This first edition of New South Wales Legislative Council Practice brings together the history, practice and procedure of the New South Wales Legislative Council - the Upper House of the New South Wales Parliament, and the first and oldest legislative body in Australia.Since the advent of responsible government in New South Wales in 1856, the New South Wales Legislative Council has been the focus of continuous struggle regarding its composition, powers, role and very existence. However, from its tumultuous history, the Council has in recent years emerged as a democratically elected, powerful and effective upper house, in many ways mirroring the development of the Australian Senate. Today the Council performs key functions within the New South Wales system of government including representing the people and scrutinising the executive government as a 'House of Review'.The rich history of the New South Wales Legislative Council has brought with it a wealth of parliamentary precedent with which to guide modern practice and procedures in the House. While practitioners of parliamentary law and practice in New South Wales have long had access to authorities such as Erskine May's Parliamentary Practice and Odgers' Australian Senate Practice, the publication of New South Wales Legislative Council Practice will provide an essential reference book to understanding parliamentary privilege, practice and procedure in the New South Wales Upper House.

This book is an authoritative history of the NSW Parliament from its establishment in 1856 to 2003. It gives comprehensive accounts of both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, including analyses of their performance based on contrasting 'liberal' and 'executive' models of Parliament.The history of the Parliament is contextualised by the changing political background in which it operated over 150 years. It is enlivened by portraits of colourful Members, such as WP 'Paddy' Crick, drunken brawler and master of Parliamentary procedure, and accounts of incidents such as George Fuller's seven hour Government and the siege by trade unionists in 2003.On a broader level, the book is a dissertation on the nature of State politics and Parliaments and on the theoretical study of parliamentary institutions. A NSW Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government publication.