What happens to the Assembly before an election?
28 August 2020 | Canberra, Australia | Feature
The doors to the Assembly chamber have closed for the last time this parliamentary term, as the Territory gears up for the 17 October election. But what happens to the Assembly in the lead up to election day?
Is the Assembly officially over?
Not quite. Although the Assembly has stopped sitting, it remains active until polling day. This means members could sit again before the election, if required.
Unlike other parliaments, the Assembly does not ‘dissolve’—a process where the monarch’s representative closes parliament and releases members from its service. The ACT’s constitution—the 1988 Self-Government Act—only allows for a dissolution if the Assembly is incapacitated or is acting in a “grossly improper manner”.
What happens to things that aren’t finished yet?
Parliaments rarely finish all their work before an election.
All chamber business—no matter what stage it’s at—lapses after the last sitting and is cleared from the Notice Paper. The new Assembly starts with a clean slate and any bills from the previous term must be reintroduced.
The Assembly is unable to receive any more petitions until the start of the next Assembly.
Committees are slightly different. Because the Assembly’s term doesn’t officially end until election day, they can continue to meet and hold hearings to complete any remaining inquiries and publish their reports. Committees of the new Assembly can choose to continue previous inquires after an election if they wish, though this is uncommon.
Government responses to petitions and committee reports can be published after the last sitting day but won’t be presented to the Assembly until the first sittings of the new Assembly.
Who looks after the Territory before the election?
During the ‘caretaker period’, which commences 36 days before polling day, the government will avoid making major policy decisions, making significant appointments, or entering into major contracts. However, the government will ensure that day-to-day functions like tax-collecting and license issuing continue until a new government is formed after the election
So, things just go quiet at the Assembly?
Not at all! Behind-the-scenes, parliamentary staff start the mammoth effort of transitioning from the Ninth to the Tenth Assembly following the election—records are meticulously archived, repairs and maintenance of the Assembly building is performed, works from the art collection are returned to storage from members’ offices, and planning for the formal opening of the new Assembly begins.