Download Word

House of Representatives                                Ch 13                                                 p 456

The 1914 double dissolution

Following the general election of 1913 the Cook Liberal Ministry was sworn in on 24 June 1913 with a majority in the House of Representatives of one but was in a minority in the Senate.

On 31 October 1913 the Government introduced into the House the Government Preference Prohibition Bill 1913. ¹ The bill was passed by the House on 18 November 1913 after a division had been called at every stage and the closure moved to end every debate. ² The bill was introduced into the Senate on 20 November and the second reading of the bill was negatived on 11 December. ³ Parliament was prorogued on 19 December. The bill was reintroduced into the House on 6 May 1914 and again passed by the House on 28 May. ⁴ During the proceedings on the bill in the House the Speaker exercised his casting vote on six occasions. ⁵ The bill was again introduced into the Senate on 28 May and negatived on the first reading. ⁶

On 4 June 1914 Prime Minister Cook wrote to the Governor-General (Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson) recommending the simultaneous dissolution of both Houses, as the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution had been completely complied with in respect of the bill, and adding:

The almost equal numbers of the two parties in the House of Representatives, and the small number supporting the Government in the Senate, render it impossible to manage efficiently the public business. ⁷

In a lengthy background memorandum Mr Cook also told the Governor-General that the Labor majority in the Senate ‘has for two successive sessions made the parliamentary machine unworkable’. ⁸ In conclusion Mr Cook advised the Governor-General that it:

. . . appears that the expressed views of those who took part in the framing of the Constitution support the conclusion drawn from the language and the scheme of the Constitution itself, namely, that the discretion of the Governor-General to grant or to refuse a dissolution of both Houses, under section 57, is a discretion which can only be exercised by him in accordance with the advice of his Ministers representing a majority in the House of Representatives. ⁹

The Governor-General replied on the same day:

Referring to the Prime Minister’s memorandum of this date, the Governor-General desires to inform the Prime Minister that, having considered the parliamentary situation, he has decided to accede to the Prime Minister’s request, and will grant an immediate simultaneous dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives, on condition that he receives a definite assurance that the financial position is such that adequate provision exists for carrying on the Public Service in all its branches during the period of time covered by the elections.

Mr Cook replied to the Governor-General guaranteeing that a supply bill would be introduced and passed before an election was held. ¹⁰

On 29 June 1914 the Governor-General prorogued Parliament ¹¹ and on 30 July 1914 the Governor-General, on the advice of the Government, issued a proclamation referring to the provisions of section 57, citing the bill in question and dissolving both Houses simultaneously. ¹²

Elections were held on 5 September 1914 and the Labor Party was elected to government with a majority in both Houses. The deadlock having been broken a joint sitting did not therefore eventuate.

An interesting facet of the 1914 double dissolution was that with Prime Minister Cook’s consent, the Governor-General sought advice from the Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Samuel Griffith, who held the view that:

An occasion for the exercise of the power of double dissolution under Section 57 formally exists . . . whenever the event specified in that Section has occurred, but it does not follow that the power can be regarded as an ordinary one which may properly be exercised whenever the occasion formally exists. It should, on the contrary, be regarded as an extraordinary power, to be exercised only in cases in which the Governor-General is personally satisfied, after independent consideration of the case, either that the proposed law as to which the Houses have differed in opinion is one of such public importance that it should be referred to the electors of the Commonwealth for immediate decision by means of a complete renewal of both Houses, or that there exists such a state of practical deadlock in legislation as can only be ended in that way. As to the existence of either condition he must form his own judgment. Although he cannot act except upon the advice of his Ministers, he is not bound to follow their advice but is in the position of an independent arbiter. ¹³

A formal address from the Senate to the Governor-General, seeking the reasons advanced by Mr Cook for the double dissolution, was agreed to by the Senate on 17 June 1914 ¹⁴ but was rejected by the Governor-General in the following terms:

I am advised by [my Advisers] that the request . . . is one the compliance with which would not only be contrary to the usual practice, but would involve a breach of the confidential relations which should always exist in this as in all other matters between the representative of the Crown and his Constitutional Ministers. I am advised further that to accede to the request . . . would imply a recognition of a right in the Senate to make the Ministers of State for the Commonwealth directly responsible to that Chamber . . . and that such a recognition would not be in accordance with the accepted principles of responsible government. ¹⁵

VP 1913/132.

VP 1913/162-5.

J 1913/93, 137.

VP 1914/33, 61.

VP 1914/40, 41, 42, 48, 53, 61.

J 1914/53.

Double dissolution correspondence between the late Prime Minister (the Right Honourable Joseph Cook) and His Excellency the Governor-General , PP 2 (1914-17) 3.

PP 2 (1914-17) 4.

PP 2 (1914-17) 8.

PP 2 (1914-17) 3.

Gazette 38 (29.6.14) 99.

Gazette 48 (30.7.14) 101.

‘Memorandum by Sir Samuel Griffith’, quoted in L. F. Crisp, Australian national government , 5th edn, pp. 404-5.

J 1914/86-8.

J 1914/98. Double dissolution documents later presented to the House on 8 October 1914, VP 1914-17/5.