New South Wales Legislative Assembly facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Legislative Assembly
57th Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of the Parliament of New South Wales
History
Founded	22 May 1856; 167 years ago (22 May 1856)
Leadership
Speaker	Jonathan O'Dea, Liberal Since 7 May 2019
Deputy Speaker	Leslie Williams, Liberal Since 7 May 2019
Leader of the House	Mark Speakman, Liberal Since 8 May 2020
Manager of Opposition Business	Ron Hoenig, Labor Since 11 June 2021
Government Whip	Adam Crouch, Liberal Since 30 Apr 2019
Opposition Whip	Anna Watson, Labor Since 2 July 2019
Structure
Seats	93
Political groups	Government (45)      Liberal (32)      Nationals (13) Opposition (37)      Labor (37) Crossbench (11)      Greens (3)      Shooters, Fishers, Farmers (2)      Independent (6)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Optional preferential voting
Last election	23 March 2019
Next election	25 March 2023
Meeting place
Legislative Assembly Chamber Parliament House, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Website
NSW Legislative Assembly

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 optional preferential system.

NSW first Legislative Assembly – 1880

Members of the Legislative Assembly have the post-nominals MP after their names. From the creation of the assembly up to about 1990, the post-nominals "MLA" (Member of the Legislative Assembly) were used.

The Assembly is often called the bearpit on the basis of the house's reputation for confrontational style during heated moments and the "savage political theatre and the bloodlust of its professional players" attributed in part to executive dominance.

History

The Legislative Assembly was created in 1856 with the introduction of a bicameral parliament for the Crown Colony of New South Wales. In the beginning, only men were eligible to be members of the Assembly, and only around one half of men were able to pass the property or income qualifications required to vote. Two years later, the Electoral Reform Act, which was passed despite the opposition of the Legislative Council, saw the introduction of a far more democratic system, allowing any man who had been resident in the colony for six months the right to vote, and removing property requirements to stand as a candidate. Following Australia's 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, with the first successful candidate being elected in 1925.

Function

Most legislation is initiated in the Legislative Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes Premier of New South Wales, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. 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 federal parliament and other Australian states and territories, voting in the Assembly is compulsory for all those over the age of 18. Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday in March, exceptional circumstances notwithstanding, as the result of a 1995 referendum to amend the New South Wales Constitution.

Current distribution of seats

• 47 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.

See also

In Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa de Nueva Gales del Sur para niños