Victorian Legislative Assembly
| Victorian Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Lower house |
| Houses | built in 1855 |
| Leadership | |
| Speaker | Jenny Lindell, Labor Party since December 19, 2006 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 88 |
| Meeting place | |
| Parliament House, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | |
| Website | |
| www.parliament.vic.gov.au | |
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.
The Assembly has 88 members, each coming from a single-member electorate. These are commonly known as seats. These are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by the preferential system, as with the equivalent federal chamber, the Australian House of Representatives.
The Legislative Assembly was created in 1855, four years after the Legislative Council was created.
Most legislation is initiated in the Legislative Assembly. The party or coalition with the most seats in the lower house is invited by the Governor to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes Premier of Victoria, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the governing party will pass through the Legislative Assembly.
The current Speaker of the Assembly is Jenny Lindell MLA.
[edit] Current distribution of seats
| Party | Seats held | Percentage of Assembly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party |
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| Liberal Party |
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| National Party |
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| Independent |
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| Total |
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[edit] See also
- List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
[edit] External links
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