Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth.

Related Topics:
Australia - Western Australia - Legislative Assembly - Parliament House - Perth

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The Legislative Assembly today has 34 members, elected for fixed four-year terms. Each member is elected using the preferential voting system, and represents one of six multi-member regions. Several of the regions elect seven members, while others elect five. Unlike in some other states, the government may not always have a majority in the Legislative Council, and may have to rely on minor parties, such as the Greens (WA), to pass legislation. As with all other Australian states and territories, voting is compulsory for all those over the legal voting age of 18.

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Western Australia uses a zonal electoral system for both its houses of parliament, and is the only Australian state or territory to do so. In short, this means that the vote of a person in Perth is worth less than a rural voter. The difference is particularly apparent in the Legislative Council, with city electorates artificially set to contain many more voters than rural electorates. This also allows major disparities that would not be allowed to occur in other states - on average, rural voters have twice the voting influence as do city voters.

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While the Liberal Party of Australia and Australian Labor Party are both advantaged and disadvantaged by this system, it strongly benefits the National Party of Australia. During the 1990s, Liberal Premier Richard Court considered changing the system along the lines of that in place in South Australia, but backed down in the face of National Party opposition.

Related Topics:
Liberal Party of Australia - Australian Labor Party - National Party of Australia - 1990s - Richard Court - South Australia

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