South Australian House of Assembly
House of Assembly | |
---|---|
Independent (5)[a] | |
Length of term | 4 years |
Elections | |
Full preferential voting | |
First election | 9 March 1857 |
Last election | 19 March 2022 |
Next election | 21 March 2026 |
Redistricting | Redistributions are carried out after each election by the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission. |
Meeting place | |
House of Assembly Chamber, Parliament House, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia | |
Website | |
SA House of Assembly |
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 legislative power was in the hands of the Governor and the Legislative Council, which was appointed by the Governor.
In 1895, the House of Assembly granted women the right to vote and stand for election to the legislature. South Australia was the second place in the world to do so after New Zealand in 1893, and the first to allow women to stand for election.[1] (The first woman candidates for the South Australia Assembly ran in 1918 general election, in Adelaide and Sturt.[2])
From 1857 to 1933, the House of Assembly was elected from multi-member districts, commonly known as "
The House of Assembly has had 47 members since the 1970 election, elected from single-member districts: currently 34 in the Adelaide metropolitan area and 13 in rural areas. These seats are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by Instant-runoff voting and preferential voting with complete preference allocation, 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 19 March 2022.
The House is presided over by a Speaker, who, as of the passage of the Constitution (Independent Speaker) Amendment Act 2021, is constitutionally banned from being a member of a registered political party outside of a "relevant election period".[3]
Another distinctive aspect of the history of the South Australian Parliament was the "
More equitable boundaries were subsequently put in place following the 1968, 1975, and 1989 elections.[5]
Most legislation is initiated in the House of Assembly. The party or coalition with a majority of seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party becomes Premier of South Australia, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian MPs almost always vote along party lines, almost all 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.
While South Australia's total population is 1.7 million, 1.3 million of them live in Adelaide. Over 75% of the state's population resides in the metropolitan area. As a result, Adelaide accounts for 72% (34 of 47) of the seats in the chamber. The dominance of Adelaide, combined with a lack of comparatively-sized rural population centres, results in the metropolitan area frequently deciding election outcomes. At the 2014 election for example, although the state-wide two-party vote (2PP) was 47.0% Labor v 53.0% Liberal, the metropolitan area recorded a 2PP of 51.5% Labor v 48.5% Liberal.[6]
Election result summaries
Father of the House of Assembly since 1 Jan 1964
From | To | Member | Term Started | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 January 1964 | 2 March 1968 | Thomas Playford IV Tom Stott |
1933 | Joint Fathers |
2 March 1968 | 30 May 1970 | Tom Stott | 1933 | Father |
30 May 1970 | 10 March 1973 | David Brookman | Appointed in 1948 due to death of Sir Hubert Hudd | Father |
10 March 1973 | 15 September 1979 | Don Dunstan Jack Jennings |
1953 | Joint Fathers |
17 September 1977 | 15 September 1979 | Don Dunstan | 1953 | Father |
15 September 1979 | 9 November 1982 | Des Corcoran | 1962 | Father |
9 November 1982 | 6 December 1985 | Allan Rodda | 1965 | Father |
6 December 1985 | 11 December 1993 | Stan Evans | 1968 | Father |
11 December 1993 | 11 October 1997 | Heini Becker Graham Gunn |
1970 | Joint Fathers |
11 October 1997 | 20 March 2010 | Graham Gunn | 1970 | Father |
20 March 2010 | 11 October 2014 | Bob Such Michael Atkinson |
1989 | Joint Fathers |
11 October 2014 | 17 March 2018 | Michael Atkinson | 1989 | Father |
17 March 2018 | 19 March 2022 | Frances Bedford Tom Koutsantonis |
1997 | Joint Father/Mother |
19 March 2022 | Present | Tom Koutsantonis | 1997 | Father |
See also
- 2022 South Australian state election
- List of elections in South Australia
- List of South Australian state by-elections
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
- South Australian Electoral Districts(for the House of Assembly)
Notes
- ^ Current independent MPs: Troy Bell (Mount Gambier), Geoff Brock (Stuart), Dan Cregan (Kavel), Fraser Ellis (Narungga) and Nick McBride (MacKillop)
References
- ^ "Women's Suffrage Petition 1894: parliament.sa.gov.au" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ History of South Australia Elections, House of Assembly, volume 1
- ^ Constitution (Independent Speaker) Amendment Act 2021
- ^ Labor and Liberal Parties, SA, Dean Jaensch Archived 6 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, "A 2:1 ratio of enrolments in favour of the rural areas was in force from 1936."
- ^ a b c Jaensch, Dean (2002). "Community access to the electoral processes in South Australia since 1850". South Australian State Electoral Office. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
- ^ Metropolitan 2PP correctly calculated by adding raw metro 2PP vote numbers from the 34 metro seats, both Labor and Liberal, then dividing Labor's raw metro 2PP vote from the total, which revealed a Labor metropolitan 2PP of 51.54%. Obtained raw metro 2PP vote numbers from ECSA 2014 election statistics Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, ECSA 2014 Heysen election Archived 11 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine and ABC 2014 Fisher by-election Archived 14 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
Further reading
- Dunstan, Don (1976). "John Curtin Memorial Lecture: Electoral reform in South Australia" (PDF).
- Jaensch, Dean (2002). "Community access to the electoral processes in South Australia since 1850". South Australian State Electoral Office. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
- State Electoral Office of South Australia. Archived from the originalon 2 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2020.