Commonwealth Parliament: An Historic Proroguement?

Wednesday 20 April 2016 @ 12.04 p.m.

On 21 March 2016 the Prime Minister wrote to the Governor-General to ask the Governor-General to prorogue Parliament on Friday 15 April 2016 and summon Parliament to sit again on Monday 18 April 2016.

The Prime Minister stated that the reason for recalling Parliament was to consider two sets of legislation:

  • Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013 and Building and Construction Industry (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013; and the 
  • Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014

The Prime Minister stated that it was the Government’s preference to have the Bills passed ‘rather than invoke the double dissolution procedure for both houses of Parliament.

What are the Effects of Prorogation?

The principal effect of ending a session by prorogation is to terminate business. After the Parliament is prorogued, bills and other business before the House of Representatives lapse and will need to be reintroduced in the next Parliament. Business before the Senate lapses immediately before the commencement of the next Parliament. Members are released from their parliamentary duties until Parliament is next summoned. All unfinished business is dropped from the Notice Paper and all committees lose their power to transact business, providing a fresh start for the next session. No committee can sit during a prorogation. 

Bills which have not received Royal Assent before prorogation are “entirely terminated” and, in order to be proceeded with in the new session, must be reintroduced as if they had never existed.

Why might the 2016 Progation be historic?

According to the Guardian, the 2016 prorogation may be historic as "the move relies on power in section 5 of the constitution for the governor general, which says he or she can set sessions of the parliament when he or she wants by proroguing parliament. The governor general did so in a proclamation on Monday, 21 March 2016, proroguing parliament on 15 April 2016 for a new session to begin on 18 April 2016."

Before 2016, this form of prorogation, according to the Guardian had only occurred four times since 1961. Two of those occasions were to allow the Queen to open parliament during her visits to Australia in 1974 and 1977, and the instance in 1968 followed the death of prime minister Harold Holt and the formation of a new ministry.

The Parliament of Australia is yet to publish any new sitting calendars before the Federal election on 2 July 2016.

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