Parliament of Victoria

Parliament of Victoria
58th Parliament
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Legislative Assembly Legislative Council
History
Founded	21 November 1856
Leadership
Queen of Australia	Elizabeth II Since 6 February 1952
Governor of Victoria	Linda Dessau Since 1 July 2015
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly	Telmo Languiller, Labor Since 2014
President of the Legislative Council	Bruce Atkinson, Liberal Since 2010
Structure
Seats	128 88 MLAs 40 MLCs
Legislative Assembly political groups	Government      Labor (47) Opposition (38)      Liberal (30)      National (8) Crossbench (3)      Greens (2)      Independent (1)
Legislative Council political groups	Government      Labor (14) Opposition (16)      Liberal (14)      National (2) Crossbench (9)      Green (5)      Shooters (2)      DLP (1)      Sex Party (1)      Local Jobs (1)
Elections
Last general election	29 November 2014
Next general election	24 November 2018
Meeting place
Parliament House, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Website
www.parliament.vic.gov.au

The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Assembly (lower house); and the Legislative Council (upper house). The Parliament meets at Parliament House in the state capital Melbourne.

The two Houses of Parliament have 128 Members in total, 88 in the lower house and 40 in the upper house. Victoria has compulsory voting and uses preferential ballot in single-member seats for the lower house, and single transferable vote in multi-member seats for the proportionally represented upper house. Government is formed in the lower house while the upper is a house of review. All members serve four-year terms.

The incumbent Labor Party government, elected at the 2014 election, holds a 3-seat majority in the lower house as of the 1 December 2014.

History

See also: History of Victoria and History of Australia

Prior to 1851 the area of Australia now known as Victoria was part of the colony of New South Wales and was administered by the Government of New South Wales in Sydney. On 5 August 1850 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Australian Constitutions Act 1850 which made provision for the separation of Victoria from New South Wales. Enabling legislation was passed by the Parliament of New South Wales, and Victoria was formally created a separate colony of the United Kingdom on 1 July 1851.

The Australian Constitutions Act provided for the colony to be administered by a Lieutenant-Governor and a Legislative Council, two-thirds of which was to be elected and the remainder appointed by the Sovereign, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor. The Lieutenant-Governor was subordinate in some matters to the Governor of New South Wales, who was given the title Governor-General. The Legislative Council met for the first time in November 1851 at St Patrick's Hall, Melbourne.

The first Legislative Council served Victoria for five years and was responsible for at least three significant and enduring contributions to the parliamentary system of Victoria:

• It drafted the Constitution of Victoria, which provides the framework for the system of government in Victoria;
• It introduced the secret ballot, an innovation at the time but now common around the world; and
• It ordered the construction of the Victorian Parliament House in Melbourne.

The Constitution of Victoria was approved by the Legislative Council in March 1854, it was sent to Britain for approval by the UK Parliament and it was granted Royal Assent on 16 July 1855 and was proclaimed in Victoria on 23 November 1855. The Constitution established the Westminster-style system of responsible government that continues in Victoria today.

The election for the first Victorian Parliament was held during the spring of 1856, the first Victorian Members of Parliament met on 21 November 1856 in the recently completed Parliament House and were sworn in, and on 25 November 1856 the first Victorian Parliament was officially opened by Acting Governor Major-General Edward Macarthur. The Legislative Council consisted of thirty members representing six Provinces, each province returning five Members. The Legislative Assembly consisted of sixty members representing thirty-seven multi and single-member electorates.

Until November 2006, the Legislative Council had 44 members serving eight-year terms, elected from single-member constituencies, with half the seats falling vacant every four years. Since then it has had 40 members, each serving four-year terms, and elected from eight multi-member constituencies, each returning five members, elected by proportional representation. Since 2006, the Legislative Assembly has had 88 members elected for fixed four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting.

Parliament has sat at Parliament House, Melbourne since 1856, with the exception of the period 1901–1927, when Parliament House was used by the Federal Parliament and the Parliament of Victoria sat at the Royal Exhibition Building.

Structure and operation

See also: Parliamentary system and Westminster System

The Parliament has the power to make laws for Victoria on any matter, subject only to limitations placed on it by the Constitution of Australia, which specifies which matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.

The Parliament of Victoria is a bicameral legislature, meaning that it consists of two legislative chambers or houses, the Upper House or Legislative Council and the Lower House or Legislative Assembly. Each house has a number of committees that investigate proposed laws in detail before they are considered by the whole house. Some of the committee work is carried out by the Joint Committees which consist of members from all sides of politics and from both chambers. Like the Parliament, the committees cease to exist when the Parliament is dissolved by the governor, and need to be recreated after each general election. This means that often the names and jurisdiction of the committees are changed.

A proposed law or bill can be introduced into either house, but in practice most are introduced into the Legislative Assembly. Any bill, with the exception of bills appropriating money for the ordinary annuel services of government, must be passed by both Houses before being presented to the Governor, who will sign the Bill into law on behalf of the Queen. Ordinary appropriation bills need only be passed by the Legislative Assembly before being presented to the Governor for royal assent.

Membership and elections

Further information: Members of the Victorian Legislative Council, 2014–2018 and Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 2014–2018

Today the Houses of Parliament consist of eighty-eight Members of the Legislative Assembly representing small single-member electorates known as districts; and forty Members of the Legislative Council representing eight large multi-member electorates known as regions each of which returns five members. Each electoral region contains eleven electoral districts.

All members of both houses are elected for fixed four year terms. General elections are held on the last Saturday in November every four years with the Parliament expiring on the Tuesday twenty-five days before the election.

Parliament can be dissolved earlier by the Governor, and a general election called, in two exceptional circumstances:

• the Legislative Assembly passes a motion of no confidence in the Government or its ministers, or
• the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly are deadlocked and cannot agree to pass a Bill.

Anyone enrolled to vote in Victoria can stand for election as a candidate or either House, except for:

• a judge of the Victorian Courts,
• a member of the Commonwealth Parliament,
• an undischarged bankrupt, or
• someone convicted of a serious criminal offence.

It is also not permitted to be a member of both houses or a candidate for election to both houses of Parliament.

The last general election was held on 29 November 2014.

Members of Parliament may be addressed by their name or by using their electorate, for example "The Member for Hawthorn" or "Member for Southern Metropolitan Region", and are entitled to the postnominal letters MLC if a Member of the Legislative Council, and MLA or MP if a Member of the Legislative Assembly. Ministers and former ministers are entitled to the style "The Honourable" (abbreviated to "The Hon") although some choose not to use it.

Leadership

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly. He or she is an elected member of the Parliament and is chosen by the members of the Legislative Assembly to chair their meetings and represent the assembly as a whole at official functions. The corresponding person in the Legislative Council is the President of the Legislative Council. Both the Speaker and the President have important powers in controlling debate in their respective chambers, including the ability to punish members who step out of line or disobey their orders. The presiding officers also have powers to summon witnesses to the chamber to assist in the legislative role of Parliament.

The Government and Opposition appoint members as Managers of Government and Opposition Business in each house. These members are not within the control of the house in the same way that the President and Speaker are, they are appointed by the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition respectively.

Each party represented in each house appoint a member in each house as their Party Whip.

Relationship with government

See also: Government of Victoria

The Governor of Victoria is the representative of the Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II). Among the Governor's vice-regal duties are the opening of Parliament and the signing of acts that are passed by the Victorian Parliament.

The leader of the political party or coalition with a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly is invited by the Governor of Victoria to form a government. The leader of that party is appointed Premier of Victoria and other senior members are appointed ministers with various portfolio responsibilities. The leader of the largest party in opposition becomes the Leader of the Opposition.

Since 4 December 2014 the Australian Labor Party has been in Government, led by the Premier and leader of the Labor Party in Victoria, Daniel Andrews.

The Leader of the Opposition is Matthew Guy, who was elected as the leader of the Liberal Party on 4 December 2014 after their election defeat, replacing former Premier Denis Napthine. The previous day the Nationals elected Peter Walsh as their leader, replacing Peter Ryan. The Greens are led by Greg Barber.

Salary and allowances

Prior to 1870 only Ministers and Office holders were provided with a salary. This in effect meant that members had to be wealthy enough to support themselves before seeking election to Parliament. In 1870 the Victorian Parliament provided for the reimbursing of members in relation to their expenses in attending Parliament, in effect the first salary for Members of the Victorian Parliament. At first passed as temporary measure, it later became permanent. The Act provided for a payment of £300 p.a. to those who did not already receive a salary, this equates to approximately $39,000 in 2011 dollars.

Members of both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council are now paid a base salary of $130,907 per annum (as of 1 August 2010); office holders such as the President, Speaker, Ministers and Party leaders receive additional salary on top. The President and Speaker are paid a salary of $215,997 (165% of the base salary). All members receive a residential allowance, a travelling allowance, an electorate allowance and an electorate office allowance, in addition to their base salary; some senior office holders are also entitled to an expense allowance.

See also

• Government of Victoria
• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
• Official Openings by the Monarch in Australia
• Parliament railway station
• British Columbia Parliament Buildings

External links

• Parliament of Victoria
• Parliament of Victoria on Twitter
• Constitution of Victoria (1975)