Victorian Legislative Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Legislative Council Chamber, as photographed in 1878.

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. It serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to its federal counterpart, the Australian Senate. Although it is possible for legislation to be first introduced in the Council, most bills receive their first hearing in the Legislative Assembly. The Council is presided over by a President, equivalent to the Assembly's Speaker.

The Council was created in 1851, four years before the Assembly, and today has 44 members serving eight-year terms. They represent 22 Electoral Provinces, with two members representing each Province. This system has traditionally favoured the Liberal Party of Australia over the Australian Labor Party and minor parties, such as the Australian Greens. This has caused many incidences where a Labor-controlled Assembly has faced an opposition-controlled Council - a rare occurrence elsewhere in Australia.

The Legislative Council was formerly elected from 22 single-member electorates called "provinces". The members of the council sat for two assembly terms so two members sat for each province. This is a list of provinces as of 2005.

Ballarat Province
Central Highlands Province
Chelsea Province
Doutta Galla Province
East Yarra Province
Eumemmerring Province
Geelong Province
Gippsland Province
Higinbotham Province
Jika Jika Province
Koonung Province
Melbourne Province
Melbourne North Province
Melbourne West Province
Monash Province
North Eastern Province
North Western Province
Silvan Province
Templestowe Province
Waverley Province
Western Province
Western Port Province

This system is due to change at the 2006 Victorian election, as a result of major reforms passed by Steve Bracks' Labor government in 2003. Under the new reforms, members will serve fixed four-year terms, unless the Assembly is dissolved sooner. The state will be divided into the following 8 regions:

Eastern Metropolitan Region
Eastern Victoria Region
Northern Metropolitan Region
Northern Victoria Region
South Eastern Metropolitan Region
Southern Metropolitan Region
Western Metropolitan Region
Western Victoria Region

Each region will consist of 11 contiguous Legislative Assembly districts with about 420,000 electors who will elect 5 members of the Legislative Council by the single transferable vote. The new total of 40 members will be 4 fewer than the current Legislative Council. The changes introduce proportional representation and remove the Council's ability to block supply. The reforms are expected to increase the likelihood of minor parties gaining the balance of power at the expense of government dominance of both houses.