The NSW Legislative Assembly

Welcome from the Hon Richard Torbay, Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly

As Speaker I would like to welcome you to the web site of the Legislative Assembly of NSW. The Legislative Assembly was the first fully elected legislature in Australia, and this web site was developed give information about the Parliament, its Members and the services it has to offer.

You can access information about your local MP, get an update about a new bill, find out about committees, and look up Hansard or records of Votes and Proceedings. There is a wealth of information for students or those interested in political, legal or historical research.

I invite you to browse through the different pages and databases on the web site, and to find out more about the work of the Parliament and your local Member.

Hon. Richard Torbay MP

Speaker

The NSW Legislative Assembly

The NSW Legislative Assembly is often referred to as the Lower House or the Seat of Government due to the fact that the Government is formed by the political party which has the majority of Members in the Legislative Assembly.

The term of the Legislative Assembly is fixed at four years unless the House loses confidence in the Government or fails to pass an appropriation bill for the ordinary annual services of Government, or the Governor decides to dissolve the Assembly in accordance with constitutional conventions.

The Legislative Assembly pages on this website provide information on the role, structure, and House procedures of the Legislative Assembly.

Electing Members of the Legislative Assembly

There are 93 elected Members in the Legislative Assembly, each representing an electoral district of New South Wales. For Members' names, contact and biographical details see Current Members of the Legislative Assembly. For a breakdown of numbers of government, opposition and independent Members, see Member statistics.

Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected for a maximum term of four years. If a seat becomes vacant between elections it will be filled at a by-election in the electorate where the vacancy has occurred. Any person qualified to vote in New South Wales is entitled to run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly.

Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected by secret ballot using an optional preferential system of voting and counting. The name of each candidate and their political party affiliation is shown on the ballot paper. The voter places the number “1” in the square next to the name of the candidate who is the voter’s first choice. No other vote need be made but the ‘optional preferential’ part gives the voter the option of allocating further preferences by placing consecutive numbers, beginning with the number “2”, in the squares next to the names of additional candidates.

To be elected, a candidate must receive more than half the number of the first preference votes cast in the electoral district. If no candidate receives more than half of the first preference votes, a distribution of preferences takes place. In this process, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballot papers are distributed to the remaining candidates according to the next available preference shown on them. Those ballot papers on which only a first preference is shown cannot be distributed and are set aside as exhausted. This process is repeated with one candidate being eliminated each time, until a candidate has more than half the number of the votes remaining in the count.

Department of the Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly is administered by the Department of the Legislative Assembly. Its main role is to provide services to Members relating to the performance of their parliamentary duties. The Department may be contacted by telephone (02) 9230 2616, fax (02) 9230 2828, or e-mail assembly@parliament.nsw.gov.au.

Political comment should be emailed directly to individual Members of Parliament. Contact details are available from Current Members of the Legislative Assembly. The Department will not action or forward such comment to Members.

The Chamber

The Legislative Assembly has a debating chamber of rectangular shape with rows of benches facing each other along each of the longer sides. The Chamber was designed by Colonial Architect, Mortimer Lewis and was purpose built for the newly constituted Legislative Council, which first met in the Chamber in 1843. In 1856 the Chamber became the Legislative Assembly Chamber with the constitution of responsible government and a bicameral Parliament.

Legislative Assembly Chamber - click for virtual tour

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly follows the traditions of the House of Commons at Westminster and is furnished in green. There are a number of theories as to why green was chosen by the House of Commons. First, that the colour adopted by the House of Commons stems from the use of the colour within the palace of Westminster rather than due to any specific symbolism. Second, that the use of green stems from the cost of dyeing cloth for hangings. Dull green cloth was one of the cheapest colours to produce and it is argued that the House of Commons as the House of the commoner, had to be content with a more sober plumage than that of the House of Lords, which was decorated in red. Third, that the green is symbolic of the oak fields of Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 by King John, and fourth that it symbolises the village green and oak trees under which the commoners who later became Members of the House of Commons gathered. Since 11 October 1859 a portrait of William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872) has permanently hung in the Chamber. Wentworth was a Member of the pre-responsible Government Legislative Council from June 1843 to April 1854 and while never a Member of the Legislative Assembly he was integral to the push for responsible government.

A memorial tablet is also permanently hung in the Chamber to remember two serving Members who died in World War I – Lieutenant-Colonel George Frederick Braund (Member for Armidale) and Sergeant Edward Rennix Larkin (Member for Willoughby) were killed in action fighting at Gallipoli on 8 May and 10 June 1915, respectively. The memorial was unveiled by Speaker Meagher during a ceremony in the Chamber on 30 November 1915.

The New South Wales Coat of Arms sits above the Speaker’s Chair in the Chamber as a symbol of the sovereignty of New South Wales. Prior to 2007 the Royal Coat of Arms was hung in the Chamber but was replaced with the New South Wales Coat of Arms in accordance with the State Arms, Symbols and Emblems Act 2004.

Take a virtual tour of the Legislative Assembly Chamber (click on the image to the right).