Chapter 12 - Legislation
Amendments proposed by the Governor-General
Section 58 of the Constitution authorises the
Governor-General to return bills to the originating House with suggestions for
amendments.
A procedure is
therefore provided whereby the Governor-General may recommend amendments to a
bill which has been passed by both Houses and forwarded to the Governor-General
for assent.
This procedure
is, in effect, a means whereby the ministry, on whose advice the
Governor-General acts, may reconsider a bill which has been passed by both
Houses before it finally becomes law, although the procedure is seldom used and
it is unlikely that it would be used to make substantive amendments.
A message from
the Governor-General recommending amendments to a bill is forwarded to the
House in which the bill originated. Amendments recommended by the
Governor-General to a bill originating in the Senate are dealt with in the same
manner as amendments made in the House of Representatives, but if the Senate
agrees to amendments recommended by the Governor-General to a bill originating
in the Senate, the amendments must be forwarded to the House of Representatives
for its concurrence (SO 138). Similarly, recommendations made to
the House and agreed to by the House in relation to a bill originating in the
House require the concurrence of the Senate.
If amendments
recommended by the Governor-General to a bill originating in the Senate are not
agreed to by the Senate, or agreement on the amendments is not reached between
the Houses, the President is required to present the bill to the
Governor-General again for assent (SO 138(5)). There is no provision for
dealing with any insistence by the Governor-General upon recommendations which
have not been agreed to, but presumably that would be dealt with in the same
way as amendments recommended in the first instance.
In 1986 a
recommendation by the Governor-General for amendments was used, in conjunction
with a resolution of the House of Representatives recommending that the Senate
make amendments to certain bills, to bring about amendments of the bills
(15/4/1986, J.898‑899; 16/4/1986, J.904‑912; 17/4/1986, 917, 918).
The circumstances were unusual and unlikely to recur.
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