Section
41. Right of electors of States
42. Oath or affirmation of allegiance
43. Member of one House ineligible for other
44. Disqualification
45. Vacancy on happening of disqualification
46. Penalty for sitting when disqualified
47. Disputed elections
48. Allowance to members
49. Privileges, etc. of Houses
50. Rules and orders
~~ The Schedule [referred to in section 42]
Right of electors of States
41. No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at
elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall,
while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from
voting at elections for either House of the Parliament of the
Commonwealth.
[Unaltered, but see Comment]
Oath or affirmation of allegiance
42. Every senator and every member of the House of Representatives
shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before the
Governor-General, or some person authorised by him, an oath or affirmation
of allegiance in the form set forth in the schedule to
this Constitution.
[Unaltered]
Member of one House ineligible for other
43. A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable
of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.
[Unaltered]
Disqualification
44. Any person who--
(i.) Is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to
a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or
privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power: or
(ii.) Is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under
sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the
law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or
longer: or
(iii.) Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent: or
(iv.) Holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable
during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the
Commonwealth: or
(v.) Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with
the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in
common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more
than twenty-five persons:
shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member
of the House of Representatives.
But sub-section iv. does not apply to the office of
any of the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of
the Queen's Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half pay, or a
pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen's navy or army,
or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military
forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly
employed by the Commonwealth.
[Unaltered]
Vacancy on happening of disqualification
45. If a senator or member of the House of Representatives--
(i.) Becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the last
preceding section: or
(ii.) Takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition, or
otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors: or
(iii.) Directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or
honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or for services
rendered in the Parliament to any person or State:
his place shall thereupon become vacant.
[Unaltered]
Penalty for sitting when disqualified
46. The Parliament [may prescribe the penalty to be paid by] any
person who sits as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives
[while] declared by this Constitution to be incapable of so sitting.
[Edited; see Comment]
Disputed elections
47. The Parliament [may make laws with respect to the
determination of] any question respecting the qualification of a senator or
of a member of the House of Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in
either House of the Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to
either House.
[Edited; see Comment]
Allowance to members
48. The Parliament [may make laws prescribing the allowances
payable to] each senator and each member of the House of
Representatives.
[Edited; see Comment]
Privileges, etc. of Houses
49. The powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and of
the House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of each
House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament.
[Edited;see Comment]
Rules and orders
50. Each House of the Parliament may make rules and orders with
respect to--
(i.) The mode in which its powers, privileges, and immunities may be
exercised and upheld:
(ii.) The order and conduct of its business and proceedings either
separately or jointly with the other House.
[Unaltered]
[This is printed at the end of the Constitution but is put here for easy cross-reference from section 42, which is the only section that refers to it.]
I, A.B., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law. SO HELP ME GOD!
I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law.
(NOTE-- The name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and [Northern] Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from
time to time.)
[The Note is edited by insertion of "Northern"; Schedule otherwise
unaltered]
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Section 41 looks like it might give us all a right to vote in Commonwealth elections, at least as long as the State laws give us the right - but in R v Pearson; ex parte Sipka (1983) 152 CLR 93 the High Court held that it only applies to those individuals who had a right to vote in State elections before the first Commonwealth Electoral Act was passed (in 1903). There is some evidence in the Convention Debates that this was the meaning intended by the drafters, but I have not edited the section out as there may still be a possibility that the section will be given some real effect by a future High Court.
The full text is
46. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any person declared by this Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives shall, for every day on which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of one hundred pounds to any person who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction.
This has been combined with para 51(xxxvi) as shown in the Example.
The full text is
47. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any question respecting the qualification of a senator or of a member of the House of Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in either House of the Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to either House, shall be determined by the House in which the question arises.
It has been combined with para 51(xxxvi) as shown in the Example.
This section provides:
48. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, each senator and each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on which he takes his seat.
This has also been combined with para 51(xxxvi) as shown in the Example.
This is another mixed permanent/temporary section, but it does not use the usual "Until the Parliament otherwise provides" form. After the words shown, the full section continues
, and until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth.
The privileges of Parliament are now enacted in the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987, but apart from a few matters which were specifically amended, the Act simply continues the situation as it was immediately before its commencement (section 5) - so in most respects the privileges are still those of the House of Commons as at 1.1.1901.