RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2021–22   19 AUGUST 2021

45th Parliament in review

Cathy Madden

Politics and Public Administration Section

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Background

Changes in leadership and representation

Presiding officers

Leadership changes

Changes in representation

Table 1: resignations from the House of Representatives and the Senate unrelated to section 44 of the Constitution

Section 44 of the Constitution

Dual citizenship

Indirect pecuniary interest and criminal conviction

Defections

Parliamentary privilege

Parliamentary privilege and the use of intrusive powers

Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme

Possible improper interference with a senator (Senator Burston)

Possible contempts of the House (Mr Billson)

Conduct of the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics

Procedural developments and strategies

Rotation of senators

Procedural changes to Senate formal business

Amendments to Senate Standing Orders

Amendments to House of Representatives Standing Orders

Electronic recording of divisions in the House

Protesters in Parliament House

Government tested on the floor of the House

Powers of parliamentary committees to summon witnesses

Rejection of Bill at first reading

Business of the Parliament

Volume of legislation

Table 2: Number of Bills introduced into the House of Representatives and the Senate and the total number of Acts for Parliaments

Crossbench

House of Representatives

Senate

Divisions: crossbench/Independents’ voting record

House of Representatives

Table 4: HoR crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament

Figure 1: HoR crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament (by number of votes)

Senate

Table 5: Senate crossbench days in attendance and number of votes cast in the 45th Parliament

Figure 2: Senate crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament (by percentage of votes)

Censure motions and no confidence

Censure motions

Motion of no confidence in prime minister not carried

Suspensions

House of Representatives

Table 6: Disciplinary action by Speakers since 1996

Senate

Petitions

Composition of the 45th Parliament by party and gender

Women in the Parliament

Table 7: Number and percentage of women by party in the House of Representatives and in the Senate following the 2016 election

Table 8: Number and percentage of women by party in the House of Representatives and in the Senate as at 11 April 2019

Ministry

Table 9: Number of women in the ministry during the 45th Parliament

Royal commissions, same-sex marriage plebiscite and postal survey

Royal commissions

Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry

Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability

Same-sex marriage plebiscite proposal and postal survey

Elections

By-elections

Table 10: By-elections held during the 45th Parliament

Redistributions

2019 federal election timing

Addresses to the Parliament

Ministerial statements

Other matters

Photography in the Senate

Use of props

First speech

Breastfeeding in the Chamber

Parliament House

Parliament House computer network

Appendix 1: Referrals and resignations due to Section 44(1) of the Constitution

Appendix 2: Conscience votes in the 45th Parliament

Bills/motions on which conscience votes were granted in the 45th Parliament

Appendix 3: Floor crossings in the 45th Parliament

Senate

Floor crossings by senators in the 45th Parliament

House of Representatives

Appendix 4: Further reading

Parliamentary Library publications

Parliamentary Committee reports

Senate Standing Committee on Procedure

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedure

1 

Abbreviations

AC

Australian Conservatives

ALP

Australian Labor Party

CA

Centre Alliance

CLP

Country Liberal Party (Northern Territory)

DHJP

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party

DHOR

Department of the House of Representatives

DPS

Department of Parliamentary Services

FFP

Family First Party

GRN

Australian Greens

HOR

House of Representatives

IND

Independent

JLN

Jacqui Lambie Network

KAP

Katter’s Australian Party

LDP

Liberal Democratic Party

LP

Liberal Party of Australia

LNP

Liberal National Party

NP

The Nationals

NXT

Nick Xenophon Team

PHON

Pauline Hansons’s One Nation

UAP

United Australia Party

2 Introduction

As with the 43rd and 44th Parliaments the 45th Parliament was turbulent: starting with Australia’s seventh double dissolution election to the political upheaval caused by the constitutional crisis relating to the eligibility of elected members of Parliament. The 45th Parliament was overshadowed by the issues surrounding breaches of section 44 of the Australian Constitution, especially dual citizenship. The resulting changes in representation caused resignations, recounts and by-elections. The ousting of a prime minister added to the controversy surrounding the Parliament.

Despite such challenges the Parliament continued with its business: members representing their constituents, the debate and passage of legislation, investigating issues through committees, and responding to issues of the day. However, the changes in representation during the life of the Parliament did have an impact on aspects of its business. Some parties lost representation or were reduced in their numbers, crossbench voting patterns changed, female representation fluctuated, ministerial positions were affected and so on.

This paper reviews the major parliamentary and political events of the 45th Australian federal Parliament (2016–2019). The paper is not an exhaustive chronicle of the 45th Parliament but rather a review of the major aspects of the workings of this Parliament. It is organised thematically covering, where relevant, procedural changes, statistical information, and events of note and interest in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. As a result of the changes noted above there is some repetition in the paper indicating the effect of changes in representation. It is intended to be used as a companion to equivalent Parliamentary Library publications on the 44th Parliament and the 43rd hung Parliament, and Library publications on the 2016 and 2019 federal elections.

3 Background

A double dissolution election was held on 2 July 2016.¹ The Turnbull Coalition government was returned with 76 of the 150 seats in the lower House—a majority of one in the House, down from the 15-seat majority the Government had in the previous Parliament. The ALP increased its seat count by 14 from 55 to 69. Greens member Adam Bandt, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Bob Katter and two independents, Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan, were returned. An unexpected victory was Rebekha Sharkie (SA) representing the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT).²

The Senate result was watched with interest with the change to optional preferential voting for the Senate and the unusual full Senate election rather than half-Senate election.³ If one of the aims of the change of electoral system was to reduce the number of micro and minor parties in the Senate the outcome did not reflect this as the election was favourable to the minor parties, although the level of success of small parties in 2016 can be attributed in large part to the double dissolution election, which reduced the quota for election from one seventh of the vote to one thirteenth.⁴ The Coalition was reduced to 30 seats, ALP 26 seats, Greens (GRN) nine seats, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON) four seats, NXT three seats, Liberal Democrats (LDP) one seat, Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) one seat, Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (DHJP) one seat and one Family First (FFP) seat.⁵

Mr Turnbull announced his ministry on 18 July 2016, with a Cabinet of 23, one of the largest since the 1970s.⁶ The ministry was sworn in on 19 July 2016 by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

The 45th Parliament sat for the first time on 30 August 2016.

1 Changes in leadership and representation

Presiding officers

The first task of senators was to elect a new President. For the first time in some years, no ballot was required and Senator Stephen Parry (LP, Tas.) was re-elected as President unopposed. Senator Sue Lines (ALP, WA) was elected unopposed as Deputy President.⁷

On 2 November 2017 Senator Parry submitted his resignation to the Governor-General over a possible breach of section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution relating to dual citizenship. Senator Parry continued in the office until Senator Scott Ryan (LP, Vic.) was elected to fill the vacancy on 13 November 2017.⁸

The first act of the new House of Representatives, on 30 August 2016, was to elect a Speaker. The former Speaker, Member for Casey Tony Smith (LP), who was nominated unopposed, accepted the nomination, and was declared elected as Speaker.⁹ A ballot was conducted for the election of Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker. The Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton (LP, NSW), received 77 votes and the Member for McEwen, Robert Mitchell (ALP, NSW) received 71 votes. The former was elected Deputy Speaker and the latter Second Deputy Speaker.¹⁰

Leadership changes

On 23 February 2018 the leader of the Nationals (NP), Barnaby Joyce, (New England, NSW) resigned as leader following weeks of controversy over his personal life.¹¹ In the subsequent party room meeting Michael McCormack (Riverina, NSW) was elected as leader unopposed.¹² Senator Bridget McKenzie (Vic.) continued as deputy leader.

Following a week of instability in the Liberal Party over the National Energy Guarantee policy, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull instigated a leadership ballot at the Parliamentary Liberal Party meeting on 21 August 2018.¹³ The Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, (LNP, Dickson, QLD) was the only challenger. Mr Turnbull won the leadership challenge 48 votes to Mr Dutton’s 35.¹⁴ Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (LP, Curtin, WA) was the only nomination for deputy leader of the Liberal Party, and so retained the position.

Following further intraparty instability and the resignation of 13 ministers, including seven Cabinet ministers, Mr Turnbull called a party room meeting three days later on Friday 24 August 2018.¹⁵ There were three contenders for the position of leader: Peter Dutton, Treasurer Scott Morrison (LP, Cook, NSW) and Julie Bishop.

Mr Turnbull stood aside following a successful spill motion for the leadership which was carried 45 votes to 40. In the first-round vote, Mr Dutton received 38 votes, Mr Morrison 36, and Ms Bishop was eliminated with 11 votes. In the subsequent round of voting, Mr Morrison, who was supported by Mr Turnbull, defeated Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 in the final count.¹⁶ Josh Frydenberg (LP, Kooyong, Vic.) won the position of deputy leader with 46 votes from Greg Hunt (LP, Flinders, Vic.) with 16 votes and Steve Ciobo (LNP, Moncrieff, QLD) with 20 votes.¹⁷

Mr Morrison was sworn in as Australia’s 30th prime minister by Governor-General Cosgrove on 24 August 2018. Mr Morrison announced his ministry on 26 August 2018: two notable appointments were Mr Frydenberg becoming Treasurer and Senator Marise Payne (LP, NSW) taking over as Foreign Minister from Julie Bishop, who had resigned from the ministry.¹⁸

Subsequently in December 2018 Prime Minister Morrison announced a change to the rules for election of the leader of the Liberal Party involving the requirement of a special majority (a majority of two-thirds of the party vote) to remove an elected Liberal Prime Minister as party leader.¹⁹

Changes in representation

The 45th Parliament was remarkable for the number of changes to representation due to resignations, disqualifications relating to section 44 of the Australian Constitution, and defections from parties. Table 1 below sets out resignations from the House of Representatives and the Senate unrelated to section 44 of the Constitution.

Table 1: resignations from the House of Representatives and the Senate unrelated to section 44 of the Constitution

Member

Date of resignation

Notes

Replacement

Senator S Conroy
(ALP, Vic.)

Announced his resignation by tabling his speech on 15 September 2016, and it took effect on 30 September.

On 10 October 2016 the President of the Senate announced the resignation of Senator Conroy.

Kimberley Kitching sworn in on 7 Nov 2016—casual vacancy.

Senator N Xenophon (NXT, SA)

Resigned from the Senate 31 October 2017

Senator Xenophon resigned to focus on the SA state election.

Rex Patrick sworn in 15 Nov 2017—casual vacancy.

Senator S Dastyari (ALP, NSW)

Resigned from the shadow ministry 7 Sept 2016

Resigned from Parliament 25 Jan 2018.

Kristina Keneally, former NSW premier, was sworn in on 15 Feb 2018—casual vacancy.

Senator G Brandis (LNP, QLD)

Resigned as Attorney-General and from Parliament 8 Feb 2018.

Mr Brandis was appointed Australia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Amanda Stoker was sworn in on 22 March 2018—casual vacancy.

Senator C Back
(LP, WA)

Resigned on 31 July 2017

Slade Brockman was sworn in on 17 Aug 2017—casual vacancy.

T Hammond
(ALP, Perth, WA)

Resigned from Parliament 10 May 2018

Mr Hammond resigned to spend more time with his family.

In the by-election held on 28 July 2018 Patrick Gorman was elected.

Senator A Bartlett (GRN, QLD)

Resigned on 27 August 2018

Mr Bartlett resigned to focus on contesting the seat of Brisbane at the 2019 federal election.²⁰

Former Greens senator Larissa Waters was sworn in on 10 Sept 2018—casual vacancy.²¹

M Turnbull
(LP, Wentworth, NSW)

Resigned from Parliament 31 August 2018

Resigned following the loss of the leadership of the Liberal Party and prime ministership on 24 August 2018.

In the by-election held for Wentworth on 20 Oct 2018, the Independent Kerryn Phelps was successful.

Senator L Rhiannon (GRN, NSW)

Resigned 15 August 2018

Former NSW Legislative Council member Mehreen Faruqi was sworn in on 20 Aug 2018—casual vacancy.

Senator D Bushby
(LP, Tas.)

Resigned 21 January 2019

Mr Bushby was appointed Australia’s Consul-General in Chicago.

Wendy Askew was sworn in on 2 April 2019—casual vacancy.

Senator J Collins
(ALP, Vic.)

Resigned 15 February 2019

Ms Collins went on to accept a position as executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission.

Raffaele Ciccone was sworn in on 2 April 2019—casual vacancy.

Senator D Leyonhjelm (LDP, NSW)

Resigned 1 March 2019

Resigned to contest the NSW state election held on 23 March 2019.²²

Duncan Spender was sworn in on 2 April 2019—casual vacancy.

Senator D Smith
(ALP, ACT)

Resigned 11 April 2019

Resigned to contest the seat of Bean (ACT) at the 18 May 2019 federal election.

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library

Section 44 of the Constitution

During the 45th Parliament several MPs and senators were referred to the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, over issues relating to breaches of section 44 of the Constitution. Several MPs, such as John Alexander (LP), Josh Wilson (ALP)and Rebekha Sharkie (CA), resigned prior to questions regarding their qualifications to be a member of Parliament being referred to the High Court (a full list is provided in Appendix 1).

The House passed resolutions on 4 December 2017 and 4 April 2019 requiring all members to provide statements in relation to citizenship and disqualification under sections 44 or 45 of the Constitution.²³

On 3 April 2019 the Senate passed a resolution to establish a Register of Senators’ Qualifications relating to sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution.²⁴ The Register of Senators’ Qualifications comprises successful candidates’ checklists, statements from the citizenship register (established on 13 November 2017, on the motion of the Leader of the Government) and supplementary material. The Committee of Senators’ Interests oversees the register.

The Parliament passed the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2019 in February 2019. One effect of this legislation was to require candidates nominating for election to the House of Representatives or the Senate to complete a candidate qualification checklist as part of their nomination process.

Dual citizenship

Most of the referrals related to dual citizenship, leading to the disqualification of several parliamentarians under breaches of subsection 44(i) relating to whether the referred person was ‘under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power’ at the time of their nomination to the Australian Parliament. The purpose of section 44(i) is to prevent members of the Commonwealth Parliament from having divided allegiances, and, in turn, to mitigate the risk of foreign interference in the Australian Parliament.²⁵

From August 2017 to the end of the 45th Parliament, 15 parliamentarians either resigned or were found ineligible to sit by the High Court; another two had their eligibility confirmed by the Court; and serious questions were raised about several other parliamentarians (all relating to dual citizenship). See Appendix 1 for a full list of members disqualified or who resigned due to issues relating to dual citizenship. For further detail on the by-elections, see the ‘By-elections’ section below.

Indirect pecuniary interest and criminal conviction

Two other senators—Bob Day and Rodney Culleton—were found ineligible to sit as a result of breaching other parts of section 44 of the Constitution relating to a pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth (section 44(v)) and convictions for offences (section 44(ii)).

Senator Bob Day (FFP, SA) resigned from the Senate effective from 1 November 2016.²⁶ Senator Day had announced he was intending to resign in October but delayed his departure. On 7 November the Senate referred the election of Senator Day to the High Court (sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns). His election had raised issues under Section 44(v) of the Constitution regarding the leasing arrangements for his electorate office. Although he sold the building which housed his electorate office, the Government believed he still retained a financial interest in it, and that this was in breach of section 44(v).

On 5 April 2017 the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, found that former senator Day was not eligible to be elected to the upper house. The Court found that Day had an ‘indirect pecuniary interest’ under section 44(v) of the Constitution. The Court ordered a recount of the Senate seat.²⁷ On 19 April the Court decided that Kenyan-born lawyer Lucy Gichuhi, second candidate on the SA FFP ticket, would fill the vacancy.²⁸ Ms Gichuhi was sworn in as the Independent senator for South Australia on 9 May 2017.

On 7 November 2016 the Senate also referred the case of Senator Rodney Culleton (PHON, WA) to the Court of Disputed Returns. This referral related to a possible breach of section 44(ii) of the Constitution as Senator Culleton had been convicted of an offence carrying a jail term of one year or more at the time of his election. On 18 December 2016 Senator Culleton resigned from the PHON to sit as an Independent.²⁹

The Federal Court declared Senator Culleton bankrupt on 23 December 2016.³⁰ On 11 January 2017, after receiving formal notification of the bankruptcy, the President of the Senate notified the Governor of WA of a vacancy (due to undischarged bankrupts being ineligible for Parliament under section 44(iii) of the Constitution) in the representation of Western Australia, at the same time advising Her Excellency that the method for filling the vacancy depended on the matter then before the Court of Disputed Returns.³¹

Mr Culleton applied in the High Court—sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns—to have his ejection from the Senate stayed until his challenge to a bankruptcy declaration, and a High Court decision on whether he was eligible to run for parliament in 2016 due to a larceny conviction, had been determined. On 31 January 2017 the High Court rejected his application to have his removal from the Senate overturned. Further, on 3 February 2017 the High Court found that Mr Culleton had been ineligible to stand for the Senate as he had been convicted of a larceny charge at the time.³² The High Court ordered a recount of the ballot papers in WA to determine who would replace Mr Culleton. On 10 March 2017 the Court declared that the second candidate on the WA PHON ticket, Peter Georgiou, would replace Mr Culleton in the Senate.³³

Defections

In the 45th Parliament there were seven MPs who defected from the party for which they had been elected: four of the seven changed parties more than once. In some cases, the MP created a new party, or became an independent. Many of these related to new MPs who entered parliament due to section 44 disqualifications, who encountered a party landscape that had changed since they stood for election in 2016. There are no legislative or party rules covering elected members changing parties, and any sitting member or senator can apply to register a new party without a requirement to prove that the party has other members.

On 7 February 2017 Senator Cory Bernardi (SA) announced he was resigning from the LP and would form the Australian Conservatives (AC) party.³⁴ On 26 April 2017 Senator Bernardi announced that the Family First (FFP) party was merging with the AC effective from that date.³⁵ Senator-elect Gichuhi was elected on the basis of a ballot paper where she stood as a FFP candidate, however as FFP merged with AC prior to her entry to the Senate, she chose to sit as an Independent while considering her options. Senator Gichuhi announced on 5 February 2018 that she had become a member of the LP.³⁶

Senator Fraser Anning, declared elected on the PHON ticket on 10 November 2017, announced on 5 February 2018 that he would be sitting as an Independent.³⁷ On 18 June 2018 he announced he had joined the KAP.³⁸ On 26 November 2018 he further advised the Senate that he had left KAP and would be sitting as an Independent.³⁹

Senator Steve Martin (Tas.), declared elected on the JLN ticket on 9 February 2018, sat as an Independent from 13 February⁴⁰, and announced on 18 June 2018 that he had joined the NP.⁴¹

Senator Brian Burston (PHON, NSW) announced on 18 June 2018 he would be sitting as an Independent from that day forward.⁴² On 19 June he announced he had joined the United Australia Party (UAP).⁴³

Senator Tim Storer (SA), declared elected on the NXT ticket on 16 February 2018, announced on 21 March 2018 that he would be sitting as an Independent.⁴⁴

On 27 November 2018 Ms Julia Banks (Chisholm, Vic.) announced she was leaving the Liberal Party to sit as an Independent.⁴⁵

2 Parliamentary privilege

A range of issues were raised as matters of privilege in both the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 45th Parliament.

Parliamentary privilege and the use of intrusive powers

As part of an investigation of the disclosure of internal NBN Co documents in February 2016, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) executed search warrants at the Melbourne office of Senator Stephen Conroy (ALP, Vic.), and the Melbourne home of an Opposition staff member, on 19–20 May 2016, as well as at the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) in Parliament House, Canberra, on 24 August 2016.⁴⁶ Senator Conroy and Jason Clare (ALP, Blaxland, NSW) subsequently made claims of privilege in relation to the documents seized, claims that were referred for determination to the Senate and House privileges committees respectively.⁴⁷ Both committees recommended that the respective privilege claims should be upheld and that the documents should be withheld from the AFP investigation.⁴⁸ The Senate Privileges Committee also concluded that the manner in which the Melbourne warrants were executed amounted to an improper interference with the duties of a senator and with the functions of the parliament more broadly.⁴⁹

During the 45th Parliament the Senate Privileges Committee also undertook a broader inquiry into parliamentary privilege and the use of intrusive powers by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.⁵⁰ The Committee concluded that it did not appear that law enforcement and intelligence agencies give any systematic consideration to parliamentary privilege in the exercise of intrusive powers, including covert intrusive powers, and recommended that the Presiding Officers, in consultation with the executive, ‘develop protocols that will set out agreed processes to be followed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies when exercising those powers’.⁵¹ The President of the Senate also raised concerns, in a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS), about a lack of clear procedures relating to claims of privilege in a Bill that sought to extend the covert use of investigative powers by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.⁵²

Following the execution of another search warrant by the AFP on the office of an Australian Border Force employee on 11 October 2018, this time in relation to the release of information relating to the granting of certain visas, Senator Louise Pratt (ALP, WA) claimed the material seized should be protected by parliamentary privilege.⁵³ The Senate Privileges Committee again recommended that the claim be upheld and raised concerns that the manner in which the warrant was executed may have amounted to an improper interference with the Senate.⁵⁴ Following the tabling of this report, the Senate agreed to a resolution that, among other matters, required executive agencies ‘to observe the rights of the Senate, its committees and members in determining whether and how to exercise their powers in matters which might engage questions of privilege’ and called on the Attorney-General to work with the Presiding Officers ‘to develop a new protocol for the execution of search warrants and the use by executive agencies of other intrusive powers’.⁵⁵

Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme

The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017 sought to establish registration obligations for persons or entities who have arrangements with, or undertake activities on behalf of, foreign principals.⁵⁶ The extent to which the Bill would affect parliamentary privilege was considered in detail during the PJCIS inquiry, with the Committee ultimately recommending that amendments proposed by the Attorney-General to clarify the interaction of the Bill with parliamentary privilege be adopted. The Committee also recommended that the Bill be amended so as to exclude senators and members from the proposed scheme, proposing that the two Houses develop a parallel parliamentary foreign influence transparency scheme that is ‘appropriately adapted for the parliamentary environment.’⁵⁷ These changes to the Bill were adopted, among a large number of other amendments, and both the House and Senate privileges committees received references concerning the development of a foreign influence transparency scheme to apply to parliamentarians.⁵⁸

Possible improper interference with a senator (Senator Burston)

On 17 October 2018 the Senate Privileges Committee received a reference concerning whether Senator Hanson (PHON, QLD) or any other person had, by removing Senator Burston from positions within PHON Party and by pressing him to resign from the Senate, sought to improperly interfere with the free performance of his duties as a senator or to penalise him for his conduct as a senator, and whether a contempt had thereby been committed.⁵⁹ This reference came after Senator Burston had resigned from PHON to sit as an Independent and subsequently joined the UAP.⁶⁰

The Committee concluded that the actions taken by Senator Hanson and others were party matters and did not amount to interference with Senator Burston’s duties as a senator.⁶¹ However, the Committee noted with concern that some of the material provided to it related to the behaviour of a staffer in Senator Hanson’s office, but did not inquire further into this matter.⁶²The President of the Senate revoked the staff member’s access to Parliament House for inappropriate behaviour ‘for the time being’.⁶³

Possible contempts of the House (Mr Billson)

In August 2017 it was reported that former member of the House of Representatives Bruce Billson (LP) had been appointed as a paid director of the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) while still the Member for Dunkley.⁶⁴ The HoR Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests examined whether Mr Billson had acted contrary to resolutions of the House on the registration of members’ interests by failing to declare his position with the FCA and the associated salary. The Committee also examined whether either Mr Billson or the FCA had committed a contempt of the House in that the arrangement may have improperly influenced, or sought to improperly influence, Mr Billson’s conduct as a member.⁶⁵

On the first issue, the Committee concluded that while Mr Billson failed to comply with the requirements in relation his registrable interests, this failure was due to error and oversight and therefore did not amount to contempt.⁶⁶ On the second issue it concluded that it could make no finding of contempt with respect to either Mr Billson or the FCA.⁶⁷ Nevertheless, the Committee stated its view that Mr Billson’s conduct fell below the standards expected of a member of the House and recommended that he be censured by the House, a recommendation the House implemented on 27 March 2018.⁶⁸ The Committee also recommended that the Standing Orders (SO) be amended to include an express prohibition on a member engaging in services of a lobbying nature for reward or consideration while still a member of the House.⁶⁹ The SOs had not been amended to include such a prohibition by the conclusion of the 45th Parliament.

Conduct of the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics

On 19 September 2018 the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics received a referral from the Treasurer to inquire into and report on the implications of removing refundable franking credits. As part of this referral the Treasurer stated that ‘There is significant concern and uncertainty within the community following the announcement by the ALP they will increase taxes on retirees and other savers by removing refundable franking credits’.⁷⁰ On 13 February 2019 the Manager of Opposition Business, Tony Burke (ALP, Watson, NSW), raised as a matter of privilege the conduct of the Chair of the Committee, Tim Wilson (LP, Goldstein, Vic.), in relation to the inquiry. In particular the Manager of Opposition Business raised the Chair’s actions in relation to the scheduling of committee hearings, the setting up of a website through which prefilled submissions could be made and through which members of the public could register to attend hearings, and allowing LP materials to be distributed or displayed at committee hearings.⁷¹

The Speaker considered these matters and determined that, although the actions of Mr Wilson ‘could be seen to have caused damage to the Committee’s reputation and the reputation of the House committee system more generally’, he did not consider that these actions had ‘prevented the committee in a fundamental way from continuing to fulfil its basic responsibilities in relation to its inquiry work’.⁷² Although the Speaker declined to give precedence to a motion to refer the matter to the Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, he did note that the Chair’s actions had ‘not always conformed with what I see as the conventions usually observed by chairs of House committees and the practice of House committees’.⁷³

3 Procedural developments and strategies

Rotation of senators

The dissolution of the Senate (as part of the dissolution of the entire Parliament⁷⁴) on 9 May 2016 meant that, following the commencement of the 45th Parliament, the Senate was required by section 13 of the Constitution to divide senators for each state into two classes—those with six-year terms, and those with three-year terms. On 31 August 2016 the Senate did so, resolving that senators listed at positions 1 to 6 on the certificate of election of senators for each state would receive six-year terms, and senators listed at positions 7 to 12 on the certificate of election would receive three-year terms.⁷⁵ In utilising this order of election method for allocating terms after a dissolution the Senate followed its previous practice.

Notably, on 13 February 2018, the Senate revisited senators’ terms, resolving to allocate terms for a number of senators due to several changes in Senate composition following disqualifications under section 44 of the Constitution. The Senate resolved to apply the resolution of August 2016 to the results of special counts of 2016 election ballots undertaken by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), thereby again utilising the order of election method.⁷⁶ The resolution meant that the existing terms of some senators were changed—the first time that the terms of senators have been altered during a term. The main effect of the resolution was to:

… shuffl[e] terms within parties or party groupings, so that some candidates originally allocated 3-year terms [were] “promoted” to a 6-year term ahead of colleagues further down the ballot paper.⁷⁷

During the debate Senator Martin (IND, Tas.) noted that this resolution would affect:

…Senators Molan and Colbeck, two senators placed down on their tickets by their party; Senator Steele-John, the youngest senator in this chamber; and, of course, me, as an Independent here to fight purely on behalf of Tasmania.⁷⁸

Procedural changes to Senate formal business

On 28 November 2018 the President of the Senate noted a number of occasions during the year where senators had become involved in unparliamentary verbal altercations in the chamber, the latest leading to the suspension of Senator Di Natale (GRN, Vic.) on the previous sitting day.⁷⁹ The President stated that general business had become the ‘most unedifying period of the Senate day’, was ‘rapidly cascading into farce’ and was no longer serving its purpose of allowing the Senate to deal quickly with matters that did not require amendment or debate.⁸⁰ As a means of addressing this situation, the President proposed that a temporary order be made to prevent debate on proposed suspensions of standing orders to allow the Senate to deal with a motion if leave to do so is denied. The Senate Standing Committee on Procedure reported on this suggestion later the same day, proposing a temporary order that was immediately adopted by the Senate.⁸¹ The Senate Procedure Committee considered a number of further reform proposals relating to formal business in its first report of 2019 and recommended that this temporary order be adopted on a permanent basis. The Committee suggested the Senate may wish to consider this issue further in the next Parliament.⁸²

Amendments to Senate Standing Orders

In addition to the changes discussed above, on 8 November 2016 the Senate adopted two recommendations made by the Senate Procedure Committee to amend SOs. These were:

Incorporation of a temporary order on a permanent basis into SO 169 allowing any senator to move a motion without notice where a ministerial statement is presented or tabled other than in accordance with the general procedures for presenting and considering documents under SO 61.

An amendment to SO 175, which prohibits persons other than senators and officers of the Senate from entering the chamber during a sitting, so as to allow a senator to breastfeed or briefly care for an infant provided the business of the Senate is not interrupted.⁸³

Amendments to House of Representatives Standing Orders

Two sets of standing order amendments were agreed to by the House on 31 August 2016 and 1 September 2016.⁸⁴The amendments on 31 August were:

to provide for a 9.30 am meeting commencement on Wednesdays and Thursdays (previously 9.00 am)

to provide that any Member appointed as Minister immediately ceases to be a member of all committees

to provide for committee reports to be presented in the Federation Chamber as well as the House and

to remove time limits on valedictory remarks.

The effect of the 1 September 2016 amendments was to provide for divisions and quorums called between 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays to be deferred until the following day unless leave is granted for the division to take place immediately. The order of business for the Federation Chamber was also amended to provide for a 10 am start (previously 9.30 am) on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

On 13 September 2016 the House of Representatives agreed to two groups of amendments to its SOs. The first group of amendments moved by the Leader of the House sought to:

establish a system of e-petitions for the House of Representatives

establish House general purpose standing committees for the 45th Parliament

implement a number of technical amendments suggested by the House Procedure Committee and

remove the requirement for standing orders to be suspended for a division to be retaken in the event of confusion, error or misadventure.⁸⁵

The Manager of Opposition Business unsuccessfully attempted to amend the motion, while Mr Katter (KAP, Kennedy, QLD) successfully amended the motion to increase the time limit on questions asked by non-aligned members during question time from 30 seconds to 45 seconds.⁸⁶

The second group of amendments moved by the Leader of the House sought to:

amend the adjournment times of the House on Monday and Tuesday from 9.30 pm to 8.00 pm

amend the provisions for the automatic adjournment of the House

amend the Federation Chamber’s indicative order of business to reflect the earlier adjournment time of the House and to provide for additional government business and/or committee and delegation business time and

move the grievance debate in the Federation Chamber from Monday to Tuesday.⁸⁷

The Manager of Opposition Business and Mr Bandt (GRN, Melbourne, Vic.) each moved unsuccessful amendments to the motion.⁸⁸

Electronic recording of divisions in the House

On 2 April 2019 the Speaker announced that an electronic division recording system had been developed by the Department of the House of Representatives (DHoR), working with DPS. This would replace the paper-based system used by tellers, who would instead record votes with iPads. The Speaker stated that this change would not alter the process of voting but would allow information on the results of divisions to be published immediately and provide significant time savings for the House.⁸⁹

The Leader of the House had previously announced (on 29 May 2018) that electronic voting would be implemented in the HoR chamber, following a recommendation made in April 2016 by the HoR Standing Committee on Procedure.⁹⁰ However, the Manager of Opposition Business later criticised the proposal, citing a lack of consultation, potential costs and unwelcome changes to voting procedure.⁹¹

Protesters in Parliament House

On 30 November 2016 the proceedings in the HoR chamber were disrupted by protesters. The Speaker suspended proceedings for 36 minutes because of an incident in the public gallery.⁹² The following day protesters displayed a banner at the front of Parliament House.

Government tested on the floor of the House

On 1 September 2016 the Turnbull Government was tested on the floor of the Chamber. It is rare for a majority government to lose a vote on the floor of the House. During this sitting, the Government lost three consecutive votes following divisions.⁹³ It was believed to be the first time a majority government had lost a vote on the floor of the House in more than 50 years.⁹⁴

Labor members had given the impression they would agree to the House adjourning and pushed for consideration at the normal time of 5 pm on a Thursday, so several ministers left (Christian Porter (Pearce, WA), Michael Keenan (Stirling, WA) and Peter Dutton (Dickson, Qld)) and one LP backbencher reportedly went for a walk.⁹⁵

Seizing its opportunity, the Opposition prevented the House from adjourning and pushed for consideration of a resolution passed by the Senate earlier in the day calling for a royal commission into banking. Its banking motion had been defeated in the House the day before.

With numbers depleted, the Government lost its narrow majority (one seat) and was defeated in three votes. In the fourth vote, Speaker Tony Smith exercised his casting vote, voting against a closure motion to allow for debate to continue. As debate continued the Government used this time to gather its people. Finally, the Government achieved enough numbers and the debate was adjourned with a vote of Ayes 73 to Noes 72.⁹⁶

On 12 October 2016 the Government had a second procedural failure when it voted with an Opposition amendment to a Bill, which called on the Government to ‘explain why it has failed to close tax loopholes and increase transparency in Australia’. After a minister was called to sum up the debate, the Chair put the question ‘that the amendment be agreed to’ and the question was carried on the voices. The Bill passed the House, with the amendment.⁹⁷ However, the Government, with the support of the Opposition, was able to remedy the situation and pass the legislation without the second reading amendment.⁹⁸ The amendment would not have changed the Bill or prevented it from passing; it merely inserted a statement into the record. On 13 October the Manager of Opposition Business in the House attempted to move a motion to suspend standing orders which included the statement:

for the first time in the history of the Federation, an Opposition second reading amendment passed the House of Representatives, meaning the House, and all Government Members, voted unanimously that the Government has failed to close tax loopholes and increase transparency in Australia.⁹⁹

On 12 February 2019 the Morrison Government suffered a historic loss on the floor of Parliament when legislation to allow the medical evacuation of asylum seekers passed with the support of Labor and the Independents Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Tas.), Julia Banks (Chisholm, Vic.) and Kerryn Phelps (Wentworth, NSW), together with Centre Alliance member Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, SA) and Greens member Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Vic.). Amendments made in the Senate seeking to give greater weight to medical opinion when determining whether a medical evacuation from a regional processing country should occur, were opposed by the Government. However with some further amendment, the legislation passed the House.¹⁰⁰

It was the first time a government had lost a vote on a government Bill since 1941.

Powers of parliamentary committees to summon witnesses

The power of a parliamentary joint committee to summon witnesses was affirmed in the High Court on 22 November 2018.¹⁰¹ The judgment also reaffirmed the validity of the Parliament’s contempt powers and noted the extensive protections afforded witnesses before committees through the Senate’s Privilege Resolutions. The Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services had ordered the attendance of two witnesses after they had declined invitations to appear. Those witnesses sought to challenge the Committee’s capacity to make those orders and applied for a stay or injunction to restrain their operation. The court found that the witnesses’ application lacked merit, and that the issues raised ‘should generally be resolved by the Parliament, not the courts’.¹⁰²

Rejection of Bill at first reading

On 18 October 2018 the Senate took the unusual step of rejecting a Bill at the first reading stage. Senator Anning had sought to postpone the introduction of his Plebiscite (Restricting Non-European Migration) Bill 2018. The motion for the first reading was negatived on the voices; Senator Anning lacking the seconder ‘for the Ayes’ that would be required to call a division on the matter.¹⁰³

4 Business of the Parliament

The following sections deal with the business of the Chambers such as legislative activity and divisions. The number of suspensions and censure motions are provided for both Houses. The data on crossing the floor and conscience votes are provided in Appendix 2 and 3 respectively.

Volume of legislation

The 45th Parliament saw 720 Bills introduced, an 11.5 per cent increase from the 44th Parliament which had 646 Bills introduced. During the 45th Parliament, 581 Bills were initiated in the House of Representatives (including 91 private members Bills) and 139 were initiated in the Senate (including 91 private senators Bills). Of the 720 Bills introduced, 538 were government Bills (74.7 per cent), and 402 of the 720 were passed by both Houses and assented to (55.8 per cent).¹⁰⁴ Only one private members Bill passed the Parliament and was assented to—the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017, sponsored by Dean Smith (LP, WA) and eight cross-party co-sponsors.¹⁰⁵

In total, 100 private members Bills were presented to the House of Representatives, of which nine had originated in and passed the Senate.¹⁰⁶ This total of 100 was a significant increase from the 39 private members Bills presented in the House in the 44th Parliament.

In terms of the sponsoring of private members Bills, four of the Bills introduced into the House in the 45th Parliament were cross-party Bills (most often a mix of crossbench parties); three were presented by LP members; 20 by ALP members; and 73 by crossbench parties or Independents (the most being presented by the Greens—20—followed by Independent Andrew Wilkie, who presented 19 Bills).

Of the 124 private senators Bills presented in the 45th Parliament (91 initiated in the 45th Parliament and 33 restored to the Notice Paper from the 44th Parliament), 113 (91.1 per cent) lapsed at prorogation. This is compared to the 59 of 464 government Bills (12.7 per cent) which lapsed in the Senate without debate. Sixty-three private members Bills in the House were removed from the Notice Paper and 36 lapsed at the dissolution of the 45th Parliament.¹⁰⁷

Two government Bills were negatived by the Senate during the 45th Parliament:

Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 and

Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan No. 2) Bill 2017.

Neither of the Bills met the criteria to become double dissolution triggers.

Seven private senators Bills were negatived by the Senate:

Plebiscite (Allowing Australians to Decide Who Comes Here) Bill 2018 (sponsored by Senator Anning)

Plebiscite (Restricting Non-European Migration) Bill 2018 (sponsored by Senator Anning)

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Amendment (Make Electricity GST Free) Bill 2017 (sponsored by Senator Leyonhjelm)

Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Amendment (Debt Ceiling) Bill 2018 (sponsored by Senator Bernardi)

Lands Acquisition Amendment (Public Purpose) Bill 2017 (sponsored by Senator Hanson)

Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015 (sponsored by Senator Leyonhjelm) and

Social Security Amendment (Caring for People on Newstart) Bill 2017 (sponsored by Senator Siewert).

Table 2 provides a comparison of the total number of Bills (by type) and the total number of Acts for the last five Parliaments.

Table 2: Number of Bills introduced into the House of Representatives and the Senate and the total number of Acts for Parliaments

Parliament

Govt Bills (HoR)

Private members Bills

Govt Bills (Senate)

Private senators Bills

Total Bills

Total Acts (private members Acts)

41

583

34

83

60

760

549 (3)

42

552

20

25

76

673

409 (0)

43

610

72

31

81

794

566 (6)

44

511

38

21

76

646

379 (1)

45

490

91

48

91

720

402 (1)

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

Crossbench

House of Representatives

As discussed above (see ‘Background’ section), the Turnbull Government was returned at the 2 July 2016 double dissolution election with a much-reduced majority of one seat in the HoR, holding 76 of the 150 seats. The ALP held 69 seats, leaving a crossbench of five members, comprising Adam Bandt (GRN, Melbourne, Vic.), Bob Katter (KAP, Kennedy, Qld), Andrew Wilkie (IND, Denison, Tas.), Cathy McGowan (IND, Indi, Vic.), and Rebekha Sharkie (NXT, Mayo, SA). However, following the election of independent Kerryn Phelps to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Malcolm Turnbull after his loss of the LP leadership—and thereby the prime ministership—the Government was no longer able to command a majority in its own right.¹⁰⁸ Further, Kevin Hogan (NP, Page, NSW) announced that he would move to the crossbench in protest at the removal of Malcolm Turnbull (but also stated that he remained committed to the NP).¹⁰⁹ The Government’s position in the House was further weakened when Liberal Julia Banks announced on 27 November 2018 that she was leaving the LP and would sit as an Independent.¹¹⁰

While the Government had suffered a number of defeats on the floor of the HoR, even when it enjoyed a majority in September and October 2016, the loss of its majority in August 2018 led to its defeat on 12 February 2019, on the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 (see ‘Government tested on the floor of the House’ section, page 19, above).¹¹¹ The voting record of crossbench members during the 45th Parliament is set out below in Table 3 and Figure 1.

Senate

From the beginning of the new Senate the crossbenchers held the balance of power and therefore were able to block legislation in the Senate when the Opposition did not vote with the Government.

Following the 2 July 2016 election, the Turnbull Government held 30 of the 76 seats in the Senate, while the ALP held 26 seats and the crossbench comprised 20 seats including: nine Greens senators; four PHON senators; three NXT senators; one LDP senator; one JLN senator; one DHJP senator; and one FFP senator (see ‘Background’ section above). As 39 votes are needed to form a majority in the Senate, the Government needed to negotiate with the crossbench and gain the support of nine of the 20 crossbench senators regarding any measures that a sufficiently large bloc within the Senate opposed. However, as summarised above under ‘Changes in Representation’ the composition of the Senate crossbench changed significantly over the course of the 45th Parliament due to the number of resignations, disqualifications and defections.

The voting record of crossbench parties and senators in the Senate during the 45th Parliament is set out below in Table 4 and Figure 2 (pages 24–26).

Divisions: crossbench/Independents’ voting record

House of Representatives

During the 45th Parliament a total of 469 divisions were held in the House of Representatives which sat for 166 days. Four members of the crossbench (Mr Bandt, Mr Katter, Ms McGowan, and Mr Wilkie) were on the crossbench for the whole period of the 45th Parliament. As shown in Table 3, four other members only sat on the crossbench for part of the period of the 45th Parliament and therefore only had the opportunity to vote in a lesser number of divisions.

Table 3: HoR members who sat on the crossbench for only some of the period of the 45th Parliament

Member

Number of divisions held while on the crossbench

Commentary

Ms R Sharkie

442

Resigned in May 2018; re-elected at 28 July 2018 by-election

Mr K Hogan

70

Sat on the crossbench from August 2018

Dr K Phelps

47

Elected at by-election on 28 July 2018

Ms J Banks

47

Resigned from the LP and sat on the crossbench from 27 November 2018

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

There were 469 regular divisions of which 34 divisions occurred with four or fewer members on one side in the 45th Parliament (compared to 433 and 42 respectively in the 44th Parliament and 502 and 42 respectively in the 43rd Parliament).¹¹² The average number of divisions per day during the 45th Parliament (2.8) is slightly higher than the average for the 1991–2011 period (2.2) and for the 44th Parliament (2.3), and equal to the average for the 43rd Parliament.

Table 4 below shows the voting patterns of crossbench members of the House of Representatives and records the number of divisions from which they were absent.

Table 4: HoR crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament

Member

Total number of divisions voted in

With Govt

With Oppn.

Absent

A Bandt

413

24

368

56

R Katter

236

112

109

232

C McGowan

426

171

213

43

A Wilkie

410

75

313

59

R Sharkie

397

165

192

45

K Hogan

69

69

0

1

J Banks

43

17

26

4

K Phelps

43

11

30

4

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

Figure 1 below shows the percentage of crossbench votes with the Government and the Opposition.

Figure 1: HoR crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament (by number of votes)

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

Senate

Over the course of the 45th Parliament the composition of the crossbench changed (see ‘Changes in representation’ above and Appendix 1 for further detail). The following table and figure provide brief summaries of some of the key changes that affected the presence of a range of crossbench senators and therefore the number of divisions in which they voted.

During the 45th Parliament, 1,075 divisions were held in the Senate, which sat for 142 days. Five members of the crossbench (Senators Bernardi, Burston, Hanson, Hinch and Griff) were on the crossbench for all 1,075 divisions.

Fifteen members of the crossbench who sat in the Senate at some point during the Parliament (Senators Anning, Bartlett, Culleton, Day, Georgiou, Gichuhi, Kakoschke-Moore, Lambie, Leyonhjelm, Martin, Patrick, Roberts, Storer, Waters and Xenophon) were not on the crossbench for all of the 1,075 divisions due to their disqualification and/or election in relation to issues arising under sections 44 and/or 45 of the Constitution.

Table 5 below shows the total number of divisions voted in by the 20 crossbench senators and their days in attendance.

Table 5: Senate crossbench days in attendance and number of votes cast in the 45th Parliament

Senator

Total divisions voted in

Days in attendance

Senator

Total divisions voted in

Days in attendance

F Anning

465

71

D Hinch

1065

142

A Bartlett

268

43

S Kakoschke-Moore

445

71

C Bernardi

655

115

J Lambie

387

69

B Burston

808

139

D Leyonhjelm

917

139

R Culleton

128

23

S Martin

274

43

B Day

6

3

R Patrick

582

73

P Georgiou

680

106

M Roberts

419

67

L Gichuhi

627

103

T Storer

439

55

S Griff

996

140

L Waters

506

60

P Hanson

812

140

N Xenophon

418

66

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library; data extracted from Senate StatsNet, Attendance of senators

Figure 2 below shows the percentage of votes with the Government, the Opposition, and the Greens for the whole Senate crossbench.

Figure 2: Senate crossbench voting patterns in the 45th Parliament (by percentage of votes)

Source: Senate StatsNet.

Figure 2 above also shows that Senators Burston (Ind (B)), Anning (Ind (A)), Gichuhi (Ind (G)), Hanson (PHON), Leyonhjelm (LDP) and Bernardi (AC) voted more with the Government than with the Opposition, while Senators Lambie (JLN) and Storer (Ind (S)) voted more with the Opposition than with the Government.

Censure motions and no confidence

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed censure motions and there was one motion of no confidence in the HoR in the 45th Parliament.

Censure motions

On 14 August 2018 the Leader of the Greens, Senator di Natale, moved a motion to censure Senator Leyonhjelm for making humiliating and intimidating remarks about a female senator. The motion was agreed to.¹¹³

On 3 April 2019 the Government, with the support of the Opposition, moved a motion which proposed in part that the Senate:

(d) censures Senator Anning for his inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people…¹¹⁴

The motion was agreed to.

The number of censure motions in the Senate stayed largely consistent between the 44th and 45th Parliaments (three in the 44th versus one in the 45th).¹¹⁵

On 27 March 2018 a motion censuring a former member, Mr Billson, passed the House. It was moved by the Chair of the Privileges and Members’ Interest Committee, Mr Vasta (LP, Bonner, Qld),¹¹⁶ and seconded by the Deputy Chair, Mr Conroy (ALP, Shortland, NSW).¹¹⁷ The motion censured Mr Billson for taking up paid employment for services to represent the interests of an organisation while he was a Member of the House. (See ‘Possible contempts of the House (Mr Billson)’ above.)

Motion of no confidence in prime minister not carried

During question time on 21 August 2018 the Leader of the Opposition moved, by leave, a motion ‘that this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister’. The Prime Minister, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and seven other members spoke to the motion before the question was put. The motion was negatived on division and question time was concluded.¹¹⁸

Suspensions

House of Representatives

During the 45th Parliament, the Speaker imposed sanctions against disorderly behaviour by directing members to leave the HoR on 415 occasions under SO 94(a). This is a decrease of 20 per cent from the 44th Parliament, when members were ejected from the House 515 times for one hour.

The 415 ejections involved disorderly members being ‘sin binned,’ or ordered to leave the Chamber for one hour but no members were named and suspended for 24 hours under SO 94(b). On two occasions members were directed to leave the Federation Chamber for 15 minutes under SO 187(b). This differs from the 44th Parliament, where eight members were named and suspended, and one member was directed to leave the Federation Chamber in addition to the 515 occasions of suspension under SO 94(a).

In both the 44th and the 45th Parliaments, the majority of suspensions (sanctions against disorderly conduct) occurred during Question Time.

The 45th Parliament was presided over by Speaker Tony Smith for the whole period. Table 6 below shows the number of disciplinary actions taken during the previous nine speakerships since 1996.

Disorderly behaviour was somewhat less clustered in the 45th Parliament, with 64 members accounting for all suspensions compared to 50 members in the 44th Parliament. However, similar to the 44th Parliament—and indeed all parliaments since Federation—Opposition members (irrespective of the party to which they belonged) accounted for the largest proportions of disciplinary actions.

Nick Champion (ALP, Wakefield, SA) holds the record of being suspended more times than any other MP—103 times since entering Parliament in 2007 until the end of the 45th Parliament. Seventy of those occasions occurred during the 44th Parliament and 23 during the 45th Parliament. Julian Hill (ALP, Bruce, Vic.) was ejected 29 times, the most of any MP in the 45th Parliament.

Table 6: Disciplinary action by Speakers since 1996

Speaker

Parliament number

Named but not proceeded with

Named and suspended

‘Sin binned’

Total

R Halverson 30.4.1996–3.3.1998

38

12

43

55

I Sinclair
4.3.1998–31.8.1998

38

3

15

18

N Andrew 10.11.1998–31.8.2004

39, 40

2

27

191

220

D Hawker 16.11.2004–17.10.2007

41

8

215

223

H Jenkins 12.2.2008–24.11.2011

42, 43

1*

17

247

265

P Slipper 24.11.2011–9.10.2012

43

1

114

115

A Burke
9.10.2012–5.8.2013

43

66

66

B Bishop 12.11.2013–2.8.2015

44

7

395**

402

T Smith

10.8.2015–9.5.2016

44

1

121

122

T Smith

30.8.2016–

45

0

417**

417

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.¹¹⁹

* The member was named but the vote to suspend him was negatived.

** Includes one member being ejected from the Federation Chamber under Bronwyn Bishop’s speakership and two members under Tony Smith’s speakership.

Senate

In the Senate, the disciplining of disorderly behaviour by way of suspension is very different to the procedure in the House of Representatives. There is no direct equivalent of HoR SO 94(a) in the Senate SOs. The closest equivalent is Senate SO 203, which permits the President to report to the Senate that a senator has committed an offence (for example, involving disorderly conduct, persistently and wilfully obstructing the business of the Senate, using objectionable words and refusing to withdraw).

Under SO 203, if the President makes such a report, the senator concerned is then called upon to make an explanation or apology to the Senate. A motion may then be moved that the senator be suspended from the sitting.

SO 203 was only used once in the 45th Parliament (to suspend Senator Di Natale who declined to make an apology for refusing to withdraw objectionable words), and once in the 44th Parliament (in which the senator’s apology was accepted).¹²⁰ Before the Di Natale suspension in 2018 there had only been two occasions when a senator had been suspended since the turn of the century: Senator Bob Brown (GRN, Tas.), for refusing to withdraw objectionable words¹²¹; and Senator Schacht (ALP, SA), for persistently and wilfully refusing to conform to the standing orders.¹²²This accords with the observation in Odger’s Australian Senate Practice that suspensions of senators are ‘now very rare in the Senate’.¹²³

Petitions

On 13 September 2016 the House agreed to new SOs establishing an e-petitions system for the HoR.¹²⁴ On 7 November 2016 the chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions presented the committee report comprising the first petitions lodged through the House's e-petitions system. The chair stated that the Committee was pleased to see members of the public embracing the new system and noted the ease with which petitioners had been able to gather signatures electronically to streamline the process of petitioning.¹²⁵

The Committee tabled the report of its review of the e-petition process in May 2018.¹²⁶ In February 2019 the Committee tabled a further report on the future of petitions, Your Voice can Change our Future: Inquiry into the Future of Petitioning in the House.

A total of 799 petitions were presented to the House during the 45th Parliament, with 524 ministerial responses being presented.¹²⁷ The relevant minister is expected to respond to a referred petition within 90 days of its presentation by lodging a written response with the Committee.¹²⁸

During the 45th Parliament 36 petitions were presented in the Senate.¹²⁹ The Senate does not require ministerial responses.

5 Composition of the 45th Parliament by party and gender

Women in the Parliament

Following the July 2016 federal election, the number of women in the HoR rose slightly from 40 (26.7 per cent) to 43 (28.7 per cent). The number of women in the Senate also rose slightly from 29 (38.2 per cent) to 30 (39.5 per cent). Overall, the number of women in the Parliament rose from 69 (30.5 per cent) to 73 (32.3 per cent).¹³⁰

Table 7 below gives the number and percentage of women in the HoR and Senate (including by party) following the July 2016 federal election. The table also gives the total number and percentage of women in the Parliament, including by party.

Table 7: Number and percentage of women by party in the House of Representatives and in the Senate following the 2016 election

House of Representatives

Senate

Total Parliament

Party

Men

Women

Women (%)

Men

Women

Women (%)

Men

Women

Women (%)

ALP

41

28

40.6

12

14

53.8

53

42

44.2

LP

48

12

20.0

18

6

25

66

18

21.4

NP

15

1

6.3

3

2

40

18

3

14.3

CLP

1

0

0

1

0

0

GRN

1

0

0

4

5

55.6

5

5

50.0

DHJP

1

0

0

1

0

0

FFP

1

0

0

1

0

0

JLN

0

1

100

0

1

100.0

LDP

1

0

0

1

0

0

NXT

0

1

100.0

2

1

33.3

2

2

50.0

PHON

3

1

25

3

1

25.0

KAP

1

0

0

1

0

0

IND

1

1

50.0

1

1

50.0

Total

107

43

28.7

46

30

39.5

153

73

32.3

Source: A Hough, ‘The gender composition of the 45th Parliament’, FlagPost, Parliamentary Library blog, 25 August 2016.

Table 8 below gives the number and percentage of women in the HoR and Senate (including by party) as at the prorogation of the 45th Parliament on 11 April 2019. The table also gives the total number and percentage of women in the Parliament, including by party. The data show a very slight increase in the proportion of women in the HoR by the end of the Parliament compared to its commencement (30.0 per cent compared to 28.7 per cent); no change in the overall proportion of women in the Senate; and a very slight increase in the proportion of women in the Parliament overall (33.2 percent compared to 32.3 per cent).

Table 8: Number and percentage of women by party in the House of Representatives and in the Senate as at 11 April 2019

House of Representatives

Senate

Total Parliament

Party

Men

Women

Women (%)

Men

Women

Women (%)

Men

Women

Women (%)

ALP

40

29

42.0

12

14

53.8

52

43

45.3

LP

47

11

19.0

16

9

36

63

20

24.1

NP

15

1

6.3

4

1

20

19

2

9.5

CLP

1

0

0

1

0

0

GRN

1

0

0

4

5

55.6

5

5

50.0

AC

1

0

0

1

0

0

CA

0

1

100.0

2

0

0

2

1

33.3

DHJP

1

0

0

1

0

0

KAP

1

0

0

1

0

0

LDP

1

0

0

1

0

0

PHON

1

1

50

1

1

50.0

UAP

1

0

0

1

0

0

IND

1

3

75.0

2

0

0

3

3

50.0

Total

105

45

30.0

46

30

39.5

151

75

33.2

Source: Parliamentary Library data.

Ministry

In the 44th Parliament, the number of women in the ministry ranged from six in the Abbott Ministry at the commencement of that Parliament to ten in the Turnbull Ministry at its conclusion. At the beginning of the 45th Parliament, Prime Minister Turnbull again appointed ten women to his ministry. As shown in Table 9 below, the number of women in the ministry varied between eight (20.0 per cent) and eleven (26.2 per cent) over the course of the 45th Parliament.¹³¹

Table 9: Number of women in the ministry during the 45th Parliament

Ministry

19 July 2016

24 January 2017

27 October 2017

20 December 2017

28 August 2018

Cabinet

J Bishop

K O’Dwyer

F Nash

S Ley

M Payne

M Cash

J Bishop

K O’Dwyer

F Nash

M Payne

M Cash

J Bishop

K O’Dwyer

M Payne

M Cash

J Bishop

K O’Dwyer

M Payne

M Cash

B McKenzie

B McKenzie

M Payne

K O’Dwyer

M Cash

K Andrews

M Price

Outer ministry

C Fierravanti-Wells

C Fierravanti-Wells

C Fierravanti-Wells

C Fierravanti-Wells

—

Parliamentary Secretaries

A Ruston

K Andrews

J Prentice

A Ruston

K Andrews

J Prentice

A Ruston

K Andrews

J Prentice

A Ruston

K Andrews

J Prentice

M Price

S Ley

A Ruston

L Reynolds

S Henderson

M Landry

Women/total ministry

10/42

9/42

8/40

10/42

11/42

Percentage of women in the ministry

23.8

21.4

20.0

23.8

26.2

Source: Parliamentary Library, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia; Ministry Lists, 2016–18.

6 Royal commissions, same-sex marriage plebiscite and postal survey

Royal commissions

The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory was established shortly before the opening of the 45th Parliament. In addition, the 45th Parliament saw the establishment of three further royal commissions:

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory

Letters Patent appointing the Royal Commissioners and outlining the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory were signed by the Administrator of the Commonwealth, acting for the Governor-General, on 1 August 2016.¹³²

The terms of reference required the Commissioners, Margaret White and Michael Gooda, to inquire into, among other things, ‘failings in the child protection and youth detention systems of the Government of the Northern Territory’ and ‘the treatment … of children and young persons detained at youth detention facilities administered by the Government of the Northern Territory’.¹³³

The Royal Commission’s final report was presented to the Governor-General on 17 November 2017.¹³⁴

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry was established on 14 December 2017.¹³⁵ Its terms of reference required the Commissioner, Kenneth Hayne, to inquire into, among other things, ‘whether any conduct by financial services entities … might have amounted to misconduct’.¹³⁶

The Royal Commission’s final report was presented to the Governor-General on 1 February 2019.¹³⁷

Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was established on 8 October 2018.¹³⁸ Its terms of reference required the Commissioners, Richard Tracey and Lynelle Briggs, to inquire into, among other things:

the quality of aged care services provided to Australians, the extent to which those services meet the needs of the people accessing them, the extent of substandard care being provided, including mistreatment and all forms of abuse, the causes of any systemic failures, and any actions that should be taken in response.¹³⁹

The Commission provided its final report to the Governor-General on 26 February 2021.¹⁴⁰

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability was established on 4 April 2019.¹⁴¹

Its terms of reference require the Commissioners—Ronald Sackville (Chair), Barbara Bennett, Rhonda Galbally, Andrea Mason, Alastair McEwin, John Ryan and Roslyn Atkinson—to inquire into, among other things:

what governments, institutions and the community should do to prevent, and better protect, people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, having regard to the extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability in all settings and contexts.¹⁴²

The Commissioners provided an interim report on 30 October 2020 and are required to provide a final report by 29 April 2022.¹⁴³

Same-sex marriage plebiscite proposal and postal survey

The Plebiscite (Same-Sex) Marriage) Bill 2016 was introduced by Prime Minister Turnbull in the HoR on 14 September 2016.¹⁴⁴ The Bill fulfilled an LP election promise and sought to establish the legislative framework for a compulsory, in-person vote in a national plebiscite that would ask Australians ‘Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?’. The Bill passed the lower House on 20 October 2016 but was defeated at the second reading stage in the Senate on 7 November 2016.¹⁴⁵

Following the defeat, the Government announced that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would be directed to conduct a voluntary survey of ‘all Australians on the electoral roll as to their views on whether or not the law in relation to same-sex marriage should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry’.¹⁴⁶ As the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was not a plebiscite, legislation was not required.¹⁴⁷

Announcing the Survey results on 15 November 2017, the ABS reported that, of the 79.5 per cent of Australians who expressed a view on the question ‘Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?’, ‘the majority indicated that the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry, with 7,817,247 (61.6 per cent) responding Yes and 4,873,987 (38.4 per cent) responding No’.¹⁴⁸

There have only been three national plebiscites in Australia—two during World War I, and one in 1977 on the choice of a national song.¹⁴⁹

7 Elections

By-elections

The 45th Parliament saw nine by-elections, seven of which resulted from disqualifications due to section 44 of the Constitution discussed above. Of the remaining two, the Perth by-election was due to the resignation from Parliament of the sitting ALP member, Tim Hammond, for family reasons, and the Wentworth by-election was caused by the resignation of Malcolm Turnbull after losing the leadership of the LP and the prime ministership. Nine by-elections is the second highest number of by-elections in a single Parliament, with only the 20th Parliament (1951–54), which saw 10 by-elections, exceeding the 45th Parliament.

The Perth, Mayo, Longman, Fremantle and Braddon by-elections were notable in that they all occurred on the one day—the highest number of by-elections on a single day since Federation. These were referred to in the media as the ‘super Saturday by-elections’.¹⁵⁰

The Wentworth by-election was the only by-election in the Parliament in which the seat changed party, from the Liberals to an independent.

Table 10: By-elections held during the 45th Parliament

Division

Election date

Reason

Sitting member

New member

Wentworth (NSW)

20 Oct 2018

Resignation

M Turnbull (LP)

K Phelps (IND)

Perth (WA)

28 July 2018

Resignation

T Hammond (ALP)

P Gorman (ALP)

Mayo (SA)

28 July 2018

Resignation
(s. 44)

R Sharkie (CA)

R Sharkie (CA)

Longman (Qld)

28 July 2018

Resignation
(s. 44)

S Lamb (ALP)

S Lamb (ALP)

Fremantle (WA)

28 July 2018

Resignation
(s. 44)

J Wilson (ALP)

J Wilson (ALP)

Braddon (Tas.)

28 July 2018

Resignation
(s. 44)

J Keay (ALP)

J Keay (ALP)

Batman (Vic.)

17 March 2018

Resignation
(s. 44)

D Feeney (ALP)

G Kearney (ALP)

Bennelong (NSW)

16 Dec 2017

Resignation
(s. 44)

J Alexander (LP)

J Alexander (LP)

New England (NSW)

2 Dec 2017

Declared ineligible
(s. 44)

B Joyce (NP)

B Joyce (NP)

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

As discussed above (p.11) amendments to the Electoral and Referendum Regulation 2016 required candidates for the by-elections to complete a candidate qualification checklist to assert their eligibility under section 44 of the Constitution.¹⁵¹

Redistributions

The 45th Parliament saw electoral redistributions in Queensland, Victoria, ACT, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania—all of the jurisdictions except for New South Wales and Western Australia.

The 2017 entitlement determination conducted under section 46 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA) required that South Australia lose one seat and Victoria and the ACT gain one seat each.¹⁵² This led to adjustments of boundaries in some states and several seat changes in others:

Batman (Vic.) renamed to Cooper

Melbourne Ports (Vic.) renamed to Macnamara

McMillan (Vic.) renamed to Monash

Murray (Vic.) renamed to Nicholls

Wakefield (SA) renamed to Spence

Denison (Tas.) renamed to Clark

Fraser (Vic.) created as a new seat

Bean (ACT) created as a new seat and

Port Adelaide (SA) abolished.

The abolished seat of Port Adelaide was held by Labor, but the new seats of both Bean and Fraser were notional Labor.¹⁵³

For the first time, at the 2019 federal election 151 Members of the House of Representatives would be elected.¹⁵⁴

2019 federal election timing

The timing of the 2019 federal election was the subject of considerable speculation from late 2018. The 2016 double dissolution election meant that a half-Senate election was required to be held between July 2018 and May 2019 for the senators elected in 2016 for a short term.¹⁵⁵ Further complicating the choice of election date were fixed-term elections due in NSW (23 March 2019) and Victoria (24 November 2018), and the Federal Budget, traditionally held in early May.

Media reports stated that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had intended to call an election for 27 January, before the NSW state election.¹⁵⁶ However, the new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, appeared to favour a later election. In late November 2018 the Government issued a sitting program for 2019 which indicated that the Budget would be presented on 2 April 2019.

Exactly how late it was possible for an election to be held was also the topic of some debate. The AEC had initially nominated 18 May 2019 as the last possible date for an election. This date appears to have been calculated based on allowing six weeks for counting the Senate ballot papers and returning the writ before the new Senate started on 1 July 2019. Prior to the announcement of the election there was some speculation that it could be held as late as 25 May 2019.¹⁵⁷

Ultimately, on the morning of 11 April 2019 the Prime Minister visited the Governor-General and advised the dissolution of the 45th Parliament for a general election on 18 May 2019.¹⁵⁸ The Parliament was prorogued as of 8.29 am on 11 April 2019, and as such the Senate Estimates hearings scheduled for 11 and 12 April 2019 did not proceed.

The 2019 election timing provided complications with both Easter and Anzac Day occurring within the election period. The timing of the election is dictated by the CEA, which specifies a minimum 33-day period between the issue of the writs and polling day. The 2019 election period was 37 days, which is slightly above the average for elections since 1984 (35.6 days).¹⁵⁹ The last day for the return of the writs was 41 days after polling day, in time for new senators to commence their terms on 1 July 2019.

Election candidates were required to complete a qualification checklist with their nomination.

The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition agreed not to campaign or run political advertising on Good Friday, Easter Sunday or Anzac Day; however, that truce was not observed by other parties or some other campaigners. ¹⁶⁰

8 Addresses to the Parliament

The 45th Parliament saw one address to the Parliament by a foreign head of government—that of Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, on 12 October 2016.¹⁶¹ There were a number of official visits by foreign heads of state and heads of government to Parliament House over the course of the 45th Parliament, including royal visits by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on 2 November 2016 and by King Abdullah Il Ibn Al Hussein and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan on 22 November 2016.¹⁶²

9 Ministerial statements

During the 45th Parliament 23 ministerial statements were made in the House of Representatives, compared with 51 in the 44th Parliament and 88 in the 43rd. In the Senate, 30 ministerial statements were delivered during the 45th Parliament, compared with 55 in the 44th Parliament.

10 Other matters

Photography in the Senate

On 13 October 2016 the Senate agreed to Senator Hinch’s (Vic.) motion to end restrictive media coverage rules in the upper house.¹⁶³ Paragraph 5.7 of the Rules for media related activity in Parliament House and its precincts, which had previously limited still photographs to the senator ‘with the call’, ceased to have effect from 7 November 2016.¹⁶⁴

Use of props

On 9 February 2017 then-Treasurer Mr Morrison held up a piece of coal while responding to a question without notice.¹⁶⁵ On 13 February 2017, during a second reading debate on a Bill, Mr Katter (KAP, Kennedy, QLD played traditional Aboriginal clapping sticks and then played foreign imports of the same item to illustrate the difference.¹⁶⁶ During Question Time later that day, Mr Bandt (GRN, Melbourne, Vic.), while raising a point of order, held up a solar panel.¹⁶⁷

On 17 August 2017 Senator Hanson appeared in the Senate in a burqa, which she removed as she stood to ask a question of the Attorney-General regarding whether the burqa should be banned in public places.¹⁶⁸ The President made a statement on 4 September 2017 relating to dress standards and Parliament House security.¹⁶⁹

First speech

During Ms Burney’s (ALP, Barton, NSW) first speech on 31 August 2016 a relative, Lynette Riley, sang a Wiradjuri song of welcome from the public gallery. Ms Burney also gave part of her speech in the Wiradjuri language.¹⁷⁰

Breastfeeding in the Chamber

In May 2017 Senator Waters (GRN, QLD) made parliamentary history by becoming the first woman to breastfeed in Parliament.¹⁷¹ On 22 June 2017 she became the first federal parliamentarian to put a motion to the Chamber while breastfeeding a baby.¹⁷²

Parliament House

The 30th anniversary of the opening of Parliament House was 9 May 2018.¹⁷³

Parliament House computer network

In the 2018–19 Budget, the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) was allocated ‘$9.0 million over four years from 2018–19 (including $0.3 million in capital funding in 2018–19)’ to establish a cybersecurity operations centre for the parliamentary computing network, and $0.3 million was also allocated to the four largest parliamentary political parties ‘to improve the security of voter information held by those parties’.¹⁷⁴

In February 2019 there was a malicious intrusion into the Parliament House computer network, with a ‘sophisticated state actor’ believed to be responsible.¹⁷⁵ The networks of some political parties were also affected. In March 2019 DPS made a submission to a Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit inquiry into entities’ cyber resilience and cybersecurity arrangements. The DPS submission concluded that ‘it is highly likely in coming months and years the level of security, control and restrictions required will need to be increased in order to ensure the security and the integrity of the ICT environment within which the parliament operates’.¹⁷⁶

Conclusion

As outlined in this paper the 45th Parliament was tumultuous, but the resilience of the parliamentary institution was evident. The impact of breaches of section 44 of the Constitution on the Parliament was unprecedented as the question of eligibility of Members of Parliament goes to the heart of any democracy. The challenges to MPs qualifications relating to citizenship have resulted in new framework for interpreting the requirements of s 44(1) of the Constitution and revised mechanisms to avoid similar issues arising again.

This Parliament also had its quota of tensions including leadership changes, issues relating to parliamentary privilege and the lack of a Government majority in the Senate making it challenging to pursue their legislative agenda. Intraparty instability led to the ousting of a prime minister and ministerial reshuffles. The one-seat majority for the Government in the House of Representatives resulted in a number of procedural defeats.

The change to optional preferential voting for the Senate did not impact on pivotal role of the crossbenches in the Senate where their votes are required when the major parties do not vote together.

The last three Parliaments have each been unique in their own way and the 46th will continue this trend, driven in part by the Covid-19 pandemic.

11 Appendix 1: Referrals and resignations due to Section 44(1) of the Constitution

Name/party

Issue

High Court

Result

Replacement

Senator S Ludlam (GRN, WA)

Dual NZ citizen

Referred 8 Aug 2017

Re Canavan; Re Ludlam; Re Waters; Re Roberts [No 2]; Re Joyce; Re Nash; Re Xenophon, [2017] HCA 45 (Re Canavan)

Resigned

14 July 2017

Recount¹⁷⁷

J Steele-John sworn in 13 Nov 2017

Senator L Waters (GRN, Qld)

Dual Canadian citizen

Referred 8 Aug 2017

Re Canavan

Resigned

18 July 2017

Recount

A Bartlett sworn in 13 Nov 2017

Senator M Canavan
(LNP, Qld)

Dual Italian citizen

Referred 8 Aug 2017

Re Canavan

Found to be eligible

Not applicable

Senator M Roberts
(PHON, Qld)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 9 Aug 2017

Re Canavan

Declared ineligible

Recount

F Anning sworn in 13 Nov 2017

B Joyce
(NP, New England, NSW)

Dual NZ citizen

Referred 14 Aug 2017

Re Canavan

Declared ineligible

By-election held on 2 Dec 2017

Re-elected

Senator N Xenophon
(NXT, SA)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 4 Sept 2017

Re Canavan

Found to be eligible

Not applicable

Senator F Nash (LP, NSW)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 4 Sept 2017

Re Canavan

Declared ineligible

Recount

J Molan sworn in 5 Feb 2018

Senator J Lambie (JLN, Tas.)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 14 Nov 2017

Resigned

14 Nov 2017

Recount

S Martin sworn in 12 Feb 2018

Senator S Parry (LP, Tas.)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 13 Nov 2017

Resigned

2 Nov 2017

Recount

R Colbeck sworn in 12 Feb 2018

Name/party

Issue

High Court

Result

Replacement

J Alexander (LP, Bennelong, NSW)

Dual UK citizen

Resigned

11 Nov 2017

By-election held 16 Dec 2017

Re-elected

Senator S Kakoschke-Moore (NXT, SA)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 27 Nov 2017

Re Kakoschke-Moore [2018] HCA 10

Declared ineligible

Recount

T Storer sworn in 19 Mar 2018

D Feeney
(ALP, Batman, Vic.)

Dual UK citizen

Resigned

1 Feb 2018

By-election held 17 Mar 2018

Ged Kearney

Senator K Gallagher
(ALP, ACT)

Dual UK citizen

Referred 6 Dec 2017

Re Gallagher [2018] HCA 2017

Declared ineligible

9 May 2018

Recount

David Smith sworn in 18 June 2018

S Lamb
(ALP, Longman, Qld)

Potentially a dual UK citizen

Resigned

10 May 2018

By-election 28 July 2018

Re-elected

R Sharkie
(CA, Mayo, SA)

Potentially a dual UK citizen

Resigned

11 May 2018

By-election 28 July 2018

Re-elected

J Keay
(ALP, Braddon, Tas.)

Potentially a dual UK citizen

Resigned

10 May 2018

By-election 28 July 2018

Re-elected

J Wilson
(ALP, Fremantle, WA)

Potentially a dual UK citizen

Resigned

10 May 2018

By-election 28 July 2018

Re-elected

Note: Nick Xenophon Team’s new title, Centre Alliance, was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission on 8 June 2018.

‘Potentially a dual UK citizen’ means the member resigned without referral to the High Court so the Court did not adjudicate on their citizenship.

12 Appendix 2: Conscience votes in the 45th Parliament

There were conscience votes on five matters during the 45th Parliament. A number of same-sex marriage Bills, in relation to which Labor MPs were granted a conscience vote, were introduced into both Houses but none of these Bills reached a vote.¹⁷⁸

Bills/motions on which conscience votes were granted in the 45th Parliament

Bill/motion

Sponsor

Parties granting a conscience vote

Result

Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017

Senator D Smith (LP, SA) and co-sponsors senators L Reynolds (LP, WA), P Wong (ALP, SA), L Pratt (ALP, WA), R Di Natale (GRN, Vic.), J Rice (GRN, Vic.),
S Kakoschke-Moore (NXT, SA),
D Hinch (DHJP, Vic.), and J Hume (LP, Vic.)

ALP and LP

The Bill was introduced in the Senate on 15 November 2017. Eight technical amendments moved by the Attorney-General were agreed to without a division, and the Bill, as amended, was agreed to on 29 November 2017 (Ayes 43 Noes 12).

The Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on 4 December 2017 and agreed to, without amendment, on 7 December 2017. As only four members voted against the third reading, a division was not held and those voting in favour were not recorded.

New South Wales—Abortion Clinics—Exclusion Zones

Senator F Anning (KAP, Qld)

LP and NP

The motion was moved and negatived on 25 June 2018 (Ayes 17 Noes 34)

Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015

Senator D Leyonhjelm
(LDP, NSW)

ALP, LP and NP

The Bill was originally introduced on 2 December 2015. After being restored to the Notice Paper on 31 August 2016 it was defeated at the second reading on 15 August 2018 (Ayes 34 Noes 36)

Queensland—Abortion Laws

Senator F Anning (IND, Qld)

LP and NP

The motion was moved on 27 November 2018 and negatived on the voices.

Queensland—Abortion Laws (motion to suspend standing orders)

Senator F Anning (IND, Qld)

LP and NP¹⁷⁹

Senator Anning sought to have the original motion taken as a formal motion on 4 December 2018, but formality was denied. Senator Anning then moved to suspend standing orders to allow the original motion to be moved immediately. This motion was negatived (Ayes 15 Noes 38).

13 Appendix 3: Floor crossings in the 45th Parliament

Senate

The table below shows the number of floor crossings by senators in the 45th Parliament.¹⁸⁰

Floor crossings by senators in the 45th Parliament

Senator

Issue(s)

No. of floor crossings

B O’Sullivan
(LNP, Qld)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi (AC, SA) relating to Medicare funding for the termination of pregnancies on gender grounds (16 November 2017)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator Bernardi relating to the Paris Climate Agreement (14 August 2018)

• moved and voted for a motion relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Anning (then KAP, Qld) relating to declaring English the official language of Australia (23 August 2018)

• voted for a motion moved by senators Georgiou (PHON, WA), Leyonhjelm (LDP, NSW), Hanson (PHON, Qld) and Bernardi, relating to the legalisation of the sale, possession and use of liquid nicotine (12 November 2018)

• voted to suspend standing orders to allow a motion relating to the Australian Greens to be moved (26 November 2018)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi that, among other matters, called on the Government to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement (4 December 2018)

7

I Macdonald
(LNP, Qld)

• moved amendments to the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 and recorded his vote for the ayes when defeated on the voices (16 February 2017)

• voted for amendments proposed by Senator Rhiannon (GRN, NSW) to the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (16 February 2017)

• moved an amendment to the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 which was defeated on the voices (16 February 2017)

• voted for amendments moved by Senator Bernardi to the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (16 February 2017)

• voted for an amendment proposed by Senator Xenophon (NXT, SA) to the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 (16 February 2017)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator O’Sullivan relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

6

Senator

Issue(s)

No. of floor crossings

S Martin
(NP, Tas.)

• voted against the second reading of Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Bill 2018 (13 August 2018)

• voted against the third reading of the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Bill 2018 (13 August 2018)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Anning relating to declaring English the official language of Australia (23 August 2018)

3

J Williams
(NP, NSW)

• supported a motion proposed by Senator Leyonhjelm to disallow Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Shotguns and Shotgun Magazines) Regulation 2016 (21 November 2016)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator O’Sullivan relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

• voted to suspend standing orders to allow a motion relating to the Australian Greens to be moved (26 November 2018)

3

E Abetz
(LP, Tas.)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi relating to Medicare funding for the termination of pregnancies on gender grounds (16 November 2017)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator O’Sullivan relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

2

J McGrath
(LNP, Qld)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Anning relating to declaring English the official language of Australia (23 August 2018)

• voted for a motion moved by senators Georgiou, Leyonhjelm, Hanson and Bernardi relating to the legalisation of the sale, possession and use of liquid nicotine (12 November 2018)

2

M Canavan
(LNP, Qld)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi relating to Medicare funding for the termination of pregnancies on gender grounds (16 November 2017)

1

L Gichuhi (LP, SA)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator O’Sullivan relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

1

B McKenzie
(NP, Vic.)

• supported a motion proposed by Senator Leyonhjelm to disallow the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Amendment (Shotguns and Shotgun Magazines) Regulation 2016 (21 November 2016)

1

J Molan
(LP, NSW)

• voted for a motion proposed by Senator O’Sullivan relating to language and gender (16 August 2018)

1

A Ruston
(LP, SA)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi relating to Medicare funding for the termination of pregnancies on gender grounds (16 November 2017)

1

Z Seselja
(LP, ACT)

• voted for a motion moved by Senator Bernardi relating to Medicare funding for the termination of pregnancies on gender grounds (16 November 2017)

1

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

House of Representatives

There was one floor crossing by a member of the House of Representatives in the 45th Parliament. On 20 June 2017 George Christensen (NP, Dawson, QLD) supported the ALP amendments to the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of the 4 Yearly Reviews and Other Measures) Bill 2017.

14 Appendix 4: Further reading

Parliamentary Library publications

A Hough, ’The gender composition of the 45th parliament’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 25 August 2016.

H Gobbett, Composition of the 45th Parliament: a quick guide, Research paper series 2016–17, Parliamentary Library, Australia, 2016.

S Barber, Electoral redistributions during the 45th Parliament, Research paper series, 2016–17, Parliamentary Library, 2016.

D Muller, ‘Rotation of senators–Parliament of Australia’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 6 September 2016.

R Lundie, ‘That’s it, you’re out’: disorderly conduct in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 2016, Research paper series, 2016–17, Parliamentary Library, 2016.

A Hough and D Heriot, Australia’s Parliament House in 2016: a chronology of events, Research paper series, 2017–18, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2017.

D Muller, Double, double toil and trouble: the 2016 federal election, Research paper series 2016–17, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2017.

D Muller, ‘The departures continue: constitutional disqualification from Parliament’, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 21 July 2017.

S Speldewinde,’ Voting by the crossbench in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 45th Parliament’, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 26 September 2017.

A Hough and D Heriot, Australia’s Parliament House in 2017: a chronology of events, Research paper series, 2018–19, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2018.

N Horne, ‘Hung Parliament 2018 – continued’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 6 November 2018.

M Sloane, ‘Government defeat in the House of Representatives on 12 February 2019’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 20 February 2019.

R Lundie, H Gobbett and S Speldewinde, First, most and more: facts about the Federal Parliament, Research paper series, 2018–19, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2019.

Parliamentary Committee reports

Senate Standing Committee on Procedure

– First report of 2016: Photography in the chamber; Ministerial statements; Caring for infants, 12 October 2016.

– First report of 2017, Hours of meeting and routine of business; Tracking public interest immunity claims; Absence of a senator during a vote due to misadventure; Mode of dress for senators and possible ‘time out’ rule; Parliamentary Code for respecting cultural diversity and proposal to amend standing order 193, 7 December 2017.

– Firstreport of 2018, Hours of meeting and routine of business, 26 June 2018.

– Proposal to replace the parliamentary prayer with an invitation to prayer or reflection, Progress report, dated 7 September 2018.

– Second report of 2018, Proposal to replace the parliamentary prayer, 13 September 2018.

– Third report of 2018, Disorder outside formal proceedings, 19 September 2018.

– Fourth report of 2018, Suspension motions and formal business, 28 November 2018.

– First report of 2019, Parliamentary code of conduct; Formal business; Closing the Gap statement; Indigenous Australian languages, 3 April 2019.

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedure

– Inquiry into the provisions relating to disorder, Report, October 2017.

– Maintenance of the standing orders: Interim report, Report, May 2018.

– Maintenance of the Standing Orders: Final report, November 2018.

15  

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Notes

[←1]

.    D Muller, (Almost) everything you need to know about double dissolution elections, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 29 April 2016.

[←2]

.    A new name for the Nick Xenophon Team, Centre Alliance, was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission on 8 June 2018.

[←3]

.    D Muller, The new Senate voting system and the 2016 election, Research paper series, 2017–18, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 25 January 2018.

[←4]

.    Ibid., p. 18.

[←5]

.    D Muller, Double, double toil and trouble: the 2016 federal election, Research paper series 2016–17, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 30 June 2017.

[←6]

.    M Turnbull (Prime Minister), Transcript of press conference: Parliament House, Canberra: Cabinet appointments, media release, 18 July 2016.

[←7]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Election of Deputy President and Chair of Committees’, Journals, 1, 30 August 2016, p. 48.

[←8]

.    S Parry (President of the Senate), Statement to senate colleagues, media release, 1 November 2017; Australia, Senate, ‘Election of President’, Journals, 68, 13 November 2017, p. 2163.

[←9]

.    Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Election of Speaker’, Votes and Proceedings, 1, 30 August 2016, p. 6.

[←10]

.    Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Election of Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker’, Votes and Proceedings, 1, 30 August 2016, p. 10.

[←11]

.    P Karp and G Hutchens, ‘Barnaby Joyce quits as Australia's deputy prime minister and Nationals leader’, Guardian (Australia), 23 February 2018.

[←12]

.    M McCormack, Ministerial arrangements, House of Representatives, Debates, 26 February 2018.

[←13]

.    D Shanahan and S Benson, ‘NEG rebels try to force walkouts’, Australian, 16 August 2018.[

[←14]

.    M Turnbull (Prime Minister), Transcript of press conference: Parliament House, Canberra: 21 August 2018: leadership, media release, 21 August 2018.

[←15]

.    S Benson and G Chambers, ‘PM's house of chaos’, Australian, 24 August 2018; S Wright and P Wearne, ‘The day reality caught up with the Prime Minister’, West Australian, 24 August 2018; M Grattan, ‘Senior ministers deal death blow to Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministership’, The Conversation, 23 August 2018.

[←16]

.    ‘Liberal Leadership Showdown: Scott Morrison MP wins the Liberal Party leadership showdown’, ABC Canberra 666, 24 August 2018.

[←17]

.    D Crowe, ‘Now to emerge from a week of August madness [ScoMo gets his 'fair go']’, Canberra Times, 25 August 2018.

[←18]

.    S Morrison (Prime Minister), Statement: ministerial arrangements, media release, 26 August 2018.

[←19]

.    S Morrison, ‘New rule for leader puts focus on voters’, West Australian, 7 December 2018.

[←20]

.    Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), Tally room: 2019 election results: Brisbane, AEC website.

[←21]

.    Senator Waters had resigned 18 July 2017 following disqualification under s. 44 of the Constitution (see Appendix 1).

[←22]

.    A Patrick, ‘Leyonhjelm fails but far right rises’, Australian Financial Review, 16 April 2019.

[←23]

.    Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Proposed Citizenship Register’, Votes and Proceedings, 88, 4 December 2017; Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Members’ Qualifications under the Constitution’, Votes and Proceedings, 166, 4 April 2019.

[←24]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senators’ qualifications—Sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution—Register’, Journals, 142, 3 April 2019; Australia, Senate, ‘Proposed citizenship register’, Journals, 68, 13 November 2017.

[←25]

.    G Brandis (Attorney-General), ‘Parliamentary representation: Western Australia: Qualifications of senators’, Senate, Debates, 8 August 2017; Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, Excluded: the impact of section 44 on Australian democracy, Report, JSCEM, Canberra, May 2018.

[←26]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Vacancy in the Representation of South Australia’, Journals, 12, 7 November 2016, p.372.

[←27]

. Re Day [No 2] (2017) 263 CLR 201, [2017] HCA 14.

[←28]

.    Re Day [2017] HCATrans 86 (19 April 2017).

[←29]

.    P Karp, ‘Rodney Culleton quits One Nation citing 'un-Australian behaviour'’, Guardian Australia, (online edition), 19 December 2016.

[←30]

.    Balwyn Nominees Pty Ltd v Culleton [2016] FCA 1578.

[←31]

.    S Parry (President of the Senate), Vacancy in the representation of Western Australia—Letter from the President of the Senate to the Governor of Western Australia (Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AO), dated 11 January 2017, and copies of documentation received from the Federal Court and from the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy, 11 January 2017, tabled in the Senate 7 February 2017.

[←32]

.    Re Cullerton [No 2] (2017) 263 CLR 176, [2017] HCA 4.

[←33]

.    Re Culleton [2017] HCATrans 51.

[←34]

.    C Bernardi, ‘Statements: Liberal Party’, Senate, Debates, 7 February 2017.

[←35]

.    Australian Conservatives, Australian Conservatives amalgamates with Family First, media release, 26 April 2017.

[←36]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senator Gichuhi—Statement by leave’, Journals, 80, 5 February 2018, p. 2555.

[←37]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senator Anning—Statement by leave’, Journals, 80, 5 February 2018, p. 2555.

[←38]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senators and party representation—Statements by leave’, Journals, 98, 18 June 2018, p. 3134.

[←39]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senator Anning—Statement by leave’, Journals, 130, 26 November 2018, p. 4219.

[←40]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senator Martin—Statement by leave’, Journals, 85, 13 February 2018, p. 2682.

[←41]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senators and party representation—Statements by leave’, Journals, 98, 18 June 2018, p.3134.

[←42]

.    Ibid.

[←43]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senators and party representation—Statements by leave’, Journals, 99, 19 June 2018, p. 3161.

[←44]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senator Storer—Statement by leave’, Journals, 90, 21 March 2018, p. 2849.

[←45]

.    J Banks, ‘Statement on indulgence, Member for Chisholm’, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 November 2018, p. 11571.

[←46]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Status of material seized under warrant: preliminary report, 163rd Report, The Senate, Canberra, December 2016, p. 1; J Lee and J Massola, ‘Federal Police raids Labor Party offices’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2016, p. 1.

[←47]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Privileges—Standing Committee—Reference’, Journals, 2, 31 August 2016, pp. 65–6; Australia, Senate, ‘Privileges—Standing Committee—Reference’, Journals, 3, 1 September 2016, p. 95; Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Matter of Privilege—Reference to committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests’, Votes and Proceedings, 9, 11 October 2016, pp. 197–8; at the time search warrants were executed, Mr Clare was the Shadow Minister for Communications and Senator Conroy was the shadow minister representing Mr Clare as well as a member of the Senate NBN Selection Committee (see Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Status of material seized under warrant: preliminary report, op. cit., p. 4).

[←48]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Search warrants and the Senate, 164th Report, The Senate, Canberra, March 2017, p. 8; House of Representatives Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, Claim of parliamentary privilege by a Member in relation to material seized under a search warrant, House of Representatives, Canberra, 28 November 2016, p. 12.

[←49]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Search warrants and the Senate, op. cit., pp. 17–20.

[←50]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Privileges—Standing Committee—Reference’, Journals, 20, 28 November 2016, pp. 630–1.

[←51]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Parliamentary privilege and the use of intrusive powers, 168th Report, The Senate, Canberra, March 2018, pp. 26–30.

[←52]

.    President of the Senate, Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Review of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, 27 November 2018.

[←53]

.    F Hunter and D Dingwall, ‘Police raid Home Affairs offices over Dutton au pair leaks’, The Canberra Times, 12 October 2018, p. 4; Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Disposition of material seized under a warrant, 172nd Report, The Senate, Canberra, November 2018, p. 3. At the time the search warrants were executed Senator Pratt was the Chair of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, which had recently completed an inquiry into allegations concerning the inappropriate exercise of ministerial powers, with respect to the visa status of au pairs, and related matters (see Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Disposition of material seized under a warrant, op. cit., p. 4).

[←54]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Disposition of material seized under a warrant, op. cit., pp. 8–9.

[←55]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Senate—Parliamentary privilege—Seizure of material by executive agencies’, Journals, 137, 6 December 2018, pp. 4485–6. See also comments made by the Privileges committee on the AFP’s approach to matters potentially involving parliamentary privilege in a follow-up report: Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Parliamentary Privilege and the use of search warrants, 174th Report, The Senate, Canberra, April 2019, pp. 14–15.

[←56]

.    Explanatory Memorandum, Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017, p. 2.

[←57]

.    Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Advisory Report on the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017, June 2018, pp. 111–24, 271–5.

[←58]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Privileges—Standing Committee—Reference—Development of a foreign influence transparency scheme’, Journals, 125, 18 October 2018, p. 4001; Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Reference to Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests’, Votes and Proceedings, 148, 25 October 2018, pp. 1936–7.

[←59]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Possible improper interference with a Senator in the free performance of his duties, 175th Report, The Senate, Canberra, April 2019, p. 1.

[←60]

. Australia, Senate, ‘Senators and party representation—Statements by leave’, Journals, 98, 18 June 2018, p. 3134; and ‘Senators and party representation—Statements by leave’, Journals, 99, 19 June 2018, p. 3161.

[←61]

. Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Possible improper interference with a Senator in the free performance of his duties, op. cit., p. 4.

[←62]

.    Senate Standing Committee of Privileges, Possible improper interference with a Senator in the free performance of his duties, op. cit., pp. 4–5. Senator Burston and Pauline Hanson’s Senior Adviser, James Ashby, had been involved in a physical altercation in Parliament House on 13 February 2019, following which the President of the Senate announced that he had exercised his authority to revoke Mr Ashby’s building pass and to prohibit him from entering the building (see S Ryan, ‘Statement by the President: Members of Parliament: Staff’, Senate, Debates, 14 February 2019, pp. 497–8.

[←63]

.    S Ryan (President), ‘Statement of the President: Members of Parliament: Staff’, Senate, Debates, 14 February 2019; R Lewis and R Ferguson, ‘Parliamentary ban lifted on Hanson's offsider’, Australian, 8 June 2019.

[←64]

.    P Coorey, ‘PM orders investigation into Billson’s lobby job’, The Australian Financial Review, 11 August 2017, p. 6. Mr Billson, who had been the Minister for Small Business until September 2015, took up the appointment with the FCA on 9 March 2016 but did not cease to be a member of the House of Representatives until 9 May 2016: see House of Representatives Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, Inquiry concerning the former Member for Dunkley in the 44th Parliament: possible contempts of the House and appropriate conduct of a Member, The House, Canberra, March 2018, p. 7.

[←65]

.    House of Representatives Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, Inquiry concerning the former Member for Dunkley in the 44th Parliament: possible contempts of the House and appropriate conduct of a Member, op. cit., pp. 3–4. Prime Minister Turnbull also separately referred the matter to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) to investigate whether a breach of either the Statement of Ministerial Standards or the Lobbying Code of Conduct had occurred. The Secretary of PM&C found he had no reason to conclude Mr Billson had breached either the standards or the code: see P Coorey, ‘PM orders investigation into Billson’s lobby job’, The Australian Financial Review, 11 August 2017, p. 6; and G Hutchens, ‘Bruce Billson cleared of breaching standards over lobbying salary’, The Guardian Australia, (online edition), 16 October 2017.

[←66]

.    House of Representatives Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, Inquiry concerning the former Member for Dunkley in the 44th Parliament: possible contempts of the House and appropriate conduct of a Member, op. cit., p. 9.

[←67]

.    Ibid., pp. 14–15.

[←68]

. Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests—Censure of the former member for Dunkley, Mr Bruce Billson’, Votes and proceedings, 105, 27 March 2018, p. 1462.

[←69]

.    House of Representatives Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, Inquiry concerning the former Member for Dunkley in the 44th Parliament: possible contempts of the House and appropriate conduct of a Member, op. cit., p. 20.

[←70]

.    House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Report on the inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits, House of Representatives, Canberra, April 2019, Appendix C, p. 77.

[←71]

.    Ibid., Appendix F, pp. 101–4.

[←72]

.    Mr T Smith (Speaker), ‘Privilege’, House of Representatives, Debates, 21 February 2019, p. 1328.

[←73]

.    Ibid.

[←74]

.    Australian Government, ‘Proclamation - Dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously at 9:00 am on Monday, 9 May 2016’, Government Notices Gazette, No. C2016G00628, 9 May 2016.

[←75]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Rotation of Senators—Section 13 of the Constitution’, Journals, 2, 2016, 31 August 2016, p. 64. Senators for the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory were not included in the allocation of terms as, under section 42 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, territory senators’ terms are concurrent with the terms of members of the House of Representatives.

[←76]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Rotation of Senators—Section 13 of the Constitution’, Journals, 85, 2016–18, 13 February 2018, pp. 2690–91. For results of the Senate special counts undertaken through 2017 and 2018 see Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), ‘Senate special counts—statements of results’, AEC website.

[←77]

.    Department of the Senate, ‘Procedural Information Bulletin No. 322: For the sitting period 5 to 16 February 2018’, Senate website.

[←78]

.    D Martin, ‘Parliamentary Representation: Rotation of Senators’, Senate, Debates, 13 February 2018, p. 916.

[←79]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Environment—Menindee Lakes—Water releases—Order for production of documents’, Journals, 131, 27 November 2018, pp. 4263–5. An earlier incident had occurred between senators Leyonhjelm and Hanson-Young on 28 June 2018, see S Hanson-Young, ‘Statement: Senator David Leyonhjelm’, Senate, Debates, 28 June 2018, pp. 4362–3.

[←80]

.    S Ryan, ‘Statement by the President: Parliamentary Behaviour’, Senate, Debates, 28 November 2018, p. 8775.

[←81]

.    Australia, Senate, ‘Procedure—Standing Committee—4th report of 2018’, Journals, 132, 28 November 2018, p. 4283.

[←82]

.    Senate Standing Committee on Procedure, First Report of 2019, The Senate, Canberra, 3 April 2019, pp. 1–2.

[←83]

.   Australia, Senate, ‘Procedure—Standing Committee—First Report of 2016—Consideration’, Journals, 13, 8 November 2016, p. 420.

[←84]

. C Pyne, ‘Motion Standing and Sessional Orders’, House of Representatives, Debates, 31 August 2016; C Pyne, ‘Business Standing and Sessional Orders’, House of Representatives, Debates, 1 September 2016; House of Representatives Procedural Digest, 1, 45th Parliament, 30 August–12 September 2016, pp. 10–11.

[←85]

.    House of Representatives, Procedural Digest, 2, 45th Parliament, 12–15 September 2016, p. 10.

[←86]

.    Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Amendments to Standing Orders’, Votes and Proceedings, 5, 13 September 2016, pp. 122–129.

[←87]

.    House of Representatives, Procedural Digest, 2, 45th Parliament, 12–15 September 2016, pp. 10–11.

[←88]

.    Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Amendments to Standing Orders’, op. cit., pp. 129–142.

[←89]

.    A Smith, ‘Statement by the Speaker: Electronic Division Recording System’, House of Representatives, Debates, 2 April 2019, p. 14413.

[←90]

.    C Pyne (Leader of the House), Electronic Voting for the House of Representatives Chamber, media release, 29 May 2018.

[←91]

.    L Bourke, ‘Swipe left: Labor hangs up on Christopher Pyne’s electronic voting’, The Sydney Morning Herald, (online edition) 19 December 2018.

[←92]

.    T Smith, ‘Statement by the Speaker: Public Gallery: Incident’, House of Representatives, Debates, 30 November 2016.

[←93]

.    ‘Message from the Senate’, Votes and Proceedings, 3, 1 September 2016.

[←94]

.    M Koziol, ‘Voting chaos in the House’, The Age, 2 September 2016, p. 1.

[←95]

.    M Grattan, ‘Turnbull government loses discipline and votes in House chaos’, The Conversation, 2 September 2016.

[←96]

.    House of Representatives, Procedural Digest, No 1, 45th Parliament, 30 August to 1 September 2016, p. 3; M Grattan, ‘Turnbull government loses discipline and votes in House chaos’, The Conversation, 2 September 2016; P Coorey and J Mather, ‘Coalition has near miss over banks’, Australian Financial Review, 2 September 2016, p. 5.

[←97]

. ‘   International Tax Agreements Bill 2016’, Votes and Proceedings, 10, 12 October 2016.

[←98]

.    ‘International Tax Agreements Bill 2016: Statement by the Speaker’, Votes and Proceedings, 10, 12 October 2016.

[←99]

.    T Burke, ‘Motion: Coalition government’, House of Representatives, Debates, 13 October 2016, p. 1841.

[←100]

. B Shorten, ‘Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 Consideration of Senate Message’, House of Representatives, Debates, 12 February 2019.

[←101]

16 . Alford v Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services (2018) 264 CLR 289, [2018] HCA 57.

[←102]

. Ibid.

[←103]

. Australia, Senate, ‘Plebiscite (Restricting Non-European Migration) Bill 2018’, Journals, 125, 18 October 2018; Senate, Procedural Information Bulletin No. 329, Senate, 31 October 2018.

[←104]

. Department of the House of Representatives, Work of the Session: 45th Parliament–1st Session, Autumn period of sittings 2019, Canberra, May 2019, p. 5; Department of the Senate, Senate Statsnet, Department of the Senate website.

[←105]

. The co-sponsors were Linda Reynolds (LP, WA), Penny Wong (ALP, SA), Louise Pratt (ALP, WA), Richard Di Natale (GRN, Vic.), Janet Rice (GRN, Vic.), Skye Kakoschke-Moore (NXT, SA), Derryn Hinch (DHJP, Vic.) and Jane Hume (LP, Vic.).

[←106]

. Parliament of Australia, Private members' bills, ‘House of Representatives statistics’, Parliament of Australia website.

[←107]

. Parliament, StatsNet, ‘Private senators’ bills from 1901’, Parliament of Australia website.

[←108]

. N Horne, ‘Hung Parliament 2018 – continued’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 6 November 2018.

[←109]

. Ibid.

[←110]

. J Banks, ‘Statements on Indulgence: Member for Chisholm’, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 November 2018, pp. 11571–‍2.

[←111]

. M Sloane, ‘Government defeat in the House of Representatives on 12 February 2019’, Flagpost, Parliament Library blog, 20 February 2019.

[←112]

. Under House of Representatives Standing Order 127: ‘If, after the doors are locked, there are four or fewer Members on one side in a division, the Speaker shall declare the decision of the House immediately, without completing the count.’

[←113]

. R di Natale, ‘Leyonhjelm, Senator David’, Senate, Debates, 14 August 2018.

[←114]

. M Cormann, ‘Anning, Senator Fraser: Censure’, Senate, Debates, 3 April 2019. In the debate Senator O’Neill (ALP, NSW) referenced a petition on Change.org with 1.4 million signatures calling for the forced resignation of Senator Anning from Parliament.

[←115]

. Department of the Senate, ‘StatsNet’ website; Australia, Senate, ‘Assistant Minister for Health’, Journals, 17, 5 March 2014; Australia, Senate, ‘Minister for Defence’, Journals, 69, 26 November 2014; Australia, Senate, ‘Attorney-General’, Journals, 79, 2 March 2015.

[←116]

. R Vasta, ‘Billson, Mr Bruce: Censure’, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 March 2018, p. 2859.

[←117]

. P Conroy, ‘Billson, Mr Bruce: Censure’, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 March 2018, p. 2859.

[←118]

. B Shorten, ‘Motion: Prime Minister’, House of Representatives, Debates, 21 August 2018, pp. 7936–9; House of Representatives, Procedural Digest, 45th Parliament, no. 22, 13–23 August 2018.

[←119]

. For further information on suspensions from the House of Representatives, see R Lundie, ‘That’s it, you’re out’: disorderly conduct in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 2016, Research paper series, 2017–17, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2016.

[←120]

. Senator Ryan (President of the Senate), Menindee Lakes Order for the Production of Documents, Senate, Debates, 28 November 2018; G Brandis (Attorney-General), ‘Motions’, Senate, Debates, 12 November 2015.

[←121]

. Australia, Senate, ‘Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) Bill 2003E Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2003E Passenger Movement Charge (Timor Sea Treaty) Amendment Bill 2003’, Journals, 67, 6 March 2003.

[←122]

. Australia, Senate, ‘Questions’, Journals, 172, 1 March 2001.

[←123]

. H Evans and R Laing, eds, Odger’s Australian Senate practice, 14th ed, Department of the Senate, Canberra, 2016, p. 279.

[←124]

. Australia, House of Representatives, ‘Amendments to Standing Orders’, Votes and Proceedings, 5, 13 September 2016.

[←125]

. R Vasta, ‘Committees, Petitions Committee, Report’, House of Representatives, Debates, 7 November 2016, p. 2853.

[←126]

. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions, Making voices heard: Inquiry into the e-petitioning system of the House of Representatives, Canberra, May 2018.

[←127]

. Department of the House of Representatives, Work of the Session: 12 February to 4 April 2019, Parliament of Australia website.

[←128]

. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions, Your voice can change our future: Inquiry into the future of petitioning in the House, Canberra, February 2019.

[←129]

. Department of the Senate, ‘StatsNet’ website. On 5 December 2018 Senator McKim (GRN, Tas.) tabled a petition relating to protecting the Tarkine Region, with the largest number of signatures (270,000) ever tabled in the Senate but it was a non-conforming petition.

[←130]

. A Hough, ‘The gender composition of the 45th Parliament’, FlagPost, Parliamentary Library blog, 25 August 2016.

[←131]

. Parliamentary Library, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, (online edition), Parliamentary Library, Canberra, Ministry Lists 2016–18.

[←132]

. P de Jersey (Administrator of the Commonwealth), ‘Letters Patent’, 1 August 2016.

[←133]

. Ibid., p. 1.

[←134]

. Commonwealth of Australia, Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory: Final Report, vol. 1, Barton, ACT, Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory, 2017, p. 5.

[←135]

. G Brandis (Attorney-General) and S Morrison (Treasurer), Royal Commission: Australia’s banking, superannuation and financial services industry, media release, 18 December 2017.

[←136]

. P Cosgrove (Governor-General), ‘Letters Patent’, 14 December 2017, p. 2.

[←137]

. Commonwealth of Australia, Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry: Final Report, vol. 1, 2019, p. v.

[←138]

. S Morrison (Prime Minister), G Hunt (Minister for Health), and K Wyatt (Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care), Transcript of press conference, Sydney, media release, 9 October 2018.

[←139]

. P de Jersey (Administrator of the Commonwealth), ‘Letters Patent’, 6 December 2018, p. 2.

[←140]

. Commonwealth of Australia, Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety: Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect, vol. 1, 2021, p. iii..

[←141]

. S Morrison (Prime Minister) and P Fletcher (Minister for Families and Social Services), Establishment of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, media release, 5 April 2019.

[←142]

. P Cosgrove (Governor-General), ‘Letters Patent’, 4 April 2019, p. 2. The original letters patent appointed six Commissioners. Roslyn Atkinson was appointed as a seventh Commissioner in amended letters patent signed on 13 September 2019.

[←143]

. Ibid., p. 5.

[←144]

. M Turnbull (Prime Minister), ‘Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 Second Reading’, House of Representatives, Debates, 14 September 2016.

[←145]

. ‘Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016, Third Reading, Division’, House of Representatives, Debates, 20 October 2016, p. 2738; ‘Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016, Second Reading, Division’, Senate, Debates, 7 November 2016, p. 2020.

[←146]

. M Turnbull (Prime Minister), Transcript of joint press conference: Parliament House, Canberra: 8 August 2017: same-sex marriage, media release, Canberra, 8 August 2017. On 9 August 2017 the Government issued a Direction to the Australian Statistician (the Census and Statistics (Statistical Information) Direction 2017) asking the ABS to collect ‘statistical information about the proportion of electors who wish to express a view about whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry’. On 16 August 2017, the Census and Statistics (Statistical Information) Amendment Direction 2017 defined eligibility for participation in the statistical survey as ‘those persons who would be entitled to vote in a federal election’. Two legal challenges to the survey were made by Andrew Wilkie (IND, Denison Tas.), Janet Rice (GRN, Vic.) and others. A summary ruling in both cases was handed down by the High Court on 7 September 2017 with unanimous reasons handed down on 28 September 2017. The High Court determined that the Survey and the manner of its funding were lawful. The challengers were ordered to pay costs.

[←147]

. For more on plebiscites and the same-sex marriage survey, see: B Holmes, A quick guide to plebiscites in Australia, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 30 June 2011,, and ‘Fact check: Is the same-sex marriage survey a completely novel idea that is not actually a plebiscite?’, ABC News Online, 22 August 2017.

[←148]

. ABS, Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, 2017, cat. No. 1800.0, ABS, Canberra 2017.

[←149]

. Plebiscites have been more frequent in the Australian states, on matters such as the sale of alcohol and daylight saving.

[←150]

. J Kelly and G Brown, ‘Super Saturday by-elections to cost $7.5m’, The Australian, 11 May 2018.

[←151]

. Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Eligibility) Regulations 2018

[←152]

17 . Australian Electoral Commissioner, ‘Notification of Determination Section 49 Certificate – Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918’, Gazette– C2017G0094, 31 August 2017.

[←153]

. Z Naaman and A Meade, ‘Australian election day guide: what you need to know’, The Guardian (Australia), online edition, 17 May 2019.

[←154]

. D Muller, The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide, Research paper series, 2017–18, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2017.

[←155]

. Section 13 of the Constitution requires the election for Senate vacancies within one year before the position becomes vacant. The terms for the senators elected for short terms in 2016 expired on 1 July 2019.

[←156]

. L Tingle, ‘Election date preferences are quickly exhausted’, The Australian Financial Review, 17 November 2018, p. 47.

[←157]

. A Remeikis, ‘Morrison dismisses concerns over taxpayer-funded ads as election date delayed’, Guardian Australia, (online edition), 7 April, 2019.

[←158]

. S Morrison (Prime Minister), Transcript of press conference: Canberra, ACT: 11 April 2019: the Federal Election, media release, 11 April 2019.

[←159]

. The 33-day minimum was legislated prior to the 1984 federal election.

[←160]

. A Workman, ‘Easter Sunday election blackout’, The Australian, 10 April 2019, p. 2.

[←161]

. T Smith, ‘Address by the Prime Minister of Singapore’, House of Representatives, Debates, 12 October 2016, pp. 1675–84.

[←162]

. See A Hough and D Heriot, Australia’s Parliament House in 2016: a chronology of events, Research paper series, 2017–18, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2017; A Hough and D Heriot, Australia’s Parliament House in 2017: a chronology of events, Research paper series, 2018–19, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2018.

[←163]

. Australia, Senate, ‘Senate Chamber—Photography—Cessation of Order’, Journals, 11, 13 October 2016; Australia, Senate, ‘Senate Chamber—Photography—Cessation of Order—Variation’, Journals, 12, 7 November 2016.

[←164]

. Rules for media related activity in Parliament House and its precincts, issued by the Presiding Officers, November 2012 (revised November 2016).

[←165]

. S Morrison, ‘Questions without notice: Economy’, Hoes of Representatives, Debates, 9 February 2017.

[←166]

. R Katter, ‘Competition and Consumer Amendment (Exploitation of Indigenous Culture) Bill 2017’, House of Representatives, Debates, 13 February 2017.

[←167]

. B Morton, ‘Questions without notice: Energy’, House of Representatives, Debates, 13 February 2017.

[←168]

. P Hanson, ‘Questions without notice: National security’, Senate, Debates, 17 August 2017.

[←169]

. S Ryan, ‘Statement by the President Parliament House: Security, Parliament House: Dress Standards’, Senate, Debates, 4 September 2017.

[←170]

. L Burney, ‘Governor-General’s speech: Address-in-reply’, House of Representatives, Debates, 31 August 2016.

[←171]

. L Waters, ‘Matters of Public Importance Mining Industry: Adani’, Senate, Debates, 9 May 2017.

[←172]

. L Waters, ‘Motion: black lung disease’, Senate, Debates, 22 June 2017; ‘Waters' historic Senate motion’, Courier Mail, 23 May 2017.

[←173]

. T Smith, ‘Statement by the Speaker Parliament House: 30th Anniversary’, House of Representatives, Debates, 9 May 2018.

[←174]

. Budget 2018– 2019: Budget Paper No. 2: Part 2: Expense Measures18

[←175]

. T Sear, ‘A state actor has targeted Australian political parties - but that shouldn't surprise us’, The Conversation, 18 February 2019; S Morrison (Prime Minister), ‘Statements National security’, House of Representatives, Debates, 18 February 2019.

[←176]

. Department of Parliamentary Services, Submission to Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit–cyber resilience, 7 March 2019.

[←177]

. Odger’s Australian Senate Practice, ‘Chapter 6: Senators’, states: ‘If a senator is found to have been disqualified at the time of election, the election of that senator is void. The resulting failure validly to fill a place in the Senate is remedied by a recount of ballots cast in the election to determine the person validly elected’.

[←178]

. See the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, sponsored by Bill Shorten (ALP, Maribyrnong, Vic.); Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 [No. 2], sponsored by Adam Bandt (GRN, Melbourne, Vic.), Cathy McGowan (IND, Indi, Vic.), and Andrew Wilkie (IND, Denison, Tas.); Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2013, restored to the Notice Paper in 2016, sponsored by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (GRN, SA); and Freedom to Marry Bill 2016, sponsored by Senator David Leyonhjelm (LDP, NSW).

[←179]

. No statement was made that the Government considered this to be a free vote; however, it has been included in this table as an Assistant Minister stated in relation to an earlier motion concerning abortion that ‘in line with longstanding practice, government senators are free to vote in accordance with their own conscience’. A minister and the Government Chief Whip in the Senate were among those who voted to support the suspension of standing orders while other ministers, including the Manager of Government Business in the Senate, voted against the suspension, further indicating this vote was treated as a free vote.

[←180]

. There were a number of motions in the Senate during the 45th Parliament relating to abortion. According to a statement made by Senator Anne Ruston on 27 November 2018 prior to the determination of one such motion, government senators are free to vote according to their conscience on matters related to abortion. However, according to press reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, Adelaide Advertiser and Canberra Times, the Government did oppose the motion proposed by Cory Bernardi on 16 November 2017 relating to Medicare funding for termination of pregnancies on gender grounds, and those Coalition senators who voted for the motion have therefore been included in this table.