Double dissolution

Double dissolution

A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Unlike with the UK and Canadian Parliaments, Australia's two parliamentary houses generally have equal legislative power. This is because at the time the Constitution was written, the two houses of the UK Parliament still had equal power. The only exception is that appropriation (money) bills must originate in the House of Representatives and cannot be amended by the Senate (although they may be rejected outright). With the Senate having more or less equal power, governments, which are formed in the House of Representatives, can be seriously frustrated by Senate majorities determined to reject their legislation. This can be the case even when a government has a very strong majority in the House of Representatives.

If the Senate and House twice fail to agree on a piece of legislation, Section 57 of the Constitution allows the Governor-General to dissolve the House and the entire Senate and issue writs for an election in which every seat in the Parliament is contested. This is the only occasion on which the entire Senate is dissolved. The conditions stipulated by Section 57 are:

  • the bill must have originated in the House of Representatives
  • a period of three months must elapse between the two rejections of the bill by the Senate ("rejection" in this context can extend to the Senate's failure to pass the bill, or to the Senate passing it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree)
  • the second rejection may occur in the same session as the first, or the subsequent session, but no later.

There is no similar provision for resolving deadlocks with respect to bills that have originated in the Senate and are blocked in the House of Representatives.

Convention dictates that the Governor-General act only on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, the Governor-General is not compelled to follow that advice. In these cases, he or she must be personally satisfied that the conditions specified in the Constitution do indeed apply, and is entitled to seek additional information or advice before coming to a decision.

Section 57 provides:

If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.

Section 57 also provides that, following the election, if the Senate a third time rejects the bill or bills that were the subject of the double dissolution, the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of the two houses to consider the bill or bills, including any amendments which have been previously proposed in either house, or any new amendments. If a bill is passed by an absolute majority of the total membership of the joint sitting, it is treated as though it had been passed separately by both houses, and is presented for Royal Assent.

There were double dissolutions in 1914, 1951, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1987. However, the 1974 Joint Sitting is so far the only one held pursuant to Section 57.[1]

The following table is a summary of the relevant details:

Date of double dissolution Date of election Governor-General Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition Outcome
30 July 1914 5 September 1914 Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson Joseph Cook Andrew Fisher Called over the Government Preference Prohibition Bill, which sought to abolish preferential employment for trade union members in the public service. The Cook Commonwealth Liberal Party government was defeated by Andrew Fisher's Australian Labor Party.[2]
19 March 1951 28 April 1951 Sir William McKell Robert Menzies Ben Chifley Called over the Commonwealth Bank Bill. The Menzies Liberal-Country Party coalition government was opposed by Chifley's Labor Party, but was returned with a majority in both houses. The Commonwealth Bank Bill was presented to Parliament again and passed both houses.[3]
11 April 1974 18 May 1974 Sir Paul Hasluck Gough Whitlam Billy Snedden Called over 6 bills.[4] The Whitlam Labor government was returned, but still without a majority in the Senate. The bills were reintroduced and again rejected by the Senate. Sir Paul Hasluck's term ended on 11 July and the new Governor-General Sir John Kerr approved Whitlam's request for a joint sitting. This was held on 6-7 August 1974, and it passed all the bills. Subsequently, the High Court ruled that Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill had not been eligible for the double dissolution process, as the Senate had not had sufficient time to "fail to pass" it.[5]
11 November 1975 13 December 1975 Sir John Kerr Malcolm Fraser (caretaker) Gough Whitlam Called over 21 bills.[6] Fraser, who, as Leader of the Liberal-Country coalition Opposition, had opposed the bills, had been appointed caretaker Prime Minister in extraordinary circumstances following Kerr's dismissal of the Whitlam government. The Fraser minority government immediately lost a no-confidence motion in the lower house; however, on Fraser's advice, Kerr dissolved the Parliament before the Speaker Gordon Scholes had an opportunity to advise Kerr to invite Whitlam to form a government again. Fraser remained the caretaker Prime Minister during the election campaign. On 13 December the Fraser government was elected in its own right.[7]
3 February 1983 5 March 1983 Sir Ninian Stephen Malcolm Fraser Bob Hawke Called over 13 bills.[8] When Fraser called the election, he expected he would be facing Bill Hayden as the alternative prime minister. But unbeknown to Fraser, Labor had changed leadership from Hayden to Bob Hawke earlier that same morning. The Fraser coalition government was defeated by the Labor opposition led by Hawke.[9]
5 June 1987 11 July 1987 Sir Ninian Stephen Bob Hawke John Howard Called over the Australia Card Bill. The Hawke government was returned, but still without a Senate majority. The bill was reintroduced in September and a vote in the Senate was planned for 7 October. After Ewart Smith pointed out that the Australia Card bill was unworkable because the implementation date was not part of the legislation, Hawke decided to abandon the bill.[10][11]

Notes

  1. ^ Note: Joint sittings sometimes occur under different circumstances that have nothing to do with S. 57. For example, see Casual Senate vacancies in the representation of the Territories. Also, the Parliament is always opened by the Governor-General (or the Queen when she is visiting Australia) by an address to a joint sitting; the Parliament met in secret joint session on some occasions during World War II; and informal joint sittings are sometimes convened to receive an address by a visiting head of state. For comprehensive details, see Joint meetings of the Australian Parliament.
  2. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1914". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2106.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
  3. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1951". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2107.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
  4. ^ The 6 bills were:
    • Commonwealth Electoral Bill (No. 2) 1973
    • Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill 1973
    • Representation Bill 1973
    • Health Insurance Bill 1973
    • Health Insurance Commission Bill 1973
    • Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill 1973
  5. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1974". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2108.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
  6. ^ The 21 bills were:
    • Health Insurance Levy Bill 1974
    • Health Insurance Levy Assessment Bill 1974
    • Income Tax (International Agreements) Bill 1974
    • Minerals (Submerged Lands) Bill 1974
    • Minerals (Submerged Lands) (Royalty) Bill 1974
    • National Health Bill 1974
    • Conciliation and Arbitration Bill 1974
    • Conciliation and Arbitration Bill (No. 2) 1974
    • National Investment Fund Bill 1974
    • Electoral Laws Amendment Bill 1974
    • Electoral Bill 1975
    • Privy Council Appeals Abolition Bill 1975
    • Superior Court of Australia Bill 1974
    • Electoral Re-distribution (New South Wales) Bill 1975
    • Electoral Re-distribution (Queensland) Bill 1975
    • Electoral Re-distribution (South Australia) Bill 1975
    • Electoral Re-distribution (Tasmania) Bill 1975
    • Electoral Re-distribution (Victoria) Bill 1975
    • Broadcasting and Television Bill (No. 2) 1974
    • Television Stations Licence Fees Bill 1974
    • Broadcasting Stations Licence Fees Bill 1974
  7. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1975". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2109.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
  8. ^ The 13 bills were:
    • 9 Sales Tax Amendment Bills (Nos 1A to 9A) 1981
    • Canberra College of Advanced Education Bill
    • States Grants (Tertiary Education Assistance) Amendment Bill (No. 2)
    • Australian National University Amendment Bill (No. 3)
    • Social Services Amendment Bill (No. 3) 1981
  9. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1983". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2110.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 
  10. ^ Roger Clarke (1987). "Just Another Piece of Plastic for your Wallet: The 'Australia Card' Scheme". Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd. Published in Prometheus 5,1 (June 1987). Republished in Computers & Society 18,1 (January 1988), together with an important Addendum, published in Computers & Society 18,3 (July 1988). http://www.rogerclarke.com/DV/OzCard.html. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  11. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Publications: Odgers' Guide to Australian Senate Practice - Twelfth Edition - Chapter 21 - Relations with the House of Representatives - Simultaneous dissolutions of 1987". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/odgers/chap2111.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26. 

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