Editing New South Wales (section)

== Government ==
{{Main|Government of New South Wales}}
[[File:Parliament house sydney nsw b..jpg|thumb|New South Wales [[Parliament House, Sydney|Parliament House]] in Sydney, the oldest public building in Australia]]
Executive power is formally exercised by the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Executive Council |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/Pages/The-Executive-Council.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020146/https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/Pages/The-Executive-Council.aspx |archive-date=1 February 2018 |access-date=31 January 2018 |work=Parliament of New South Wales}}</ref> The current governor is [[Margaret Beazley]]. The governor commissions as premier the leader of the parliamentary political party that can command a simple majority of votes in the Legislative Assembly. The premier then recommends the appointment of other members of the two Houses to the Ministry, under the principle of responsible or [[Westminster system|Westminster government]]. As in other Westminster systems, there is no constitutional requirement in New South Wales for the government to be formed from the parliament—merely convention. As of early July 2023, the premier is [[Chris Minns]] of the [[Labor Party of Australia|Labor Party]].

=== Constitution ===
{{wikisource|Constitution of New South Wales}}
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, dating from 1856 and currently the ''[[Constitution Act 1902]]'' (NSW).<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution Act 1902 No 32 |publisher=NSW Government |url=http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/viewtop/inforce/act+32+1902+cd+0+N |access-date=30 December 2013 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904005533/http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/viewtop/inforce/act+32+1902+cd+0+N |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since 1901 New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the [[Constitution of Australia|Australian Constitution]] regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.

In 2006, the Constitution Amendment [[Pledge of Loyalty Act 2006]] No 6,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/caola2006n6460.pdf |website= AustLII |title=New South Wales Constitution Amendment (Pledge of Loyalty) Act 2006 No 6|access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=25 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925071147/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/caola2006n6460.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> was enacted to amend the NSW Constitution Act 1902 to require Members of the New South Wales Parliament and its Ministers to take a pledge of loyalty to Australia and to the people of New South Wales instead of swearing allegiance to [[Elizabeth II]] her heirs and successors, and to revise the oaths taken by Executive Councillors. The Pledge of Loyalty Act was officially assented to by the Queen on 3 April 2006. The option to swear allegiance to the Queen was restored as an alternative option in June 2012.

Under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained independence in all other areas. The New South Wales Constitution says: "The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever".<ref>Constitution Act 1902 (NSW), section 5.</ref>

=== Parliament ===
<!-- {| class="toccolours" align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-right: .5em; margin-top: .4em;font-size: 90%;"
|-
|- bgcolor="#cccccc" valign="top"
!Political<br />Party
!Legislative<br />Assembly
!Legislative<br />Council
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="FF6666"|[[Australian Labor Party|ALP]]
| align="center" |50 (55%)
| align="center" |20 (45%)
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="00BFFF"|[[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| align="center" |24 (27%)
| align="center" |10 (25%)
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="90EE90"|[[National Party of Australia|National]]
| align="center" |13 (15%)
| align="center" |5 (11%)
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="#10c25b"|[[Australian Greens|Greens]]
| align="center" |0 (0%)
| align="center" |4 (10%)
|-
| align="center" bgcolor="ffff99"|Independent/Other
| align="center" |6 (6%)
| align="center" |4 (10%)
|-
| style="font-size: 80%" colspan=3 bgcolor="#cceeff" align="center"| Source: Parliament of New South Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Statistics |publisher=Parliament of New South Wales |url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Web/Common.nsf/key/MemberStatistics}}</ref>
|-
|}
-->
The first [[Responsible government|responsible]] self-government of New South Wales was formed on 6 June 1856 with [[Stuart Donaldson|Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson]] appointed by Governor [[William Denison|Sir William Denison]] as its first [[Chief Secretary (British Empire)|Colonial Secretary]] which in those days accounted also as the [[Premier]].<ref>Government Gazette June 1856</ref> The [[Parliament of New South Wales]] is composed of the Sovereign and two houses: the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] (lower house), and the [[New South Wales Legislative Council|Legislative Council]] (upper house). Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of March, the [[2019 New South Wales state election|most recent]] being on 23 March 2019. At each election one member is elected to the Legislative Assembly from each of 93 [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly electoral districts|electoral districts]] and half of the 42 members of the Legislative Council are elected by a statewide electorate.

=== Local government ===
New South Wales is divided into 128 [[Local government areas of New South Wales|local government areas]]. There is also the [[Unincorporated Far West Region]] which is not part of any local government area, in the sparsely inhabited [[Far West, New South Wales|Far West]], and [[Lord Howe Island]], which is also [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] but self-governed by the Lord Howe Island Board.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

=== Emergency services ===
New South Wales is policed by the [[New South Wales Police Force]], a [[statutory authority]]. Established in 1862, the New South Wales Police Force investigates Summary and Indictable offences throughout the State of New South Wales. The state has two fire services: the volunteer based [[New South Wales Rural Fire Service]], which is responsible for the majority of the state, and the [[Fire and Rescue NSW]], a government agency responsible for protecting urban areas. There is some overlap in due to suburbanisation. Ambulance services are provided through the [[New South Wales Ambulance]]. Rescue services (i.e. vertical, road crash, confinement) are a joint effort by all emergency services, with Ambulance Rescue, Police Rescue Squad and Fire Rescue Units contributing. Volunteer rescue organisations include Marine Rescue New South Wales, [[New South Wales State Emergency Service|State Emergency Service]] (SES), [[Surf Life Saving Australia|Surf Life Saving NSW]] and [[Volunteer Rescue Association]] (VRA).{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}