Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Wong, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that former Senator John Faulkner resigned his place as a Senator for the State of New South Wales by letter to the President of the Senate on 6 February 2015;

(b) notes that the vacancy in the representation of New South Wales arising from the resignation of Senator Faulkner was notified to the Governor of New South Wales by the President of the Senate in accordance with section 21 of the Constitution on 9 February 2015;

(c) reaffirms its resolution of 3 June 1992 (reaffirmed on 7 May 1997) in which the Senate:

(i) expressed the view that casual vacancies in the Senate should be filled as expeditiously as possible, so that no state is without its full representation in the Senate for any time longer than is necessary;

(ii) recognised that under section 15 of the Constitution an appointment to a vacancy in the Senate may be delayed because the Houses of the Parliament of the relevant state are adjourned but have not been prorogued, which, on a strict construction of this section, prevents the Governor of the state making the appointment; and

(iii) recommended that all state parliaments adopt procedures for casual vacancies to be filled expeditiously within 14 days after notification of the vacancy, including by recall if necessary;

(d) notes That the New South Wales Houses were prorogued on 2 March 2015, the Legislative Council until 5 May 2015 and the Legislative Assembly until 6 March 2015 on which day it expired prior to an election to be held on 28 March 2015; and

(e) calls on the Government and the Parliament of New South Wales to take all necessary steps to ensure That the people of that state are not denied full representation in the Senate for any time longer than is strictly necessary.

Question agreed to.