Parliament of South Australia

Infobox Legislature
name = Parliament of South Australia
coa_pic =
coa_res =
coa-pic =
coa-res =
session_room = Adelaide parliament house.jpg
session_res =
house_type = Bicameral
houses = Legislative Council
House of Assembly
leader1_type = President of the Legislative Council
leader1 = Bob Sneath
party1 = Labor Party
election1 = April 27, 2006
leader2_type = Speaker of the House of Assembly
leader2 = Jack Snelling
party2 = Labor Party
election2 = April 27, 2006
members = 69
22 Councilors
47 Assembly Members
p_groups = "Legislative Council:" Labor party, Liberal Party, Family First Party, Australian Democrats, Greens SA, No Pokies
"House of Assembly:" Labor party, Liberal Party, National Party, Independent
election3 = March 18, 2006
meeting_place = Parliament House, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
website = [http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/ www.parliament.sa.gov.au] 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.

The House of Assembly

The House of Assembly (or "lower house") is made up of 47 members who each are elected on a preferential system to represent an electoral district. Each of the 47 districts represents approximately the same amount of the voting public, and redistribution of electoral divisions 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.

The Legislative Council

The Legislative Council (or "upper house") is made up of 22 "councillors" who are elected to serve a term of 8 years on a system of proportional representation, 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.

The 2010 state election will coincide with a referendum on the future of the legislative council. Voters can choose to abolish the upper house, or half the numbers of the chamber to 11 and shorten parliamentary terms to 4 years, or leave as is. [http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1515919.htm]

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.

ee also

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

External links

* [http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/ Parliament of South Australia]