- SECT 15
Casual vacancies [see Note 8]
Where a vacancy has at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen
by the people of a State and, at the time when he was so chosen, he was
publicly recognized by a particular political party as being an endorsed
candidate of that party and publicly represented himself to be such a
candidate, a person chosen or appointed under this section in consequence of
that vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent vacancy or
vacancies, shall, unless there is no member of that party available to be
chosen or appointed, be a member of that party.
Where:
he shall be deemed not to have been so chosen or appointed and the
vacancy shall be again notified in accordance with section twenty-one of this
Constitution.
If the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State at the
election of senators last held before the commencement of the Constitution
Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977 became vacant before that
commencement and, at that commencement, no person chosen by the House or Houses
of Parliament of the State, or appointed by the Governor of the State, in
consequence of that vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent
vacancy or vacancies, held office, this section applies as if the place of the
senator chosen by the people of the State had become vacant after that
commencement.
A senator holding office at the commencement of the Constitution
Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, being a senator appointed by the
Governor of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred
in the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State, shall be deemed to
have been appointed to hold the place until the expiration of fourteen days
after the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of the State that
commenced or commences after he was appointed and further action under this
section shall be taken as if the vacancy in the place of the senator chosen by
the people of the State had occurred after that commencement.
Subject to the next succeeding paragraph, a senator holding office at the
commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies)
1977 who was chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of a State in
consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a
senator chosen by the people of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen
to hold office until the expiration of the term of service of the senator
elected by the people of the State.
If, at or before the commencement of the Constitution Alteration
(Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, a law to alter the Constitution entitled
"Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1977" came into
operation, a senator holding office at the commencement of that law who was
chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of a State in consequence of a
vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the
people of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen to hold office:
If the place of a senator becomes vacant before the expiration of his term
of service, the Houses of Parliament of the State for which he was chosen,
sitting and voting together, or, if there is only one House of that Parliament,
that House, shall choose a person to hold the place until the expiration of the
term. But if the Parliament of the State is not in session when the vacancy is
notified, the Governor of the State, with the advice of the Executive Council
thereof, may appoint a person to hold the place until the expiration of
fourteen days from the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of the
State or the expiration of the term, whichever first happens.
The name of any senator chosen or appointed under this section shall be
certified by the Governor of the State to the Governor-General.