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Ch12 Senate amendments and requests / PROCEDURE FOLLOWING SENATE CONSIDERATION / Agreement by Senate without amendment (or requests)



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House of Representatives                                Ch 12                                                 p 431

 

Senate amendments and requests / PROCEDURE FOLLOWING SENATE CONSIDERATION

 

Agreement by Senate without amendment (or requests)

Should the Senate agree to a bill without amendment, or without requests in the case of those bills which the Senate may not amend, the bill is accordingly certified by the Clerk of the Senate and returned to the House by message. The terms of the message are not announced to the House in full, the Speaker merely stating ‘I have received a message from the Senate returning the [short title] without amendment (or requests, as appropriate)’. The message is announced at a convenient time between items of business. When a message is received notifying Senate agreement to a bill, the final step in the legislative process is for the bill to be forwarded to the Governor-General for assent.

On occasion the Senate has included extraneous matter in a message returning a bill without amendment, for example:

  • adding as a rider a protest against the inclusion in the bill of provisions similar to those in a bill passed by the Senate and transmitted for concurrence of the House, and declaring the matter not to be regarded as a precedent; 1
  • acquainting the House of a resolution agreed to by the Senate referring a matter related to the subject of the bill to the (then) Joint Committee Public Accounts for inquiry and report; 2
  • requesting the concurrence of the House in a Senate resolution on aspects of the same subject matter as the bill. 3
  • After announcing the latter message, the Speaker noted that the message sought to include in the legislative process on a bill other matters not necessary for the enactment of the measure and accordingly he did not propose to call for a motion on the resolution. 4



    VP 1920-21/471.



    VP 1996-98/2533.



    VP 1996-98/2151.



    H.R. Deb. (22.10.97) 9444; and see H.R. Deb. (6.3.2000) 13975-6.