Politics of New South Wales

[1] New South Wales received statehood upon the federation of Australia in 1901, with the state's Constitution establishing a parliamentary democracy.

The formal chief executive of New South Wales is the governor, who is appointed as the King's representative on the advice of the head of the governing party.

The governor holds limited reserve powers, but with few exceptions is required by convention to act on the advice of the government.

[3] The Governor, as representative of the Crown, is the formal repository of power, which is exercised by him or her on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales and the cabinet.

The Premier and ministers are appointed by the Governor, and hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly.

In 2006, the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in New South Wales, the Constitution Amendment Pledge of Loyalty Act 2006 No.

6 was enacted to amend the 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 the Queen her heirs and successors, and to revise the oaths taken by Executive Councillors.

On 5 June 2012 the Constitution Amendment (Restoration of Oaths of Allegiance) Act 2012 No 33 was assented to and made a further amendment to the Constitution Act 1902, by restoring the option of taking the oath of allegiance to the Queen, her heirs and successors, in addition to the option of taking the pledge of loyalty.

With the loss of these reliable seats, this creates a harder task for Labor to form majority government into the future.

The Greens have seen localised success in the Northern Rivers seat of Ballina which entirely encompasses the Byron Bay district.

The following lists current electorates where the opposing party (Liberal/National versus Labor/Greens) have never won each seat or its direct predecessor following a redistribution or since the abolition of proportional representation of the lower house in 1927: Labor Liberal

For governments to change hands, generally there is a quantity of marginal electorates that determine the result of the election which sustain the most attention from the major parties.

Other electorates that often change hands between the major parties include: Drummoyne, Gosford, Heathcote, Holsworthy, Parramatta and Penrith.

The election turned into a Coalition rout in large part due to Labor losing 13 of its 33 seats in New South Wales.

Like at the state level, the federal party draws most of its continuous support from north-west Sydney and the surrounds of the Hawkesbury River.

Unlike with state results, Labor has consistently maintained dominance over the Greens in the Inner West and the Liberals through the bulk of the Western Sydney basin to the Blue Mountains.