When a federal government can’t pass its legislation through both houses of parliament, Australia’s Constitution allows for a special mechanism that can disrupt the electoral cycle - a double-dissolution election.
Step One: The government firstly needs a ‘trigger bill’.
This is a specific piece of legislation which the two houses of federal parliament cannot agree to pass. A bill must be passed in identical form by the lower house and blocked twice by the senate. There must be a three-month gap between the first block and the second block.
The federal government has been handed an early election trigger after legislation to restore the building industry watchdog was defeated.
Source: AAP
Australians will go to the polls on July 2 if Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull keeps to his word.
The federal government was handed the trigger for a double-dissolution election on Monday night after the Senate once again rejected legislation to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
The bills were defeated 36-34, with crossbenchers Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus, Ricky Muir and John Madigan siding with Labor and the Greens.
Mr Turnbull has vowed to use a second rejection of the bills as a trigger for a July 2 election, insisting the construction industry needs a cop on the beat to stamp out misconduct following last year's damning royal commission report into union corruption.
Step Two: The Prime Minister can ask the Governor General to request a double-dissolution election.
All 76 Senate seats become vacant. Each state elects 12 new senators to fill the state spots and territories elect two each. Of the 12 state senators, six will serve three-year terms and six will serve six-year terms.
Step Three: The Governor General is expected to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and dissolve both houses of parliament.
A file image taken Wednesday, March 4, 2015 of a worker cleaning the pond in front of Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
Even after a double-dissolution election, if the Senate refuses to pass the trigger legislation; both houses of parliament can be called for a joint sitting.
For more information visit the Parliament of Australia or How Government Works.
Source: JJ Harrison, Ryan Wick
