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.

< Previous section          Next section >

[Deleted. Elections for the House of Representatives will be dealt with in proposed s.58A(iii) & (iv):

58A Governor-General of Parliament - duties, rights and powers
There shall be a Governor-General of Parliament, referred to as the Governor-General, who shall act as the Head of State of the Commonwealth of Australia exercising only the duties, rights and powers which are set out in this Constitution, including:
(i) The duty to convene and the right to preside over sessions of the House of Representatives in accordance with such standing orders as are made pursuant to section 50 and the requirements of impartiality and fairness;
(ii) The duty to appoint and remove the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister in accordance with section 64A;
(iii) The duty to dissolve the House of Representatives and commence the process for a general election of members of the House, but only upon, and within 10 days of:
    (a) The House of Representatives passing a resolution in favour of a dissolution;
    (b) The House of Representatives failing to appoint a new Prime Minister within 60 days after the declaration of all the results of a general election or the removal of the Prime Minister under section 58A(ii); or
    (c) The High Court, on the application by the Head of State or any elector, declaring that the House has sat for longer than the period permitted by section 28;
(iv) The duty to commence the process for the election of a new member to fill any vacancy in the House of Representatives in accordance with any request made by the Prime Minister, subject to any contrary resolution of the House of Representatives passed prior to the commencement of the process;
(v) The power to exercise any duty, right or power vested in the Deputy Governor-General, during any period in which that office is vacant, or the Deputy Governor-General is absent or otherwise unable to exercise the duty or power;
(vi) Powers incidental to the execution of the above duties and powers;
(vii) Such other powers in relation to the management of the House of Representatives as are from time to time conferred on the Governor-General by the House’s Standing Orders; and
(viii) Such other powers not inconsistent with the above as are from time to time conferred on the Governor-General by law.
A reference to a resolution passed by the House of Representatives means a resolution on which a majority of those who vote on the resolution cast a vote in favour of the resolution.]

< Previous section          Next section >

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.

33.1 This and the related section 32 are to be deleted. Both sections deal with the mechanics of calling House of Representatives’ elections. All provisions concerning such matters are to be concentrated in the new ss.58A(iii) & 58A(iv), which limit when the powers may be used and who may exercise them.