Parliament of New South Wales
The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales,[5][6] is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the monarch, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house).[5][7] Each house is directly elected by the people of New South Wales at elections held approximately every four years. The legislative authority of the parliament derives from section 5 of the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW).[8] The power to make laws that apply to New South Wales is shared with the Federal (or Commonwealth) Parliament. The houses of the New South Wales Parliament follow the Westminster parliamentary traditions of dress, Green–Red chamber colours and protocols.[9] The houses of the legislature are located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney.
Parliament of New South Wales
King (represented by the governor of New South Wales)
22 May 1856
9 May 2023
since 2 May 2019
135 (93 MLA, 42 MLC)
Government (15)
- Labor (15)
Opposition (15)
Crossbench (12)
- Greens (4)
- One Nation (1)
- Shooters, Fishers, Farmers (2)
- Animal Justice (1)
- Legalise Cannabis (1)
- Liberal Democrats (1)
- Independent (2)[b]
Emblem[edit]
The official emblem of the New South Wales Parliament is a crowned circlet featuring the coat of arms of New South Wales taking the form of a Scottish crest badge. Crest badges, much like clan tartans, do not have a long history, and owe much to Victorian era romanticism, having only been worn on the bonnet since the mid-19th century when the buckled strap device commonly used by the Order of the Garter was adopted as a popular design to encircle monogram escutcheons and heraldic crests.[30]
The crest badge came to be accepted in the mid-20th century as the emblem of both houses of Parliament. The emblem appears on official stationery, publications and papers, and is stamped on various items in use in the Parliament, such as cutlery, silverware and china.