The Forty-Third Parliament

The Forty-Third Parliament

Part2 The Forty-third Parliament The Australian Parliament .......................................................... 7 The Sovereign .......................................................................... 9 The Governor-General ............................................................. 10 Senate ................................................................................... 11 Office holders .................................................................. 11 Senators.......................................................................... 12 House of Representatives ........................................................ 14 Office holders .................................................................. 14 Members of the House of Representatives ........................ 15 The Ministry ........................................................................... 19 The Gillard Ministry ......................................................... 19 The Shadow Ministry .............................................................. 22 Parliamentary Committees ...................................................... 24 Senate Committees ......................................................... 24 House of Representatives Committees .............................. 25 Joint Committees ............................................................ 25 Biographies of Senators and Members .................................... 26 Statistical information as at 1.7.2011 .................................... 252 Composition of the Parliament ....................................... 252 Age ............................................................................... 252 Length of service ........................................................... 252 Period of service ............................................................ 253 Prior elected service in government ............................... 259 Levels of qualifications .................................................. 260 Fields of qualifications ................................................... 261 Previous occupation ...................................................... 264 Overseas born ............................................................... 267 Officers of the departments of the Parliament ......................... 268 32nd Edition PARLIAMENTARY HANDBOOK of 2the Commonwealth of Australia Part 2 The Forty-third Parliament The Australian Parliament The first Parliament was opened in Melbourne on 9 May 1901 in the Exhibition Building. Under an agreement between the Commonwealth and the Victorian Governments, the Commonwealth Parliament met in the Victorian Parliament House from 1901 to 1927 during which time the Victorian Parliament was housed in the Exhibition Building. This was expected to be a temporary arrangement, but the Commonwealth Parliament did not meet in the provisional Parliament House in Canberra until 9 May 1927. The permanent Parliament House, built on Capital Hill, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988, and the first sittings in the new building took place on 22 August 1988. The centenary of the Parliament was celebrated in the Exhibition Building and the Victorian Parliament on 9 and 10 May 2001. The Commonwealth Parliament is bicameral, the Senate and the House of Representatives being its two legislative houses. The holders of government office—the Executive or Ministry—are responsible to the people’s elected representatives, and their tenure of office is dependent upon their retention of the confidence 2 Parliament The Forty-third of the lower House. By convention the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are members of the nd 32 Edition PARLIAMENTARY HANDBOOK of the Commonwealth of Australia House of Representatives. Senate The Senate has 76 members. Each State elects 12 Senators from State-wide electorates for six-year, fixed terms. Two Senators are elected from each of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory for three- year maximum terms that are tied to the terms of Members of the House of Representatives. For details of party representation in the Senate from 1901 see the table on p. 408. House of Representatives The Australian Parliament The House of Representatives currently has 150 members elected from single-member electorates. The Constitution requires that the number of Members must be, ‘as nearly as practicable’, twice that of the number of State Senators. Slight variations in House numbers can occur due to changes in the States’ and Territories’ entitlements—since 1984 the number has ranged from 147 to 150 Members. For details of party representation in the House from 1901 see the table on p. 409. The government By convention, the Governor-General commissions the leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Representatives to form a government. It is also a matter of convention to include a number of Senators in the Ministry. The 2010 federal election resulted in a hung parliament with both the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition gaining 72 seats. The Australian Labor Party was able to form government with the support of three 2 independents and the Greens member. The Gillard minority government was sworn in on 14 September 2010, and the first meeting of the 43rd Parliament was on 28 September 2010. For full details of the ministry, see pp. 19–21. Legislation Most Bills examined by Parliament are introduced by the government in the House of Representatives. Proposed laws appropriating revenue for the ordinary annual services of the government, or imposing taxation, can be introduced only in the House of Representatives. The Constitution imposes limitations on the power of the Senate over financial legislation, so that the upper house may not amend such legislation, nor may it amend any proposed law so as to increase any proposed charge or financial burden on the people. 7 Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011 Legislative conflict The Senate may reject any Bill. The Constitution provides a method for the resolution of any deadlock which may occur from the failure of the Senate to pass a Bill that has been passed by the House of Representatives. Under certain specified conditions, the Governor-General may dissolve both Houses, and elections for all House of Representatives and Senate seats are held. Such ‘double dissolution’ elections have been held in 1914, 1951, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1987. If, after such an election, a disputed Bill is again rejected, it can be put to a joint sitting of both houses. The only joint sitting to date was held in 1974. Sitting periods The Commonwealth Parliament must meet at least once each year. Before 1994 there were traditionally two sitting periods: Autumn (February–June) and Budget (August–December). Since 1994 there have been three 2 sittings each calendar year: Autumn (February–March), Budget (May–June), and Spring (August–December). The earlier arrangement may be reverted to when the electoral cycle makes a May budget impracticable. The following table shows the number of sitting days and number of Acts passed for each year for the ten years prior to the 2010 election. Sitting days and Acts passed Year H of R Senate Acts passed 2000 73 71 174 2001* 56 52 169 2002 69 60 148 The Australian Parliament 2003 74 64 150 2004* 59 49 158 2005 67 57 164 2006 68 58 172 2007* 50 41 184 2008 69 52 159 2009 68 53 136 2010* 55 40 150 *denotes election year The Forty-third Parliament Parliament The Forty-third The Parliamentary record The official record of the Senate is the Journals of the Senate, and that of the House of Representatives is the Votes and Proceedings. Parliamentary debates are recorded and published by the Department of Parliamentary Services as Parliamentary Debates, or Hansard. These contain the full text of speeches, petitions, notices of motion, questions without notice and the answers thereto, questions in writing and the answers thereto, and requests made to the Presiding Officers for detailed information concerning the Parliament. Parliamentary information on the Internet The Parliament of Australia home page is found at: www.aph.gov.au/. This contains links to the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Department of Parliamentary Services. Access is available to the Debates and the Notice Papers for both houses, as well as the Journals of the Senate, the Votes and Proceedings, Committee Hansards and other parliamentary information. The Parliamentary Library’s publications, including the Parliamentary Handbook, are available on this site, as well as subject guides to Internet resources. Parlinfo Search provides access to a range of parliamentary information. 8 Part 2 The Forty-third Parliament The Sovereign Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth Her Majesty Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, ascended the throne on 6 February 1952, was proclaimed Queen on 8 February 1952 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953. The Queen has visited Australia fourteen times during her reign. On three occasions Parliament has been opened by Her Majesty: 15 February 1954, 28 February 1974 and 8 March 1977. On 9 May 1988, Her Majesty opened the permanent Parliament House in Canberra, 61 years to the day after her father opened the provisional Parliament House. 2 Parliament The Forty-third The Sovereign 9 Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011 The Governor-General

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