User:Stephen Bain/ACGA

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Australian Colonies Government Act 1850
British Imperial Parliament
  • An Act for the better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies
Royal assent5 August 1850

The Australian Colonies Government Act 1850

History[edit]

Provisions[edit]

Victoria and New South Wales[edit]

The first section of the Act provided for the Port Phillip District of New South Wales to be separated from that Colony, in order to form the Colony of Victoria. The section prevented Victoria from electing members to the Legislative Council of New South Wales (previously the Port Phillip District elected six members of the thirty-six member Council), and would take effect after alterations to the structure of that Legislative Council had been implemented, and after writs for an election for it had been issued.[1] Section two provided for the creation of the Legislative Council of Victoria, which would, along with the Legislative Council of New South Wales, have one-third of its members (or if that were not a whole number, the next largest whole number) appointed by the Queen, and the balance elected.[2] Upon separation, the existing laws in force in New South Wales relating to the procedures of the Legislative Council of that colony were to apply in Victoria.[3]

Section five provided that the separation of Victoria would take effect once the writs for the first election of members to the Legislative Council of Victoria had been issued, after which time the New South Wales government would have no further authority over Victoria.[4] The Legislative Council of Victoria would have the power to make laws for the "Peace, Order and good Government" of the colony, provided that they were not repugnant to the laws of England, and did not interfere with the sale of crown lands, and it would be able to make appropriations from the revenue to fund the public service.[5]

Section three allowed the Legislative Council of New South Wales to legislate to set the number of members that both itself and the Legislative Council of Victoria would have following separation.[6] The section also granted the power to make electoral arrangements for both colonies, including dividing them into electoral districts, preparing electoral rolls and making arrangements for elections.[6] Section eleven provided that it (and its counterpart in Victoria following separation) had the power to make electoral laws into the future, except that the proportion of appointed and elected members in each Council could not be altered.[7]

Section four set the qualifications for suffrage in New South Wales, setting a property qualification requiring that the elector:

  • own freehold property worth £100,
  • own a house worth £10 per year,
  • own leasehold property worth £10 per year and with at least three years remaining, or
  • hold a pastoral licence.[8]

Van Diemen's Land and South Australia[edit]

Section seven provided that the existing Legislative Councils in both Van Diemen's Land and South Australia could legislate to establish new Legislative Councils for themselves, to consist of no more than twenty-four members, one third of whom (or if that were not a whole number, the next largest whole number) to be appointed by the Queen, and the balance to be elected.[9] The legislatures could also make electoral arrangements of the same form as that granted to the Legislative Council of New South Wales under section three.

The new Legislative Councils would have the power to make laws for the "Peace, Order and good Government" of their respective colonies, provided that they were not repugnant to the laws of England, and did not interfere with the sale of crown lands, and they would be able to make appropriations from the revenue to fund the public service.[5]

Upon the issue of the writs for the first election in the new Legislative Councils, the prior laws governing the old Legislative Councils would cease to have effect, by operation of section eight.[10] They would be replaced, by way of section twelve, by the laws applying in New South Wales to the procedures and operation of the Legislative Council of that colony.[3]

Western Australia[edit]

Under the terms of section nine, the people empowered to make laws in Western Australia could, on the petition of no less than one third of the householders of that colony, establish a Legislative Council, once again to be one third (rounded up) appointed and the balance elected; they were also empowered to make electoral arrangements.[11] However, the section contained a proviso, that a Legislative Council could not be so established unless the colony also undertook to pay to the Crown a yearly sum not less than the most recent annual Parliamentary grant made to the colony.[11]

Any such Legislative Council would have the power to make laws for the "Peace, Order and good Government" of the colony, provided that they were not repugnant to the laws of England, and did not interfere with the sale of crown lands, and it would be able to make appropriations from the revenue to fund the public service.[5]

Under section ten, the existing constitutional arrangements in Western Australia (which previously were applied for a limited time, and periodically renewed) were continued indefinitely, until the issue of the writs for the first election to any such Legislative Council.[12] They would be replaced, by way of section twelve, by the laws applying in New South Wales to the procedures and operation of the Legislative Council of that colony.[3]

General arrangements[edit]

Section thirteen repealed earlier laws requiring that bills altering the salaries of judges be reserved for assent by the Queen herself (that is, not by the Governors of the various colonies), to take effect upon the separation of Victoria.[13]

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