PRIME MINISTER CAN BERRA
His Excellency the Right Honourable
Sir Ninian Stephen, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KE
Governor-General of the Commonwealth
of Australia
Government House
CANBERRA ACT 2600 -8 OCT W94
Your Excellency
I write to advise you that the House of Representatives be
dissolved and the necessary action for Senate elections be
taken in time for elections for both Houses to be held on
1 December 1984. 1 also advise that referendums on the
Constitution Alteration ( Terms of Senators) Bill 1984 and
the Constitution Alteration ( Interchange of Powers) Bill
1984 recently passed by the Parliamentbe held on that date
( copies of the bills are attached).
The details of the election and referendum timetable I
propose are:
Issue of writs 26 October 1984
Close of electoral rolls 2 November 1984
Close of nominations 6 November 1984
Polling day 1 December 1984
Return of writs ( latest date) 24 January 1985
The term of the current House of Representatives expires on
April 1986. Section 28 of the Constitution, however,
provides you with the discretion to dissolve the House of
Representatives before that date.
The double dissolution of February 1983 meant that this
Government was faced with choosing between:
bringing forward the House of Representatives election
to coincide with the half-Senate election required to ' be
held in time for new Senators to take their places by 1
July 1985; or
having two national elections a half Senate election
and a House of Representatives election in a period of
a year or a little more, with the prospect of further
unnecessary elections in the future.
The timing considerations for the half Senate election
caused by the 1983 double dissolution are governed by
section 13 of the Constitution which allows an election to
fill Senate places to be held within one year before they
become vacant on 30 June 1985 and by the realities of
carrying out a Senate election. The Australian Electoral
Commission has advised that in order for the count to be
completed in time for the new Senators to take their seats
on 1 July 1985, the election needs to be held by April 198: 5.
It has been the pattern over many years for elections for
half the Senate to be held in the latter months of the
preceding calendar year. Since 1949, and leaving aside
double dissolution elections, 8 out of 10 such elections
have been held in November or December and one was held in
October. The Government has always advocated simultaneous elections,
and it has made clear to the electorate on a number of
occasions since* March 1983 why it was likely that the
present Parliament would not run its full term. Separate
Senate elections increase the total number of elections,
disrupt the orderly processes of administration and
generally are not in the public interest.
A measure of the consequences for the community of not
having the simultaneous election the Government has now
determined upon is the cost of separate elections. The
Australian Electoral Commission estimates that holding a
simultaneous election will cost $ 30m as compared with $ 49m
if separate Senate and House elections were held as they
became due.
It is notable that early elections have been held after
double dissolutions in the past albeit after one round of
separate elections following the 1951 Menzies double
dissolution. The most recent example, is, of course, the
December 1977 election obtained by Mr Fraser after the
double dissolution of 1975.
Another determinant of timing is the concern of the businE! ss
community that if there is an election in the offing, it
should be held as early as possible.
Finally, legislation has been passed to increase the size of
the Parliament. The extra two Senators for each State will
take their seats at the first meeting of the next House of'
Representatives. if the elections are held together now,
the first meeting will be next February. However, if the
elections are not held together, it will be unclear when
the first meeting will be it could be anything up to 16
months after their election and it is undesirable that the
voters should be asked to elect Senators without it being
made clear when their term will commence.
In accordance with past practice the Governors of the States
issue writs for the election of Senators-for the States,
pursuant to section 12 of the Constitution. State
legislation provides for proclamations fixing the election
dates to be published in the State Gazettes. In the case of
Western Australia, 7 days notice is required for the issue!
of writs. Accordingly I invite you to suggest to the
Governor of each State that the dates proposed earlier in
this letter be adopted for the purpose of the election of
Senators in the States and that the writs be issued on
26 October 1984.
You might remind the Governors that, as mentioned above,
these elections will be the first for the enlarged
Parliament. Under the Representation Act 1983 the number of
Senators to be elected on this occasion is 7 an additional
2 Senators for each State. Although 5 of those elected will
assume office on 1 July 1985 as usual, the first two nonsitting
Senators elected will take their seats on the first
day of meeting of the House of Representatives.
I shall be writing to you again proposing a date for
dissolving the House of Representatives but I currently hikve
it in mind to advise 26 October 1984. I fully expect that
by that date the Parliament will have appropriated
sufficient funds to enable the work of the administration to
be carried on through the election period.
I would propose to make a statement to the Parliament latE~ r
today, subject to your agreement with what I have proposed,
announcing the election.
If you agree I propose to table this letter and your reply
in the Parliament at an appropriate time.
Yours sincerely
BOB HAWKE
R. J. L. Hawke
REC 11 q : 5 Government House,
OCTB8 1-Canberra 2600.
4LtH 0* 8 October 1984
I refer to your letter of today's date which you
handed to me when you called on me earlier this afternoon.
I now confirm my oral acceptance of the advice
contained in your letter that, for the reasons you advanced
in that letter, the House of Representatives should be
dissolved and that I should invite State Governors to take the
action necessary for the holding of Senate elections, so
that elections for both Houses may be held on 1 December
1984; and that in addition referendums on two measures for
alteration of the Constitution be also held on that date.
I note that you at present contemplate that you
will be advising a dissolution of the House on 26 October,
it being your expectation that by that: date Parliament will
have appropriated sufficient funds to enable the work of
the administration to be carried on through the election
period. The Honourable R. J. L. Hawke, AC, MP,
Prime Minister,
Parliament House,
CANBERRA. A. C. T. 2600
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 8 OCTOBER 1984
Mr Speaker
I wish to advise the House that today I called upon His
Excellency the Governor-General and recommended to him that
the House of Representatives be dissolved, and that a
general election for the Members of the House of
Representatives be held on Saturday, the first of December
1984. His excellency has accepted my recommendation.
I have also asked the Governor-General to take the necessary
action to enable an election to be held for half the Senate
conjointly with the election for the House of
Representatives. His Excellency has agreed to take this
actLion. The details of the election timetable are:
issue of writs 206 Octobcr 1984
close of electoral rolls 2 November 1984
close of nominations 6 November 1984
polling day 1 December 1984
return of writs 24 January 1985
Referendums on the Constitution Alteration ( Terms of
Senators) Bill 1984 and the Constitution Alteration
( Interchange of Powers) Bill 1984 will als~ o be held on the
first of December.
The Parliament still has significant and essential
Government legislation before it. The Government wishes
this legislation to pass the House by the 11th October to
enable it to rise then. The Senate will clearly need to sit
at least an extra week to deal with the essential
legislation before it. I then propose to advise the
Governor-General to dissolve the House of Representatives,
probably on 26 October.
Mr Speaker
When my predecessor as Prime Minister advised the double
dissolution of the 32nd Parliament on the ever memorable 3rd
of February 1983, he set in train a certain inevitability OT
events. The chief of those was, of course, the election of my
Government on the 5th of March 1983.
But his decision to advise a double dissolution also
significantly affected the electoral timetable of this, the
33rd parliament of the Commonwealth.
As a result of that decision, the timetable for simultaneous
elections f3r the House of Representatives and half the
Senate which had been temporcrily restored by the
premature election of 1977 was once agpin disrupted.
The consequence is that under the Constitution, there must
be an election for half the Senate in time to enable the
newly elected Senators to take their places on the 1st of
July 1985. In practical terms involving considerations of
the time required by the Australian Electoral Commission to
complete the counting of votes this means that the half
Senate election could be held no later than April next year.
It has, however, been the pattern over many years for
elections for half the Senate to be held in the latter
months of the preceding calendar year. Since 1949 leaving
aside the three double dissolution elections eight out of
ten such elections have been held in November or December
and one other was held in October. The three separate half
Senate elections, of 1964, 1967 and 1970, were all held in
November or December.
It is therefore absolutely clear, Mr Speaker, that the
decision to hold the election for half the Senate on the
first of December conforms entirely with well-established
custom, proper procedure and clear precedents.
Mr Speaker
Virtually from the outset of my Prime Ministership, I have
made it very clear to the Parliament and public that I
intended, if possible, and if consistent with the higher
national interest, to re-align the elections for the two
Houses that is to say, that there would be an election for
the House of Representatives on the same day as the
constitutionally inevitable election for half the Senate.
Mr Speaker
That is now possible. It is highly desirable. And it is
certainly in the best interests of Australia.
I do not believe that the wisdom and propriety of this
course my publicly declared intention has been seriously
questioned over the past eighteen months.
It was of course, the reason my predecessor gave for the
early election of 1977.
But Mr Speaker, there is one very significant difference
between 1977 and now and that is that unlike 1977, the
course we are now taking has been publicly canvassed and I
believe generally accepted as proper and correct, virtually
throughout the lifetime of this present Parliament.
Indeed Mr Speaker, in no quarter has it been more generally
acknowledged ns in3vitable than on the part of our opponents
opposi'e who have al~ ready committed and spent literally
millions of dollars on an advertising campaign targetted on
a November or December general election.
And speaking of dollars, I should point out, Mr Speaker,
that I am informed that the cost of two separate elections
would be of the order of $ 49 million, against $ 30 million
for simultaneous elections.
There are, I believe, two other reasons of considerable
importance why the elections for the two Houses should be
held simultaneously and why the simultaneous election should
be sooner rather than later in December rather than March
or April.
Firstly, the business community, upon whom rests so much of
the effort for national economic recovery, has widely urged
the need for a prompt end to the electioneering atmosphere,
as a means of sustaining the confidence which together we
have been able to generate. They also share our concern
over the frequency of election campaigns in Australia, as a
factor militating against confidence and stability. In
particular, the retail trade is anxious to have the election
over as long as possible before Christmas.
Secondly, Mi: Speaker, by the decision of bothi Houses, the
next Parliament is to be enlarged by 23 Members in the House
of Representatives; and consequent upon the Constitution, by
two additional Senators from each State.
But those additional Senators could not take their places
until after the new and enlarged House of Representatives
had been elected and had met.
Accordingly, Mr Speaker, if an election were to be held for
half the Senate alone, the additional Senators would be, as
it were, in a state of limbo for a period of anything up to
sixteen months after their election.
Clearly Mr Speaker, for this and every other reason, if the
will and mandate of the people is to be as fresh and
contemporary as possible under the Constitution, then the
elections for the two Houses should be held simultaneously.
That of course, is one of the reasons why we & re
resubmitting to the people, by way of referendum, the
proposal to alter the terms of Senators so that they are
linked to the term for the House of Representatives to
enshrine into the Constitution itself the principle of
simultaneous elections. Its passage is necessary to restore
stability and electoral predictability to our Parliament-ary
system.
Mr Speaker
The decision I have announced today restores that stabi'ity,
simultaneity and contemporaneity for the next Parliament.
By adopting the referendum proposal, tLhe people of Australia
can establish it for all future par'i2ments and for all
time.
Mr Speaker
I have set out in some detail the more specific reasons for
my recommendation today to the Goveirnor-General the
technical, the practical, the legal and constitutional
reasons.
But Mr Speaker, over and above these, there are reasons of
profound national importance why the people of Australia
should now have the opportunity to pass their judgement upon
their Government and to renew its mandate.
Mr Speaker
This Government was elected to revive and revitalise an
economy which was in the grip of the worst recession
Australia had known for fi~ fty years.
We have done that.
We were elected to restore economic growth.
We have achieved that to the extent that Australia now has
the fastest-growing economy of any of the OECD countries.
We were elected to do what our predecessors had notoriously
failed to do in their seven years to fight unemployment
and inflation simultaneously.
We have created a quarter of a million new jobs in eighteen
months against the loss of almost a quarter of a million
jobs under our predecessors.
We were elected to implement 2 wide-ranging but highly
responsible program of social reform.
That we have done.
Above all-the very foundation of all that we have been able
to achieve so far we were elected to undertake our pledge
to bring about a national reconcilia2tion, as the path to
national recovery and national reconstruction.
We have ended at last the needless confrontation and
division which disfigured Australian society for a decade.
But Mr Speaker, if all the great gaIns and achievements of
the past twenty months are to be maintained4 and built upon,
then it is absolutely essential that there should be a
period a long period of consolid1. tion, co-operation and
creativity creativity not just in Goverameit, but in
business and industry and in the Australian community as a
whole. The foundation o. f all this must be a period of political and
economic stability and predictability which only this
Government can provide, and which this Government can best
provide if it is granted, at the earliest possible
opportunity, a new and re-invigorated mandate from the
people of Australia.
We are now at the very crucial stage of the national
recovery. Even more than in the past twenty months, the
need now is for firm, effective Government to carry through
and consolidate the gains made so far.
The Prices and Incomes Accord the basis of
non-inflationary recovery has been~ spectacularly
successful, and its continued acceptance and success is
absolutely vital.
Yet we know our opponents are pledged to the destruction of
the Accord, the dismantling of all the machinery which
underpin's it, and the dissipation of the spirit of
co-operation an~ d consensus which binds it together and
indeed, Mr Speaker, in a very real and profound sense, the
spirit which now binds this nation together in a way we have
not experienced before in peacetime.
Here then, Mr Speaker, is the overwhelming reason why we
believe we are not merely entitled, but indeed bound, to
seek a new mandate at the earliest opportunity.
Yet, for all that has been achieved so far, there are still
pressing problems facing the Government and the nation.
There is for this Government at least the totally
unacceptable level of unemployment and particularly youth
unemployment. This we will continue to make one of our most
urgent challenges.
There is the urgent need in human terms, nothing could be
more urgent to end the needless and absolutely groundless
anxiety which has been created amongst our pensioners by an
irresponsible and indeed, thoroughly wicked and cruel
campaign of fear and misrepresentation by our opponents.
That alone would constitute an irrefutable justification for
this election.
There is the need for people once again to declare their
determination that Medicare should endure.
There is the need to deal the f inal blov-. s to the tax
avoidance industry in this country.
Theri is the neee, n( 1. only to strengthen the unrelenting
fight against organised crime, not . Just by laws and
machinery as we are doing but to fight it in the only
way by which it can ultimately by won by a nation and a
Parliament genuinely united in that fight.
Here then Mr Speaker, are constituted overriding reasons of
the highest national importance, why we today are asking the
people of Australia for a renewal of our mandate on the
first of December.
A new spirit of confidence and self-confidence has emerged
in this nation. In the final analysis, everything we hope
for in this great country of ours depends upon maintaining
and fostering that spirit.
Yet Mr Speaker, we have seen in recent months that there are
persons in Australia -and I regret to say, there are
persons in this House -who believe, however misguidedly,
that they have some kind of vested interest in undermining
that new spirit of national confidence and self-confidence.
I believe the people of Austraia have already realised the
nature and purpose of this campaign of denigration. I
believe they will not easily or quickly forgive its
perpetrators. Mr Speaker
On the first of December, I shall not be merely seeking from
the people of Australia a verdict of faith and confidence in
this Government.
Much more importantly, I shall be asking the people of
Australia to proclaim once again their faith and confidencz
in themselves, their faith and confidence in the future of
this great nation.