New South Wales
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1770: Captain
James Cook maps the east coast of
New Holland, which he named New South Wales.
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1788: Captain
Arthur Phillip establishes a British
penal colony in
Port Jackson, in what is now
Sydney.
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1813:
William Wentworth,
Gregory Blaxland and
William Lawson, lead an expedition which finds a route across the
Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening up the grazing lands of inland New South Wales.
New South Wales' three main cities from north to south are
Newcastle,
Sydney, and
Wollongong, which all lie along the coast. Other notable settlements include
Albury,
Broken Hill,
Dubbo,
Port Macquarie,
Tamworth,
Armidale,
Inverell,
Lismore,
Nowra,
Griffith,
Queanbeyan,
Leeton,
Wagga Wagga,
Goulburn and
Coffs Harbour.
The state is bordered on the north by
Queensland, on the west by
South Australia, and on the south by
Victoria. Its coast faces the
Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal
enclaves: the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the
Jervis Bay Territory.
New South Wales can be divided geographically into four sections:
* A coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions south of Sydney such as the
Illawarra , the
Shoalhaven near
Nowra,
Newcastle, the
Central Coast and the
North Coast.
* The mountainous areas of the
Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1000 m, with the highest
Mount Kosciuszko at 2229 m (7308 ft). This includes the
Southern Highlands,
Central Tablelands and the
New England regions.
* The agricultural plains that fill a significant portion of the state's area, with a much sparser population than the coast, includes the
Riverina area around
Wagga Wagga.
* The arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which feature few small settlements.
Highest maximum temperature: 50.0C (122.0F),
Wilcannia,
11 January 1939Lowest minimum temperature: -23.0C (-9.4F),
Charlotte Pass,
29 June 1994 (lowest temperature recorded in whole of Australia) [
1]
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New South Wales showing highways connecting towns and major centres |
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its
Constitution, which dates from
1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since
1901 New South Wales has been a state of the
Commonwealth of Australia, and the
Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.
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." In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.
The
State Parliament is composed of two houses, the
Legislative Assembly (lower house), and the
Legislative Council (upper house). Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of March, the
next being on
24 March 2007. At each election one member is elected to the Legislative Assembly from each of 99
electoral districts and half of the 42 members of the Legislative Council are elected by a statewide electorate.
New South Wales is a
Constitutional Monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign, represented by the
Governor of New South Wales. The current governor is
Marie Bashir. The Governor commissions as Premier the Member of Parliament who can command a simple majority of votes in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier then reccomends the appointment of other Members of the two Houses to the Ministry, under the principle of responsible or Westminster government. It should be noted, however, that there is no legal requirement in NSW for the Government to be formed from the Parliament - merely convention. The current Premier is
Morris Iemma of the
Australian Labor Party.
New South Wales has a
Gross Domestic Product of
AU$265,966,000,000, which equalled AU$39,950 per capita, in
2003. This was equal to
US$30,277, above most major
European Union economies.
Throughout Australian history, NSW sporting teams have been very successful in both winning domestic competitions and providing players to the Australian national team. The
NSW Blues play in the
ING and
Pura Cup cricket competitions, the
NSW Waratahs in the
Super 14 rugby competition and
The 'Blues' represent NSW in the annual
Rugby League State of Origin series.
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NSW State Law*
Official state website*
New South Wales Parliament*
New South Wales Police*
Map of South East Australia from Geoscience Australia*
Sydney and NSW Weather*
States and territories of Australia*
Cities of New South Wales*
Local Government Areas of New South Wales*
National Parks in New South Wales*
Stamps and postal history of New South Wales*
List of highways in New South Wales*
List of postcodes in New South Wales*
New South Wales Rural Fire Service*
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
