Motion (by Senator Carr) agreed to:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

   (i)   Senator Synon was appointed to fill a Senate casual vacancy by a joint sitting of the Victorian Parliament one day after the resignation of Senator Short,

   (ii)   in the case of Senator Conroy, it took 84 days to fill the casual vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Gareth Evans, and

   (iii)   on average the Kennett Government has taken 56.7 days to appoint Australian Labor Party (ALP) nominees to Senate casual vacancies compared with one day to appoint Liberal Party nominees;

(b)   deplores the blatant, party political, double standards pursued by the Kennett Government in the speed taken to fill Senate casual vacancies;

(c)   calls on the Kennett Government to cease its policy of discrimination against ALP nominees for Senate casual vacancies; and

(d)   reminds the Kennett Government of the resolution of the Senate of 3 June 1992, reconfirmed by the Senate on 7 May 1997, that casual vacancies in the Senate should be filled as expeditiously as possible and that State parliaments should adopt procedures which will enable Senate casual vacancies to be filled within 14 days of the notification of the vacancy or within 14 days of the notification of the nominee of the relevant political party.