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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
South Australia
Constitution (Deadlocks) Amendment
Bill 2015
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the
Constitution
Act 1934
.
Contents
Part 2—Amendment of Constitution
Act 1934
5Amendment of section 57—Restoration
of lapsed Bills
Schedule 1—Transitional
provisions
1Powers of Legislative Council in relation to
Bills
The Parliament of South Australia enacts as
follows:
This Act may be cited as the Constitution (Deadlocks) Amendment
Act 2015.
The commencement and operation of this Act is subject to the operation of
the
Referendum
(Deadlocks) Act 2015
.
In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a
specified Act amends the Act so specified.
Part 2—Amendment
of Constitution
Act 1934
Section 41—delete the section and substitute:
41—Settlement of deadlocks
(a) the House of Assembly passes a Bill that has originated in that House
(the first Bill); and
(i) fails to pass
the first Bill within the period of 15 sitting days after it is transmitted to
the Legislative Council; or
(ii) rejects the first Bill; or
(iii) passes the first Bill with amendments to which the House of Assembly
does not agree; and
(c) in the same or
the next session of the Parliament in which the first Bill was passed by the
House of Assembly, a Bill that is the same as the first Bill (as originally
passed by the House of Assembly) is introduced into the House of Assembly and
passes that House, with amendments (if any) within the ambit of
subsection (6)
(the second Bill); and
(i) fails to pass
the second Bill within the period of 9 sitting days after it is transmitted
to the Legislative Council; or
(ii) rejects the second Bill; or
(iii) passes the second Bill with amendments to which the House of
Assembly does not agree,
the Governor may dissolve the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly
by proclamation, except that a dissolution will not take place within
6 months before a general election of members of the House of Assembly is
due to be held under section 28.
(2) If the Legislative Council and House of Assembly are dissolved under
subsection (1)
, all the members of both Houses of Parliament will vacate their seats and
members will be elected to supply the resulting vacancies.
(a) after a
dissolution under
subsection (1)
, a Bill that is the same as the second Bill (as originally passed by the
House of Assembly) is introduced into the House of Assembly and passes that
House, with amendments (if any) within the ambit of
subsection (7)
(the third Bill) ; and
(i) fails to pass
the third Bill within the period of 9 sitting days after it is transmitted
to the Legislative Council; or
(ii) rejects the third Bill; or
(iii) passes the third Bill with amendments to which the House of Assembly
does not agree,
the Governor may, by proclamation, convene a joint sitting of the members
of the Legislative Council and of the House of Assembly.
(4) The following
provisions apply in relation to the constitution and proceedings of a joint
sitting convened under
subsection (3)
:
(a) the joint sitting will meet at a time and place appointed by
proclamation;
(b) a member of the House of Assembly or the Legislative Council appointed
by proclamation will preside over the joint sitting;
(c) a suitable person will be appointed by proclamation to be the clerk of
the joint sitting;
(d) the procedural rules (if any) prescribed by proclamation will be
observed at the joint sitting and, in the absence of a rule governing a
particular question of procedure that arises before the joint sitting, that
question will be decided by the person presiding or, if the joint sitting is
dissatisfied with that person's decision, by the joint sitting itself;
(e) the members of the joint sitting will, in relation to proceedings
before the joint sitting, have the same privileges and immunities as the members
of the House of Assembly in relation to proceedings before that House;
(f) the person presiding over the joint sitting and the joint sitting
itself have respectively the same powers to maintain order as the Speaker and
the House of Assembly;
(g) there is no requirement for all members of both Houses of Parliament
to be present at a meeting of the joint sitting;
(h) the members present
at the joint sitting may deliberate and will vote together on—
(i) the third Bill; and
(ii) amendments (if any) that have been made to the third Bill by 1 House
and not agreed to by the other (prescribed amendments);
(i) each member present at a meeting of the joint sitting, except the
person presiding, will be entitled to 1 vote on a question arising before the
joint sitting and, in the event of an equality of votes, the person presiding
will have a casting vote.
(5) In connection with
subsection (4)(h)
—
(a) any prescribed
amendments that are affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the
members of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly will be taken to
have been carried; and
(b) if the third Bill, with any prescribed amendments carried in
accordance with
paragraph (a)
, is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members of the
Legislative Council and the House of Assembly—
(i) it will be taken to be a Bill that has passed both Houses of
Parliament (and section 8 does not apply to the Bill); and
(ii) subject to
sections 10A and 88 (if relevant), the Bill will be presented to the Governor
for assent (and, on that assent, will be an Act of the Parliament of South
Australia).
(6) For the
purposes of
subsection (1)(c)
, the following amendments are within the ambit of this
subsection:
(a) amendments certified by the Speaker to be necessary to the second Bill
owing to the time that has elapsed since the date on which the first Bill was
passed by the House of Assembly;
(b) amendments certified by the Speaker to be consistent with amendments
made to, or agreed in relation to, the first Bill by the Legislative Council,
subject to any additional amendments to those amendments certified by the
Speaker to be necessary owing to the time that has elapsed or to be necessary as
consequential amendments.
(7) For the
purposes of
subsection (3)(a)
, the following amendments are within the ambit of this
subsection:
(a) amendments certified by the Speaker to be necessary to the third Bill
owing to the time that has elapsed since the date on which the second Bill was
passed by the House of Assembly;
(b) amendments
certified by the Speaker to be consistent with amendments made to, or agreed in
relation to, the second Bill by the Legislative Council, subject to any
additional amendments to those amendments certified by the Speaker to be
necessary owing to the time that has elapsed or to be necessary as consequential
amendments.
(8) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a reference to sitting days is a reference to sitting
days of the House of Assembly; and
(b) a reference to amendments (in the context of amendments made by the
Legislative Council) includes a reference to amendments suggested or proposed by
the Legislative Council.
5—Amendment
of section 57—Restoration of lapsed Bills
(1) Section 57(1)—delete ", and thereinafter proceeded with as
if no prorogation had intervened"
(2) Section 57—after subsection (2) insert:
(3) If a Bill is restored to the notice paper in accordance with this
section, the Bill will, for the purposes of section 41 and for all other
purposes, be treated as if no prorogation had occurred.
Schedule 1—Transitional
provisions
1—Powers
of Legislative Council in relation to Bills
Section 41 of the
Constitution
Act 1934
, as enacted by this Act, applies in relation to Bills introduced into the
Parliament after the commencement of this clause.