19 August 2021
PDF version [780KB]
Cathy Madden
Politics and Public Administration Section
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
Background
Changes in leadership
and representation
Presiding officers
Leadership changes
Changes in
representation
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
Crossbench
Censure motions and no confidence
Censure motions
Suspensions
Petitions
Composition of the 45th Parliament by
party and gender
Women in the Parliament
Royal commissions, same-sex marriage
plebiscite and postal survey
Royal commissions
Same-sex marriage plebiscite proposal
and postal survey
Elections
By-elections
Redistributions
2019 federal election timing
Addresses to the Parliament
Ministerial statements
Other matters
Appendix 1: Referrals and resignations
due to Section 44(1) of the Constitution
Appendix 2: Conscience votes in the
45th Parliament
Appendix 3: Floor crossings in the
45th Parliament
Appendix 4: Further reading
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 |
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.
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.
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 February[40],
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]
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.[62]The
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]
Procedural developments and strategies
Rotation of senators
The dissolution of the Senate (as part of the
dissolution of the entire Parliament[74])
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.[84]The
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]
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:
Neither of the Bills met the criteria to become double
dissolution triggers.
Seven private senators Bills were negatived by the Senate:
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 words[121];
and Senator Schacht (ALP, SA), for persistently and wilfully refusing to
conform to the standing orders.[122]This
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.
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.
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]
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]
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]
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.
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.
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
|
Recount[177]
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
|
|
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.
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 NP[179] |
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). |
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 |
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.
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.
[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].
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
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[117]. P Conroy, ‘Billson,
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[118]. B Shorten, ‘Motion:
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pp. 7936–9; House of Representatives, Procedural
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[119]. For further
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[120]. Senator Ryan
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[121]. Australia,
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[122]. Australia,
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[123]. H Evans and R
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[124]. Australia,
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[125]. R Vasta, ‘Committees, Petitions Committee, Report’, House of Representatives, Debates, 7 November 2016, p.
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[126]. House of
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[127]. Department of
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[128]. House of
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into the future of petitioning in the House,
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[129]. Department of
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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
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[131]. Parliamentary
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[132]. P de Jersey
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[133]. Ibid., p. 1.
[134]. Commonwealth of
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[135]. G Brandis
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[136]. P Cosgrove (Governor-General),
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[137]. Commonwealth of
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[138]. S Morrison
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Senior Australians and Aged Care), Transcript
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[139]. P de Jersey
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[140]. Commonwealth of
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[141]. S Morrison
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of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of
People with Disability, media release, 5 April 2019.
[142]. P Cosgrove
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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
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[145]. ‘Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016, Third Reading, Division’, House of Representatives, Debates, 20 October 2016, p.
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[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,
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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
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[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
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2018.
[151]. Electoral and
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[153]. Z Naaman and A
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[154]. D Muller, The
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[155]. Section 13 of
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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
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[157]. A Remeikis, ‘Morrison
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[158]. S Morrison
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[159]. The 33-day
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[160]. A Workman, ‘Easter
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[161]. T Smith, ‘Address
by the Prime Minister of Singapore’, House of Representatives, Debates,
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[162]. See A Hough and
D Heriot, Australia’s
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Parliament House in 2017: a chronology of events, Research paper
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[163]. Australia,
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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
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[174]. Budget 2018–
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[175]. T Sear, ‘A
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[176]. Department of
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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.
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