Skip to section navigationSkip to content Commonwealth of Australia Coat of Arms Parliament of Australia - SenatePhoto of the Senate Chamber
HomeSenateHouse of RepresentativesLive BroadcastingThis Week in Parliament FindFrequently asked questionsContact
Search the Senate  

<< Return to previous page | Senate Standing Committee of Privileges

Membership of the Committee of Privileges, 1967-2008

[updated to 16/09/2008]

Standing Order 18(3), previously Standing Order 33A, states that the Committee of Privileges shall consist of seven senators, four nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate and three by the Leader of the Opposition.

There have been 74 members of the Committee of Privileges, 63 men and 11 women. Thirty represented the Australian Labor Party, 32 the Liberal Party, eight the Country Party, the National Country Party or the National Party, and four the Australian Democrats. Of the 11 women members four (Senators Giles, Hurley**, McLucas** and Reynolds) represented the Australian Labor Party, four (Senators Coonan, Knowles, Payne and Reid) represented the Liberal Party, and three (Senators Bourne, Kernot and Powell) represented the Australian Democrats. Senator Kernot was appointed as a non-voting member for the purposes of the committee's examination of her private member's bill, the Parliamentary Privileges Amendment (Enforcement of Lawful Orders) Bill 1994.

The average duration of service of full committee members, to the end of November 2007, was three years and nine months. The member with the shortest term of service was Senator MacGibbon, who replaced Senator Lewis for five weeks in 1990. The longest-serving member is Senator Ray, who was with the committee for more than 17 years. As Figure 1 shows, several others have also shown remarkable staying power in the face of an increasing workload.

Figure 1: Senators' years of Service on Committee of Privileges

The 20 senators with five or more years of service on the committee are reasonably equally dividied in party political and geographic terms, with each state except Queensland being represented by at least one long-serving member.

In terms of their geographic distribution, 18 members came from Western Australia, 14 from Tasmania, 12 each from Victoria and Queensland, 11 from New South Wales, four from South Australia, two from the Australian Capital Territory and one from the Northern Territory.

 

Privileges committee members and their terms of service

Note: Since 1966 the committee has been appointed at the beginning of each Parliament. Where a Parliament has been prorogued, the committee is assumed to have remained in existence until the day before the opening of the following Parliament. In the case of the dissolution of the Senate, the committee terminates at the dissolution. However, members who were appointed to successive committees are shown as having unbroken service and the period between the end of one committee and the appointment of the next is not shown.

Name

State

Party

Term(s) of Service

Archer, Brian Roper

TAS

Lib

19/08/93-31/01/94

Aulich, Terrence Gordon

TAS

ALP

11/09/85-05/06/87

Black, John

QLD

ALP

24/09/87-08/05/90

Bolkus, Nick

SA

ALP

25/08/81-15/06/84; 29/05/85-05/06/87

Bourne, Vicki Worrall

NSW

AD

01/07/90-29/04/92

Brandis, George**

QLD

Lib

13/02/08-

Branson, George Howard

WA

Lib

05/04/67-14/05/71

Button, John Norman

VIC

ALP

18/07/74-15/06/84

Cant, Hartley Gordon James

WA

ALP

05/04/67-03/03/70; 1/05/73-18/05/74

Childs, Bruce Kenneth

NSW

ALP

04/05/83-24/02/88; 18/03/88-04/09/97

Coates, John

TAS

ALP

15/06/84-29/05/85; 24/09/87-20/08/96

Collard, Stanley James

QLD

NCP

25/08/81-05/03/83

Collins, Jacinta Mary Ann**

VIC

ALP

14/05/08-

Collins, Robert

NT

ALP

04/09/97-03/03/98

Cook, Peter Francis Salmon

WA

ALP

15/06/84-11/09/85

Coonan, Helen

NSW

Lib

01/07/96-31/08/99

Cooney, Bernard Cornelius

VIC

ALP

24/09/87-18/03/88;11/05/90-30/06/93; 01/09/96-24/11/98

Cormack, Magnus Cameron

VIC

Lib

05/04/67-21/08/68

Devitt, Donald Michael

TAS

ALP

01/05/73-11/11/75

Drake-Brockman, Thomas Charles

WA

CP

05/04/67-24/11/69; 29/09/70-26/02/73; 18/07/74-22/07/75; 04/03/76-30/06/78

Durack, Peter Drew

WA

Lib

24/09/87-11/09/90

Eggleston, Alan

WA

Lib

13/02/97-21/08/02

Ellison, Christopher Martin

WA

Lib

18/08/93-30/09/97

Evans, Christopher Vaughan

WA

ALP

24/11/98-15/11/04; 28/11/05-11/12/05

Everett, Mervyn George

TAS

ALP

18/07/74-11/11/75

Faulkner, John Philip

NSW

ALP

18/11/04-11/02/08

Gibson, Brian Francis

TAS

Lib

15/03/94-04/05/94

Giles, Patricia Jessie

WA

ALP

24/02/88-30/06/93

Greenwood, Ivor John

VIC

Lib

21/08/68-11/11/75

Herron, John Joseph

QLD

Lib

19/08/92-18/08/93

Humphries, Gary John Joseph

ACT

Lib

20/03/03-11/02/08

Hurley, Annette**

SA

ALP

14/02/08-

Hutchins, Steve

NSW

ALP

07/09/05-28/11/05

Jessop, Donald Scott

SA

Lib

04/03/76-15/06/84

Johnston, David Abbott Lloyd

WA

Lib

01/07/02-23/03/07

Kemp, Charles Roderick (Rod)

Vic

Lib

23/03/07-10/09/07

Kernot, Cheryl*

QLD

AD

12/05/94-01/03/95

Knowles, Susan Christine

WA

Lib

02/05/96-22/08/03; 22/12/03-30/06/05

Lewis, Austin William Russell

VIC

Lib

11/09/90-13/11/90; 18/12/90-19/08/92

Lundy, Kate**

ACT

ALP

15/09/08-

MacGibbon, David John

QLD

Lib

13/11/90-18/12/90

Macklin, Michael John

QLD

AD

04/05/83-05/06/87

Maunsell, Charles Ronald

QLD

CP

01/04/81-30/06/81

McGauran, Julian**

VIC

NP

31/08/99-30/06/02; 22/08/03-22/12/03; 13/02/08-

McKellar, Gerald Colin

NSW

CP

25/11/69-13/04/70

McKiernan, James Philip

WA

ALP

01/07/93-29/04/96

McLucas, Jan**

QLD

ALP

14/02/08-

Missen, Alan Joseph

VIC

Lib

01/04/81-15/06/84; 29/05/85-30/03/86

Morris, Kenneth James

QLD

Lib

05/04/67-30/06/68

Mulvihill, James Anthony

NSW

ALP

19/08/75-11/11/75

Murphy, Lionel Keith

NSW

ALP

25/11/69-09/02/75

O'Brien, Kerry

TAS

ALP

14/02/08-15/09/08

O'Byrne, Justin

TAS

ALP

06/05/71-11/04/74; 04/03/76-30/06/81

Panizza, John

WA

Lib

01/07/96-31/01/97

Payne, Marise**

NSW

Lib

30/09/97-

Poke, Albert George

TAS

ALP

05/04/67-24/11/69

Powell, Janet

VIC

AD

24/09/87-30/06/90; 29/04/92-30/06/93

Rae, Peter Elliot

TAS

Lib

21/08/68-26/02/73; 15/06/84-29/05/85

Ray, Robert

VIC

ALP

25/08/81-05/06/87; 2/05/96-07/09/05; 11/12/05-05/05/08

Reid, Margaret Elizabeth

ACT

Lib

21/08/02-04/02/03

Reynolds, Margaret

QLD

ALP

01/07/93-29/04/96

Rocher, Alan Charles

WA

Lib

19/09/78-10/02/81

Ronaldson, Michael John Clyde

VIC

Lib

01/07/05-11/02/08

Scott, Douglas Barr

NSW

NCP

17/08/78-21/02/80

Sheil, Glenister

QLD

NCP

21/02/80-06/02/81

Sherry, Nick

TAS

ALP

03/03/98-11/02/08

Teague, Baden Chapman

SA

Lib

24/09/87-30/06/96

Thomas, Andrew Murray

WA

Lib

04/03/76-04/02/83

Watson, John

TAS

Lib

10/09/07-11/02/08

Webster, James Joseph

VIC

CP

22/07/75-11/11/75

Wheeldon, John Murray

WA

ALP

05/04/67-06/05/71

Willesee, Donald Robert

WA

ALP

25/11/69-26/02/73

Withers, Reginald Greive

WA

Lib

14/05/71-19/08/75; 15/06/84-29/05/85

Woods, Robert Leslie

NSW

Lib

04/05/94-29/04/96

Wriedt, Kenneth Shaw

TAS

ALP

18/02/75-19/08/75

Wright, Reginald Charles

TAS

Lib

19/08/75-30/06/78

* Non-voting member for the purposes of the committee's examination of the Parliamentary Privileges (Enforcement of Lawful Orders) Amendment Bill 1994
** Current members of the committee

Download PDF

 

For further information, contact:

Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committee of Privileges
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Phone: +61 2 6277 3360
Fax: +61 2 6277 3199
Email: priv.sen@aph.gov.au

top

Comments to: web.senate@aph.gov.au
Last reviewed 16 September 2008 by the Senate Web Administrator
© Commonwealth of Australia
Parliament of Australia Web Site Privacy Statement
Images courtesy of AUSPIC