44th Parliament of Australia

44th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
Monarch	Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia Since 6 February 1952
Governor-General	His Excellency General the Hon. Sir Peter Cosgrove AK, MC Since 28 March 2014
President of the Senate	Senator the Hon. Stephen Parry, Liberal Since 7 July 2014
Speaker of the House of Representatives	The Hon. Tony Smith MP, Liberal Since 10 August 2015
Structure
Seats	226 (150 MPs, 76 Senators)
House of Representatives political groups	Government (90) Coalition (90)      Liberal (58)      LNP (22)      Nationals (9)      CLP (1) Opposition (55)      Labor (55) Crossbench (5)      Greens (1)      KAP (1)      PUP (1)      Independent (2)
Senate political groups	Government (33) Coalition (33)      Liberal (23)      LNP (6)      Nationals (3)      CLP (1) Opposition (25)      Labor (25) Crossbench (18)      Greens (10)      Family First (1)      LDP (1)      Motoring (1)      Palmer (1)      Independent (4)
Elections
House of Representatives last election	7 September 2013
Senate last election	7 September 2013 (half)
Meeting place
Parliament House Canberra, ACT, Australia
Website
www.aph.gov.au

Government (90)

Opposition (55)

Crossbench (5)

www.aph.gov.au

The 44th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. It met in Canberra from 12 November 2013 to 9 May 2016. The 2013 general election gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House, allowing their leader Tony Abbott to take office as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia.

On 21 March 2016 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that he had advised Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove to prorogue parliament effective xx and recall parliament for a second session on 18 April 2016. This was the first time in nearly four decades that parliament had been recalled for a second session.Labor Senator Stephen Conroy labelled the recalling of parliament a "tawdry political stunt" and accused the Governor-General of "demeaning his office".

The term of the 44th Parliament ended on 9 May 2016 when Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove dissolved both Houses of Parliament for the Double Dissolution election of 2 July 2016.