Possible disobedience, without reasonable excuse, of a lawful order of the Senate (lapsed)

At the dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives on 9 May 2016 for a general election on 2 July 2016, the parliamentary committees of the 44thParliament ceased to exist. Therefore inquiries that were not completed have lapsed and submissions cannot be received.  However, information about the inquiries is still available on this website. 

Information on committees for the 45th Parliament will be presented here as soon as it is available.


 On 4 May 2016 the Senate agreed to a notice of motion moved by Senator McAllister, referring the following matters to the Committee of Privileges for inquiry and report:

  1. whether, in declining to appear before the Finance and Public Administration References Committee for the purposes of its inquiry into Commonwealth legislative provisions relating to oversight of associated political entities, Senator Sinodinos disobeyed a lawful order of the Senate without reasonable excuse; and
  2. if so, whether any contempt was committed in that regard.

Statement by the President of the Senate - 3 May 2016

Letter from Senator McAllister to President (Matter of privilege raised) - tabled, 3 May 2016

Committee Secretariat contact:

Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committee of Privileges
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 62773360
priv.sen@aph.gov.au