naive notion that a mother naturally acquires the complex skills of childrearing simply because she has given birth now seems as absurd to me as enrolling in a nine-month class in composition and imagining that at the end of the course you are now prepared to begin writing War and Peace.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“A man is the prisoner of his power. A topical memory makes him an almanac; a talent for debate, disputant; skill to get money makes him a miser, that is, a beggar. Culture reduces these inflammations by invoking the aid of other powers against the dominant talent, and by appealing to the rank of powers. It watches success.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)