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President of the New South Wales Legislative Council

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President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Incumbent
Ben Franklin
since 9 May 2023
StyleThe Honourable
Mr / Madam President
(in the Council)
AppointerThe Monarch's representative at the behest of the Legislative Council
Term lengthElected at start of each Parliament
PrecursorSpeaker of the Legislative Council
Inaugural holderSir Alfred Stephen
Formation20 May 1856
DeputyRod Roberts

The President of the New South Wales Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of New South Wales, the Legislative Council. The presiding officer of the lower house is the speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The role of President has generally been a partisan office, filled by the governing party of the time. As of May 2023, the president is Ben Franklin.

Election

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Between 1856 and when the Legislative Council was re-constituted in 1934 the president was appointed by the Governor. From 1934 the President was chosen by the council, however there was no contested election between 1934 and 1988. Instead each of Sir John Peden, Ernest Farrar, William Dickson and Sir Harry Budd continued to hold office until they ceased to be a member of the council, regardless of the composition of the council or which party was in government. In 1991 this was changed by legislation that required the president to be chosen by ballot after each election. Since 1991 the president is elected by the Council in a secret ballot. The Clerk of the Council conducts the election.[1] Since that time the Presidency has been a partisan office and the nominee of the government party has nearly always been elected—although this cannot be guaranteed since the government of the day does not necessarily have a majority in the Council. The president is assisted by an elected deputy president, who is currently Rod Roberts.

Impartiality

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The president has a casting vote (in the event of an equality of votes). Like the Speaker, typically the President continues to attend party meetings and at general elections stands as a party candidate. On the other hand, the President does not usually take part in debates in the Council and does not speak in public on party-political issues. The President is expected to conduct the business of the Council in an impartial and dignified manner.

Section 22I of the NSW Constitution states that "All questions arising in the Legislative Council shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the Members present other than the President or other Member presiding and when the votes are equal the President or other Member presiding shall have a casting vote."

Role

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The president’s principal duty is to preside over the Council, although the president is assisted in this by the deputy president and a panel of acting deputy presidents, who usually preside during routine debates. The occupant of the chair must maintain order in the Council, uphold the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) and protect the rights of backbench councillors. The president, in conjunction with the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, also administers Parliament House, Sydney, with the assistance of administrative staff.

Although the president does not have the same degree of disciplinary power as the speaker does, the Council is not as rowdy as most Australian legislative chambers, and thus his or her disciplinary powers are seldom exercised.

Perquisites and ceremony

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Sir John Peden (1929–1946) in the full traditional dress presiding over the State Opening of Parliament, 18 September 1929.

Following the Westminster tradition inherited from the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, the traditional dress of the speaker includes components of Court dress such as the black silk lay-type gown (similar to a Queen's Counsel gown), a wing collar and a lace jabot or bands (another variation included a white bow tie with a lace jabot), bar jacket, and a full-bottomed wig.

The dress of speakers has often variated according to the party in power, but is determinate on the personal choice of the speaker. Most Labor party presidents eschewed the wig while retaining the court dress, while conservative and independent speakers tended to wear the full dress.

The president, currently, no longer wears the full traditional court dress outfit. Max Willis (1991-1998) was the last president to do so. From 1998 to 2011, all the presidents opted not to wear any dress at all, preferring normal business attire. However, upon his election, President Harwin returned to tradition by wearing the gown during question time and on significant occasions such as the Opening of Parliament. However, there is nothing stopping any given speaker, if they choose to do so, from assuming traditional court dress or anything they deem appropriate.

List of presidents of the Legislative Council

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# President [2] Party Term start Term end Time in office
Alexander Macleay [a] None 1 August 1843 19 May 1846 2 years, 291 days
Charles Nicholson [a] 19 May 1846 29 February 1856 9 years, 286 days
1 Sir Alfred Stephen None 20 May 1856 28 January 1857 253 days
2 John Plunkett 29 January 1857 6 February 1858 1 year, 8 days
3 Sir William Burton 9 February 1858 10 March 1861 3 years, 29 days
4 William Wentworth 24 June 1861 10 October 1862 1 year, 108 days
5 Sir Terence Murray 14 October 1862 22 June 1873 10 years, 251 days
6 Sir John Hay 8 July 1873 10 January 1892 18 years, 186 days
7 Sir John Lackey 26 January 1892 23 May 1903 11 years, 117 days
8 Sir Francis Suttor   Progressive 23 May 1903 4 April 1915 11 years, 316 days
  Liberal Reform
9 Fred Flowers   Labor 27 April 1915 14 December 1928 13 years, 231 days
  Independent Labor
10 Sir John Peden   Nationalist 5 February 1929 22 April 1946 17 years, 76 days
  United Australia
  Liberal
11 Ernest Farrar   30 April 1946 16 June 1952 6 years, 47 days
12 William Dickson   Labor 18 August 1952 22 May 1966 13 years, 277 days
13 Sir Harry Budd   Country 9 August 1966 5 November 1978 12 years, 88 days
14 Johno Johnson [b]   Labor 7 November 1978 3 July 1991 12 years, 238 days
15 Max Willis   Liberal 3 July 1991 29 June 1998 6 years, 361 days
16 Virginia Chadwick 29 June 1998 5 March 1999 249 days
17 Meredith Burgmann   Labor 11 May 1999 2 March 2007 7 years, 295 days
18 Peter Primrose 8 May 2007 17 November 2009 2 years, 193 days
19 Amanda Fazio 24 November 2009 3 May 2011 1 year, 160 days
20 Don Harwin   Liberal 3 May 2011 30 January 2017 5 years, 272 days
21 John Ajaka 21 February 2017 24 March 2021 4 years, 30 days
22 Matthew Mason-Cox 4 May 2021 9 May 2023 2 years, 5 days
23 Ben Franklin   National 9 May 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 196 days

Deputy President and Chair of Committees

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Originally titled Chairman of Committees, the current style was adopted on 5 May 2004 during the term of the first female holder of the office. Various legal and constitutional amendments to follow this change were made in the Constitution Amendment (Parliamentary Presiding Officers) Act 2014.[2]

Title Chairman of Committees Party Term start Term end Time in office
Chairman of Committees George Allen None 4 June 1856 15 January 1873 16 years, 225 days
Joseph Docker 15 January 1873 9 February 1875 2 years, 25 days
Sir Joseph Innes 9 February 1875 16 December 1880 5 years, 311 days
Joseph Docker 16 December 1880 11 December 1884 3 years, 361 days
William Piddington 17 March 1885 25 November 1887 2 years, 253 days
Archibald Jacob 1 December 1887 28 May 1900 12 years, 178 days
William Trickett 13 June 1900 23 July 1912 12 years, 40 days
Broughton O'Conor   Liberal Reform 24 July 1912 22 April 1934 21 years, 272 days
  Nationalist
  United Australia
Ernest Farrar   2 May 1934 22 April 1946 11 years, 355 days
  Liberal
Thomas Steele   Country 30 April 1946 11 March 1953 6 years, 315 days
Ernest Wright   Labor 11 March 1953 22 April 1967 14 years, 42 days
Stanley Eskell [b]   Liberal 2 August 1967 6 March 1969 1 year, 216 days
Thomas McKay 12 March 1969 5 November 1978 9 years, 238 days
Clive Healey   Labor 8 November 1978 22 February 1988 9 years, 106 days
Sir Adrian Solomons   National 28 April 1988 2 July 1991 3 years, 65 days
Duncan Gay 3 July 1991 10 May 1999 7 years, 311 days
Tony Kelly   Labor 11 May 1999 29 April 2003 3 years, 353 days
Amanda Fazio 30 April 2003 5 May 2004 6 years, 208 days
Deputy President 5 May 2004 24 November 2009
Kayee Griffin 24 November 2009 4 March 2011 1 year, 100 days
Jenny Gardiner   National 3 May 2011 5 May 2015 4 years, 2 days
Trevor Khan 5 May 2015 6 January 2022 6 years, 246 days
Wes Fang 22 March 2022 9 May 2023 1 year, 48 days
Rod Roberts   One Nation 9 May 2023 22 August 2023 1 year, 196 days
  Independent 22 August 2023 Incumbent

Assistant President

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Assistant President[2] Party Term start Term end Time in office
Fred Nile   Christian Democrats 28 June 2007 7 May 2019 11 years, 313 days
Shaoquett Moselmane   Labor 7 May 2019 6 April 2020 335 days
Rod Roberts   One Nation 17 June 2020 9 May 2023 2 years, 326 days
Peter Primrose   Labor 9 May 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 196 days

Notes

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  1. ^ a b As Speaker of the unicameral Legislative Council prior to responsible government.[2]
  2. ^ a b Removed from office by a vote of the house.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Gareth, Griffith (1995). "Selecting a presiding officer" (PDF). Briefing paper no 13/95. Parliament of NSW. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Part 10 Officers of the Parliament" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
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