The disputed 2013 WA Senate election

The initial count of the Senate vote in Western Australia gave the last two Senate seats to Palmer United Party (PUP) candidate Zhenya Dio Wang and ALP candidate, sitting senator Louise Pratt. However, the closeness of the result (14 votes separated two minor parties at an important point in the count) was challenged by defeated candidates sitting senator Scott Ludlam (Australian Greens ) and Wayne Dropulich (Australian Sports Party). As a result on 2 October, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) deferred the formal announcement of the six successful candidates. The next day (3 October) the AEC turned down the appeal for a recount by Ludlam and Dropulich because they ‘did not identify any specific issues which would have warranted the conduct of a recount’. As allowed under section 278(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 the two candidates appealed directly to the Australian Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn.

What happens to the House and Senate if an election is called early in 2013?

Recently the possibility had been raised that an election may be called for only the House of Representatives in the early part of 2013. Usually, a half-Senate election would also be held. But according to the Australian elections timetable prepared by the Parliamentary Library, the earliest that a half-Senate election can feasibly occur is 3 August 2013.

Resignation of Senator Bob Brown

Source: Wikimedia

On 13 April 2012, Senator Bob Brown announced his retirement as leader of the Australian Greens and resignation from the Senate with the intention to leave the Senate when a candidate for the vacancy has been found.

Casual vacancies in the Senate

On 27 February Labor Senator Mark Arbib announced his intention to resign from the Ministry and the Senate. His resignation from the Ministry took effect from 2 March, and he resigned from the Senate on 5 March.

This FlagPost lists recent casual vacancies and describes the steps for filling them.

Hung parliaments and minority governments

A recent Parliamentary Library paper examines the hung Commonwealth Parliament, the formation of the minority ALP Government, and voting dynamics in the House of Representatives together with a number of related issues such as the next federal election and hung parliaments and minority governments at the state/territory level.

After a hung Parliament emerged from the 2010 federal election (the first in almost 70 years), both the ALP and the Opposition engaged in negotiations with the cross-bench parliamentarians in order to form government. The ALP was ultimately successful, forming government in mid-September 2010 after signing agreements with the Australian Greens and with three of the other cross-bench members. These agreements provide a basic level of support for the Government and cover a range of matters including working relationships between the signatories, parliamentary reforms and policy agendas.

Senate majority

Between 1910 and 1949, the government party controlled both houses for most years. If a government controls both houses of parliament it is likely to have unfettered power to push its legislation through the upper house. In the years since the 1949 election it has been more usual that neither major party has had an absolute majority. In fact, since 1949 the only periods of a government majority in the Senate have been 1951–6, 1959–62, 1975–81 and 2005 to 2007. In the periods when the government has not had control of the upper house the Senate is often accused of being 'obstructionist'.