Western Australian Legislative Council
Encyclopedia
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australia
n state of Western Australia
. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly
. It sits in Parliament House
in the state capital, Perth
.
The Legislative Council today has 36 members, elected for fixed four-year terms. Each member is elected under a proportional and preferential voting system using the single transferable vote
method, and represents one of six multi-member regions. Each region elects six members. Under proportional representation, it is not unusual for a government, lacking a clear majority in the Legislative Council, to rely on the voting support of independent members and/or minor parties, such as The Greens
, to pass legislation. As with all other Australian states and territories, voting is compulsory for all resident Australian citizens—and eligible British citizens (i.e., those permanently resident and on the electoral roll prior to the passage of the Australia Act) —who are over the legal voting age of 18.
Since only about 35 per cent of Western Australia's population is located in towns and small settlements across an area of over 2.6 million kilometres outside the Perth metropolitan area, until 2005 the state used a zonally weighted electoral system for both houses of parliament. This provided that the vote of a Perth citizen effectively counted for less than that of a rural voter.
On 20 May 2005, with the official enactment of the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005), the State was split into 6 regions by community of interest, 3 metropolitan and 3 rural, each electing 6 members to the Legislative council.
In 1850, the British
Parliament
passed an act that permitted the Australian colonies to establish legislative councils that were one-third nominated and two-thirds elected, but only under the condition that the colonies take responsibility for the costs of their own government. Because of this provision, Western Australia was slow to adopt the system. In 1867, the governor
responded to public demand for representative government by holding unofficial elections and subsequently nominating each elected person to the Council. Three years later, representative government was officially adopted and the Legislative Council was changed to consist of 12 elected members and 6 members nominated by the governor. Suffrage was not universal, with only landowners and those with a prescribed level of income being eligible to vote.
When Western Australia gained responsible government
in 1890, a bicameral system was adopted and the Legislative Council became a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly. This Council consisted of 15 members, all nominated by the governor
. However, it was provided that, once the population of the colony reached 60,000, the Legislative Council would become elective. The colony was expected to take many years to reach a population of 60,000 but the discovery of the eastern goldfields and the consequent gold rush caused that figure to be reached by 1893. The constitution was then amended to make the Legislative Council an elective house of 21 seats, with three members to be elected from each of seven provinces. The first election to the Council was held following the dissolution of parliament in June 1894.
This system was retained until 1962 when, over the next two years, the Council was reformed, creating a series of two-member electorates. Members were elected for six years with provision for re-election of one every three years. Universal suffrage was also granted in order to bring the Council into line with the Assembly. This arrangement remained until 10 June 1987 when the Burke
Labor government, with the conditional support of the National Party, introduced the present system of multi-member electorates and a method of proportional representation which is, however, 'weighted' to give extra representation to rural constituents. The legislation was made possible because the Australian Democrats
in 1986 negotiated an election preference flow to Labor in return for an explicit undertaking on Legislative Council electoral reform, which resulted in the defeat of a number of Liberal councillors who were committed to opposing such reform.
Until 2005 the state used a zonally weighted electoral system for both houses of parliament. This provided that the vote of a Perth citizen effectively counted for less than that of a rural voter. The difference was less marked in the Assembly than in the Legislative Council, whose metropolitan regions are numerically weighted so that up to two rural members are elected by the same number of votes needed to elect a single metropolitan member. This style of weighting has not been adopted by any other Australian state.
While the Liberal Party
and Labor Party
were both advantaged and disadvantaged by this system, it strongly benefited the National Party
. During the 1990s, Liberal Premier Richard Court
considered changing the system along the lines of that in place in South Australia
, but backed down in the face of National Party opposition.
On 20 May 2005, with the official enactment of the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005), the State was split into 6 regions by community of interest, 3 metropolitan and 3 rural, each electing 6 members to the Legislative council. The regions were defined geographically and functionally, and also included partial requirements for equal numbers of Western Australian Legislative Assembly
districts. However, all previously elected members remained until the following election
on 6 September 2008.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n state of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
. It sits in Parliament House
Parliament House, Perth
Parliament House, Perth is located on Harvest Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. An important building of the Government of Western Australia, it is the home of the Parliament of Western Australia, including the Western Australian Legislative Council and Western Australian Legislative Assembly...
in the state capital, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
The Legislative Council today has 36 members, elected for fixed four-year terms. Each member is elected under a proportional and preferential voting system using the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
method, and represents one of six multi-member regions. Each region elects six members. Under proportional representation, it is not unusual for a government, lacking a clear majority in the Legislative Council, to rely on the voting support of independent members and/or minor parties, such as The Greens
Greens Western Australia
The Greens Western Australia is the state branch of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance...
, to pass legislation. As with all other Australian states and territories, voting is compulsory for all resident Australian citizens—and eligible British citizens (i.e., those permanently resident and on the electoral roll prior to the passage of the Australia Act) —who are over the legal voting age of 18.
Since only about 35 per cent of Western Australia's population is located in towns and small settlements across an area of over 2.6 million kilometres outside the Perth metropolitan area, until 2005 the state used a zonally weighted electoral system for both houses of parliament. This provided that the vote of a Perth citizen effectively counted for less than that of a rural voter.
On 20 May 2005, with the official enactment of the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005), the State was split into 6 regions by community of interest, 3 metropolitan and 3 rural, each electing 6 members to the Legislative council.
History
The Legislative Council was Western Australia's first representative parliament. It was first created in 1832 as an appointive body. Initially it consisted only of official members; that is, public officials whose office guaranteed them a place on the Council. Three years later, an attempt was made to expand the Council by including four unofficial members to be nominated by the governor. However, the public demand for elected rather than nominated members was so great that implementation of the change was delayed until 1838.In 1850, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
passed an act that permitted the Australian colonies to establish legislative councils that were one-third nominated and two-thirds elected, but only under the condition that the colonies take responsibility for the costs of their own government. Because of this provision, Western Australia was slow to adopt the system. In 1867, the governor
Governor of Western Australia
The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
responded to public demand for representative government by holding unofficial elections and subsequently nominating each elected person to the Council. Three years later, representative government was officially adopted and the Legislative Council was changed to consist of 12 elected members and 6 members nominated by the governor. Suffrage was not universal, with only landowners and those with a prescribed level of income being eligible to vote.
When Western Australia gained responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
in 1890, a bicameral system was adopted and the Legislative Council became a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly. This Council consisted of 15 members, all nominated by the governor
Governor of Western Australia
The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
. However, it was provided that, once the population of the colony reached 60,000, the Legislative Council would become elective. The colony was expected to take many years to reach a population of 60,000 but the discovery of the eastern goldfields and the consequent gold rush caused that figure to be reached by 1893. The constitution was then amended to make the Legislative Council an elective house of 21 seats, with three members to be elected from each of seven provinces. The first election to the Council was held following the dissolution of parliament in June 1894.
This system was retained until 1962 when, over the next two years, the Council was reformed, creating a series of two-member electorates. Members were elected for six years with provision for re-election of one every three years. Universal suffrage was also granted in order to bring the Council into line with the Assembly. This arrangement remained until 10 June 1987 when the Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
Labor government, with the conditional support of the National Party, introduced the present system of multi-member electorates and a method of proportional representation which is, however, 'weighted' to give extra representation to rural constituents. The legislation was made possible because the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
in 1986 negotiated an election preference flow to Labor in return for an explicit undertaking on Legislative Council electoral reform, which resulted in the defeat of a number of Liberal councillors who were committed to opposing such reform.
Until 2005 the state used a zonally weighted electoral system for both houses of parliament. This provided that the vote of a Perth citizen effectively counted for less than that of a rural voter. The difference was less marked in the Assembly than in the Legislative Council, whose metropolitan regions are numerically weighted so that up to two rural members are elected by the same number of votes needed to elect a single metropolitan member. This style of weighting has not been adopted by any other Australian state.
While the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
were both advantaged and disadvantaged by this system, it strongly benefited the National Party
National Party of Western Australia
The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....
. During the 1990s, Liberal Premier Richard Court
Richard Court
Richard Fairfax Court AC , was a Western Australian politician, representing the seat of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1982 to 2001. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001.Court was born into an old political...
considered changing the system along the lines of that in place in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, but backed down in the face of National Party opposition.
On 20 May 2005, with the official enactment of the Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005), the State was split into 6 regions by community of interest, 3 metropolitan and 3 rural, each electing 6 members to the Legislative council. The regions were defined geographically and functionally, and also included partial requirements for equal numbers of Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
districts. However, all previously elected members remained until the following election
Western Australian state election, 2008
A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...
on 6 September 2008.
See also
- Members of the Western Australian Legislative CouncilMembers of the Western Australian Legislative CouncilFollowing are lists of members of the Western Australian Legislative Council:Prior to responsible government:*1832–1870*1870–1872*1872–1874*1874–1880*1880–1884*1884–1889*1889–1890*1890–1894After responsible government:...
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territoriesParliaments of the Australian states and territoriesThe Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
Current distribution of seats
| Party | Seats held | Legislative Council | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... |
16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationals National Party of Western Australia The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity.... |
5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greens (WA) Greens Western Australia The Greens Western Australia is the state branch of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance... |
4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||