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Governor Arthur Phillip was the first Governor of NSW. The first fleet landed in 1788 in Sydney Harbour. The colony of NSW included most of what is now Australia.
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There was a currency shortage in NSW and there were not enough coins, so people traded in rum instead. The army had a monopoly on rum, which gave them all the power. John Macarthur was a wealthy landowner and former army officer. He was breaking all sorts of rules and taking advantage of the rum situation. Governor William Bligh was not happy about this and tried to fine Macarthur, so Macarthur had his friend, George Johnson, the leader of the NSW corps, imprison Governor Bligh.
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Originally, the Legislative Council was very similar to the British House of Lords. This meant that all of its members were appointed by the King of England/Governor of NSW. They were rich, white men and once appointed they often served for life. Because none of the members were working class citizens, the decisions they made were not always in the best interests of the people.
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This was the first ever Governmental election in Australia. At the time, only male landowners could vote.
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As a result of the NSW Constitution being written, the Legislature is reformed. The Legislative Assembly is established, all members of which are elected by the people, not appointed by the King of Englannd/Governor of NSW like in the Legislative Council.
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The secret ballot was also introduced in this year. This meant that people did not have to disclose who they were voting for and did not feel pressured to vote for particular people. The secret ballot was referred to as the Australian ballot for many years as we were the first country to adopt it.
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This was important as it meant that working class people could serve in the parliament and not have to worry about feeding their families.
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Previously, influential businessmen and University graduates were sometimes entitled to more than one vote. The one man, one vote policy meant that regardless of your wealth or education, all men had one vote each.
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Federation!!!!
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Women were allowed to vote in the Federal election in 1901, but this was the first year that they were allowed to vote in a State election.
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Mandatory preferential voting meant that all boxes on the ballot form must be filled in.
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This was the first of only two times that a Governor has sacked the leader of an Australian parliament. The second time that this occurrred was when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was sacked in 1975.
The Federal Government had told Jack Lang that they would not be paying public servants for their work, so he went to the treasury and withdrew all of the money so that the government couldn't touch it. The Governor of NSW warned him that he was breakking all sorts of laws and he would be fired. -
The people now had the power!
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New England area, northern parts of NSW, Tamworth, Armidale, Lismore, Grafton, Maitland - these places felt that NSW was only governing for Sydney and they felt left out and wanted to form their own state. They asked to have a referendum to break free. The NSW government was fine with this until they realised that it looked like the referendum would succeed, and they needed to keep New England for its tax revenue. So the government pulled a last minute move and included Newcastle........
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Malaportionment ending meant that people who lived in rural areas had their vote count for the same as people who lived in the city.
Western Australia, to this day, still has malaportionment, which means that people living in areas with small populations have their vote count for more than people in areas with larger populations. -
Elections are held at the end of March every 4 years.
