Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
representative government in NSW. A Supreme Court with full judicial independence
was created in 1823, providing legal protection against government action. 7
In 1843, the Legislative Council became Australia’s first elected legislature, with
the majority of its members directly elected, albeit on a restricted franchise. There
was growing pressure within the colony for NSW citizens to be given the same
rights, including self-government, as existed in Britain. The British government’s
philosophy was to grant self-government to colonies when they were ready and
it agreed to do so in NSW. 8 Under the guidance of the colony’s pre-eminent
statesman, William Charles Wentworth, the NSW Legislative Council drafted a
constitution.AftersomeamendmentsbytheUKgovernment,thisdraftbecamethe
Constitution Act 1855 (NSW). 9
In 1856, the NSW parliament assumed the bicameral shape it has today. The
Legislative Council became an upper house along the lines of the British House
of Lords. Members of the new lower house, the Legislative Assembly, represented
geographic districts and were elected on a broad manhood suffrage. Governments
and individual government ministers were responsible to the parliament, holding
office only while they had the support – ‘the confidence’ – of the popularly elected
Assembly. Public funds could only be expended with parliamentary approval. Finance
Bills had to originate in the Assembly. The governor acted on the advice of
ministers. The Executive Council, consisting of the ministry and the governor, was
the formal mechanism by which Cabinet decisions were given official legitimacy.
The legality of government actions could be tested in the courts.
Ministers exercised considerable patronage in appointments at all levels of the
growing public service until the 1890s, when the creation of the Public Service
Board established a model of independent recruitment, promotion and deployment
of staff that continued until the 1980s. After 1988, ‘new public management’ reforms
included the abolition of the Public Service Board, decentralised public service
recruitment and greater ministerial control over senior public servants. A system
of elected local councils developed from the 1840s; however, the existence, funding
and powers of local government bodies have never been entrenched in the NSW
constitution and local councils remain subject to the control of the government. 10
The Legislative Assembly
The 19th-century Legislative Assembly was not dominated by disciplined political
parties. Governments often rose and fell in the house, rather than at elections, as
premiers gained and lost support from other members of the Legislative Assembly
7 Clune 2010; Melbourne 1963.
8 Clune 2011; Melbourne 1963 [1934].
9 Melbourne 1963 [1934]; Twomey 2004.
10 Clune and Griffith 2006; Golder 2005; Parker 1978; Twomey 2004.
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