Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/694

 xviii ADELAIDE AND VICINITY ^. ^"'''%"'^., Constitution of South Australia The Parliament In England the word "Parliament" properly means the Crown and the two Houses of Legislature, but Section I. of the Constitution Act enacts that the two Houses of Legislature in South Australia alone, without the Governor, shall be called "The Parliament." These two Houses consist of a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly, constituted as follows : — The Legislative Council. There were originally i8 members of the Legislative Council ; the number has since been extended to 24. The only qualifications for a Legislative Councillor were, and still are, that he must — (a) Be 30 years old. (6) Be a natural-born or naturalised subject of Her Majesty, or legally made a denizen of the Province. (r) Have resided in the Province for three years if a natural-born subject of Her Majesty ; or five years if a naturalised subject. No property qualification is required. A Legislative Councillor need not even have, or be qualified to have, a vote for either House. Three classes of persons are disqualified from being elected Legislative Councillors, even though they possess all the above qualifications. They are : — (a) Judges of any court of the Province. {6) Clergymen or officiating ministers. (c) Government contractors. Originally the whole of the Province was one electoral district, but in 1881 the Province was divided into four electoral districts each returning six members, so that now the Council consists of 24 members returned by four districts. Every three years the two members for each district who have been longest in office retire, and what is called a periodic election takes place to fill the vacancies, eight new members being elected, two for each district. If there were no casual vacancies caused by death or resignation, etc., or if a casual vacancy were filled by the election of a new member to hold office during the remainder of the term of the member whose death or resignation caused the casual vacancy. Legislative Councillors would be elected for nine years ; in fact, they are theoretically elected for nine years ; but it is provided that anyone elected to fill a casual vacancy pushes forward, so to speak, the other members for the district so far as the dates of their retirement are concerned, and is himself theoretically elected for the whole term of nine years. In practice it has been found that few Councillors hold their seats (unless re-elected) for more than six years. The voters or electors for the Legislative Council comprise all those who — 1. Are over the age of 21 years. 2. Are not in gaol for treason, felony, or other infamous offence. 3. Have been registered on the Electoral Roll of the Province six months previous to the election for which they claim to vote. 4. Are natural-born or naturalised subjects of Her Majesty, or legally made denizens of the Province.