Parliament of New South Wales

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The Parliament of New South Wales is the supreme law making body in New South Wales, a state of Australia. It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections. As Australia is a federation of six states, the parliament shares law making powers with the national government, being the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia.

The state parliament consists of the New South Wales Legislative Council, being the upper house, and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, being the lower house. Each house is directly elected by the people of New South Wales. The sovereign is the head of the parliament and is represented in the state by the Governor of New South Wales.

1 Location
2 Legislature
3 Executive
4 Separation of Powers
5 History
6 See also
7 External Links

[edit] Location

The two legislative chambers of the New South Wales Parliament are housed in the historic Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney.

[edit] Legislature

For a bill to become law, it must be passed by both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assesmbly and be assented to by the Governor.

[edit] Executive

The party or coalition with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly is invited by the Governor to form government. The head of government is the Premier.

[edit] Separation of Powers

Because members of the Government sit in Parliament, according to the Westminster system the separation of powers into Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches is not as great as in the American model.

[edit] History

The Parliament of New South Wales is Australia's oldest parliament. The Parliament is housed in a former hospital, the so-called Rum Hospital built in exchange for granting of a monopoly to import rum.