69-621: Peta Jan Murphy (1 November 1973 – 4 December 2023) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives from 2019 until her death in 2023, representing the Victorian seat of Dunkley for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Peta Jan Murphy was born in Goulburn, New South Wales , on 1 November 1973. She held Bachelor of Science (Psychology) and Bachelor of Laws degrees from
138-592: A double dissolution alongside the Senate. Elections for members of the House of Representatives are often held in conjunction with those for the Senate. A member of the House may be referred to as a "member of parliament" ("MP" or "member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "senator". Under the conventions of the Westminster system , the government of the day and the prime minister must achieve and maintain
207-490: A "house of review" chamber; for this reason, its powers of direct action are often reduced in some way. Some or all of the following restrictions are often placed on upper houses: In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses the Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in
276-813: A Legislative Council prior to joining Canada , as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada and Quebec from 1791 (as Lower Canada ) to 1968. Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, having abolished its lower house in 1934, while the Senate of Nebraska , the upper house prior to 1934, continues to assemble. The Australian state of Queensland also once had an appointed Legislative Council before abolishing it in 1922. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems, though all members are now directly elected (the two self-governing territories, along with Norfolk Island until 2016, have always been unicameral). Like Queensland,
345-462: A bill so that it does not fit within the legislative schedule, or until a general election produces a new lower house that no longer wishes to proceed with the bill. Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses. For example, the consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include
414-694: A document, or later being found to have lied to or misled a committee. Anyone who attempts to influence a witness may also be found in contempt. Other powers include, the ability to meet throughout Australia, to establish subcommittees and to take evidence in both public and private hearings. Proceedings of committees are considered to have the same legal standing as proceedings of Parliament, they are recorded by Hansard , except for private hearings, and also operate under parliamentary privilege . Every participant, including committee members and witnesses giving evidence, are protected from being prosecuted under any civil or criminal action for anything they may say during
483-569: A hearing. Written evidence and documents received by a committee are also protected. Types of committees include: Standing committees , which are established on a permanent basis and are responsible for scrutinising bills and topics referred to them by the chamber; examining the government's budget and activities and for examining departmental annual reports and activities. Select committees , which are temporary committees, established in order to deal with particular issues. Domestic committees , which are responsible for administering aspects of
552-412: A maximum 10% variation, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 105,000 voters. However, the baseline quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Consequently, the electorates of the smallest states and territories have more variation in the number of voters in their electorates. Additionally, each state is guaranteed
621-407: A means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other. In recent times, parliamentary systems have tended to weaken the powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts. Some upper houses have been fully abolished; others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that the upper house ought not to obstruct
690-510: A minimum of five seats in the Constitution, which has the effect of granting Tasmania extra seats than they would otherwise be entitled to due to the their population. Federal electorates have their boundaries redrawn or redistributed whenever a state or territory has its number of seats adjusted, if electorates are not generally matched by population size or if seven years have passed since the most recent redistribution. Full preferential voting
759-468: A particular inquiry is completed the members of the committee can then produce a report, to be tabled in Parliament, outlining what they have discovered as well as any recommendations that they have produced for the government to consider. The ability of the chambers of Parliament to establish committees is given in section 49 of the Constitution, which states that, "The powers, privileges, and immunities of
SECTION 10
#1733202256062828-576: A regular basis. The most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election , increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election , returned to 148 at the 1996 election , increased to 150 at the 2001 election , and stands at 151 as of the 2022 Australian federal election . The House of Representatives chamber is designed to seat up to 172 members, with provision for an ultimate total of 240 to be accommodated. Each division elects one member using full-preferential voting . This
897-403: A result, the speaker often has to use the disciplinary powers granted to him or her under standing orders. Since 2015, Australian Federal Police officers armed with assault rifles have been present in both chambers of the federal Parliament. From the beginning of Federation until 1918, first-past-the-post voting was used in order to elect members of the House of Representatives but since
966-580: Is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The House of Lords has a number of ways to block legislation and to reject it; however, the House of Commons can eventually use the Parliament Act to force something through. The Commons will often accept amendments passed by the Lords; however,
1035-623: Is the British House of Lords . Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 , the House of Lords can no longer prevent the passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, and can thereby delay the passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month. The House of Lords
1104-410: Is the ability to summon people to attend hearings in order to give evidence and submit documents. Anyone who attempts to hinder the work of a Parliamentary committee may be found to be in contempt of parliament . There are a number of ways that witnesses can be found in contempt. These include refusing to appear before a committee when summoned, refusing to answer a question during a hearing or to produce
1173-500: Is used in elections. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal. This allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote . Under section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a population quota determined from the "latest statistics of the Commonwealth". These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51(xi) . Until its repeal by
1242-464: The 1918 Swan by-election which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote due to vote splitting amongst the conservative parties, the Nationalist Party government, a predecessor of the modern-day Liberal Party of Australia , changed the lower house voting system to full preferential voting , as of the subsequent 1919 election . This system has remained in place ever since, allowing
1311-695: The 1949 election , Bill Spooner was appointed a minister in the Fourth Menzies ministry on 19 December, however his term as a Senator did not begin until 22 February 1950. The provision was also used after the disappearance and presumed death of the Liberal prime minister Harold Holt in December 1967. The Liberal Party elected John Gorton , then a senator, as its new leader, and he was sworn in as prime minister on 10 January 1968 (following an interim ministry led by John McEwen ). On 1 February, Gorton resigned from
1380-455: The 1967 referendum , section 127 prohibited the inclusion of Aboriginal people in section 24 determinations as including the Indigenous peoples could alter the distribution of seats between the states to the benefit of states with larger Aboriginal populations. The total number of seats representing states in the House of Representatives must be "as nearly as practicable, twice the number of
1449-558: The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have at least one member each. According to the Constitution, the powers of both Houses are nearly equal, with the consent of both Houses needed to pass legislation. The difference mostly relates to taxation legislation. In practice, by convention, the person who can control a majority of votes in the lower house is invited by the governor-general to form
SECTION 20
#17332022560621518-615: The Australian National University , and a Master of Criminology degree from the University of Melbourne . Prior to entering parliament, Murphy worked variously as a solicitor, barrister, Senior Public Defender at Victoria Legal Aid, Team Leader at the Victorian Law Reform Commission and as Chief of Staff to Labor Shadow Minister Brendan O'Connor MP. Murphy first stood for Dunkley at the 2016 election on
1587-552: The Centre Alliance and Katter's Australian Party held their current standing of one seat each, and independents gained seven seats to bring their total to ten, six of these being teal independents . On 23 December 2022, Andrew Gee MP quit the National Party to become an independent, citing his disappointment over the party's opposition to the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament . On 1 April 2023, Labor's Mary Doyle
1656-500: The Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats. Full-preference preferential voting re-elected the Hawke government at the 1990 election , the first time in federal history that Labor had obtained a net benefit from preferential voting. From 1949 onwards, the vast majority of electorates, nearly 90%, are won by the candidate leading on first preferences, giving the same result as if
1725-507: The German state of Bavaria had an appointed second chamber, the Senate of Bavaria , from 1946 to 1999. The Senate of the Philippines was abolished – and restored – twice: from 1935 to 1945 when a unicameral National Assembly convened, and from 1972 to 1987 when Congress was closed, and later a new constitution was approved instituting a unicameral Parliament. The Senate was re-instituted with
1794-518: The Privy Council of the United Kingdom . A minister must be a senator or member of the House of Representatives at the time of their appointment, or become one within three months of their appointment. This provision was included in the Constitution (section 64) to enable the inaugural ministry, led by Edmund Barton , to be appointed on 1 January 1901, even though the first federal elections were not scheduled to be held until 29 and 30 March. After
1863-517: The upper house being the Senate . Its composition and powers are set down in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia . The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in
1932-676: The British House of Lords until 1999 and in the Japanese House of Peers until it was abolished in 1947. It is also common that the upper house consists of delegates chosen by state governments or local officials. Members of the Rajya Sabha in India are nominated by various states and union territories, while 12 of them are nominated by the President of India. Similarly, at the state level, one-third of
2001-626: The Cabinet are members of the Executive Council. A senior Cabinet member holds the office of Vice-President of the Executive Council and acts as presiding officer of the Executive Council in the absence of the governor-general. The Federal Executive Council is the Australian equivalent of the executive councils and privy councils in other Commonwealth realms such as the King's Privy Council for Canada and
2070-538: The Cabinet as a legal entity; it exists solely by convention. Its decisions do not in and of themselves have legal force. However, it serves as the practical expression of the Federal Executive Council , which is Australia's highest formal executive body. In practice, the Federal Executive Council meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. All members of
2139-545: The House chamber. Due to the unique role of what was then called the Main Committee, proposals were made to rename the body to avoid confusion with other parliamentary committees, including "Second Chamber" and "Federation Chamber". The House of Representatives later adopted the latter proposal. The concept of a parallel body to expedite Parliamentary business, based on the Australian Federation Chamber,
Peta Murphy - Misplaced Pages Continue
2208-412: The House of Representatives and the Senate. The Federation Chamber is a second debating chamber that considers relatively uncontroversial matters referred by the House. The Federation Chamber cannot, however, initiate or make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between. The Federation Chamber was created in 1994 as the Main Committee, to relieve some of
2277-486: The House of Representatives in a newly federated Australia . The House is presided over by the speaker . Members of the House are elected from single member electorates (geographic districts, commonly referred to as "seats" but officially known as " Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives "). One vote, one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the same number of voters with
2346-590: The House's own affairs. These include the Selection Committee that determines how the House will deal with particular pieces of legislation and private members business and the Privileges Committee that deals with matters of parliamentary privilege. Legislative scrutiny committees , which examine legislation and regulations to determine their impact on individual rights and accountability. Joint committees are also established to include both members of
2415-604: The Parliamentary Friends of Women's Health in 2021 to provide a bi-partisan platform. Murphy was re-elected with an increased margin at the 2022 Australian federal election . Murphy was born in Goulburn , New South Wales. She married Rod Glover in 1999. Murphy played softball in the National League and represented NSW, ACT, Victoria and the Mornington Peninsula at the junior and senior level for squash. She
2484-791: The Peninsula Waves. Murphy was the Patron of the Frankston City Bowls Club and the Frankston Vietnam Veterans Association. Murphy was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, at the age of 37. The cancer recurred around the time of her being sworn in to parliament in July 2019. She died from cancer at her home in Frankston on 4 December 2023, at the age of 50. In February 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened
2553-476: 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, 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." Parliamentary committees can be given a wide range of powers. One of the most significant powers
2622-493: The Senate are usually more meaningful. The House's well-established committee system is not always as prominent as the Senate committee system because of the frequent lack of Senate majority. In a reflection of the United Kingdom House of Commons , the predominant colour of the furnishings in the House of Representatives is green. However, the colour was tinted slightly in the new Parliament House (opened 1988) to suggest
2691-486: The Senate to stand for the 24 February by-election in Holt's former House of Representatives electorate of Higgins due to the convention that the prime minister be a member of the lower house. For 22 days (2 to 23 February inclusive) he was prime minister while a member of neither house of parliament. On a number of occasions when ministers have retired from their seats prior to an election, or stood but lost their own seats in
2760-463: The Weatherill Amendment to the House of Lords Act 1999 , which preserved 92 hereditary peers in the house. Compromise and negotiation between the two houses make the Parliament Act a very rarely used backup plan. Even without a veto, an upper house may defeat legislation. Its opposition may give the lower chamber a chance to reconsider or even abandon a controversial measure. It can also delay
2829-531: The burden of the House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Federation Chamber, as they sit simultaneously. It is designed to be less formal, with a quorum of only three members: the deputy speaker of the House, one government member, and one non-government member. Decisions must be unanimous: any divided decision sends the question back to the House at large. The Federation Chamber
Peta Murphy - Misplaced Pages Continue
2898-449: The business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons. These conventions have tended to harden with a passage of time. In presidential systems, the upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions: There are a variety of ways an upper house's members are assembled: by direct or indirect election, appointment or a mixture of these. Many upper houses are not directly elected but appointed: either by
2967-542: The colour of eucalyptus trees. Also, unlike the House of Commons, the seating arrangement of the crossbench is curved, similar to the curved seating arrangement of the United States House of Representatives . This suggests a more collaborative, and less oppositional, system than in the United Kingdom parliament (where all members of parliament are seated facing the opposite side). Australian parliaments are notoriously rowdy, with MPs often trading colourful insults. As
3036-403: The confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power. The House of Representatives currently consists of 151 members, elected by and representing single member districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions , which are required on
3105-431: The election, they have retained their ministerial offices until the next government is sworn in. In addition to the work of the main chamber, the House of Representatives also has a large number of committees which deal with matters referred to them by the main House. They provide the opportunity for all MPs to ask questions of ministers and public officials as well as conduct inquiries, examine policy and legislation. Once
3174-465: The full allocation of preferences, it is possible to derive a two-party-preferred figure, where the votes have been allocated between the two main candidates in the election. In Australia, this is usually between the candidates from the Coalition parties and the Australian Labor Party . Under the Constitution, the governor-general has the power to appoint and dismiss the "Queen's Ministers of State" who administer government departments. In practice,
3243-440: The government accountable as much as possible by asking questions of importance during question time and during debates on legislation. By contrast, the only period in recent times during which the government of the day has had a majority in the Senate was from July 2005 (when the senators elected at the 2004 election took their seats) to July 2008 (when the senators elected at the 2007 election took their seats). Hence, votes in
3312-436: The government. In practice that means that the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with a majority of members in the House becomes the prime minister , who then can nominate other elected members of the government party in both the House and the Senate to become ministers responsible for various portfolios and administer government departments. Bills appropriating money (supply bills) can only be introduced or amended in
3381-521: The governor-general chooses ministers in accordance with the traditions of the Westminster system that the government be drawn from the party or coalition of parties that has a majority in the House of Representatives, with the leader of the largest party becoming prime minister . A sub-set of the most important ministers then meet in a council known as Cabinet . Cabinet meetings are strictly private and are frequently held to discuss vital issues and make policy decisions. The Constitution does not recognise
3450-535: The head of state, by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not necessarily be returned in an election. For example, members of the Senate of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In the past, some upper houses had seats that were entirely hereditary, such as in
3519-406: The influence of the Senate in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. Another reason was to make it harder politically for the House of Representatives to be increased, thereby maintaining the smaller states over representation in the lower house due to their constitutional minimum of five seats. The requirements for territory seats are set via legislation, which currently requires that
SECTION 50
#17332022560623588-443: The lower house and thus only the party with a majority in the lower house can govern. In the current Australian party system, this ensures that virtually all contentious votes are along party lines, and the government party usually has a majority in those votes in the lower house. The opposition party's main role in the House is to present arguments against the government's policies and legislation where appropriate and attempt to hold
3657-399: The lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described as unicameral . An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: Status: In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen as an advisory or
3726-546: The members of the State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) are nominated by local governments, one-third by sitting legislators, and the rest are elected by select members of the electorate. The United States Senate was chosen by state legislatures until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The upper house may be directly elected but in different proportions to the lower house - for example,
3795-401: The new "Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite" at Frankston Hospital , in honour of Murphy’s contribution to cancer awareness and advocacy. Australian House of Representatives Opposition (55) Coalition Crossbench (18) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia ,
3864-524: The opposition Albanese -led Labor Party gaining 77 seats in the 151 seat House of Representatives, for a two-seat majority government , while the Coalition lost 18 seats to finish with 58 seats, their worst result since 1946 (the first election after the formation of the current Liberal Party). On the crossbench , the Australian Greens gained three seats, upping their total from one to four, while
3933-525: The restoration of a bicameral Congress via a constitutional amendment in 1941, and via adoption of a new constitution in 1987. A previous government of Ireland (the 31st Dáil) promised a referendum on the abolition of its upper house , the Seanad Éireann , during the 24th Seanad session. By a narrow margin, the Irish public voted to retain it. Conservative-leaning Fine Gael and Left-leaning Sinn Féin both supported
4002-422: The retirement of Bruce Billson , gaining a 4.1% swing but losing to Liberal candidate Chris Crewther . Murphy ran again in the 2019 election and with the benefit of an electoral redistribution that turned Dunkley from a marginal Liberal seat into a notionally marginal Labor seat, along with a further 1.7% swing, was successful, becoming the first ALP member for Dunkley since 1996 and the first woman to represent
4071-404: The same form by both houses. Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position which is known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism." The role of a revising chamber is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to. An example
4140-400: The same votes had been counted using first-past-the-post voting . The highest proportion of seats (up to 2010) won by the candidate not leading on first preferences was the 1972 federal election , with 14 of 125 seats not won by the plurality candidate. The main elements of the operation of preferential voting for single-member House of Representatives divisions are as follows: Following
4209-657: The seat. She was a member of the House of Representatives Social and Legal Affairs Committee, the House of Representative Economics Committee and the House of Representatives Select Selection Committee. Murphy was an advocate for breast screening and early diagnosis of cancer and in her maiden speech spoke of her commitment to healthcare and creating employment opportunities in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Murphy worked with Breast Cancer Network Australia to promote better treatment and understanding of cancer. Along with Lucy Wicks , former Liberal Member for Robertson , Murphy established
SECTION 60
#17332022560624278-592: The senates of Australia, Brazil and the United States have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. Many jurisdictions once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems, including Croatia , Denmark , Estonia , Hungary , Iceland , Iran , Mauritania , New Zealand , Peru , Sweden , Turkey , Venezuela , many Indian states , Brazilian states , Canadian provinces , subnational entities such as Queensland , and some other jurisdictions. Newfoundland had
4347-422: The senators", according to section 24 of the Constitution. This requirement is known as the "nexus provision". This requirement was included in the Constitution in order to maintain the power of the Senate relative to the House of Representative: both due to the belief by the drafters of the Constitution that a numerically weaker Senate would inherently lead to a lower "influence, prestige, and dignity" and to ensure
4416-547: The two houses have sometimes reached a constitutional standoff. For example, when the Labour Government of 1999 tried to expel all hereditary peers from the Lords, the Lords threatened to wreck the Government's entire legislative agenda and to block every bill which was sent to the chamber. This standoff led to negotiations between Viscount Cranborne, the then Shadow Leader of the House, and the Labour Government, resulting in
4485-589: Was a past winner of the Australian 35+y Masters Squash, the US 35+y Masters Squash and the gold medal winner at the World Masters Games for 35+ years squash. She was a previous President of Squash Victoria, Vice President of Squash Australia and member of the World Squash Federation Governance and Audit Committee. Murphy also served on the board of local Community Legal Centres, Peninsula Health and
4554-410: Was created through the House's standing orders: it is thus a subordinate body of the House, and can only be in session while the House itself is in session. When a division vote in the House occurs, members in the Federation Chamber must return to the House to vote. The Federation Chamber is housed in one of the House's committee rooms; the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble
4623-460: Was elected in a by-election for the division of Aston , replacing former Liberal cabinet minister Alan Tudge and increasing the Labor majority to three seats. Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature , the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than
4692-408: Was mentioned in a 1998 British House of Commons report, which led to the creation of that body's parallel chamber Westminster Hall. The current Parliament is the 47th Australian Parliament. The most recent federal election was held on 21 May 2022 , with the 47th Parliament first sitting in July 2022. The 2022 election saw the incumbent Liberal / National Coalition government defeated, with
4761-403: Was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election , which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote and the help of vote splitting in the conservative parties. The Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election . The Constitution of Australia of 1900 established
#61938