South Australian House of Assembly

South Australian House of Assembly
Type
Type	Lower house
Leadership
Speaker	Jack Snelling, Labor Party since April 27, 2006
Structure
Members	47
Political groups	ALP (28) Liberal Party (14) Nationals SA (1) Independent (4)
Meeting place
Parliament House, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Web site
www.parliament.sa.gov.au

House of Assembly chamber circa 1928. Click here for a 360 degree view. Internet Explorer recommended.

Speakers' chair in 1889

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.

Overview

The House of Assembly was created in 1857, when South Australia attained self-government. The development of an elected legislature - although only men could vote - marked a significant change from the prior system, where power had been concentrated in the hands of the Governor and the Legislative Council, which was appointed by the Governor.

In 1894, the House of Assembly granted women the right to vote - the second place in the world to do so after New Zealand in 1893, and the first to allow them to stand for election.

The House of Assembly has 47 members, each coming from a single-member constituency. These are commonly known as seats, and are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by the preferential system, as with the equivalent federal chamber, the Australian House of Representatives. All members face re-election approximately every four years. The most recent election was held on March 18, 2006.

Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with the most seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes Premier of South Australia, 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 House of Assembly.

As with the federal parliament and Australian other states and territories, voting in the Assembly is compulsory for all those over the age of 18. Voting in the House of Assembly had originally been voluntary, but this was changed in 1942.

Current Distribution of Seats (2006-2010)

• The Liberals were reduced from 15 to 14 seats when independent Geoff Brock was elected at the 2009 Frome by-election.

Previous Distribution of Seats (2002-2006)

• Kris Hanna was elected as a Labor member in 2002, but defected first to the Greens and later became an independent.

See also

• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
• South Australian Electoral Districts
• South Australian legislative election, 2006
• South Australian legislative election, 2002
• List of South Australian state by-elections

External links

• House of Assembly Homepage
• House of Assembly Transcripts/Hansard

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