Members of the Australian Senate, 2016–2019
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This is a list of members of the Australian Senate following the 2016 Australian federal election held on 2 July 2016. The election was held as a consequence of a double dissolution in which both houses of parliament were dissolved. Ordinarily, only half of the senators terms end at each election. In this case, all 76 senators were elected. At the first sitting following the election, half of the senators representing each of the six states of Australia were allocated six-year terms to end on 30 June 2022, with the remainder allocated three-year terms to end on 30 June 2019.[1] The terms of senators from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory end on the day of the next federal election.[2]
| Members of the Australian Senate, 2016–2019 | |
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Composition (July 2016)
Composition (May 2019)
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 Australia portal |
In accordance with section 13 of the Constitution,[3] it was left to the Senate to decide which senators were allocated six- and three-year terms. The senate resolved that the first elected six of twelve senators in each state would serve six-year terms, while the other six elected in each state would serve three-year terms. This had been the Senate practice on all seven previous occasions that required allocation of long and short terms.[4] In 1983 the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform had unanimously recommended an alternative "recount" method to reflect proportional representation,[5] and section 282 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act was added in 1984 to provide for a recount on that basis.[6] This alternative method had been supported by both major parties in senate resolutions passed in 1998[7] and 2010.[4][8][9][10] Despite the previous resolutions, an agreement between Liberal's Mathias Cormann and Labor's Penny Wong led the Senate to choose the order-elected method again. As a result, in New South Wales, Labor's Deborah O'Neill got a six-year term at the expense of The Greens' Lee Rhiannon getting a three-year term, while in Victoria Liberal's Scott Ryan got a six-year term at the expense of the Justice Party's Derryn Hinch getting a three-year term. Both methods of allocation had the same outcome for all other senators.[11][12][13][14]
Notes
- The terms of senators from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory end on the next dissolution of the House of Representatives.
- Victorian Labor Senator Stephen Conroy resigned on 30 September 2016. Kimberley Kitching was appointed as his replacement on 25 October 2016.
- South Australian Family First Senator Bob Day resigned on 1 November 2016. The High Court held on 5 April 2017 that Day was "incapable of being chosen" as a Senator as he had an indirect interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth.[20] The High Court had previously held that the presence of a person whose election was void did not invalidate the proceedings of the Senate.[18] Day's seat was filled by a recount, and Lucy Gichuhi was declared elected on 19 April 2017.[21]
- Western Australian Rod Culleton was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court of Australia on 11 January 2017, and as such was disqualified from being a Senator. The High Court subsequently held he was "incapable of being chosen" as a Senator as he was awaiting sentence on a criminal conviction.[17] The High Court had previously held that the presence of a person whose election was void did not invalidate the proceedings of the Senate.[18] Culleton's seat was filled by a recount, and on 10 March 2017 the High Court declared Peter Georgiou to be elected to the vacancy.
- On 7 February 2017, Senator for South Australia Cory Bernardi resigned from the Liberal Party and founded the Australian Conservatives.[15] At the time of the 2019 Australian federal election, he was still the leader of said party. The party disbanded prior to the start of the following parliamentary term and Bernardi became an Independent member.
- On 26 April 2017, Family First merged with the Australian Conservatives—with Lucy Gichuhi declining to join the new party, she became an independent.[22]
- Scott Ludlam resigned on 14 July 2017 after realising he held New Zealand citizenship, due to legal advice that he was ineligible to be a senator under Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia.
- Larissa Waters resigned on 18 July 2017 after realising she held Canadian citizenship, due to legal advice that she was ineligible to be a senator under Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia.
- Western Australian Liberal Senator Chris Back resigned on 31 July 2017. Slade Brockman was appointed as his replacement on 16 August 2017.
- On 27 October 2017, the High Court of Australia ruled that Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, Nationals Senator Fiona Nash and Greens Senator Larissa Waters were held to be "incapable of being chosen" as senators because they held foreign citizenship.[24] The High Court had previously held that the presence of a person whose election was void did not invalidate the proceedings of the Senate.[18] Their seats have been filled by a recount, which elected Jordon Steele-John, Fraser Anning and Andrew Bartlett, replacing Ludlam, Roberts and Waters respectively. Nash's replacement, Hollie Hughes, was referred to the full bench of the High Court, and was deemed ineligible under Section 44(iv). Jim Molan was elected on recount.[25]
- South Australian Senator and Nick Xenophon Team leader Nick Xenophon resigned from the Senate on 31 October 2017. Rex Patrick was appointed as his replacement on 14 November 2017.
- Tasmanian Liberal Senator and President of the Senate Stephen Parry resigned on 2 November 2017 from both positions after discovering he was a citizen of the United Kingdom, due to the recent High Court ruling that foreign citizens could not serve in parliament. Former Senator Richard Colbeck was declared duly elected by the High Court on 9 February 2018.
- Fraser Anning was declared elected at a recount to replace Malcolm Roberts as a Senator for One Nation, but left the party within an hour of being sworn in on 13 November 2017.
- Tasmanian JLN Senator Jacqui Lambie resigned on 14 November 2017 after discovering she was a citizen of the United Kingdom, due to the recent High Court ruling that foreign citizens could not serve in parliament. Steve Martin, a JLN candidate in 2016, was declared duly elected by the High Court on 9 February 2018, following a special count. Lambie had expelled Martin from the party on 7 February, so he initially sat as an independent.
- South Australian NXT Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore resigned on 22 November 2017 after discovering she was a citizen of the United Kingdom, due to the recent High Court ruling that foreign citizens could not serve in parliament. Tim Storer, an NXT candidate in 2016, was declared duly elected by the High Court on 9 February 2018. Storer was expelled from the party in November 2017, and sits as an independent.
- Labor Senator Sam Dastyari resigned on 25 January 2018. Kristina Keneally was appointed as his replacement on 14 February 2018.
- On 2 February 2018 Lucy Gichuhi joined the Liberal Party.[23]
- Queensland LNP Senator George Brandis resigned on 8 February 2018. Amanda Stoker was appointed as his replacement on 21 March 2018.
- On 9 May 2018, ACT Labor Senator Katy Gallagher was found by the High Court to be ineligible to be a senator. David Smith was elected in a special count as her replacement on 23 May 2018.
- Steve Martin, formerly an independent Senator for Tasmania, joined the Nationals on 28 May 2018.[26]
- On 18 June 2018, Brian Burston joined Clive Palmer's United Australia Party.[16]
- Lee Rhiannon resigned from the Senate on 15 August 2018. Her seat was filled by former New South Wales Legislative Council member Mehreen Faruqi.
- On 27 August 2018, Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett resigned from the Senate to contest the lower house Division of Brisbane. Larissa Waters was appointed as his replacement on 6 September 2018.
- On 21 January 2019, Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby resigned from the Senate to take up the role of Australia's consul-general in Chicago. His sister Wendy Askew was appointed as his replacement on 6 March 2019.
- On 15 February 2019, Victorian Labor Senator Jacinta Collins resigned from the Senate. Raff Ciccone was appointed as her replacement on 6 March 2019.
- On 1 March 2019, New South Wales Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm resigned from the Senate to contest the New South Wales state election. Duncan Spender was appointed as his replacement on 20 March 2019.
- David Smith resigned on 11 April 2019 to contest the lower house Division of Bean.
- The changes to the composition of the Senate, in chronological order, were Conroy resigned,[c] Day resigned,[d] Culleton resigned from One Nation,[e] Culleton was declared bankrupt,[f] Bernardi resigned from the Liberal Party,[g] Gichuhi became an independent,[h] Ludlam resigned,[i] Waters resigned,[j] Back resigned,[k] the High Court ruled on the Citizenship 7,[l] Xenophon resigned,[m] Parry resigned,[n] Anning resigned from One Nation,[o] Lambie resigned,[p] Kakoschke-Moore resigned,[q] Dastyari resigned,[r] Gichuhi joined the Liberal Party,[s] Brandis resigned,[t] Gallagher resigned,[u] Martin joined the Nationals,[v] Burston joined the UAP,[w] Rhiannon resigned,[x] Bartlett resigned,[y] Bushby resigned,[z] Collins resigned,[aa] Leyonhjelm resigned,[ab] and Smith resigned.[ac]
- Three Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators sat in the Liberal party room.
- Two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party (CLP) senator sat in the Nationals party room. Nigel Scullion (CLP) was leader of the Nationals in the Senate.