Parliament of South Australia
51st Parliament
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	House of Assembly Legislative Council
Leadership
President of the Legislative Council	Bob Sneath, Labor Party since 27 April 2006
Speaker of the House of Assembly	Jack Snelling, Labor Party since 27 April 2006
Structure
Members	69 47 HoA Members 22 MLCs
Meeting place
Parliament House, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Website
www.parliament.sa.gov.au

Parliament House

Recreated lower and upper house booths, history, and voting procedures

The Parliament of South Australia is the legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the Queen, the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. It is based on the Westminster system of parliamentary government.

The Sovereign is represented in South Australia by the Governor. Among the Governor's duties are the opening of Parliament, dissolving of Parliament and issuing of writs for an election, and giving Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament. However, unlike Australia's Federal Parliament, the Sovereign is not considered a part of the parliament.

The leader of the party or coalition most likely to command a majority of votes in the House of Assembly is invited by the Governor to form a government and becomes the Premier.

[edit] The House of Assembly

The House of Assembly (or "lower house") is made up of 47 members who each are elected via full-preference instant-runoff voting in single-member electorates. Each of the 47 electorates (or districts) represents approximately the same amount of the voting public, and redistribution of electoral districts take place by the State Electoral Office after each election to maintain equality in Electoral Divisions.

The House of Assembly is where the government is formed, after an election the leader of the party or coalition who can demonstrate support of the majority of the House, is called upon by the Governor to form government. The leader of the government becomes the Premier.

[edit] The Legislative Council

The Legislative Council (or "upper house") is made up of 22 "councillors" who are elected in a state-wide vote via the single transferable voting system (with optional group voting tickets) to serve a term of 8 years. Elections for the Legislative Council are staggered so half the seats are up for reelection every 4 years, in time with the election for the House of Assembly.

The primary function of the Legislative Council is to act as a house of review of legislation that has been passed by the House of Assembly, it is in this capacity that can cause tensions between the government and the Legislative Council, as the government is said to have the mandate of the people and view the Legislative Council as obstructionist.

[edit] Location

The seat of the Parliament of South Australia is Parliament House in the state capital of Adelaide. Parliament House sits on the North-Western corner of the intersection of King William Street and North Terrace.

[edit] See also

• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
• Official openings by the monarch in Australia

[edit] External links

• Parliament of South Australia

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