New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is presided over by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
| 58th Parliament | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 22 May 1856 |
| Leadership | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Government Whip | |
Deputy Government Whip | |
Manager of Opposition Business | |
Opposition Whip | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 93 |
Political groups | Government (45)
Opposition (36) Crossbench (12)
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| Optional preferential voting | |
Last election | 25 March 2023 |
Next election | 2027 |
| Meeting place | |
| Legislative Assembly Chamber Parliament House, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |
| Website | |
| NSW Legislative Assembly | |
The Assembly has 93 members, elected by single-member constituency, which are commonly known as seats. Voting is by the optional preferential system.
Members of the Legislative Assembly have the post-nominals MP after their names. From the creation of the assembly up to about 1990, the post-nominals "MLA" (Member of the Legislative Assembly) were used.
The Assembly is often called the bearpit on the basis of the house's reputation for confrontational style during heated moments and the "savage political theatre and the bloodlust of its professional players" attributed in part to executive dominance.