206  Disobedience of orders

If a senator wilfully disobeys an order of the Senate, that senator may be ordered to attend the Senate and may be taken into custody.

Amendment history

Adopted: 19 August 1903 as SO 434 but renumbered as SO 429 for the first printed edition

1989 revision: Old SO 444 renumbered as SO 206; expression dramatically streamlined and language modernised

Commentary

Stripped to its bare essentials by the 1989 revision, SO 206 has also never been invoked. In its original, rather rococo form, it contained references to attendance at the bar (in the event of a senator being under suspension), explanations by senators to answer for their conduct, and the role of the Usher of the Black Rod in carting off an offender.[1] It is an expression of the Senate’s contempt power and is unlikely to be invoked under any foreseeable circumstances.

The Usher of the Black Rod escorting the President to the chamber (Photo courtesy of AUSPIC)