Australian Senate

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Australian Senate
Type Upper house
President Alan Ferguson, Liberal
since 14 August 2007, with John Hogg, Labor from 1 July 2008[1]
Members 76
Political groups Coalition (39)
ALP (28)
Green (4)
Democrat (4)
FFP (1)
Last elections 24 November 2007
Meeting place Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
Web site Senate

The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is known as the House of Representatives. Senators, popularly elected under a system of proportional representation, serve terms of six years.[2] Significant power is conferred upon the Senate by the Australian Constitution, including the capacity to block legislation initiated by the government in the House of Representatives, making it a distinctive hybrid of British Westminster bicameralism and an American separation of powers.

Contents

[edit] Origins and role

Entrance to the Senate
Entrance to the Senate
High-resolution image of the Senate
High-resolution image of the Senate
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The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the Senate as part of the new system of dominion government in newly-federated Australia. From a comparative governmental perspective, the Australian Senate exhibits distinctive characteristics, in that unlike upper houses in other Westminster system governments, the Senate is not a vestigial body with limited legislative power, but rather it was intended to play, and does play, an active role in legislation. Rather than being modelled after the House of Lords, as the Canadian Senate was, the Australian Senate was in part modelled after the United States Senate, by giving equal representation to each state. The Constitution intended to give less populous states added voice in a Federal legislature, while also providing for the revising role of an upper house in the Westminster system.

Although the Prime Minister, by convention, serves as a member of the House of Representatives, other ministers may come from either house, and the two houses have almost equal legislative power. As with most upper chambers in bicameral parliaments, the Senate cannot introduce Appropriation Bills (bills that authorise government expenditure of public revenue) or bills that impose taxation, that role being reserved for the lower house. That degree of equality between the Senate and House of Representatives is in part due to the age of the Australian constitution - it was enacted before the confrontation in 1909 in Britain between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which ultimately resulted in the restrictions placed on the powers of the House of Lords by the Parliament Act - but also reflected the desire of the Constitution's authors to have the upper house act as a 'stabilising' influence on the expression of popular democracy (much as the colonial Legislative Councils functioned as at the time). The smaller states also desired strong powers for the Senate as a way of ensuring that the interests of more populous states as represented in the House of Representatives did not totally dominate the government.

In practice, however, most legislation (except for Private Member's Bills) in the Australian Parliament is initiated by the Government, which has control over the lower house. It is then passed to the Senate, which may amend the bill or refuse to pass it. In the majority of cases, voting takes place along party lines, although there are occasional conscience votes.

[edit] Where the houses disagree

There are detailed conventions and rules regarding situations in which the Senate and the House of Representatives disagree. If the Senate repeatedly refuses to pass legislation initiated in the lower house, the Government may either abandon the bill, continue to revise it, or, in certain circumstances, dissolve the entire parliament in a double dissolution. This is followed by an election at which all seats in the parliament are contested. If the government is returned, the bills in question are reintroduced, and they again fail to pass the Senate, the government may call a joint sitting of the two houses in an attempt to pass the bills.

On 8 October 2003, the Prime Minister John Howard initiated public discussion of whether the mechanism for the resolution of deadlocks between the houses should be reformed. High levels of support for the existing mechanism, and a very low level of public interest in that discussion, resulted in the abandonment of these proposals.[3]

[edit] Blocking Supply

The constitutional text denies the Senate the power to originate or amend appropriation bills, in deference to the conventions of the classical Westminster system, under which the executive government is responsible for its use of public funds to the lower house, which has the power to bring down a government by blocking its access to Supply - i.e. revenue appropriated through taxation. The arrangement as expressed in the Australian Constitution, however, still leaves the Senate with the power to reject supply bills or defer their passage - undoubtedly one of the Senate's most contentious and most powerful abilities.

The ability to block Supply was the origin of Australia's most significant constitutional crisis, that of 1975. The Opposition used its numbers in the Senate to defer supply bills, refusing to deal with them until an election was called for both Houses of Parliament, an election which it hoped to win. The Prime Minister of the day, Gough Whitlam, contested the legitimacy of the blocking and refused to resign. The crisis brought to a head two Westminster conventions that, under the Australian constitutional system, were in conflict - firstly, that a government may continue to govern for as long as it has the support of the lower house, and secondly, that a government that no longer has access to Supply must either resign or be dismissed. The crisis was resolved in November 1975 when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Whitlam's government and appointed a caretaker government on condition that elections for both houses of parliament be held. This action in itself was a source of controversy and debate continues on the proper usage of the Senate's ability to block Supply and on whether such a power should even exist.

[edit] The membership of the Senate

Under the Constitution, the Senate must:

  • comprise an equal number of Senators from each original state;
  • have at least six Senators per state;
  • contain a total number of Senators that is as close as possible to half the number of members of the House of Representatives; and
  • ensure any laws governing the election of Senators is non-discriminatory among states.

These conditions have periodically been the source of debate, and within these conditions, the composition and rules of the Senate have varied significantly since federation.

[edit] Voting system

The voting system for the Senate has changed twice since it was created. The original arrangement involved a first past the post block voting mechanism. This was replaced in 1919 by preferential block voting. Block voting tended to grant landslide majorities and even "wipe-outs" very easily. In 1946, the Australian Labor Party government won 33 out of the 36 Senate seats. In 1948, partially in response to this extreme situation, proportional representation became the method for electing the Senate.

[edit] Senate Ballot Paper

The Australian Senate voting paper under the single transferable vote system resembles this example, which shows the candidates for Tasmanian senate representation in the 2004 federal election.

Senate election - Tasmania
A
[_] Liberal		 B
[_] CEC		 C
[_] Democrats		 D
[_] Family First		 E
[_] CDP		 F
[_] Ind.		 G
[_]		 H
[_] Greens		 I
[_] ALP
Ungrouped
[_] Abetz E
[_] Barnett G
[_] Parry S
 [_] Larner R
[_] Watts A
 [_] Onsman Y
[_] Cass S
 [_] Petrusma J
[_] Bergman L
[_] Smith L
 [_] Mitchell D
[_] Fracalossi M
 [_] Murphy S
 [_] Martin S
[_] Newman J
 [_] Milne C
[_] Cassidy K
[_] Millen T
 [_] O'Brien K
[_] Polley H
[_] Price D
[_] Wells N
 [_] Newitt R
[_] Gargan E
[_] Ottavi D
[_] McDonald J

Electors must either:

  • Vote for an individual party by writing the number "1" in a single box above the line - this means the elector wants their preferences distributed according to a party's or group's officially registered ticket.
  • Vote for all candidates by writing the numbers 1, 2, 3, through to the last number (in this example, 26) in all the individual boxes below the line.

Because each state elects 6 senators at each half-senate election, the quota for election is only 1/7th or 14.3% (1/3rd or 33.3% for territories, where only 2 senators are elected). Once a candidate has been elected with votes reaching the quota amount, any votes they receive in addition to this may be distributed to other candidates as preferences.

Some states may have upwards of 70 candidates on their ballot papers, and the voter must individually number every single candidate for a "below the line" vote to count. As a result the "above the line" system was implemented. Over 95% of electors vote "above the line".

The ungrouped candidates in the far right column do not have a box above the line. Therefore they can only get a primary (number 1) vote from electors who vote below the line. For this reason, some independents register as a group, either with other independents or by themselves, such as groups F and G in the above example.

[edit] Size

The size of the Senate has changed over the years. The Australian Constitution requires that the number of Senators approximate as nearly as possible to half of the number of members of the House of Representatives, and it has therefore grown periodically. The Constitution originally provided for six Senators for each state, and thus a total of 36 senators. This was increased to ten Senators per state (and a total of 60) in 1948. In 1975, the two territories, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, elected 2 Senators each for the first time, bringing the number to 64. The last expansion took place in 1984, under which the number of senators from each state increased from 10 to 12, and the entire Senate to 76.[4] The Senators from the Northern Territory also represent constituents from Australia's Indian Ocean Territories (Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands), while the Senators from the Australian Capital Territory also represent voters from the Jervis Bay Territory.

Normally, senators and members of the House of Representatives are elected at the same time, although their terms do not coincide. Slightly more than half of the Senate is contested at each general election (half of the 72 state senators, and all four of the territory senators), along with the entire House of Representatives. State senators are normally elected for fixed terms of six years, commencing on 1 July following the election, and ceasing on 30 June six years later. The terms of the four senators from the territories are not fixed, but are defined by the dates of the general elections for the House of Representatives, the period between which can vary greatly, to a maximum of three years and three months. Members of the lower house commence their terms on election day, and their terms expire the day prior to the following general election day [5]. As a result, the new Parliament will for some time comprise a new House of Representatives and a substantially old, lame-duck Senate.

Following a double dissolution, all 76 senators face re-election. There have been elections at which only half the Senate was up for election. The last time this occurred was on 21 November 1970.

[edit] The "Unrepresentative" House?

As a body intended to provide equal representation to smaller states, the Senate (like many upper houses) necessarily does not adhere to the principle of "one vote one value"; Tasmania, with a population of 450,000, elects the same number of Senators as New South Wales, which has a population of 6 million. Perhaps because of this imbalance, Prime Minister Paul Keating famously referred to the Senate's members as "unrepresentative swill".[6] Nevertheless, the proportional election system within each state ensures that the Senate incorporates more political diversity than the lower house, which is basically a two party body. The elected membership of the Senate more closely reflects the first voting preference of the electorate as a whole than does the composition of the House of Representatives, despite the large discrepencies from state to state in the ratio of voters to Senators.[7][8] This often means that the composition of the Senate is different to that of the House of Representatives, contributing to the Senate's function as a house of review.

[edit] Parties in the Australian Senate

The overwhelming majority of Senators have always been elected as representatives of political parties. Parties which currently have representation in the Senate are:

Parties which have held Senate seats in the past include the Democratic Labor Party, Liberal Movement, One Nation and the Nuclear Disarmament Party. The Australian Democrats won no seats in the 2007 federal election, and will have no federal representation after the current senators' terms end in June 2008.

Due to the need to obtain votes state-wide, independent candidates have difficulty getting elected. The exceptions in recent times have been the Tasmanian Brian Harradine and the South Australian Nick Xenophon.

The Australian Senate serves as a model for some politicians in Canada, particularly in the Western provinces, who wish to reform the Canadian Senate to take a more active legislative role.

[edit] The Senate in practice

[edit] The work of the Senate

The Australian Senate typically sits for 50 to 60 days a year.[9] Most of those days are grouped into 'sitting fortnights' of two four-day weeks. These are in turn arranged in three periods: the autumn sittings, from February to April; the winter sittings, which commence with the delivery of the budget in the House of Representatives on the first sitting day of May and run through to June or July; and the spring sittings, which commence around August and continue until December, and which typically contain the largest number of the year's sitting days.

In addition to the work of the main chamber, the Senate also has a large number of committees which deal with matters referred to them by the Senate. These committees also conduct hearings three times a year in which the government's budget and operations are examined. These are known as estimates hearings. Traditionally dominated by scrutiny of government activities by non-government senators, they provide the opportunity for all senators to ask questions of ministers and public officials.

The senate has a regular schedule that structures its typical working week.[10]

[edit] Holding governments to account

One of the functions of the Senate, both directly and through its committees, is to scrutinise government activity. The vigour of this scrutiny has been fuelled for many years by the fact that the party in government has seldom had a majority in the Senate. Whereas in the House of Representatives the government's majority has sometimes limited that chamber's capacity to implement executive scrutiny, the opposition and minor parties have been able to use their Senate numbers as a basis for conducting inquiries into government operations. When the Howard government won control of the Senate in 2005, it sparked a debate about the effectiveness of the Senate in holding the government of the day accountable for its actions. Government members argued that the Senate continues to be a forum of vigorous debate, and its committees continue to be active.[11] The Opposition leader in the Senate suggested that the government had attenuated the scrutinising activities of the Senate.[12] The Australian Democrats, a minor party which has frequently played mediating and negotiating roles in the Senate, expressed concern about a diminished role for the Senate's committees.[13]

[edit] Votes in the Senate

Senators are called upon to vote on matters before the Senate. These votes are called divisions in the case of Senate business, or ballots where the vote is to choose a Senator to fill an office of the Senate (such as President of the Australian Senate).[14]

Party discipline in Australian politics is extremely tight, so divisions almost always are decided on party lines. Nevertheless, the existence of minor parties holding the balance of power in the Senate has made divisions in that chamber more important and occasionally more dramatic than in the House of Representatives.

When a division is to be held, bells ring throughout the parliament building for four minutes, during which time Senators must go to the chamber. At the end of that period the doors are locked and a vote is taken, by identifying and counting senators according to the side of the chamber on which they sit (ayes to the right of the chair, noes to the left). The whole procedure takes around eight minutes. Senators with commitments that keep them from the chamber may make arrangements in advance to be 'paired' with a senator of the opposite political party, so that their absence does not affect the outcome of the vote.

The senate contains an even number of Senators, so a tied vote is a real prospect (which regularly occurs when the party numbers in the chamber are finely balanced). Section 23 of the Constitution requires that in the event of a tied division, the question is resolved in the negative. The system is however different for ballots for offices such as the President. If such a ballot is tied, the Clerk of the Senate decides the outcome by the drawing of lots. In reality, conventions govern most ballots, so this situation does not arise.

[edit] Political parties and voting outcomes

The extent to which party discipline determines the outcome of parliamentary votes is highlighted by the rarity with which members of the same political party will find themselves on opposing sides of a vote. The exceptions are where a conscience vote is allowed by one or more of the political parties; and occasions where a member of a political party crosses the floor of the chamber to vote against the instructions of their party whip.

One feature of the government having a majority in both chambers between 1 July 2005 and the 2007 elections was the potential for an increased emphasis on internal differences between members of the government parties.[15] This period saw the first instances of crossing the floor by Senators since the conservative government took office in 1996:[16] Gary Humphries on civil unions in the Australian Capital Territory, and Barnaby Joyce on voluntary student unionism.[17] A more significant potential instance of floor crossing was averted when the government withdrew its Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill, of which several government Senators had been critical, and which would have been defeated had it proceeded to the vote.[18] The controversy that surrounded these examples demonstrated both the importance of backbenchers in party policy deliberations and the limitations to their power to influence outcomes in the Senate chamber.

[edit] The composition of the Senate

Main articles: State-by-state upper house results, Members of the Australian Senate, 2005-2008, Members of the Australian Senate, 2008-2011

The election results of the most recent federal election, were as follows:[19][20]

Senate (STV GV) — Turnout 95.17% (CV) — Informal 2.55%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held Change
  Australian Labor Party 5,101,200 40.30 +5.28 18 32 +4
  Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) 3,883,479[21] 30.68 +4.96      
  Liberal Party of Australia 1,110,366[21] 8.77 -8.88 15 32 -2
  National Party of Australia 20,997[21] 0.17 -1.20 2 4 0
  Australian Greens 1,144,751 9.04 +1.38 3 5 +1
  Family First Party 204,788 1.62 –0.14 0 1 0
  Australian Democrats 162,975 1.29 –0.80 0 0 -4
  Country Liberal Party 40,253 0.32 –0.03 1 1 0
  Independents 174,458 1.38 * 1 1 +1
  Other 813,538 6.43 –0.21 0 0 0
  Total 12,656,805     40 76

Independents: Nick Xenophon

The new Senators, and thus the new composition of the Senate, commence their terms in July 2008.

[edit] Party composition

[edit] Historical

The Senate has included representatives from a range of political parties, including several parties that have seldom or never had representation in the House of Representatives, but which have consistently secured a small but significant level of electoral support, as the table shows.[22]

Year Total ALP Coalition Democrats Greens Other
1974-1975 60 29 29 2 (Townley, 1 LM)
1975-1978 64 27 35 2 (Harradine, 1 LM)
1978-1981 64 26 35 2 1 (Harradine)
1981-1983 64 27 31 5 1 (Harradine)
1983 64 30 28 5 1 (Harradine)
1984 76 34 33 7 2 (Harradine, 1 NDP)
1987-1990 76 32 34 7 3 (Harradine, Vallentine, 1 NDP)
1990-1993 76 32 34 8 1 1 (Harradine)
1993-1996 76 30 36 7 2 1 (Harradine)
1996-1999 76 28 37 7 2 2 (Harradine, Colston )
1999-2002 76 29 35 9 1 2 (Harradine, 1 One Nation)
2002-2005 76 29 35 8 2 2 (Harradine, 1 One Nation)
2005-2008 76 28 39 4 4 1 (Family First)
2008-2011 76 32 37 0 5 2 (Nick Xenophon, 1 Family First)

[edit] Recent results

The 2004 result meant that, from 1 July 2005 until the 2007 general election, the party governing in the House of Representatives also had a majority of votes in the Senate. This government majority meant that, for the first time in a generation, a government did not generally have to negotiate with other political parties if it wanted to secure passage of legislation through parliament.

Party 02-08 05-11 ACT & NT Parliament 05-08
Liberal/National coalition 18 19 2 39
Australian Labor Party 12 14 2 28
Australian Democrats 4 0 0 4
Australian Greens 2 2 0 4
Family First 0 1 0 1
Total 36 36 4 76

The 2007 election resulted in changes in the composition of the Senate, which come into effect on 1 July 2008. Until that date, the ALP government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faces a hostile Senate controlled by an absolute majority of Liberal/National Coalition Senators. This is the first time since 1975 that a government in the House of Representatives has needed to negotiate with a Senate controlled by the Opposition. From July 2008 the Opposition will lose its absolute majority, and a balance of power situation is likely to resume.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22842968-29277,00.html
  2. ^ Apart from the four Senators representing the Territories. See the main body of the article.
  3. ^ Consultative Group on Constitutional Change, Resolving Deadlocks: The Public Response, March 2004 http://www.dpmc.gov.au/conschange/report/docs/report.pdf
  4. ^ Department of the Senate, Senate Brief No. 1, 'Electing Australia’s Senators', retrieved August 2007
  5. ^ Section 6 of the Senate (Representation of Territories) Act 1973
  6. ^ Question without Notice: Loan Council Arrangements House Hansard,
  7. ^ Lijphart A., 'Australian Democracy: Modifying Majoritarianism?', Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 34, No. 3, 1999, pp 313-326
  8. ^ Sawer, M., 'Overview: Institutional Design and the Role of the Senate', in Marian Sawer and Sarah Miskin (eds), Representation and Institutional Change: 50 Years of Proportional Representation in the Senate, Papers on Parliament series, Vol. 34, 1999, pp 1-12
  9. ^ Figures are available for each year on the Senate StatsNet http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/work/statistics/index.htm
  10. ^ Department of the Senate website, Senate weekly routine of business http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/work/routineofbus.htm
  11. ^ Senator the Hon Nick Minchin media release, 30 June 2006 http://www.financeminister.gov.au/media/2006/mr_432006.html
  12. ^ Senator Chris Evans, The tyranny of the majority (speech), 10 November 2005 http://www.chrisevans.alp.org.au/news/1105/senatespeeches10-01.php
  13. ^ Australian Democrats media release, 4 July 2006 http://www.democrats.org.au/docs/2006/PR_Senate_Attack_Accountability.pdf
  14. ^ Senate Standing Orders, numbers 7, 10, 98-105, 163
  15. ^ John Uhr, 'How Democratic is Parliament? A case study in auditing the performance of Parliaments', Democratic Audit of Australia, Discussion Paper, June 2005, retrieved January 2008
  16. ^ Peter Veness, 'Crossing floor 'courageous, futile', news.com.au, 15 June 2006, retrieved January 2008
  17. ^ Neither of these instances resulted in the defeat of a government proposal, as in both cases Senator Steve Fielding voted with the government.
  18. ^ Prime Minister's press conference, 14 August 2006 http://www.pm.gov.au/news/interviews/Interview2073.html
  19. ^ Australian Electoral Commission, Virtual Tally Room 2007, Senate results, First preferences by Group, retrieved January 2008
  20. ^ 2007 national upper house results: UOW
  21. ^ a b c The Liberal and National parties ran a joint ticket in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, which lists candidates from both parties on the same ticket. In South Australia and Western Australia, there is no joint ticket or coalition whatsoever. The Nationals do not field candidates in Tasmania and the territories, with the Country Liberal Party replacing both parties as the centre-right party in the Northern Territory.
  22. ^ The table has been simplified in the following ways:

[edit] Further reading

  • Stanley Bach, Platypus and Parliament: The Australian Senate in Theory and Practice, Department of the Senate, 2003.
  • Harry Evans, Odgers' Australian Senate Practice, A detailed reference work on all aspects of the Senate's powers, procedures and practices.
  • John Halligan, Robin Miller and John Power, Parliament in the Twenty-first Century: Institutional Reform and Emerging Roles, Melbourne University Pulishing, 2007.
  • Wilfried Swenden, Federalism and Second Chambers: Regional Representation in Parliamentary Federations: the Australian Senate and German Bundesrat Compared, P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2004.
  • John Uhr, The Senate and Proportional Representation: Public policy justifications of minority representation, Working Paper no. 69, Graduate Program in Public Policy, Australian National University, 1999.

[edit] External links

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