[Australia]: Parliament of Australia

[Owen]

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42nd Parliament of Australia Date Opened: 7th July 2008​

Meeting Place​

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Parliament House, Capital Hill, Australian Capital Territory​

Department of the Senate

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Senate​

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Meeting Place​

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Senate Chamber, Parliament House​

Office:	Officeholder:
President of the Senate	The Honourable Senator John Hogg
Deputy President and Chairman of Committees of the Senate	The Honourable Senator Helen Coonan
Leader of the Government in the Senate	The Honourable Senator Penny Wong
Manager of Government Business in the Senate	The Honourable Senator Joe Ludwig
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate	The Honourable Senator Nick Minchin
Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate	The Honourable Senator Amanda Vanstone
Clerk of the Senate	Harry Evans
Government Chief Whip	Senator Anne McEwen
Government Deputy Whips	Senator Kerry O'Brien Senator Helen Polley
Liberal Party of Australia Chief Whip	Senator Helen Kroger
Liberal Party of Australia Deputy Whips	Senator Judith Adams Senator Stephen Parry
National Party of Australia Whip	Senator Fiona Nash
Australian Democrats Whip	Senator Lyn Allison
Australian Greens Whip	Senator Kerry Nettle

Composition​

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Government (34): Australian Labor Party (34) Opposition (27): Liberal Party of Australia (22) National Party of Australia (4) Country Liberal Party (1) Crossbench (15): Australian Greens (9) Australian Democrats (5) Independent (1)​

Senators *Appointed to a casual vacancy​

Elected:	New South Wales:	Victoria:	Queensland:	Western Australia:	South Australia:	Tasmania:	Australian Capital Territory:	Northern Territory:
Elected 2005	John Faulkner Jenny McAllister Belinda Neal Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Fiona Nash Aden Ridgeway	Stephen Conroy Kim Carr Jacinta Collins Judith Troeth Julian McGauran Greg Chipp	Jan McLucas Joe Ludwig Shannon Fentiman George Brandis Barnaby Joyce John Cherry	Chris Evans Glenn Sterle Chris Back* Mathias Cormann* Judith Adams Brian Greig	Penny Wong Anne McEwen Dana Wortley Nick Minchin Amanda Vanstone Meg Lees	Kerry O'Brien Helen Polley Eric Abetz Guy Barnett Stephen Parry Christine Milne	N/A	N/A
Elected 2008	Mark Arbib Doug Cameron Ursula Stephens Helen Coonan John Williams Kerry Nettle	Robert Ray Gavin Marshall David Feeney Mitch Fifield Helen Kroger Richard Di Natale	John Hogg Claire Moore Mark Furner Ian Mcdonald Sue Boyce Larissa Waters	Louise Pratt Mark Bishop David Johnston Alan Eggleston Michaelia Cash Scott Ludlam	Don Farrell Annette Hurley Cory Bernardi Simon Birmingham Sarah Hanson-Young Nick Xenophon	Nick Sherry Carol Brown Catryna Bilyk Richard Colbeck Bob Brown Andrew Wilkie	Kate Lundy Kerrie Tucker	Nova Peris Nigel Scullion

Senate Committees (incl. Joint Committees with the House)​

Type of Committee:	Committees:
Standing Committees	Community Affairs Economics Education and Employment Environment and Communications Finance and Public Administration Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legal and Constitutional Affairs Regional Affairs and Transport Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Scrutiny of Bills
Select Committees	None
Domestic Committees	Appropriations, Staffing and Security Privileges Procedure Publications Selection of Bills Senators' Interests
Joint Committees	Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings Corporations and Financial Services Electoral Matters Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Government Procurement Human Rights Intelligence and Security Law Enforcement Immigration National Capital and External Territories Northern Australia Parliamentary Library Public Accounts and Audit Public Works Publications Trade and Investment Growth Treaties

Department of the House of Representatives

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House of Representatives​

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Meeting Place​

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House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House​

Office:	Officeholder:
Speaker of the House of Representatives	The Honourable Harry Jenkins, MP
Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives	The Honourable Anna Burke, MP
Second Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives	The Honourable Bronwyn Bishop, MP
Prime Minister	The Honourable Julia Gillard, MP
Leader of the House	The Honourable Tony Burke, MP
Leader of the Opposition	The Honourable Julie Bishop, MP
Manager of Opposition Business	The Honourable Joe Hockey, MP
Clerk of the House of Representatives	Ian Harris AO
Government Chief Whip	Roger Price, MP
Government Whips	Janelle Saffin, MP Chris Hayes, MP
Liberal Party of Australia Chief Whip	Nola Marino, MP
Liberal Party of Australia Whips	Philip Ruddock, MP Patrick Secker, MP
National Party of Australia Chief Whip	Kay Hull, MP
National Party of Australia Deputy Whip	Mark Coulton, MP

Composition​

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Government (108): Australian Labor Party (108) Opposition (39): Liberal Party of Australia (31) National Party of Australia (8) Crossbench (3): Independent (2) Australian Greens (1)​

Members of Parliament​

State/Territory:	Members:
New South Wales	Anthony Albanese (Grayndler) Tanya Plibersek (Sydney) Jason Clare (Blaxland) Tony Burke (Watson) Stephen Jones (Throsby) Julia Irwin (Fowler) Roger Price (Chifley) Laurie Ferguson (Reid) Sharon Bird (Cunningham) Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter) Jill Hall (Shortland) Sharon Grierson (Newcastle) Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith) Greg Combet (Charlton) Robert McClelland (Barton) Chris Hayes (Werriwa) Chris Bowen (Prospect) Daryl Melham (Banks) John Murphy (Lowe) Justine Elliott (Richmond) Bob Debus (Macquarie) Julie Owens (Parramatta) George Newhouse (Wentworth) David Bradbury (Lindsay) Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro) Maxine McKew (Bennelong) Craig Thomson (Dobell) Deborah O'Neill (Robertson) Meryl Swanson (Paterson) Paul Sekfy (Cowper) Janelle Saffin (Page) Fiona Phillips (Gilmore) Michelle Rowland (Greenway) Alison Megarrity (Hughes) Aoife Champion-Fashoyin (Hume) Mike Freelander (Macarthur) Alex Hawke (Mitchell) Brendan Nelson (Bradfield) Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar) Sussan Ley (Farrer) Scott Morrison (Cook) Philip Ruddock (Berowra) Tony Abbott (Warringah) Joe Hockey (North Sydney) Kay Hull (Riverina) Mark Coulton (Parkes) Mark Vaile (Lyne) John Cobb (Calare) Tony Windsor (New England)
Victoria	Martin Ferguson (Batman) Kelvin Thomson (Wills) Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand) Brendan O'Connor (Gorton) Harry Jenkins (Scullin) Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong) Julia Gillard (Lalor) Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell) Simon Crean (Hotham) Richard Marles (Corio) Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga) Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports) Alan Griffin (Bruce) Anna Burke (Chisholm) Catherine King (Ballarat) Anthony Byrne (Holt) Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs) Steve Gibbons (Bendigo) Mike Symon (Deakin) Christian Zahra (McMillan) Rob Mitchell (McEwen) Laura Smyth (La Trobe) Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite) Sonya Kilkenny (Dunkley) Sharman Stone (Murray) Sophie Mirabella (Indi) Chris Pearce (Aston) David Hawker (Wannon) Tony Smith (Casey) Greg Hunt (Flinders) Kevin Andrews (Menzies) Andrew Robb (Goldstein) Petro Georgiou (Kooyong) Peter Costello (Higgins) John Forrest (Mallee) Darren Chester (Gippsland) Adam Bandt (Melbourne)
Queensland	Kevin Rudd (Griffith) Bernie Ripoll (Oxley) Wayne Swan (Lilley) Arch Bevis (Brisbane) Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia) Craig Emerson (Rankin) Kerry Rea (Bonner) Graham Perrett (Moreton) Jon Sullivan (Longman) Cathy O'Toole (Herbert) Shayne Neumann (Blair) Darryl Briskey (Bowman) Mike Brunker (Dawson) Fiona McNamara (Dickson) Debbie Blumel (Fairfax) Bill Gissane (Fisher) Chris Trevor (Flynn) Brett Raguse (Forde) Leanne Donaldson (Hinkler) Jim Turnour (Leichhardt) Yvette D'Ath (Petrie) Steven Miles (Ryan) Steve Ciobo (Moncrieff) Ian Macfarlane (Groom) Stuart Robert (Fadden) Karen Andrews (McPherson) Bruce Scott (Maranoa) Warren Truss (Wide Bay) Bob Katter (Kennedy)
Western Australia	Melissa Parke (Fremantle) Stephen Smith (Perth) Gary Gray (Brand) Anne Aly (Cowan) Kim Wilkie (Swan) Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck) Jann McFarlane (Stirling) Daron Keogh (Kalgoorlie) Wilson Tuckey (O'Connor) Julie Bishop (Curtin) Judi Moylan (Pearce) Dennis Jensen (Tangney) Mal Washer (Moore) Nola Marino (Forrest) Don Randall (Canning)
South Australia	Mark Butler (Port Adelaide) Kate Ellis (Adelaide) Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh) Amanda Rishworth (Kingston) Nick Champion (Wakefield) Tony Zappia (Makin) Annabel Digance (Boothby) Mia Handshin (Sturt) Tauto Sansbury (Grey) Patrick Secker (Barker) Alexander Downer (Mayo)
Tasmania	Duncan Kerr (Denison) Julie Collins (Franklin) Dick Adams (Lyons) Sid Sidebottom (Braddon) Jodie Campbell (Bass)
Australian Capital Territory	Bob McMullan (Fraser) Annette Ellis (Canberra)
Northern Territory	Warren Snowdon (Lingiari) Damian Hale (Solomon)

House of Representatives Committees​

Type of Committee:	Committees:
Standing Committees	Primary Industries and Energy Communications and the Arts Economics Employment, Education and Training Environment and Sport Health, Human Services and Housing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Industry, Science and Technology Infrastructure, Regional Development and Transport Social Policy and Legal Affairs Tax and Revenue
Select Committees	None
Domestic Committees	Appropriations and Administration Petitions Privileges and Members' Interests Procedure Publications Selection of Bills

Main Committee​

Meeting Place​

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Federation Chamber, Parliament House​

Overview​

The Main Committee is a second debating chamber that considers relatively uncontroversial matters referred by the House. The Main Committee cannot, however, initiate or make a final decision on any parliamentary business, although it can perform all tasks in between. The Main Committee was created to relieve some of the burden of the House: different matters can be processed in the House at large and in the Main Committee, 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 Main Committee 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 Main Committee must return to the House to vote. The Main Committee is housed in one of the House's committee rooms; the room is customised for this purpose and is laid out to resemble the House chamber.

Department of Parliamentary Services

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Overview​

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) supports Australia’s Parliament and parliamentarians through innovative, unified and client focused services. DPS is the custodian for Australian Parliament House (APH) as the working symbol of Australian democracy and as a significant destination for Austrlaian citizens and international visitors alike. It is a place where more than 3,500 people work on sitting days and which nearly one million people visit each year. DPS provides services and products to support the functioning of the Australian Parliament, and the work of parliamentarians. Working in collaboration with the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives, DPS provides, or facilitates the following: Library and research services Information and communication technology services Security services Building, ground and design integrity services Audio visual and Hansard services Art services Visitor services Food and beverage services Retail, health, banking, and childcare services Corporate, administrative and strategic services

Parliamentary Security Service​

Type:	Amount:	Image:
Security Officers	800

Parliamentary Budget Office

Overview​

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is an agency of the Australian Parliament whose purpose is to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle, fiscal policy and the financial implications of proposals". It was established by the Parliamentary Service Act (Section 64B). Following its establishment, a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Parliamentary Budget Office was convened. The PBO's independence is enshrined in legislation. The PBO is required to conduct a post-election audit to cost political parties' electoral commitments. The PBO provides analysis services to all parliamentarians to help them assess the financial impact of a proposed policy change on the Commonwealth Government budget. The PBO also provides financial information about existing policies or programs and can also analyse the effects that policy changes could have on different groups of people.

Parliamentary Friendship Groups

Image:	Group:	Network:	Chairs:
	U.S./Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-Americas Parliamentary Network	Chair: Michael Danby MP (Melbourne Ports) Deputy Chair: Joe Hockey MP (North Sydney)
	UK/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-Northern Europe Parliamentary Network	Chair: Deborah O'Neill (Robertson) Deputy Chair: Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (New South Wales)
	Greece/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-Southern Europe Parliamentary Network	Chair: Steve Georganas MP (Hindmarsh) Deputy Chair: Petro Georgiou MP (Kooyong)
	Pacific Islands/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-Pacific Parliamentary Network	Chair: Senator Jenny McAllister (New South Wales) Deputy Chair: Senator Simon Birmingham (South Australia)
	Israel/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-West Asia Parliamentary Network	Chair: Mark Dreyfus MP (Isaacs) Deputy Chair: Senator Michaelia Cash (Western Australia)
	Japan/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-East Asia Parliamentary Network	Chair: Senator Cartyna Bilyk (Tasmania) Deputy Chair: Tony Abbott MP (Warringah)
	Korea/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-East Asia Parliamentary Network	Chair: Julie Owens MP (Parramatta) Deputy Chair: Julie Bishop MP (Curtin)
	Canada/Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group	Australia-Americas Parliamentary Network	Chair: Maria Vamvakinou MP (Calwell) Deputy Chair: Senator Larissa Waters (Queensland)
	Parliamentary Friends of Defence	None	Chair: Senator John Faulkner (New South Wales) Deputy Chair: Senator David Johnston (Western Australia)
	Parliamentary Antarctic Alliance	None	Chair: Sid Sidebottom MP (Braddon) Deputy Chair: Senator Bob Brown (Tasmania)
	Parliamentary Friends of the Global Assembly and Global Assembly Agencies	None	Chair: Kevin Rudd MP (Griffith) Deputy Chair: Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (South Australia)
	Parliamentary Friends of LGBTIQA+ Australians	None	Chair: Graham Perrett MP (Moreton) Deputy Chair: Karen Andrews MP (McPherson)
	Parliamentary Friends of the Capital Region	None	Chair: Senator Kate Lundy (Australian Capital Territory) Deputy Chair: Senator Kerrie Tucker (Australian Capital Territory)
	Parliamentary Friends of Nuclear Industries	None	Chair: Bernie Ripoll MP (Oxley) Deputy Chair: Bob Katter MP (Kennedy)
	Parliamentary Friends of the Olympics and Paralympic Movements in Australia	None	Chair: Kate Ellis MP (Adelaide) Deputy Chair: Greg Hunt MP (Flinders)
	Parliamentary Friends of the Space Industry	None	Chair: Senator Kim Carr (Victoria) Deputy Chair: Sussan Ley MP (Farrer)
	Parliamentary Friends of the Resolution for Strategic Ordnance Prohibition (STOP)	None	Chair: Senator Don Farrell (South Australia) Deputy Chair: Stuart Robert MP (Fadden)
	Parliamentary Friends of Veterans	None	Chair: Mike Kelly MP (Eden-Monaro) Deputy Chair: Patrick Secker MP (Barker)