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Parliament of Western Australia

Legislative body of the Australian state of Western Australia

Summary

Legislative body of the Australian state of Western Australia

Field	Value
background_color	#224C98
name	Parliament of Western Australia
legislature	41st Parliament
coa_pic	Coat of arms of Western Australia.svg
coa_caption	Coat of arms of Western Australia	logo_pic = Logo of the Parliament of Western Australia.svg
logo_res	120px
logo_caption	Parliament of Western Australia logo	house_type = Bicameral
houses	Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
crown-in-parl	King (represented by the governor of Western Australia)	foundation =
leader1_type	Monarch
leader1
election1
leader2_type	Governor
leader2	Chris Dawson
election2	15 July 2022
leader3_type	President of the Legislative Council
leader3	Alanna Clohesy
party3	Labor
election3	25 May 2021
leader4_type	Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
leader4	Stephen Price
party4	Labor
election4	8 April 2025
leader5_type	Premier
leader5	Roger Cook
party5	Labor
election5	8 June 2023
leader6_type	Leader of the Opposition
leader6	Basil Zempilas
party6	Liberal
election6	25 March 2025
members	96
59 MLAs
37 MLCs
house1	Legislative Assembly
structure1	2025.04.07 Western Australian Legislative Assembly - Composition of Members.svg
structure1_res	201px
house2	Legislative Council
structure2	2025.05.22 Western Australian Legislative Council - Composition of Members.svg
structure2_res	201px
political_groups1	Government (46)

	border	darkgray}} Labor (46)

Opposition (13){{efn	name	fn1	After the 2025 election, the Nationals and Liberals formed an opposition alliance. However, it is not a formal coalition and both parties maintain their independence from each other.}}

	border	darkgray}} Liberal (7)

	border	darkgray}} National (6)
political_groups2	Government (16)

	border	darkgray}} Labor (16)

	border	darkgray}} Liberal (10)

	border	darkgray}} National (2)

Crossbench (9)<br>	border	darkgray}} Greens (4)
One Nation (2)
Animal Justice (1)
Christians (1)

voting_system1	Full preferential voting
voting_system2	Single transferable vote
last_election3	8 March 2025
next_election3	10 March 2029
session_room	Parliament House, Perth, February 2022 01.jpg
meeting_place	Parliament House,
Perth, Western Australia,
Australia
website

Legislative Assembly |crown-in-parl=King (represented by the governor of Western Australia)| foundation = 59 MLAs 37 MLCs

Labor (46)

Opposition (13)

Liberal (7)

National (6)

Labor (16)

Opposition (12)

Liberal (10)

National (2)

Crossbench (9) Greens (4) One Nation (2) Animal Justice (1) Christians (1)

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parliament consists of the King (represented by the governor), the Legislative Council (the upper house) and the Legislative Assembly (the lower house). The two houses of parliament sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth.

For a bill to become law, it must be passed by both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, and receive royal assent from the Governor.

The party or coalition commanding the support of a majority of the members of the Legislative Assembly is invited by the governor to form government. The head of government holds the office of Premier of Western Australia.

Currently, the Legislative Council has 37 members elected for four-year terms from multi-member constituencies by proportional representation, and the Legislative Assembly has 59 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting. As with all other Australian states and territories, enrolment to vote and voting for both Houses is compulsory for all resident Australian citizens—and eligible British citizens (i.e., those permanently resident and on the electoral roll prior to the passage of the Australia Act)—who are over the legal voting age of 18.

History

The Western Australian Legislative Council was created in 1832 as an appointed body. In 1870 the then colony was ruled by a governor and an advisory Legislative Council made up of appointed officials and elected members. The Western Australian Legislative Assembly was created in 1890 when the then colony attained self-government. The first premier was John Forrest, who held office until 1901.

On 3 November 2011, the government introduced fixed four-year terms for Parliament, with elections being held every four years on the second Saturday in March. The 2013 state election was the first election under the fixed date system.

Acts of Parliament

Bar chart showing the number of acts of the Parliament of Western Australia by year (1989-2024)

The oldest recorded act of Parliament in Western Australia is the Civil Court of Western Australia (1832) act, an act for establishing a Court of Civil Judicature, assented to on 10 February 1832, under the first Governor of Western Australia, James Stirling. It predates the Parliament of Western Australia and was passed by the Western Australian Legislative Council instead. All up, ten acts were passed in 1832.

Since 1832, acts have been passed in every year but 1890, the year the Western Australian Parliament was formed. assented to on 26 June 1890.

In 2023, the Western Australian Parliament passed 34 acts.

Longest-serving members

Members of the Western Australian upper and lower houses with over 30 years of service.

Name	Party	Start of tenure	End of tenure
John Tonkin		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Philip Collier		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Vernon Hamersley		Country	Legislative Council
John Drew	Labor}}	Labor	Legislative Council
Sydney Stubbs	Country}}	Country	Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
William Johnson	Labor}}	Labor	Legislative Assembly
Bill Grayden	Liberal}}	Liberal	Legislative Assembly
Arthur Wilson		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Sir John Kirwan		Free Trade	Legislative Council
Norman Moore		Liberal	Legislative Council
James Hegney	Labor}}	Labor	Legislative Assembly
Charles Baxter		Country	Legislative Council
Joseph Sleeman		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Bert Hawke		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Frank Troy		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Sir Edward Wittenoom	Nationalist}}	Nationalist	Legislative Council
George Miles		Independent	Legislative Council
Colin Jamieson		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Charles North		Liberal	Legislative Assembly
Eric Heenan		Labor	Legislative Council
Clive Griffiths		Liberal	Legislative Council
Sir Harold Seddon		Liberal	Legislative Council
Sir Ross McLarty		Labor	Legislative Assembly
James Mann		Liberal	Legislative Assembly
William Marshall		Labor	Legislative Assembly
Michelle Roberts		Labor	Legislative Council
Gilbert Fraser		Labor	Legislative Council
Graham MacKinnon		Liberal	Legislative Council

Notes

References

{{Cite Legislation AU. WA. act. ca1889188. Constitution Act 1889. 2
"Legislative Assembly". Parliament of Western Australia.
(2011-11-04). "New laws fix state election dates". [[ABC News (Australia)]].
Green. (8 February 2011). "Future election dates". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}{{cbignore.
. ["Acts as passed"](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/aspassed.html). *[[Government of Western Australia]]*.
. ["Original Acts as passed: '1832' List of Acts"](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/aspassed_1832.html). *[[Government of Western Australia]]*.
. ["Original Acts as passed: '1889' List of Acts"](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/aspassed_1889.html). *[[Government of Western Australia]]*.
. (13 August 1889). ["Electoral Act 1889"](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_14756.pdf/$FILE/Electoral%20Act%201889%20-%20%5B00-00-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement). *[[Government of Western Australia]]*.
. ["Original Acts as passed: '2023' List of Acts"](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/aspassed_2023.html). *[[Government of Western Australia]]*.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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