Joint Sitting, Australian parliament, 1974

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A joint sitting of the Australian parliament was convened in 1974, in which members of the Senate and House of Representatives sat together as a single legislative body. The joint sitting was held on 6 and 7 August 1974, following the double dissolution election of 18 May 1974 and remains the only time that members of both houses of the federal parliament have sat together as a single legislative body pursuant to section 57 of the Consitution.

This sitting deliberated and voted upon the following acts:

Commonwealth Electoral Bill (No. 2) 1973;
Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill 1973;
Representation Bill 1973;
Health Insurance Commission Bill 1973;
Health Insurance Bill 1973; and
Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill 1973.

Political background

In early 1974, the conservative parties led by Billy Snedden had chosen to use their majority in the Senate to oppose key government legislation. As the Senate had rejected the Bills twice the Prime Minister was entitled to request a double dissolution was under section 57 of the Constitution. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam did so and on 18 May an election for both houses of parliament was held.

Campaigning for the Labor Party, Whitlam asked the electorate to let him "finish the job" using the slogan "Give Gough a Go". The Liberal and Country parties focused their campaign on government mismanagement and the state of the economy. The Labor Party was returned with a slightly reduced majority in the House of Representatives and, crucially, without the Senate majority it required to pass the legislation that had triggered the election.

Unable to pass the legislation Whitlam sought a joint sitting from Governor-General Sir John Kerr. On 30 July, Kerr issued a proclamation granting the Prime Minister his request and convening the joint sitting.

The coalition parties sought to prevent the joint sitting by challenging the constitutional validity of the sitting in the High Court. The writs were issued by Senators Sir Magnus Cormack (Lib) and Jim Webster (CP) on 1 August. Queensland also brought an action, although it sought a more narrow declaration. The court delivered a unanimous decision on 5 August (Cormack v Cope (1974) 131 CLR 432) ruling that the sitting was constitutionally valid.

The Sitting

Over two days, 6 and 7 August, covered by radio and television, 187 parliamentarians sat together as a single legislative body. The House of Representatives chamber was chosen by Whitlam as it was "the people's House, the house where alone governments are made and unmade." The Speaker of the House, Jim Cope, was chosen without dissent as 'Chairman' of the proceedings. Behaviour and restraint were shown by both sides of politics; all were in awe of the history they were making. Whitlam was jubilant that "at long last, after sustained stonewalling and filibustering the parliament can proceed to enact these essential parts of the government's program." The Leader of the Opposition, Billy Snedden, was more cynical, "This is indeed an historic occasion. So many people have described it as such-that one is convinced it must be."

However, the conservative side of politics still chose to oppose, without any compromise or amendment, all of the six bills as they had done twice before. Inevitably all six were subsequently passed. The pattern of the voting was unremarkable, following party lines: 96 ayes to 91 no's. On 8 August 1974 the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, gave Royal Assent and the bills became law.

Subsequent legal challenge

Thirteen months later four litigants, VICTORIA v. THE COMMONWEALTH AND CONNOR ; NEW SOUTH WALES v. THE COMMONWEALTH ; QUEENSLAND v. THE COMMONWEALTH ; WESTERN AUSTRALIA v. THE COMMONWEALTH [1975] sought to over turn the 'Petroleum and minerals Authority Act 1973'.

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