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Title

Ch2 House, Government and Opposition / THE MINISTRY / Cessation of ministerial office / Resignation

Database

House Practice

Date

01-05-2005

Source

House of Reps

Parl No.

41

Chapter

House, Government and Opposition

Chapter No.

Chapter 02

Page

64

Section No.

 

System Id

procedural/practcer/chapter02.26.doc


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Ch2 House, Government and Opposition / THE MINISTRY / Cessation of ministerial office / Resignation



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House of Representatives                                Ch 2                                                 p 64

 

House, Government and Opposition / THE MINISTRY / Cessation of ministerial office

 

Resignation

Ministers may resign for personal reasons, or following defeat at a general election or resignation from Parliament. 1 When a Government loses office, the Prime Minister resigns and, therefore, so do Ministers. 2 A Prime Minister may resign and then be reappointed in order to form another Ministry. 3 Ministers have also resigned 4 in order for ministerial rearrangements to be made and, while remaining members of the Executive Council, have been subsequently reappointed as Ministers to administer other or new Departments of State. On occasions Prime Ministers, on questions of principle, have refused to accept voluntary resignations of Ministers who have thereupon remained in the Ministry. 5

Convention requires that Ministers accept collective responsibility for the policies and performance of the Government ( see p. 47). If any Minister is unable to accept or publicly dissents from the opinion and policy of Cabinet, it has been said that it is his or her duty to resign. 6

Examples 7 of ministerial resignations, other than for personal reasons, based on individual or collective ministerial responsibility and accountability to Parliament and the people, 8 have been:

  • publishing or expressing views opposed to government policy; 9

  • disagreement with government policy; 10

  • breaching Cabinet confidentiality; 11

  • misleading the Parliament; 12

  • misleading the Prime Minister, and through him the Parliament; 13

  • a Minister’s department entering into contracts with a company in which the Minister held a position; 14

  • initiation of legal action against a Minister for an alleged breach of the Commonwealth Electoral Act; 15

  • private dealings with an officer of a company negotiating with a Minister’s department; 16

  • disagreement with actions of the Prime Minister; 17

  • adverse reflections on a Minister’s integrity in a Royal Commission report; 18

  • allegations concerning the propriety of possible conflicts between a Minister’s public duty and personal and family financial interests; 19

  • perceived attempts by Cabinet to control or direct a Minister’s independence and integrity as Attorney-General; 20

  • allegations that a Minister had used his official position to assist business dealings of a relative and that he had misled the Senate about the matter; 21

  • allegations of irregular payments of election and electorate office funds to a business partner; 22

  • reports of the Auditor-General and a House of Representatives committee finding inadequacies in administrative procedures relating to the distribution of funds; 23

  • breach of Prime Minister’s guidelines in relation to shareholdings of Ministers; 24

  • following allegations of conflict of interest with the Minister’s private business affairs; 25

  • allegations of irregularities in relation to travel allowance claims. 26

    • Ministers have also resigned following disagreements with the Prime Minister over organisational and party matters 27 and following allegations of impropriety in matters unrelated to parliamentary or ministerial duties. 28



    Sir Garfield Barwick resigned his seat to become Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, VP 1964-66/76.



    See Gazettes 98 (19.12.49) 3831, 124A (5.12.72) 1, and S94 (11.3.96).



    Gazette S290 (20.12.77) 1.



    Gazette S268 (5.12.78); see also Gazettes 32 (22.3.71) 2007 and 48B (12.6.74) 1-2, but the Minister’s appointments on these occasions were ‘determined’.



    E.g. Case of the Hon. Peter Howson in 1967, H.R. Deb. (8.11.67) 2775-80; case of the Hon. P. Nixon, H.R. Deb. (21.9.82) 1674.



    Quick and Garran , pp. 705-6.



     For a more complete listing (to 1991) see M. Healy. That’s it—I’m leaving, and other Kirribilli tales: Ministerial resignations and dismissals 1901-1991 . AGPS, Canberra, 1992.



    As a duty to the Parliament and the people, reasons for resignation or dismissal are normally made public. See also Sir Robert Garran oration (1988), by the Hon. R. J. L. Hawke, for comment on the grounds justifying resignation.



    Case of the Rt Hon. W. M. Hughes, H.R. Deb. (6.11.35) 1306-7; see also case of the Hon. L. H. E. Bury in 1962 who was asked to resign by the Prime Minister, L. F. Crisp, Australian national government , 5th edn, p. 355.



    Case of the Rt Hon. R. G. Menzies on 20 March 1939. See H.R. Deb. (20.4.39) 18.



    Case of the Hon. M. J. Young, H.R. Deb. (23.8.83) 16; subsequently reappointed, H.R. Deb. (28.2.84) 1.



    Case of the Hon. J. Brown, S. Deb. (17.12.87) 3390.



    Case of the Hon. R. F. X. Connor, H.R. Deb. (14.10.75) 2031-2, 2033, 2038.



    Case of Senator the Hon. A. J. McLachlan, H.R. Deb. (4.11.38) 1322; S. Deb. (3.11.38) 1189.



    Case of the Hon. R. V. Garland in 1976, The Parliamentarian LVII, 4, 1976, p. 253.



    Case of the Hon. J. N. Lawson in 1940, G. Sawer, Australian federal politics and law 1929-1949 , Melbourne University Press, 1963, p. 104.



    Case of the Hon. J. M. Fraser, H.R. Deb. (9.3.71) 679-84; case of the Hon. A. S. Peacock, H.R. Deb. (28.4.81) 1607-14.



    Case of the Hon. E. G. Theodore, H.R. Deb. (8.7.30) 3749-53. Mr Theodore submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister on 5 July 1930 following certain allegations against himself contained in the report of a Royal Commission appointed by the Government of the State of Queensland.



    Case of the Rt Hon. P. R. Lynch, Commonwealth Record 2, 45, 14-20 November 1977, pp. 1662-4.



    Case of the Hon. R. J. Ellicott, H.R. Deb. (6.9.77) 721-32.



     Case of Senator G. F. Richardson on 19.5.92 (the Senator had earlier been censured by the Senate on the matter); Senator Richardson later returned to the Ministry.



     Case of the Hon. A. Griffiths on 22.1.94. Police investigation subsequently found no evidence of criminal offences by Mr Griffiths and in 1995 a report of an inquiry concluded that, in one respect Mr Griffiths’ conduct was improper, but that it would properly be open to the Prime Minister to accept the return of Mr Griffiths to the Ministry (Report by M. H. Codd, AC, July 1995) .



     Case of the Hon. R. Kelly, H.R. Deb. (28.2.94) 1365.



    Case of Senator the Hon. J. R. Short on 13.10.96.



    Case of the Hon. G. D. Prosser, H.R. Deb. (25.8.97) 6701.



    Case of the Hon. J. R. Sharp (claimant) and the Hon. D. F. Jull (administratively responsible), H.R. Deb. (24.9.97) 8318-23; 

    case of the Hon. P. J. McGauran, H.R. Deb. (24.9.97) 8318-23 (Mr McGauran later returned to the Ministry).



    Case of the Hon. E. L. Robinson, VP 1978-80/645, 648; H.R. Deb. (22.2.79) 334. Mr Robinson was reappointed a few days later, H.R. Deb. (27.2.79) 345-6. Case of the Hon. P. J. Keating (following unsuccessful leadership challenge), H.R. Deb. (3.6.91) 4507.



    Case of the Rt Hon. I. McC. Sinclair, Commonwealth Record 4, 38, 24-30 September 1979, p. 1444; Gazette S192 (27.9.79). Mr Sinclair was reinstated to the Ministry following acquittal from criminal charges, Gazette S180 (19.8.80) .