The 45th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n federal government, composed of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

. It met in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

from 30 August 2016 to 4 April 2019. The 2016 general election held on 2 July gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House, albeit with a slimmer

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

to stay in office as the 29th

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

. During the term of the parliament, the government slipped into minority due to defections and

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. The leadership of the government also changed during the parliament, when Scott Morrison replaced Turnbull as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister in August 2018. The 45th Parliament was officially prorogued by the Governor-General Sir

Peter Cosgrove General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is a retired senior Australian Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Cosgrove fo ...

at 8:29 a.m. on 11 April 2019, and the House of Representatives dissolved at 8:30 a.m..

2016 federal election

House of Representatives

At the 2016 federal election, in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the incumbent Coalition government was reelected with 76 seats, a majority of one seat. The Labor opposition won 69 seats. Five other MPs were elected to the crossbench, with the Greens, the

Nick Xenophon Team Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Represent ...

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Co ...

, and independents

Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 Augu ...

and Cathy McGowan winning a seat each.

Senate

In the 76-seat Senate, following the

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...

election, the Coalition government was returned with 30 seats, and the Labor opposition obtained 26 seats. The crossbench consisted of 20 senators: the Greens winning 9 seats, One Nation winning 4 seats, the Nick Xenophon Team winning 3 seats, and the Liberal Democratic Party,

Derryn Hinch's Justice Party Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, also known as the Justice Party, is a political party in Australia, registered for federal elections since 14 April 2016. The party is named after its founder, Derryn Hinch, an Australian media personality. The par ...

Family First Party The Family First Party was a Conservatism in Australia, conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Austral ...

and

Jacqui Lambie Network The Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is a political party in Australia, formed in May 2015. Bearing the name of its founder, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, it has served as the political vehicle for the former independent. The JLN was formed to al ...

each winning one seat.

Membership changes after the election

In the time elapsed between the 2016 election and the following federal election, many parliamentarians resigned from their seats, while some were disqualified by the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

. The parliamentary eligibility crisis involving

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

was responsible for a significant portion of these departures, although the cases of

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

and John Alexander only left brief vacancies due to their prompt returns in

. Some individual parliamentarians also made an impact by changing their party membership or independent status. * 1 November 2016: Family First Senator Bob Day resigns after his business collapses. * 3 February 2017: The High Court finds that independent Senator

Rod Culleton Rodney Norman Culleton (born 5 June 1964) is an Australian politician who was sworn in and sat as a Senator for Western Australia following the 2016 federal election. At that time he was a member of the Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, but o ...

(formerly of One Nation) was not eligible to be elected under Section 44(ii) of the Constitution due to a criminal conviction. * 10 March 2017: One Nation Senator Peter Georgiou declared elected as a Senator for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

by the High Court on a

countback In various sports, a countback is used to break ties. Field events High jump and pole vault World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, uses the following criteria to break ties (rule 26.8 in the 2020 edition of the World At ...

to replace Culleton. * 26 March 2017: Georgiou sworn in. * 5 April 2017: The High Court finds that Bob Day was not eligible to be elected under Section 44(v) of the Constitution due to holding a pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth. * 19 April 2017: Family First Senator

Lucy Gichuhi Lucy Muringo Gichuhi (; ; born 23 September 1962) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from 2017 to 2019. Born in Kenya, Gichuhi worked as an accountant before entering politics. Gichuhi is a social conservativ ...

declared elected as a Senator for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

by the High Court on a countback to replace Day. * 9 May 2017: Gichuhi sworn in. * 14 July 2017: Greens Senator and co-deputy leader

Scott Ludlam Scott Ludlam (born 10 January 1970) is a New Zealand-born Australian former politician. A member of the Australian Greens, he was a senator in the Australian Senate from July 2008 to July 2017 and served as deputy leader of the Greens. Ludlam ...

resigns after discovering that he still held New Zealand citizenship, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 18 July 2017: Greens Senator and co-deputy leader

Larissa Waters Larissa Joy Waters (born 8 February 1977) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Greens and has served as a Senator for Queensland since 2018. She previously served in the Senate from 2011 to 2017, resigning during the ...

resigns after discovering that she held Canadian citizenship by birth, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 31 July 2017:

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Senator Chris Back of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

resigns. * 16 August 2017: Liberal

Slade Brockman William Edward Slade Brockman (born 27 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has served as a Senator for Western Australia since 2017, representing the Liberal Party. He was elected President of the Australian Senate in October 2021 follow ...

is appointed as a Senator for Western Australia to replace Back, being sworn-in the next day. * 27 October 2017: The High Court finds that Greens Senator Scott Ludlam of Western Australia, Greens Senator Larissa Waters of Queensland, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts of Queensland, Nationals Senator and deputy leader of the National Party

Fiona Nash Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is a former Australian politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a ca ...

of New South Wales, and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and leader of the National Party Barnaby Joyce (the member for

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

) were all ineligible to be elected to and sit in Parliament under Section 44(i) of the Constitution, due to all holding foreign citizenship.. * 31 October 2017:

Senator

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...

of South Australia resigns. * 2 November 2017:

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

and Liberal Senator Stephen Parry of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

resigns after discovering he held British citizenship by descent, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 10 November 2017: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John of Western Australia, Greens Senator

Andrew Bartlett Andrew John Julian Bartlett (born 4 August 1964) is an Australian politician, social worker, academic, and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats ...

of Queensland, and One Nation Senator

Fraser Anning William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been criticised ...

of Queensland are declared elected as Senators by the High Court, to replace Ludlam, Waters, and Roberts (respectively). * 13 November 2017: Liberal MP John Alexander, the member for

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong serv ...

, resigns after discovering he held British citizenship by descent, making him ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 13 November 2017: Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John of Western Australia, Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett of Queensland, and One Nation Senator Fraser Anning of Queensland (who immediately resigned from the party to sit as an independent) are sworn in as senators to replace Ludlam, Waters, and Roberts (respectively). * 14 November 2017:

Senator

Jacqui Lambie Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017. Lambie, an ...

resigns after discovering that she held British citizenship by descent, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 14 November 2017:

Rex Patrick Rex Lyall Patrick (born 8 May 1967) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from November 2017 until June 2022. He was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Nick Xenophon. ...

of the Nick Xenophon Team is appointed as a Senator for South Australia to replace Nick Xenophon, being sworn-in the next day. * 22 November 2017: Nick Xenophon Team Senator

Skye Kakoschke-Moore Skye Louise Kakoschke-Moore (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia in the Parliament of Australia from July 2016 until she resigned in November 2017 during the parliamentary eligibility crisis ...

resigns after discovering that she held British citizenship by descent, making her ineligible to sit in parliament due to Section 44(i) of the Constitution. * 2 December 2017: 2017 New England by-election held. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, Barnaby Joyce, was returned to his former seat after renouncing his New Zealand citizenship. * 16 December 2017:

2017 Bennelong by-election A by-election for the House of Representatives (Australia), Australian House of Representatives seat of Division of Bennelong, Bennelong was held on 16 December 2017. Previous incumbent and Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal candidate John Ale ...

held. Previous Liberal MP for Bennelong John Alexander was returned after renouncing his British citizenship. * 22 December 2017: The High Court declares Liberal

Jim Molan Major General Andrew James Molan, (born 11 April 1950) is an Australian politician and former major general in the Australian Army. He has been a Senator for New South Wales since November 2019, representing the Liberal Party. He was previousl ...

elected as a Senator for New South Wales, taking the seat formerly held by Fiona Nash. * 25 January 2018: Labor Senator Sam Dastyari of New South Wales resigns due to being the subject of a Chinese-related donations scandal. * 1 February 2018: Labor MP

David Feeney David Ian Feeney (born 5 March 1970) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018. Before that, he was a member of the Australian ...

announces his resignation from politics, due to dual citizenship concerns, which takes effect immediately. * 17 March 2018:

2018 Batman by-election A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Batman took place on 17 March 2018. The by-election was called as a result of the resignation on 1 February 2018 of David Feeney, the incumbent backbench Australian Labor Party MP ...

held, where

Ged Kearney Gerardine Mary "Ged" Kearney (born 29 October 1963) is an Australian politician and trade unionist. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since March 2018, representing the Division of Batman and later the Division of Cooper for ...

won, retaining the seat for Labor. * 9 May 2018: The High Court rules that ACT Labor Senator

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...

is ineligible to be elected to and sit in Parliament under Section 44(i) of the Constitution, due to not renouncing British citizenship in time. Following the ruling, Labor MPs Josh Wilson, Susan Lamb,

Justine Keay Justine Terri Keay (born 18 March 1975) is a former Australian politician. She was the Labor member for Braddon in the House of Representatives, serving from the 2016 federal election held on 2 July 2016 until her resignation on 10 May 2018 as ...

, and Nick Xenophon Team MP

Rebekha Sharkie Rebekha Carina Sharkie ( Che; born 24 August 1972) is an Australian politician and member of the Centre Alliance party. She is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Mayo in South Australia. At the 20 ...

resigns.

Major events

* 12 October 2016: Singaporean Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

addressed a joint sitting of Parliament. * 14 August 2017:

announced that he held dual citizenship with New Zealand, becoming the highest-profile victim of the dual citizenship saga. * 15 November 2017: The result of a nationwide postal vote on same-sex marriage was announced, with a majority yes response. * 26 February 2018:

resigns as leader of the National party. Michael McCormack becomes the next National leader and

. *24 August 2018: Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

resigns as leader of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

after a losing a

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (le ...

. In the subsequent ballot

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

defeats

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sinc ...

45 votes to 40. Morrison is sworn in as the 30th

later that evening.

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisio ...

is appointed Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, replacing

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...

Major legislation

* 7 December 2017: The

Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 The ''Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which legalises same-sex marriage in Australia by amending the '' Marriage Act 1961'' to allow marriage between two persons o ...

was passed, legalising

same-sex marriage in Australia Same-sex marriage in Australia has been legal since 9 December 2017. Legislation to allow same-sex marriage, the ''Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'', passed the Australian Parliament on 7 December 2017 and receiv ...

References

{{Australian Federal Parliaments Parliament of Australia