Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President, or if there is no President or if the President is absent from the Commonwealth the Governor-General, shall notify the same to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened.

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Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the Deputy Governor-General shall notify the same to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened.

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Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President, or if there is no President or if the President is absent from the Commonwealth the Deputy Governor-General, shall notify the same to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened.

21.1 As with s.19, the section is to be amended to keep its meaning consistent with that of the current section. Presently the section requires the presiding officer in the Senate to notify State Governors of any vacancies which have arisen in the representation of their States. Since by virtue of proposed s.59A the presiding officer will be the Deputy Governor-General rather than the President of the Senate, the amendment requires vacancies to be notified by the Deputy Governor-General. Note that proposed s.60B(2)(i) provides for what may be done in the absence of the Governor-General or Deputy, so vacancies may still be notified notwithstanding absences.