AUSPIC
Posted 26/07/2023 by Michael Sloane
The rapid passage of the Home Affairs Bill 2023 on 15 June 2023 attracted public attention both for its speed and national security motivations. The Bill’s passage demonstrated how quickly the Parliament can legislate in cases where parliamentarians agree that urgency is required.
Readily searchable data on time taken for the passage of Bills is only available for the 44th Parliament onwards. Of all the bills captured by this data, the Home Affairs Bill 2023 appears to have progressed from introduction to commencement in the shortest time. This Flagpost describes the passage of the Home Affairs Bill 2023 and compares it with other recent Bills that have been introduced and passed on the same day.
Passage of the Home Affairs Bill 2023
Fifteen minutes before the House of Representatives commenced sitting on 15 June 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil announced the Government’s intention to legislate to ‘terminate the Russian Federation’s lease for a proposed diplomatic presence just next to Parliament House.’ The Prime Minister explained that this action responded to ‘very clear security advice’ and was taken after the Federal Court declared invalid the National Capital Authority's previous decision to terminate the lease agreement.
Minister O’Neil introduced the Home Affairs Bill 2023 at 9:01 am, making the Bill public for the first time. The Government had previously given notice of the Bill’s introduction, but only in the most general terms. Following the Minister’s second reading speech, the House set aside its requirement to adjourn debate to a future sitting, allowing the Shadow Minister for Defence, Andrew Hastie, to respond immediately. The second and third readings were then agreed to without further debate and the Bill passed the House within approximately four and a half minutes.
The message transmitting the Bill to the Senate was announced at 10.13 am. Immediately after the first reading Minister Murray Watt successfully moved a motion to limit debate, requiring that questions on all remaining stages be put at 11.15 am. In declaring the Bill to be urgent Minister Watt reiterated that ‘there are immediate national security risks associated with allowing the leaseholder to exercise its interests over the specific block of land.’ This motion was ultimately unnecessary as the Senate passed the Bill in only three minutes. Minister Watt incorporated his second reading speech into Hansard and the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Senator James Paterson, also spoke to support the Bill. The Bill therefore passed both Houses of Parliament within 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The Bill received Royal Assent at 4.26 pm on the same day and commenced immediately afterwards, only 7 hours and 25 minutes after being introduced. Minister O’Neil and the Prime Minister subsequently acknowledged the Opposition and crossbench parliamentarians’ cooperation, having given them confidential briefings prior to the Bill’s introduction.
Other Bills passed in one day
Bills are rarely introduced and passed by both Houses on the same day, with most bills remaining before the Parliament for a much longer period. Senate Statsnet data indicates that, for Bills that passed both Houses, the median number of calendar days between introduction and final passage is:
- 62 days for the current Parliament
- 77 days for the 46th and 45th Parliaments
- 49 days for the 44th Parliament
Of the 1302 Bills that passed both Houses in these Parliaments, only 26 (2%) were introduced and passed on the same day. Of these 26 bills, only the Home Affairs Bill 2023 and a 2017 Bill concerning the marriage law postal survey received Royal Assent on the same day. Only the Home Affairs Bill 2023 also commenced immediately after it received Royal Assent, with the marriage law postal survey bill commencing the following day.
Current Parliament
In addition to the Home Affairs Bill 2023, Parliament was recalled on 15 December 2022 to consider the Treasury Laws Amendment (Energy Price Relief Plan) Bill 2022. This Bill was intended to implement the Government’s policy response to rising energy prices and passed both Houses on the day of introduction.
46th Parliament
Nineteen Bills were introduced and passed on the same day:
45th Parliament
Four Bills were introduced and passed on the same day:
44th Parliament
Only one Bill was introduced and passed on the same day: