46th Parliament of Australia

The 46th Parliament of Australia is a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The parliament was opened on 2 July 2019.[1]

46th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
Monarch	Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia since 6 February 1952
Governor-General	His Excellency the Hon. David Hurley AC since 1 July 2019
President of the Senate	Scott Ryan, Liberal Party since 13 November 2017
Speaker of the House of Representatives	Tony Smith, Liberal Party since 10 August 2015
Structure
Seats	227 (151 MPs, 76 Senators)
House of Representatives political groups	Government (77) Coalition   Liberal (61)[lower-alpha 1]   National (16)[lower-alpha 2] Opposition (68)   Labor (68) Crossbench (6)   Greens (1)   KAP (1)   Centre Alliance (1)   Independent (3)[lower-alpha 3]
Senate political groups	Government (36) Coalition   Liberal (31)[lower-alpha 4]   National (5)[lower-alpha 5] Opposition (26)   Labor (26) Crossbench (14)   Greens (9)   One Nation (2)   Centre Alliance (1)   Lambie Network (1)   Patrick Team (1)
Elections
Last general election	18 May 2019
Meeting place
Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia
Website
www.aph.gov.au Including 17 Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) MPs who sit in the Liberals party room Including 6 Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) MPs who sit in the Nationals party room Current independent MPs: Andrew Wilkie (Clark), Helen Haines (Indi), Zali Steggall (Warringah) Including four Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators who sit in the Liberals party room Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party (CLP) senator who sit in the Nationals party room

2019 federal election

House of Representatives

At the 2019 election, in the 151-seat House of Representatives, the incumbent Coalition government was reelected with 77 seats, a majority of two seats. The Labor opposition won 68 seats. Six other MPs were elected to the crossbench, with the Greens, Centre Alliance, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines and Zali Steggall winning a seat each.

Senate

In the Senate, 40 of 76 seats were up for election. Following the election, the Coalition had a total of 35 seats, four short of a majority. Labor held 26 seats, the Greens held 9 seats, Centre Alliance and One Nation each held two seats, the Jacqui Lambie Network held one and one seat was held by independent Cory Bernardi, who deregistered the party he was previously a member of on 25 June 2019.

Major events

• 2 July 2019: Parliament is opened by the newly appointed Governor-General, David Hurley.[1]
• 25 July 2019: The government’s legislation repealing provisions allowing the medical transfer to Australia of refugees passes the lower house, despite vociferous objection by Labor and other minor party MPs.[2] The original legislation’s passage in the previous parliament represented the first time a government had lost a substantial vote in the House of Representatives in 90 years.[2]
• 24 November 2019: Channel 9’s 60 Minutes program airs a report alleging that a Chinese intelligence group offered one million dollars to pay for the political campaign of a Liberal Party member to run in an eastern suburbs seat, as part of an operation to place a Chinese agent in Parliament. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation later confirms the legitimacy of the story and reveals an ongoing investigation into the matter.[3] See the 2019 Australian Parliament infiltration plot article for further details.
• 3 February 2020: The Deputy Leader of the National Party Bridget McKenzie resigns from her leadership position and from Cabinet amidst a "sports rorts affair" that sees McKenzie oversee a community sports grants program that appears to be politically biased toward clubs located in marginal or target seats for the Government. At the subsequent leadership spill Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack narrowly avoids being removed from the position after being challenged by Barnaby Joyce.[4][5]

March 2020 coronavirus suspension

Around 23 March 2020, Parliament was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia; an adjournment rather than prorogation. Parliamentary sittings were shut down and scheduled to resume in August. Its committees would continue to operate using technology. This unprecedented move was accompanied by two motions raised by the Attorney-General of Australia, Christian Porter, and passed on 23 March 2020. One motion was designed to allow MPs to participate in parliament by electronic means, if agreed by the major parties and the speaker; the second determined that with the agreement of the two major parties, the standing orders could be amended without requiring an absolute majority.[6] (Shortly before this, a special intergovernmental decision-making forum, the National Cabinet, composed of the head of the Commonwealth (the Prime Minister) and the premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories was established on 18 March 2020 to coordinate the national response to the pandemic.[7][8][9])

Major legislation

• The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More Of Their Money) Bill 2019 passes the parliament on 4 July 2019. The legislation, providing $158 billion in income tax cuts, was the government's signature election policy. Despite opposing Stage 3 of the legislation, which would flatten the tax rate to 30% for all workers earning between $45,000 and $200,000, Labor votes in favour of the bill and only the Greens vote against the bill at the third reading.[10]
• The Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill 2019 and related legislation passes the parliament on 25 July 2019. The legislation gives the Minister the power to block a person aged over 14 years of age (including an Australian citizen) from returning to Australia for up to two years if the minister “suspects on reasonable grounds” that a temporary exclusion order would prevent support or assistance to a terrorist organisation.[11] The government refused to support all the amendments recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and supported by Labor, leading to concerns regarding the constitutional validity of the bill.[11][12]

Membership changes

This table lists members of the House or Senate who have resigned, been elected or appointed, or otherwise changed their party affiliation during the 46th Parliament.

Seat	Before			Change		After
	Member	Party		Type	Date	Date	Member	Party
Vic (Senate)	Mitch Fifield		Liberal	Resignation	16 August 2019	11 September 2019	Sarah Henderson		Liberal
NSW (Senate)	Arthur Sinodinos		Liberal	Resignation	11 November 2019	14 November 2019	Jim Molan		Liberal
SA (Senate)	Cory Bernardi		Conservatives	Party deregistration	24 June 2019	24 June 2019	Cory Bernardi		Independent
			Independent	Resignation	20 January 2020	6 February 2020	Andrew McLachlan		Liberal
Wide Bay	Llew O'Brien		National	Departure from party-room[nb 1]	10 February 2020	10 February 2020	Llew O'Brien		Liberal National
Eden-Monaro	Mike Kelly		Labor	Resignation	30 April 2020	24 August 2020	Kristy McBain		Labor
SA (Senate)	Rex Patrick		Centre Alliance	Defection from party	9 August 2020	9 August 2020	Rex Patrick		Independent
Vic (Senate)	Richard Di Natale		Greens	Resignation	26 August 2020	4 September 2020	Lidia Thorpe		Greens
Groom	John McVeigh		Liberal National	Resignation	18 September 2020	28 November 2020	Garth Hamilton		Liberal
WA (Senate)	Mathias Cormann		Liberal	Resignation	6 November 2020	25 November 2020	Ben Small		Liberal
Wide Bay	Llew O'Brien		Liberal National	Return to party-room[nb 1]	7 December 2020	7 December 2020	Llew O'Brien		National
SA (Senate)	Rex Patrick		Independent	Formation of new party	7 January 2021	7 January 2021	Rex Patrick		Rex Patrick Team

See also

• 45th Parliament of Australia
• Morrison Government
• 2020s in Australian political history

Notes

1. O'Brien was elected as a Liberal National Party (LNP) MP and sat in the Nationals party-room. He left the party-room (caucus) on 10 February 2020 after initiating a failed leadership spill, and sat as an LNP MP, still part of the Coalition Government but not as one who sat in either the National, Liberal or joint party-room meetings. On 10 December 2020 he rejoined the Nationals party-room.

References

1. "Parliament sits for first time since Scott Morrison's election victory – politics live". Guardian Australia. 2 July 2019.
2. "The Government Just Voted To Repeal The Medevac Bill, And People Are Absolutely Disgusted". Junkee. 25 July 2019.
3. "China tried to plant its candidate in Federal Parliament, authorities believe". The Age. 24 November 2019.
4. Pearce, Lara (2 February 2020). "Bridget McKenzie resigns from cabinet over sports grant saga". Nine News. Nine Network. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
5. Snape, Jack (4 February 2020). "Barnaby Joyce to challenge Michael McCormack in Nationals leadership spill as Parliament returns, live coverage". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
6. Twomey, Anne (24 March 2020). "A virtual Australian parliament is possible – and may be needed – during the coronavirus pandemic". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
7. Shoebridge, Michael (18 March 2020). "The national cabinet is key to our coronavirus response. Here's how it will need to work". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
8. "Press Conference Transcript". Prime Minister's Office. 15 March 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. Burton, Tom (18 March 2020). "National cabinet creates a new federal model". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
10. "Coalition's income tax cuts pass Senate in full as Labor backs down". Guardian Australia. 4 July 2019.
11. "What is a temporary exclusion order? Australia's foreign fighters bill explained". Guardian Australia. 22 July 2019.
12. "New laws can't stop foreign fighters returning to Australia". 2GB. 26 July 2019.