AUSTRALIA
FILLING SENATE CASUAL VACANCIES IN AUSTRALIA
As part of supplementary budget estimates between 18-22 November 2013 the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee examined the filling of Senate casual vacancies. The examination focused on the vacancies caused by the resignation of Sen. the Hon. Bob Carr. At the election on 7 September, Senator Carr was elected to a new term commencing on 1 July 2014. Soon after the election he resigned and was required to lodge a double resignation, from his current term and from his term commencing in 2014. The Senate Procedural Information Bulletin (SPIB) noted that “while this has not happened before, the situation is contemplated in Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice in the case of a Senator either choosing to resign or becoming subject to a disqualification”. The President of the Senate advised the Governor of New South Wales of the double vacancy. Following receipt of advice from the Crown Solicitor, the New South Wales Parliament opted to fill only one of the vacancies. Senator Deb O’Neil was appointed for the vacancy up until 30 June 2014. During estimates consideration of this matter, the Clerk of the Senate, Dr Rosemary Laing commented that “the New South Wales Parliament has taken the view, quite validly, that, because there is currently only one vacancy, they have filled the current vacancy until 30 June 2014. That means
that at some point in the future, and perhaps following the logic of the advice that the New South
she will not continue to be paid as a Senator during the interim; her staff will be subject to the provisions in the MOP(S) Act that cover parliamentary staff; she will have the usual period of grace with her office accommodation, and of course we would look at being very flexible with regard to her”.
On a different matter, the Sen. the Hon. John Faulkner
Wales Parliament tabled, they will fill the second vacancy at some point next year. I expect not until after 1 July”. Senator the Hon. John
Faulkner noted that “if that process is followed, we will see a situation where the vacancy will not be filled until effectively there is a vacancy. So it is not beyond the realms of possibility, if this current course of action is progressed, that we would see Senator O’Neill cease to become a senator on 30 June 2014, and then become a Senator again at a new joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament?” Senator Faulkner asked what issues would arise for the Senator and her staff when she ceases to be a Senator on 30 June. Dr Laing responded that “the issues that arise are both procedural and practical. In practical terms, Senator O’Neill will cease to be a Senator on 30 June—therefore,
Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee examined the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) over its administration of the Western Australian half- Senate election in which a recount was ordered and subsequently 1370 ballot papers were found to be missing. The Australian Electoral Commissioner, Mr Ed Killesteyn, commented that “the failure to account for all Senate ballot papers in Western Australia has left doubt in the minds of the candidates and wider electorate about the results of the Senate election, something I was seeking to overcome when I ordered that a recount should take place in accordance with section 278 of the act in respect of the announcement of the first poll result”. Mr Killesteyn advised that “on
15 November 2013, the Australian Electoral Commission lodged a petition with the High Court, acting as the Court of Disputed Returns. The petition was lodged on the basis that the result of the Western Australian Senate election was likely to be affected as a result of the omission of 1370
Senate ballots misplaced by the AEC and that the election should be declared void”. Senator Dean Smith noted
that of the six Senate positions available “there should not be dispute regarding the first four candidates”. Mr Killesteyn agreed stating that “there were no differences in the first four candidates irrespective of whether the missing ballots were included or not”. Senator Smith then made the point as to why it was necessary to seek to void the entire election through the petition. Mr Paul Pirani, AEC, responded that “the issue here is that it is a half-Senate election. We cannot divide up that election. The writs that were issued by the Governor for Western Australia was for a half-Senate election of six senators. We could not think of a way in which the first four senators could somehow be separated from the total election which is a half-Senate election of six senators”. Senator Lee Rhiannon
asked the AEC what lesson had been learnt from the incident and whether “more training needs to be given to people following an election so that you have more experienced staff”. Mr Killesteyn responded that
“it is a range of things. It is training but it is also moving to efficient systems. The fact that we have had technology applied to the pre-election period in terms of the close of rolls, notwithstanding that we have set records across all factors, enabled us to do 85
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