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Ch7 The parliamentary calendar / A PARLIAMENT



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House of Representatives                                Ch 7                                                 p 214

 

The parliamentary calendar

 

A Parliament

The duration of a Parliament is directly related to the duration of the House of Representatives. Having met, pursuant to the Governor-General’s proclamation, a Parliament continues until the House of Representatives expires by effluxion of time three years from the first meeting of the House, or until the House is sooner dissolved by the Governor-General. 1 The House is dissolved by proclamation of the Governor-General.

It is usual for a Parliament to be terminated by dissolution, and only one House of Representatives has expired by effluxion of time ( see p. 222 ). A dissolution may occur near to the three year expiry time or it may occur prematurely for political reasons. 2 On six occasions (1914, 1951, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1987) the premature termination of the House of Representatives (and hence the Parliament) has coincided with the dissolution of the Senate, that is, the House and the Senate were dissolved simultaneously. 3

Parliaments are numbered in arithmetical series, the 1st Parliament being from May 1901 to November 1903. The 41st Parliament commenced on 16 November 2004. Appendix 15 lists the significant dates of each Parliament since 1901.



Constitution, s. 28.



See chronology of Parliaments since 1901 at Appendix 15. The shortest lived Parliament was the 11th Parliament which was dissolved on 16 September 1929 after 7 months and 11 days; see also Ch. on ‘The Parliament and the role of the House’, for reasons for dissolution.



Constitution, s. 57.