Constitution Act. A.D. 1900. 31. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this Constitution, the laws in force in each State for the time being Application of State relating to elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament laws. of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to elections in the State of members of the House of Representatives. 32. THE Governor General in Council may cause writs to be issued for general elections of members of the House of Represen- election. tatives. Writs for general . After the first general election, the writs shall be issued within ten days from the expiry of a House of Representatives, or from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof. Writs for vacancies. 33. WHENEVER a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member, or if there is no Speaker, or if he is absent from the Commonwealth, the Governor General in Council may issue the writ. 34. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives shall be as members. Qualifications of follows: 1. He must be of the full age of twenty-one years, and must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of members wealth as existing at the time when he is chosen : for at least five years naturalised under a law of the 35. THE House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the Election of Speaker. Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker. The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor General. 36. BEFORE or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in Absence of Speaker. his absence. Constitution Act. A.D. 1900. Resignation of member. 37. A MEMBER may by writing addressed to the Speaker, or to the Governor General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon shall become vacant. Vacancy by absence. 38. THE place of a member shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the House, fails to attend the House. Quorum. 39. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers. Voting in House of 40. QUESTIONS arising in the House of Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes other than that of the Speaker. The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are equal, and then he shall have a casting-vote. PART IV.Both HOUSES OF THE PARLIAMENT. 41. NO adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at Right of Electors of elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State, States. shall , while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth. a Vath or affirmation of allegiance. 42. EVERY senator and every member of the House of Representatives shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor General, or some person authorised by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form set forth in the Schedule to this Constitution. Member of one 43. A MEMBER of either House of the Parliament shall be House ineligible for incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House. other. Disqualification. 44. ANY person who— 1. Is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen, or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power: or II. Is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer: or Constitution Act. A.D. 1900. III. Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent: or payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of v. Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agree ment with the public service of the Commonwealth, of more than twenty-five persons: But sub-section iv. does not apply to the office of any of the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of the Queen's Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half-pay, or a pension by any person as an officer or member of the Queen's navy or army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth. tion. 45. IF a senator or member of the House of Representatives, Vacancy on happen. 1. Becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the ing of disqualifica last preceding section: or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors: or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or State: 46. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, any person declared by this Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a senator or when disqualified. for sitting as a member of the House of Representatives shall, for every day on which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of One hundred pounds to any person who sues for it in any Court of competent jurisdiction. a 47. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, any question respecting the qualification of a senator or of a member of the House Disputed elections. of Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in either House of the Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to either House, shall be determined by the House in which the question arises. Constitution Act. A.D. 1900. Allowance to members. 48. UNTIL the Parliament otherwise provides, each senator and each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an allowance of Four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on which he takes his seat. Privileges, etc., of 49. THE powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament, and until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth. Rules and orders. 50. EACH House of the Parliament may make rules and orders with respect to1. The mode in which its powers, privileges, and immunities may be exercised and upheld : 11. The order and conduct of its business and proceedings either separately or jointly with the other House. Legislative powers of the Parliament. PART V.- PowERS OF THE PARLIAMENT. 51. THE Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth, with respect to1. Trade and commerce with other countries and among the States: 11. Taxation ; but so as not to discriminate between States or parts of States : ul. Bounties on the production or export of goods, but so that such bounties shall be uniform throughout the Common wealth : iv. Borrowing money on the public credit of the Common wealth: v. Postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services: vi. The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and of the several States and the control of the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the Commonwealth : vii. Lighthouses, light-ships, beacons, and buoys: VIII. Astronomical and meteorological observations: IX. Quarantine: x. Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits: xi. Census and statistics: XII. Currency, coinage, and legal tender: Constitution Act. A.D. 1900. XII. Banking, other than State banking; also State banking , incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money: xiv. Insurance, other than State Insurance; also State Insur ance extending beyond the limits of the State concerned: xv. Weights and measures : XVI. Bills of exchange and promissory notes: XVII. Bankruptcy and insolvency: xvii. Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks: XIX. Naturalisation and aliens : xx. Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth: XXI. Marriage: XXII. Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants : xxIII. Invalid and old-age pensions: xxiv. The service and execution throughout the Commonwealth of the civil and criminal process and the judgments of the Courts of the States : xxv. The recognition throughout the Commonwealth of the laws, the public acts and records, and the judicial proceedings of the States : XXVI. The people of any race, other than the aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws: Pacific: person for any purpose in respect of which the Parlia ment has power to make laws: XXXI. The control of railways with respect to transport for the naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth: xxxii. The acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any rail ways of the State on terms arranged between the Commonwealth and the State: xxxiv. Railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State: |
