The task of keeping themselves informed and in touch with the community takes up much of a senator's time, and includes:. Senators contribute to public debate by putting forward their own ideas, by advocating the policies of their party and by representing the views of community groups.
In addition to speeches and questions in the Senate Chamber, senators make use of a variety of occasions to contribute to the discussion of public issues by:. Most senators are actively involved in the work of three or four of these committees. Senate committees fall into two categories—Select and Standing. A select committee is one appointed by the Senate to inquire into some specific matter and to report back to the Senate within a set time.
Once a select committee has submitted its final report to the Senate its work is done and it ceases to exist. A standing committee is a permanent committee of the Senate. It stands—or remains—for the life of the whole of any one Parliament, its members being appointed at the commencement of each Parliament.
There are three groups of standing committees:. Legislative scrutiny committees. All bills and subordinate legislative instruments that come before Parliament are scrutinised by either the Scrutiny of Bills Committee or the Regulations and Ordinances Committee to ensure that they conform to certain principles mainly concerned with personal rights and civil liberties.
Legislative and general purpose standing committees. These committees examine legislation, government administration and public policy. The committees are divided along subject lines and cover between them all areas of government responsibility. In the Australian system of government, ministers and public servants are accountable to the Parliament for the use of the public resources with which they have been entrusted.
Legislative and general purpose standing committees carry out the work of inquiring into and reporting on the twice-yearly estimates of proposed government expenditure. In addition, they have a specific mandate to monitor the performance of departments and agencies.
At the estimates hearings senators may directly question ministers and public officials not only about the details of proposed expenditure but also about the objectives, operations and efficiency of the programs for which they are responsible. Senate Briefs —especially Brief No. Comprehensive information about committee reports and current inquiries is available on the Senate website. Committee reports are available in major libraries.
The proceedings of the Senate and its committees are broadcast on the Internet. They are available through the Watch Parliament tab on the Parliament House web page. Further information on publications, lectures and seminar programs which explain the work of the Senate may be obtained by telephoning 02 , or by writing to: The Director of Research Department of the Senate Parliament House ACT Australian Parliament House is currently closed to the public.
Powers The powers of the two houses of the Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate and the House of Representatives, are defined by the Australian Constitution. All proposed laws bills must be passed by both houses.
The Senate's law-making powers are equal to those of the House of Representatives except that it cannot introduce or amend proposed laws that authorise expenditure for the ordinary annual services of the government or that impose taxation.
If all the positions have not then been filled by candidates obtaining quotas by this means, then the next preferences of the voters for the least successful candidates are distributed, until all vacancies are filled by candidates obtaining quotas. The end result is a constituency with several candidates elected, each representing a proportion or quota of the total vote. In order to strengthen the Senate as a reviewing house, the Constitution provides that the Senate should have a continuing, but rotating, membership.
Senators are elected for six-year terms, half of them being elected every three years. To allow for this, the first Senate was divided into long and short term senators, and a similar division takes place when a completely new Senate is elected after a double dissolution. This system of rotation does not apply to the four senators from the two territories, who serve the same term of office as that of the members of the House of Representatives, normally three years.
The six-year term for senators was adapted from the Constitution of the United States of America, and was intended to provide senators with a greater degree of independence from electoral pressures than is possible for members of the House of Representatives, who have to go to the polls every three years.
With the exception of an election of the whole Senate following a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses, state senators retire in rotation, half on 30 June each third year.
Newly elected senators begin their six-year term on l July. Half-Senate elections must be held within one year before the places of the retiring senators become vacant.
Usually half-Senate elections are held concurrently with elections for members of the House of Representatives. The only way in which the fixed six-year term of senators may be shortened is by a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses of the Parliament. This is usually referred to as a double dissolution. In these circumstances the government may advise the Governor-General to dissolve both Houses, so that the disagreement between the Houses may be determined by the people at an election.
Double dissolutions have occurred seven times during the history of the federal Parliament—in , , , , , and If, after the two Houses have been re-elected, the House of Representatives again passes the proposed law and the Senate again fails to pass it, a joint sitting of both Houses may be held, with the members of both Houses voting together on the proposed law. The only occasion on which this has occurred was in August For further information on double dissolutions see Senate Brief No.
Section 15 of the Constitution, as it was amended in , provides that when a casual vacancy occurs in the Senate, through resignation, absence or death of a senator, a new appointment is made by the Parliament of the state which that senator represented, or, in the cases of the territories, by their legislative assemblies. The amendment, however, provided for the inclusion of a condition, which had prior to that date been a convention only, that the vacant place should always be filled by a member of the same political party or group as the vacating senator.
The new senator then holds the position for the remainder of the term of the senator replaced. This provision is designed to preserve between elections the proportional representation of political parties as determined by the electors. Section 24 of the Constitution provides that the number of members of the House of Representatives must be twice the number of senators, or as near as practicable.
Senators from the two territories are not counted in determining the size of the House of Representatives. This provision, usually referred to as the nexus provision, prevents the House of Representatives becoming at any time disproportionately large in relation to the Senate. Senators can use this to filibuster bills under consideration, a procedure by which a Senator delays a vote on a bill — and by extension its passage — by refusing to stand down.
A supermajority of 60 Senators can break a filibuster by invoking cloture, or the cession of debate on the bill, and forcing a vote.
Once debate is over, the votes of a simple majority passes the bill. A bill must pass both houses of Congress before it goes to the President for consideration. Though the Constitution requires that the two bills have the exact same wording, this rarely happens in practice.
To bring the bills into alignment, a Conference Committee is convened, consisting of members from both chambers. The members of the committee produce a conference report, intended as the final version of the bill. Each chamber then votes again to approve the conference report. Depending on where the bill originated, the final text is then enrolled by either the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, and presented to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for their signatures.
The bill is then sent to the President. When receiving a bill from Congress, the President has several options. If the President agrees substantially with the bill, he or she may sign it into law, and the bill is then printed in the Statutes at Large.
If the President believes the law to be bad policy, he may veto it and send it back to Congress. Congress may override the veto with a two-thirds vote of each chamber, at which point the bill becomes law and is printed.
There are two other options that the President may exercise. If Congress is in session and the President takes no action within 10 days, the bill becomes law. If Congress adjourns before 10 days are up and the President takes no action, then the bill dies and Congress may not vote to override. This is called a pocket veto, and if Congress still wants to pass the legislation, they must begin the entire process anew.
Congress, as one of the three coequal branches of government, is ascribed significant powers by the Constitution. All legislative power in the government is vested in Congress, meaning that it is the only part of the government that can make new laws or change existing laws. Executive Branch agencies issue regulations with the full force of law, but these are only under the authority of laws enacted by Congress. The President may veto bills Congress passes, but Congress may also override a veto by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Article I of the Constitution enumerates the powers of Congress and the specific areas in which it may legislate. Congress is also empowered to enact laws deemed "necessary and proper" for the execution of the powers given to any part of the government under the Constitution. Part of Congress's exercise of legislative authority is the establishment of an annual budget for the government.
To this end, Congress levies taxes and tariffs to provide funding for essential government services. If enough money cannot be raised to fund the government, then Congress may also authorize borrowing to make up the difference.
0コメント