Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament of 1974

A joint sitting of the Australian parliament was convened in 1974, in which members of the Senate and House of Representatives sat together as a single legislative body. The joint sitting was held on 6 and 7 August 1974, following the double dissolution 1974 federal election, and remains the only time that members of both houses of the federal parliament have sat together as a single legislative body pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution.

This sitting deliberated and voted upon the following bills:

All six bills were affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members and senators, a requirement under the Constitution for the bills to pass. All proceedings of the joint sitting were broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission and a complete sound record was made for archival purposes. This would be the first Australian television coverage of parliamentary debates.

In early 1974, the conservative parties led by Billy Snedden had chosen to use their majority in the Senate to oppose key government legislation. As the Senate had rejected the bills twice, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam advised a double dissolution under section 57 of the Constitution. The Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck agreed, and on 18 May an election for both houses of parliament was held.

Campaigning for the Labor Party, Whitlam asked the electorate to let him "finish the job" and used the slogan "Give Gough a Go". The Liberal and Country parties focused their campaign on government mismanagement and the state of the economy. The Labor Party was returned with a slightly reduced majority in the House of Representatives and, crucially, still without the Senate majority it required to pass the legislation in question.

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