For the sitting period 9 to 19 September 2024

Download Procedural Information Bulletin No. 384 (PDF 111KB)

The Senate and senators

As noted in the previous bulletin, Senator Gerard Rennick moved to the crossbench at the beginning of the sittings, bringing to five the number of senators who have left (or been removed from) their parties to sit as independents: two from the opposition, one from the government, one from the Australian Greens and one from the Jacqui Lambie Network. Moreover, this returns the Senate to its equal largest crossbench of 21 senators, comprising 11 Australian Greens, two Pauline Hanson’s One Nation senators and eight senators sitting as independents or as the sole representatives of their parties. The Senate last had a crossbench of 21 from February 2017, when Senator Cory Bernardi left the South Australian Liberal Party, until senators took their seats following the May 2019 election.

Legislation

During the first sitting week of the fortnight, the Senate passed an amendment to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Act 2023 to establish the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC). The legislation sets up an enforcement mechanism for behaviour codes agreed by the Senate and the House and establishes a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards to provide oversight of the IPSC and review the effectiveness of the codes. Crossbench senators proposed various amendments to the bill, but it was ultimately agreed without amendment.

The first two days of the second sitting week were largely devoted to debate on the Help to Buy Bill 2023 and a related bill, which proposed to allow Housing Australia to enter shared equity arrangements with home buyers. The debate reflected something of a stalemate, with the Opposition and the Australian Greens declining to support the bills, but also declining to allow them to come to a vote. On Wednesday, on the initiative of the Greens, the Senate deferred further consideration of the bills to 26 November. In an echo of proceedings on the Housing Australia Future Fund bills (see Bulletin 372), there was some speculation that the government may treat this deferral as the first leg of a double dissolution trigger. Section 57 of the Constitution sets out the preconditions for simultaneous dissolution of both Houses. The first is that the Senate rejects or “fails to pass” a bill passed by the House of Representatives (or passes the bill with amendments the House will not agree to). There has been some judicial consideration of what the phrase “fails to pass” means, with the High Court holding:

“The Senate has a duty to properly consider all Bills and cannot be said to have failed to pass a Bill because it was not passed at the first available opportunity; a reasonable time must be allowed”. In so deciding, the majority observed that the opinions of individual members of either House “are irrelevant to the question of whether the Senate's action amounted to a failure to pass”. (Odgers’ p.720)

In this case, the motion to defer the bills to 26 November also provided for them to be guillotined on that date, possibly to counter any argument that the deferral amounted to a failure to pass the bills.

On the final sitting day, a bill to pay superannuation on parental leave was passed without amendment after the Senate rejected proposed amendments from the Opposition that would have allowed parents to elect to receive superannuation, additional leave or a one-off payment.

On 12 September the Senate voted against the first reading of the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Acknowledging Biological Reality) Bill 2024, presented by the Leader of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Senator Hanson sought to suspend standing orders on 17 September so that she could move the first reading again, however the suspension was defeated on a close vote of 27 in favour, 30 against. An amendment to the motion to adopt the Selection of Bills report, intended to refer the bill to an inquiry, was also defeated 24 votes to 29. Debate on the suspension motion acknowledged that it is rare for the Senate to deny senators the opportunity to introduce bills for debate, although there was some revisionism in relation to the number of times it has occurred in recent years: see Bulletin 371.

Inquiries

This sitting period saw numerous matters referred to standing committees, as well as the establishment of a new select committee on energy planning and regulation in Australia to report on 20 December 2024. Of the matters referred, 11 were referrals of bills to legislation committees, bringing the total number of current bill inquiries to 21; all but two of which are due within the next two months and the end of the 2024 sittings.

References committees received six inquiries on a wide range of subjects. The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade References Committee received a reference on the formation of a national volunteer incentive scheme, the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee received a reference to examine the adequacy of the voluntary code of conduct for Australian winegrape purchases, an examination of Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system was referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee and the Economics References Committee received three referrals to examine Australia’s taxation system, wealth management companies and not-for-profit entities and tax assessments.

Reports

Four reference committee reports were tabled in this period, including the Community Affairs References Committee report on its inquiry into issues related to menopause and perimenopause, which was accompanied by extensive debate, and the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade References Committee report on its inquiry into Australian support for Ukraine. The Economics References Committee tabled two reports, on its short examination of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ production of inflation rate statistics, and its second interim report on its inquiry into improving consumer experiences, choice and outcomes in Australia’s retirement system which has an extended reporting date of 30 June 2025.

One bill report was tabled (on the Nature Positive (Environment Information Australia) bills) and the three scrutiny committees tabled five of their regular scrutiny reports.

Two other reports were presented out of sitting: the Community Affairs References Committee’s report on its inquiry into excess mortality; and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ first report under the ongoing function conferred upon it, via a legislative amendment in the Senate, to review aspects of the compulsory income management scheme for compatibility with human rights.

Orders and explanations

The Senate agreed to 27 new orders for documents in the sitting period, including orders relating to the McPhillamys Gold Project (10 September) and preparations for the 2026 Census (10 September), as well as a new continuing order for data on deaths in custody (19 September). Three proposed orders were defeated, including orders relating to communications with a minister from Timor-Leste (18 September) and the eSafety Commissioner (19 September).

Documents were provided in compliance with 24 orders, including in relation to a funding agreement with UNRWA (16 September: the agreement was tabled, with redaction of personal and financial details, as well as to protect ‘commercial sensitivity’); and supporting analysis relating to the independent review of the NDIS (17 September: documents provided in full). A response to an order concerning correspondence with Tamboran Resources (19 September) enclosed documents ‘deemed suitable for tabling’, without clarification of whether any documents had been identified as ‘unsuitable’ for tabling and, if so, the grounds on which such documents were being withheld.

Explanations were sought from ministers relating to responses to two orders. The first of these, provided on 11 September, concerned the appropriateness of a public interest immunity claim raised in response to an order for documents relating to the CBUS Super Fund. The explanation was sought following the release of the requested documents pursuant to a freedom of information request. The second explanation, provided on 19 September, related to the Government’s previous responses to orders for the final report of the Inspector-General of the ADF twenty-year review. This followed senators discovering the report on the website of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, the copy of which was subsequently removed, but then tabled by the Government on 18 September.

Dynamic Red – updated continuously during the sitting day, the Dynamic Red displays the results of proceedings as they happen.

Senate Daily Summary – a convenient summary of each day’s proceedings in the Senate, with links to source documents.

Like this bulletin, these documents can be found on the Senate website: www.aph.gov.au/senate

Inquiries: Clerk’s Office (02) 6277 3350