The 44th Parliament of the Commonwealth has been declared open.
The announcement was made by the Deputy of the Governor-General, Robert French, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, about 10.40am on Tuesday on behalf of Governor-General Quentin Bryce.
"I declare open the 44th Parliament of the Commonwealth," Justice French said in Parliament House in Canberra.
Earlier, the Black Rod had called members gathered in the floor of the House of Representatives to the Senate chamber on behalf of the Deputy of the Governor-General.
The 150-odd members made their way across Parliament House to the Senate.
Members took their seats on the government or opposition Senate benches where ever they could find a seat, with some placing themselves next to the independent and Australian Greens senators, or on seats around the floor of the chamber.
The clerk of the senate then read Governor-General Quentin Bryce's statement giving authority to Justice French to represent her on the floor of the chamber.
After Justice French declared parliament open, House of Representatives members returned to the lower house to formally elect the Speaker, NSW Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop.
Six senators were sworn in after parliament was declared open, the first being former NSW Labor general secretary Sam Dastyari, followed by Labor's new Victorian senator Mehmet Tillem.
The pair replaced Matt Thistlethwaite and David Feeney, who both moved to the House of Representatives at the September election.
The four Senators for the ACT and Northern Territory followed, including the first indigenous woman in the Senate, Nova Peris.
The former Olympian replaced Trish Crossin as Labor's senator for the NT in controversial circumstances, with former prime minister Julia Gillard using a "captain's pick" to bring Senator Peris to parliament.
Also sworn in was Liberal NT senator Nigel Scullion, Labor's senator for the ACT Kate Lundy and new Liberal senator for the ACT Zed Seselja.
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