The media is again full of speculation on whether there will be a double dissolution. That is possible, but it all depends on what happens next week in the Senate.
Let me go back to the beginning by quoting the first paragraph of Section 57 of the Constitution under which a dissolution of both the House and the Senate is permitted. I have highlighted the relevant passages.
S57: If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects, or fails to pass , or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.
What can we say about the current state of the CPRS legislation? The three month test has clearly been passed. If the legislation is defeated, then a trigger has been created. If the legislation is amended, and the government in control of the House of Representatives rejects the amendments, then a trigger for a double dissolution has been created.
But what is meant by fails to pass?
Continue reading “Double Dissolutions and the Meaning of ‘Fails to Pass’.” »