45th Parliament of Australia

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For a general discussion of the Australian government's legislative branch, see Parliament of Australia.

45th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
44th ←
→ 46th
Parliament House (2017)
Parliament House (2017)
Parliament House (2017)
30 August 2016 – 11 April 2019
Members76 senators
150 representatives
Senate LeaderGeorge Brandis
(until 20 December 2017)
Mathias Cormann
(from 20 December 2017)
Senate PresidentStephen Parry
(until 2 November 2017)
Scott Ryan
(from 13 November 2017)
House LeaderChristopher Pyne
House SpeakerTony Smith
Sessions
1st: 30 August 2016 – 4 April 2019
flag Australia portal

The 45th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. It met in Canberra from 30 August 2016 to 4 April 2019. The 2016 general election held on 2 July gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House, albeit with a slimmer majority than the 44th Parliament, allowing their leader Malcolm Turnbull to stay in office as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. During the term of the parliament, the government slipped into minority due to defections and by-elections. The leadership of the government also changed during the parliament, when Scott Morrison replaced Turnbull as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister in August 2018. The 45th Parliament was officially prorogued by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at 8:29 a.m. on 11 April 2019, and the House of Representatives dissolved at 8:30 a.m.[1]

2016 federal election[edit]

Main article: 2016 federal election

House of Representatives[edit]

At the 2016 federal election, in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the incumbent Coalition government was reelected with 76 seats, a majority of one seat. The Labor opposition won 69 seats. Five other MPs were elected to the crossbench, with the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan winning a seat each.

Composition[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2016 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) § Australia.[edit]
Government (76)
Coalition
  Liberal (45)
  LNP (21)[i]
  National (10)

Opposition (69)
  Labor (69)

Crossbench (5)
  Greens (1)
  Xenophon (1)
  Katter (1)
  Independent (2)[ii]  
  1. ^ 15 LNP MPs sit in the Liberal party room and 6 in the National party room
  2. ^ independent MPs: Andrew Wilkie (Denison) and Cathy McGowan (Indi).
According to the 1−100 Gallagher Index, the disproportionality in the lower house is comparatively high at about 12.7 in 2016 − compared to 9.7 in 2013, 11.3 in 2010 and 10.3 in 2007.
House of Representatives (IRV) — Turnout 91.01% (CV) — Informal 5.05%[2]
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Australian Labor Party 4,702,296 34.73 +1.35 69 Increase 14
  Coalition          
  Liberal Party of Australia 3,882,905 28.67 −3.35 45 Decrease 13
  Liberal National Party (QLD) 1,153,736 8.52 −0.40 21 Decrease 1
  National Party of Australia 624,555 4.61 +0.32 10 Increase 1
  Country Liberal Party (NT) 32,409 0.24 −0.08 0 Decrease 1
  Australian Greens 1,385,650 10.23 +1.58 1 Steady
  Nick Xenophon Team 250,333 1.85 +1.85 1 Increase 1
  Katter's Australian Party 72,879 0.54 −0.50 1 Steady
  Palmer United Party 315 0.00 −5.49 0 Decrease 1
Others 1,436,023 10.60 +4.78 2 [a] Steady
Total 13,541,101     150
Two-party-preferred vote
  Liberal/National Coalition 6,818,824 50.36 −3.13 76 Decrease 14
  Australian Labor Party 6,722,277 49.64 +3.13 69 Increase 14
Invalid/blank votes 131,722 4.70 −0.86
Total votes 14,262,016
Registered voters/turnout 15,671,551 91.01 –2.22
Source: Federal Election 2016
See also: Post-election pendulum for the 2016 Australian federal election
See also: Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2016–2019

Senate[edit]

In the 76-seat Senate, following the double dissolution election, the Coalition government was returned with 30 seats, and the Labor opposition obtained 26 seats. The crossbench consisted of 20 senators: the Greens winning 9 seats, One Nation winning 4 seats, the Nick Xenophon Team winning 3 seats, and the Liberal Democratic Party, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, Family First Party and Jacqui Lambie Network each winning one seat.

Membership changes after the election[edit]

See also: 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis

In the time elapsed between the 2016 election and the following federal election, many parliamentarians resigned from their seats, while some were disqualified by the High Court of Australia. The parliamentary eligibility crisis involving dual citizenship was responsible for a significant portion of these departures, although the cases of Barnaby Joyce and John Alexander only left brief vacancies due to their prompt returns in by-elections. Some individual parliamentarians also made an impact by changing their party membership or independent status.

Seat Before Change After
Member Party Type Date Date Member Party
Vic (Senate) Stephen Conroy Labor Resignation 30 September 2016 25 October 2016 Kimberley Kitching Labor
SA (Senate) Bob Day Family First Resignation, disqualification 1 November 2016 19 April 2017 Lucy Gichuhi Family First
WA (Senate) Rod Culleton One Nation Departure from party 18 December 2016 Rod Culleton Independent
Independent Disqualification 11 January 2017 27 March 2017 Peter Georgiou One Nation
SA (Senate) Cory Bernardi Liberal Formation of new party 7 February 2017 Cory Bernardi Conservatives
SA (Senate) Lucy Gichuhi Family First Refusal to join party merger 3 May 2017 Lucy Gichuhi Independent
WA (Senate) Scott Ludlam Greens Resignation, disqualification 14 July 2017 10 November 2017 Jordon Steele-John Greens
Qld (Senate) Larissa Waters Greens 18 July 2017 10 November 2017 Andrew Bartlett Greens
WA (Senate) Chris Back Liberal Resignation 31 July 2017 16 August 2017 Slade Brockman Liberal
Qld (Senate) Malcolm Roberts One Nation Disqualification 27 October 2017 10 November 2017 Fraser Anning One Nation
New England Barnaby Joyce National 2 December 2017 Barnaby Joyce
(re-elected) 		National
NSW (Senate) Fiona Nash National 22 December 2017 Jim Molan Liberal
SA (Senate) Nick Xenophon Xenophon Team Resignation 31 October 2017 14 November 2017 Rex Patrick Xenophon Team
Tas (Senate) Stephen Parry Liberal Resignation, disqualification 2 November 2017 9 February 2018 Richard Colbeck Liberal
Bennelong John Alexander Liberal Resignation 11 November 2017 16 December 2017 John Alexander
(re-elected) 		Liberal
Tas (Senate) Jacqui Lambie Lambie Network Resignation, disqualification 14 November 2017 9 February 2018 Steve Martin Independent
SA (Senate) Skye Kakoschke-Moore Xenophon Team 22 November 2017 16 February 2018 Tim Storer Independent
Qld (Senate) Fraser Anning One Nation Departure from party 15 January 2018 Fraser Anning Independent
NSW (Senate) Sam Dastyari Labor Resignation 25 January 2018 14 February 2018 Kristina Keneally Labor
Batman David Feeney Labor Resignation 1 February 2018 17 March 2018 Ged Kearney Labor
SA (Senate) Lucy Gichuhi Independent Party membership 2 February 2018 Lucy Gichuhi Liberal
Qld (Senate) George Brandis LNP Resignation 8 February 2018 21 March 2018 Amanda Stoker LNP
ACT (Senate) Katy Gallagher Labor Disqualification 9 May 2018 23 May 2018 David Smith Labor
Perth Tim Hammond Labor Resignation 10 May 2018 28 July 2018 Patrick Gorman Labor
Braddon Justine Keay Labor Resignation Justine Keay
(re-elected) 		Labor
Fremantle Josh Wilson Labor Josh Wilson
(re-elected) 		Labor
Longman Susan Lamb Labor Susan Lamb
(re-elected) 		Labor
Mayo Rebekha Sharkie Centre Alliance 11 May 2018 Rebekha Sharkie
(re-elected) 		Centre Alliance
Tas (Senate) Steve Martin Independent Party membership 28 May 2018 Steve Martin National
Qld (Senate) Fraser Anning Independent Party membership 4 June 2018 Fraser Anning Katter's Australian
NSW (Senate) Brian Burston One Nation Departure from party 14 June 2018 Brian Burston Independent
Independent Party membership 18 June 2018 United Australia
NSW (Senate) Lee Rhiannon Greens Resignation 15 August 2018 Mehreen Faruqi Greens
Qld (Senate) Andrew Bartlett Greens Resignation 27 August 2018 6 September 2018 Larissa Waters Greens
Wentworth Malcolm Turnbull Liberal Resignation 31 August 2018 20 October 2018 Kerryn Phelps Independent
Qld (Senate) Fraser Anning Katter's Australian Departure from party 25 October 2018 Fraser Anning Independent
Chisholm Julia Banks Liberal Departure from party 27 November 2018 Julia Banks Independent
Tas (Senate) David Bushby Liberal Resignation 21 January 2019 6 March 2019 Wendy Askew Liberal
Vic (Senate) Jacinta Collins Labor Resignation 15 February 2019 Raff Ciccone Labor
NSW (Senate) David Leyonhjelm Liberal Democrats Resignation 1 March 2019 20 March 2019 Duncan Spender Liberal Democrats
Qld (Senate) Fraser Anning Independent Formation of new party 4 April 2019 Fraser Anning Conservative National Party
ACT (Senate) David Smith Labor Resignation 11 April 2019 vacant
SA (Senate) Cory Bernardi Conservatives Party deregistration 24 June 2019[b] Cory Bernardi Independent
  1. ^ The Independent members were Cathy McGowan (Indi, Vic) and Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Tas).
  2. ^ The party deregistration was after the 2019 election but before the start of the 46th Parliament
  • 1 November 2016: Family First Senator Bob Day resigns after his business collapses.[3]
  • 3 February 2017: The High Court finds that independent Senator Rod Culleton (formerly of One Nation) was not eligible to be elected under Section 44(ii) of the Constitution due to a criminal conviction.[4]
  • 10 March 2017: One Nation Senator Peter Georgiou declared elected as a Senator for Queensland by the High Court on a countback to replace Culleton.[5]
  • 26 March 2017: Georgiou sworn in.[6]
  • 5 April 2017: The High Court finds that Bob Day was not eligible to be elected under Section 44(v) of the Constitution due to holding a pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth.[7]
  • 19 April 2017: Family First Senator Lucy Gichuhi declared elected as a Senator for South Australia by the High Court on a countback to replace Day.[8]
  • 9 May 2017: Gichuhi sworn in.[9]
  • 14 July 2017: Greens Senator and co-deputy leader Scott Ludlam resigns after discovering that he still held New Zealand citizenship, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[10]
  • 18 July 2017: Greens Senator and co-deputy leader Larissa Waters resigns after discovering that she held Canadian citizenship by birth, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[11]
  • 31 July 2017: Liberal Senator Chris Back of Western Australia resigns.
  • 16 August 2017: Liberal Slade Brockman is appointed as a Senator for Western Australia to replace Back, being sworn in the next day.[12]
  • 27 October 2017: The High Court finds that Greens Senator Scott Ludlam of Western Australia, Greens Senator Larissa Waters of Queensland, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts of Queensland, Nationals Senator and deputy leader of the National Party Fiona Nash of New South Wales, and Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party Barnaby Joyce (the member for New England) were all ineligible to be elected to and sit in Parliament under Section 44(i) of the Constitution, due to all holding foreign citizenship.[13]
  • 31 October 2017: Nick Xenophon Team Senator Nick Xenophon of South Australia resigns.[14]
  • 2 November 2017: President of the Senate and Liberal Senator Stephen Parry of Tasmania resigns after discovering he held British citizenship by descent, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[15]
  • 10 November 2017: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John of Western Australia, Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett of Queensland, and One Nation Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland are declared elected as Senators by the High Court, to replace Ludlam, Waters, and Roberts (respectively).[16]
  • 13 November 2017: Liberal MP John Alexander, the member for Bennelong, resigns after discovering he held British citizenship by descent, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[17]
  • 13 November 2017: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John of Western Australia, Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett of Queensland, and One Nation Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland (who immediately resigned from the party to sit as an independent) are sworn in as senators to replace Ludlam, Waters, and Roberts (respectively).[18]
  • 14 November 2017: Jacqui Lambie Network Senator Jacqui Lambie resigns after discovering that she held British citizenship by descent, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[19]
  • 14 November 2017: Rex Patrick of the Nick Xenophon Team is appointed as a Senator for South Australia to replace Nick Xenophon,[20] being sworn in the next day.[21]
  • 22 November 2017: Nick Xenophon Team Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore resigns after discovering that she held British citizenship by descent, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution.[22]
  • 2 December 2017: 2017 New England by-election held. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, Barnaby Joyce, was returned to his former seat after renouncing his New Zealand citizenship.
  • 16 December 2017: 2017 Bennelong by-election held. Previous Liberal MP for Bennelong John Alexander was returned after renouncing his British citizenship.
  • 22 December 2017: The High Court declares Liberal Jim Molan elected as a Senator for New South Wales, taking the seat formerly held by Fiona Nash.[23]
  • 25 January 2018: Labor Senator Sam Dastyari of New South Wales resigns due to being the subject of a Chinese-related donations scandal.[24]
  • 1 February 2018: Labor MP David Feeney announces his resignation from politics, due to dual citizenship concerns, which takes effect immediately.[25]
  • 17 March 2018: 2018 Batman by-election held, where Ged Kearney won, retaining the seat for Labor.[26]
  • 9 May 2018: The High Court rules that ACT Labor Senator Katy Gallagher is ineligible to be elected to and sit in Parliament under Section 44(i) of the Constitution, due to not renouncing British citizenship in time. Following the ruling, Labor MPs Josh Wilson, Susan Lamb, Justine Keay, and Nick Xenophon Team MP Rebekha Sharkie resigns.[27]

Major events[edit]

Major legislation[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Proclamation - Prorogue the Parliament and dissolve the House of Reps". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. 11 April 2019.
  2. ^ Barber, Stephen (7 April 2017). "Federal Election 2016" (PDF). Research Paper 2016–17. Parliamentary Library. ISSN 2203-5249.
  3. ^ Anderson, Stephanie (1 November 2016). "Bob Day tenders resignation as Family First senator". ABC News.
  4. ^ Re Culleton (No 2) [2017] HCA 4
  5. ^ "Senator Peter Georgiou". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  6. ^ "One Nation senator Peter Georgiou sworn in". SBS News. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Family First ex-senator Bob Day's election ruled invalid by High Court". ABC News. 5 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Senator Lucy Gichuhi". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Lucy Gichuhi sworn in as SA senator". SBS News. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  10. ^ Strutt, J; Kagi, J (14 July 2017). "Greens senator Scott Ludlam resigns over failure to renounce dual citizenship". ABC News. Australia.
  11. ^ Waters, Larissa. "Statement from Senator Larissa Waters". GreensMPs. Australian Greens. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  12. ^ "New Liberal senator for WA sworn-in". Campaspe News. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  13. ^ Re Canavan [2017] HCA 45 (27 October 2017).
  14. ^ Doran, Matthew (31 October 2017). "New face, new name: Xenophon readies party for his Canberra departure". ABC News. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  15. ^ Remeikis, Amy (1 November 2017). "Liberal Stephen Parry to resign over dual British citizenship". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  16. ^ "High Court ticks new WA Greens senator". PerthNow. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  17. ^ Metherell, Lexi (13 November 2017). "Bennelong voters brace for pre-Christmas poll". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Senate confusion after new trio sworn-in". SBS. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Jacqui Lambie bids tearful farewell to Senate after shock British citizenship finding forces her out". ABC News. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  20. ^ "New SA Senator for Nick Xenophon Team outlines history, priorities". ABC News. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  21. ^ Holderhead, Sheradyn (16 November 2017). "Role reversal as Nick Xenophon takes job as an adviser to former staffer Senator Rex Patrick". The Advertiser. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  22. ^ Massola, James (22 November 2017). "Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore quits over British citizenship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Jim Molan to replace Fiona Nash in Senate, High Court rules". ABC News. 22 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Labor senator Sam Dastyari formally quits Parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  25. ^ Yaxley, Louise (1 February 2018). "David Feeney resigns from Parliament over dual citizenship, prompting Batman by-election". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  26. ^ Carey, Adam; Towell, Noel (17 March 2018). "Batman votes: Labor holds seat in crucial byelection". The Age.
  27. ^ Yaxley, Louise (9 May 2018). "Citizenship drama flares again, with four MPs and one senator on the way out after High Court ruling". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 9 May 2018.
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