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The Historical Traditions of the Australian Senate

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The Historical Traditions of the Australian Senate The Historical Traditions of the Australian Senate: the Upper House we Had to Have. Sylvia Marchant Research School of the Humanities The Australian National University Canberra 2009 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University January 2009 Declaration This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. ii Acknowledgements I owe most to the unfailing encouragement and scholarly inspiration provided to me by Professor Paul Pickering, my teacher, patient supervisor and constructive critic. Anthea Hyslop and Marilyn Lake were also supportive and Cameron Hazlehurst, who came in later, provided sound advice and encouragement. I am grateful to the officials, staff and librarians of the several Parliaments I visited who were unstinting in their assistance and advice. In particular, in the Federal Parliament, my thanks are due to Harry Evans, Clerk of the Senate, Ann Lynch, then Deputy Clerk of the Senate, Andrea Griffiths, Usher of the Black Rod and Kay Walsh; in New South Wales: David Blunt, then Usher of the Black Rod, Robert Lawrie, Parliamentary Archivist, Ian Delahunty and Stephen Frappel; in Victoria: Stephen Redenbach, Assistant Clerk Procedures and Usher of the Back Rod, and John Breukel, Parliamentary Librarian; in South Australia: Jan Davis, Clerk of the Legislative Council, Trevor Blowes, Clerk Assistant and Usher of the Black Rod, and Jenny Newton-Farrelly, Librarian. In Tasmania: David Pearce, Clerk of the Council, Nigel Pratt, Deputy Clerk of the Council, Sue McLeod, Acting Deputy Clerk, Juliet Scaife, Parliamentary Librarian and Terry Newman, Parliamentary Historian; in Queensland, Joanne Fear, Librarian, Tim Moroney and Graeme Kinnear, Education Officers; in Western Australia: Chris Hunt, Usher of the Black Rod, Harry C.J. Phillips, Parliamentary Fellow, James Sollis, Deputy Parliamentary Education Officer, and Alice Murphy; and in Canada France Belisle, Archivist of the Senate of Canada. I would also like to thank the librarians and archivists at the ANU, the National Library of Australia, the Australian National Archives, the Prime Ministers’ Centre in Old Parliament House, Canberra, and the State libraries, for their courteous and invaluable assistance in locating and providing books and other material for my research. Officers of the United States Senate Historical Office, the Australian Embassy of the United States of America and the Parliamentary Archives of the Houses of Parliament in Britain also provided valuable assistance in locating historical material. Others who were kind enough advise and help were Professor Dean Jaensch, Flinders University, Professor Clement Macintyre, University of Adelaide and Dr Meg Russell, of University College, London. I would also like to thank colleagues Dianne McGowan, Leigh Toop, Rosemary Hollow, Jan Cooper, Jill Waterhouse, and many other colleagues for their moral and intellectual support through the entire process. Their friendship and encouragement were very important factors in my work. Finally thanks are due my husband, Roger, for his unfailing patience and understanding and without whom this thesis would never have been possible. iii Abstract This thesis examines the raison d’etre of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Australian bicameral parliament, established in 1901. It explores the literature that might have influenced its establishment and structure, and the attitudes, ideals, experience and expectations of the men (and they were all men) who initiated its existence and designed its structure during the Federation Conventions of the 1890s. It goes on to study whether similar western and British influenced institutions were seen as models by the designers of the Senate, followed by an examination of its architecture, décor, and procedures, to determine the major influences at work on these aspects of the institution. The study was undertaken in view of the paucity of studies of the history and role of the Senate in relation to its powerful influence on the Government of Australia. Its structure can allow a minority of Senators to subvert or obstruct key measures passed by the lower house and is a serious issue for Governments in considering legislation. Answers are sought to the questions of how and why it was conceived and created and what role it was expected to play. The study does not extend beyond 1901 when the Senate was established except to examine the Provisional Parliament House, opened in 1927, which realised the vision of the Convention delegates who determined that the Senate was the house we had to have. The research approach began with an exhaustive study of the Records of the Federal Conventions of the 1890s, where the Constitution of Australia was drawn up, along with contemporary writings and modern comment on such institutions. A study of the men who designed the Senate was carried out, augmented with field visits to the Australian State Parliaments. Research was also conducted into upper houses identified by the delegates to the Australian Federal Conventions, to consider their influence on the design of the Senate. The conclusion is that the Senate was deliberately structured to emulate the then existing British system as far as possible; it was to be an august house of review and a bastion against democracy, or at least a check on hasty legislation. The delegates showed no desire to extinguish ties with Great Britain and their vision of iv an upper house was modelled directly on the House of Lords. The vast majority of delegates had cut their teeth in colonial upper houses, which were themselves closely modelled on the Lords. To not establish a Senate would have been to turn their backs on themselves. The Senate then, is not a hybrid of Washington and Westminster: the influence of the United States was limited to the composition of the Senate and its name and mediated through the filter of its British heritage. The example of other legislatures was unimportant except where it solved problems previously experienced in the Colonial Councils and which might have otherwise occurred in the Senate. The Senate was the upper house we had to have; it was a decision that was taken before the delegates even met. v Contents Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Abbreviations viii Delegates to all the Conventions ix Chapter 1 Introduction: Why does Australia have a Senate? 1 Chapter 2 On Whose Authority? 33 Chapter 3 In Their Own Image: Did the delegates to the Federal 64 Conventions see themselves as models of an ideal senator? Chapter 4 The Wisest, the Safest, the Best: Colonial Upper Houses as 96 Models. Chapter 5 The Lamp of Experience. 128 Chapter 6 A Proper Forum for Sober Second Thought: The Senates of 157 Canada and the United States as models for the Australian Senate. Chapter 7 The Inherent Sacredness of Sovereign Power: Parliamentary 194 Architecture and the Australian Senate. Chapter 8 The Ritual is real in politics: Tradition, Ritual, Symbolism and 235 ceremony in the Australian Senate. Conclusion The Upper House we Had to Have. 270 vi Contents Appendices 1. Schedule of Books recommended by Richard Baker. 276 2. Seating arrangements in Upper Chambers. 279 3. Architectural plans of Provisional Parliament House showing proposed seating layouts. 284 4. The Chambers of Upper Houses. 287 Bibliography 293 vii Abbreviations AGPS Australian Government Publishing Service BNA British North America Act CPD Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates CRS Congress Research Service NAA National Archives of Australia NLA National Library of Australia viii Names of delegates to all Conventions Name of Delegate Colony Conventions attended Abbott, The Honorable Joseph Palmer, M.P. NSW 1891, 1897-8 Atkinson, The Honorable Sir Harry Albert, M.L.C. NZ 1891 Baker, Richard Chaffey, M.L.C. SA 1891, 1897-98 Barton, The Honorable Edmund, M.L.C. NSW 1891, 1897-98 Berry, Graham Vic 1897-98 Bird, Bolton Stafford, M.H.A. Tas 1890, 1891 Braddon, Edward Tas 1897-98 Bray, Sir John Cox, M.P. SA 1891 Briggs, Henry, M.L.C. WA 1897-98 (Sydney, Melbourne) Brown, Nicholas John, M.H.A. Tas 1891, 1897-98 Brunker, James NSW 1897-98 Burgess, William Henry, M.H.A Tas 1891 Carruthers, Joseph NSW 1897-98 Clark, Andrew Inglis, M.H.A. Tas 1890, 1891 Clarke, Matthew Tas 1897-98 Cockburn, Dr. John Alexander, M.P. SA 1890, 1891, 1897-98 Crowder, Frederick WA 1897-98 (Sydney, Melbourne) Cuthbert, Henry, M.L.C. Vic 1891 Deakin, Alfred, M.P. Vic 1890, 1891, 1897-98 Dibbs, George Richard, M.P. NSW 1891 Dobson, Henry Tas 1897-98 Donaldson, John, M.P. NZ 1891 Douglas, Adye, M.L.C. Tas 1891, 1897-98 Downer, Sir John William, M.P. SA 1891, 1897-98 Forrest, John, M.P. WA 1891, 1897-98 Forrest, Alexander, M.P. WA 1891 Fitzgerald, Nicholas, M.L.C. Vic 1891 Fraser, Simon Vic 1897-98 Fysh, Philip Oakley, M.L.C. Tas 1891, 1897-98 Gillies, Duncan, M.P. Vic 1890, 1891 Glynn, Patrick SA 1897-98 Gordon, John Hannah, M.L.C. SA 1891, 1897-98 Grant, Charles Tas 1897-98 ix Names of delegates to all Conventions Name of Delegate Colony Conventions attended Grey, Sir George NZ 1891 Griffith, Sir Samuel Walker, M.P. Qld 1890, 1891 Hackett, John Winthrop, M.L.C. WA 1891, 1897-98 Hall, John NZ 1890, 1891 Hassell, Albert WA 1897-98 Henning, Andrew WA 1897-98 (Sydney, Melbourne) Henry, John Tas 1897-98 Higgins, Henry Vic 1897-98 Holder, Frederick SA 1897-98 Howe, James SA 1897-98 Isaacs, Isaac Vic 1897-98 James, Walter WA 1897-98 Jennings, Sir Patrick Alfred, M.L.C.
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