Book Review: Australian Senate Practice
| Date | 01 March 1978 |
| Published date | 01 March 1978 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0067205X7800900107 |
| Author | Colin A. Hughes |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK
REVIEWS
Australian Senate Practice by J. R.
ODGERS,
Clerk of the Senate.
(Australian Government Printing Service, 1976, 5th Edition. Also
published as Parliamentary Paper 1976,
No.1),
pp. i-xxi, 1-707. Cloth,
recommended retail price $22.10 (ISBN: 0642 02045
0);
Paperback,
recommended retail price $14.10 (ISBN: 0642 02293
3).
Since the appearance of the first edition in 1953, Odgers' Australian
Senate Practice has been invaluable, not only to those who work in
Parliament House, but also to the growing number of public servants,
lawyers, academics and journalists who have
to
understand what
is
happening there.
It
is
surprising, though not
Mr
Odgers' fault, that his
enterprise has not been duplicated for the House of Representatives,
and perhaps the appearance of the fifth edition on the eve of its,
jubilee of Senate Practice might encourage the Speaker and Officers of '
the House to think again about keeping up with their neighbours.
As the work purports to be, and indisputably
is,
encyclopaedic, a
reviewer's efforts can be directed to identifying changes and trends in
the latest edition.
Mr
Odgers helpfully identifies what he regards as the
more important developments in the role, composition and practice of
the Senate in his Preface, and certainly the years since the fourth
edition appeared in 1972 have been as eventful as any in the Senate's
history. Despite the speedy production of
so
large abook, it has been
overtaken in at least one area: the success of the referendum proposal
for casual Senate vacancies confirms the wisdom of
Mr
Odgers' com-
ment on the 1975 appointments of Senators Bunton and Field:
The effect
is
to distort the vote of the people and
so
put at risk the:
Senate's powers, which stem from its fully elective and represen-
tative character.
It
is
imperative that the States take heed of the
resolution of the Senate commending to the Parliaments of all
States the practice [note that the author does not say "convention"]
which had prevailed since the introduction of proportional rep-
resentation in 1949 whereby the States, when acasual vacancy
has occurred, have chosen aSenator from the same political party
as the Senator who died
or
resigned. The Commonwealth Govern- ,
ment for its part should not strain the practice by any action likely
to antagonise the States in the
matter
of casual vacancies. (page
xix)
Although the amendment leaves problems when the departed Senator
had been an Independent
or
represented aminor party since deacti-
vated, the situation
is
certainly better than it was.
The 1974 rejection of the referendum for simultaneous elections was
noted approvingly with the comment that the quality of independence
given the Senators with
fixed
six-year terms (save after adouble
dissolution)
would disappear if Senators, through no fault of their own, could
have their terms shortened by any mid-term dissolution of the
House of Representatives, such as occurred in 1929.seven months:
124
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