Advisory council At the founding of the Province of South Australia under the
South Australia Act 1834 (
4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 95 (Imp)), governance of the new colony was divided between the
Governor of South Australia and a
Resident Commissioner, who reported to a new body known as the
South Australian Colonization Commission. Under this arrangement, there was also a governing council comprising the Governor, the
Judge or Chief Justice, the
Colonial Secretary, the
Advocate-General and the Resident Commissioner, with broad legislative and executive powers including the imposition of rates, duties, and taxes. This council was sometimes referred to as the "Legislative Council". In 1842, the
South Australia Act 1842 (
5 & 6 Vict. c. 61 (Imp)) was passed in order to replace the South Australian Colonisation Commission appointed in 1834 with a more standard British model of government, with a Governor advised by a Legislative Council. The 1842 act gave the British Government, which was responsible for appointing a Governor and at least seven other officers to the Legislative Council, full control of South Australia as a
Crown Colony, after financial mismanagement by the first administration had nearly bankrupted the colony. This new Legislative Council was the first true parliamentary body in South Australia. The act also made provision for a commission to initiate the establishment of democratic government, electoral districts, requirements for voting rights, and terms of office. Although the old governing Council advising the Governor met at
Government House, this new Legislative Council met at a new purpose built chamber on North Terrace. This chamber eventually grew into what is now known as "Old Parliament House". The council was originally appointed by the Governor, then
Sir George Grey, and only served in an advisory capacity, as the Governor retained almost all legislative powers. It was expanded slightly in 1843, when several prominent landowners were allowed to join. In the same year, proceedings were opened to the general public. Public demand for some form of representative government had been growing throughout the 1840s, and this was reflected in a series of reforms in 1851, which created a partially representative Legislative Council. After the changes, it consisted of 24 members, four official (filling what would be today ministerial positions) and four non-official members, both nominated by the governor on behalf of the Crown, and 16 elected members. The right to vote for these positions was not universal, being limited to propertied men. The reforms meant that the Governor no longer oversaw proceedings, with the role being filled by a Speaker who had been elected by the members.
Self-government In 1856, the Legislative Council passed the
Constitution Act 1856 (SA), which prepared what was to become the 1857
Constitution of South Australia. This laid out the means for true self-government, and created a
bicameral system, which involved delegating most of its legislative powers to the new House of Assembly. While all adult males could vote in the new Assembly, the Council continued to limit voting rights to the wealthier classes. Suffrage was male-only and dependent upon certain property and wage requirements. The entire province was a single electorate for the Legislative Council, electing 18 members, with the scheme originally set up so that 6 members would be elected every 4 years to serve a 12 year term. The council had its purpose in replicating the British
House of Lords as a restricted "house of review" in a colonial context. When the Province of South Australia received its original constitution in 1857, it was the most democratic in the
British Empire, combining a universal-suffrage lower house (the
House of Assembly), with a restricted-suffrage upper house (the Legislative Council). The purpose of the Legislative Council was, as with the 19th century House of Lords, to safeguard the "longer term interests of the nation rather than just reacting to short term ephemeral issues of the day". In 1882, the Legislative Council was increased to 24 members by the
a special election brought on by the
Constitution Act Further Amendment Act 1881, and the Province was then divided into four districts which each elected six members:
Central,
North-Eastern,
Northern and
Southern districts.
Federation In 1902, following the
Federation of Australia, the
Constitution Act Amendment Act 1901 reduced the size of the legislative council from 24 back to 18 members - 6 from Central District and four each from Northern, North-Eastern and Southern districts. The House of Assembly contained some progressive Liberals, and its membership would usually abide by the party line. The council contained none, and its members rebelled regularly against the decisions of the party leadership and the popular will of the people.
Universal suffrage Even after electoral legislation had been implemented in 1967 by
Steele Hall that produced a fairer electoral system for the House of Assembly, the council remained a house of property. Under the original 1856 Constitution, the franchise was restricted to men, "having a
freehold estate in possession, either legal or equitable, situate within the said Province, of the clear value of Fifty Pounds sterling money above all charges and encumbrances affecting the same, or having a
leasehold estate in possession, situate within the said Province, the lease thereof having been registered in the General Registry Office, for the registration of deeds, and having three years to run at the time of voting, or containing a clause authorising the lessee to become the purchaser of the land thereby demised, or occupy a dwelling house of the clear annual value of Twenty-five Pounds sterling money." In 1907, the right to vote was extended to any person occupying a dwelling house, or "dwelling house and premises appurtenant thereto", with an annual rent of at least 17 pounds per annum (excluding any payment of rent by a wife to her husband); to a registered proprietor of a leasehold on which there were improvements to the value of at least 50 pounds and which were the property of the proprietor. At the same time, the franchise was also extended to ministers of religion, school head teachers, postmasters, railway stationmasters, and the officer in charge of a police station. The new council was designed to be deadlocked, and for a party majority to be hard to gain. Its proportional electoral system proved favourable to minor parties and they have usually held the balance of power. The
Liberal Movement, in 1975, was the first minor party to have members elected to the council. Its successor, the
Australian Democrats, held the balance until 1997 when
No Pokies Nick Xenophon was elected. The
Family First Party and the
Greens gained representation in 2002 and 2006 respectively. The proportional system used in 1973 was
party-list proportional representation. This was modified in 1985. The federal government of
Bob Hawke had introduced a new
single transferable vote system for the
Australian Senate, enabling voters to choose between voting 'above the line' (for a single party preference ticket that ranked all candidates on the ballot paper in the party's preferred order) or 'below the line' and number all candidates in order of preference, on the ballot paper. The
Bannon state government copied this arrangement for the council. Following the similar
Senate changes which took effect from the
2016 federal election, as of the
2018 state election, South Australia's
single transferable vote in the
proportionally represented upper house was changed from
group voting tickets to
optional preferential voting. Instructions for above the line votes are to mark '1'. Further preferences are optional as opposed to preference flows from simply '1' above the line being determined by group voting tickets. Instructions for voters who instead opt to vote below the line are to provide at least 12 preferences, as opposed to having to number all candidates, and with a savings provision to admit ballot papers which indicate at least 6 below the line preferences. ==Membership==