annual services of the government can be presented to the governor for assent even if the upper house has not agreed to it. State Opening and traditions The State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of New South Wales. It is held in the Legislative Council Chamber, usually in November or December, or in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembles. It is an occasion for much pomp and ceremony, usually with a guard of honour and with dignitaries of the state attending. The New South Wales Parliament maintains many of the traditions of the original Parliament of the United Kingdom, from which the New South Wales Parliament was founded. The governor, or occasionally the monarch, reads a prepared speech, known as the Speech from the Throne, outlining the government's agenda for the coming year. The speech is not written by the governor, but rather by the Cabinet, and reflects the legislative agenda for which they seek the agreement of both houses of Parliament. Queen Elizabeth II has opened the New South Wales Parliament on two occasions, on 4 February 1954, as part of her first visit to Australia, which was also the first occasion in which a monarch of Australia had opened a session of any Australian parliament. The other occasion was on 20 February 1992, during her visit to Sydney to celebrate the sesquicentenary of the incorporation of the City of Sydney, on which occasion she stated: Emblem The official emblem of the New South Wales Parliament is a crowned circlet featuring the coat of arms of New South Wales taking the form of a Scottish crest badge. Crest badges, much like clan tartans, do not have a long history, and owe much to Victorian era romanticism, having only been worn on the bonnet since the mid-19th century when the buckled strap device commonly used by the Order of the Garter was adopted as a popular design to encircle monogram escutcheons and heraldic crests. The crest badge came to be accepted in the mid-20th century as the emblem of both houses of Parliament. The emblem appears on official stationery, publications and papers, and is stamped on various items in use in the Parliament, such as cutlery, silverware and china. See also List of New South Wales state elections Parliaments of the Australian states and