Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier today, four members of the House, the members for Mayo, Longman, Braddon and Fremantle, acknowledged that they were no longer eligible to sit in the parliament, following the decision of the High Court in the Gallagher case. My question to you is: have you received their resignations yet?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Leader of the House quite rightly points out, to resign from the House, a member needs to write to me. Once I've received it and annotated it, that resignation is effective. Certainly, by the time I entered question time, I hadn't received letters of resignation. Given the Leader of the House has asked me that question, I will, for the benefit of members—without interjections from either side—outline the process. If the House is sitting, once I've received a letter of resignation and annotated it, it's my duty to come into the House and advise the House. If the House is not sitting—and this has been the case on a number of occasions—my practice has been to publicise the fact that I've received it as soon as I possibly can. That's the case and that's my responsibility.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Following your answer to that question, could you inform the House what the situation is in the case of a member who's indicated that they're ineligible to sit in the parliament—in other words, be a member of parliament—but has not yet formally resigned in terms of the status of their use of entitlements and so on as members of parliament up until the resignation is received?

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs will cease interjecting. I'm not responsible for members' entitlements. They are almost wholly the responsibility of the Special Minister of State. But the point I'd make is: members can indicate they are going to resign, and, until they have, they remain members of parliament. That's the case. I certainly don't have the power to dismiss members from the House, and I don't think the House would like me to have that power. The Leader of the House with a further question.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd ask you to consider the situation in terms of the precedent in the House of Representatives Practice because, of course, in this situation, they've acknowledged that they're not eligible to be members of parliament. As a consequence, they should not be able to use their entitlements.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I will say to the Leader of the House is that I think I've answered the question as completely as I can. Section 37 of the Constitution makes it very clear how a resignation occurs, and I've just pulled it out while the Leader of the House has been talking. I will read it to the House:

A member may by writing addressed to the Speaker, or to the Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon shall become vacant.

Until any member does that, they remain a member of parliament. That's not a matter for Practice. That is in the Australian Constitution. If I've got anything to say on the other matters, of course, I'd report that back to the House. But certainly, in terms of electorate offices and the like, those are matters for the government, so the Leader of the House may wish to take that up with the Special Minister of State.