South Australian Current Acts

CONSTITUTION ACT 1934 - SECT 13

13—Casual vacancies

        (1)         Subject to this section, where a casual vacancy occurs by death, resignation or otherwise in the seat of a member of the Legislative Council, a person shall be chosen to occupy the vacant seat by an assembly of the members of both Houses of Parliament.

        (2)         An assembly need not be held under subsection (1) to supply a casual vacancy if the vacancy occurs 3 months or less before a day on which the former member would, if circumstances giving rise to a casual vacancy had not occurred, have been required to retire in any event.

        (3)         Where—

            (a)         a casual vacancy occurs in the seat of a member of the Legislative Council; and

            (b)         the House of Assembly is dissolved by the Governor (otherwise than in pursuance of section 41) or expires by effluxion of time; and

            (c)         as at the date of the dissolution or expiry, no assembly of the members of both Houses of Parliament had been held to choose a person to occupy the vacant seat; and

            (d)         the member formerly occupying the seat would, if the casual vacancy had not occurred, have been one of those required to retire under section 14(2),

the vacancy shall be supplied at the ensuing election.

        (4)         The following provisions apply in relation to the constitution and proceedings of an assembly that is, in pursuance of subsection (1), to choose a person to occupy a vacancy in the membership of the Legislative Council:

            (a)         the assembly shall meet at a time and place appointed by proclamation; and

            (b)         a member of the House of Assembly or the Legislative Council appointed by proclamation shall preside over the assembly; and

            (c)         a suitable person shall be appointed by proclamation to be the clerk of the assembly; and

            (d)         the procedural rules (if any) prescribed by proclamation shall be observed at the assembly and, in the absence of a rule governing a particular question of procedure that arises before the assembly, that question shall be decided by the person presiding or, if the assembly is dissatisfied with that person's decision, by the assembly itself; and

            (e)         the members of the assembly shall, in relation to proceedings before the assembly, have the same privileges and immunities as the members of the House of Assembly in relation to proceedings before that House; and

            (f)         the person presiding over the assembly and the assembly itself have respectively the same powers to maintain order as the Speaker and the House of Assembly; and

            (fa)         there is no requirement for all members of both Houses of Parliament to be present at a meeting of the assembly; and

            (g)         a question before the assembly shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast by the members present at a meeting of the assembly; and

            (h)         each member present at a meeting of the assembly, except the person presiding, shall be entitled to one vote on a question arising before the assembly and, in the event of an equality of votes, the person presiding shall have a casting vote.

        (5)         Where a casual vacancy in the membership of the Legislative Council is to be occupied by a person chosen by an assembly of the members of both Houses of Parliament, and the member, whose seat has become vacant, was at the time of his or her election publicly recognised by a particular political party as being an endorsed candidate of that party and publicly represented himself or herself to be such a candidate, the person chosen by the assembly to occupy that vacancy shall, unless there is no member of that party available to be chosen, be a member of that party nominated by that party to occupy the vacancy.