5BDisagreements—referendum
(1)
If the Legislative Assembly passes any Bill other
than a Bill to which section 5A of this Act applies, and the Legislative
Council rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with any amendment to which
the Legislative Assembly does not agree, and if after an interval of three
months the Legislative Assembly in the same Session or in the next Session
again passes the Bill with or without any amendment which has been made or
agreed to by the Legislative Council, and the Legislative Council rejects or
fails to pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the Legislative
Assembly does not agree, and if after a free conference between managers there
is not agreement between the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly,
the Governor may convene a joint sitting of the Members of the Legislative
Council and the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
The Members present at the joint sitting may
deliberate upon the Bill as last proposed by the Legislative Assembly and upon
any amendments made by the Legislative Council with which the Legislative
Assembly does not agree.
No vote shall be taken at the joint
sitting.
(2)
After the joint sitting and either after any
further communication with the Legislative Council in order to bring about
agreement, if possible, between the Legislative Council and the Legislative
Assembly, or without any such communication the Legislative Assembly may by
resolution direct that the Bill as last proposed by the Legislative Assembly
and either with or without any amendment subsequently agreed to by the
Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, shall, at any time during
the life of the Parliament or at the next general election of Members of the
Legislative Assembly, be submitted by way of referendum to the electors
qualified to vote for the election of Members of the Legislative
Assembly.
The referendum shall be held and conducted as may
be provided by law, and if, at any time no such law exists, the law for the
time being in force relating to the holding and conduct of a general election
of Members of the Legislative Assembly shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to and
in respect of the holding and conduct of the referendum, with such
modifications, omissions, and additions as the Governor may by notification
published in the Gazette declare to be necessary or convenient for the
purposes of such application.
(3)
If at the referendum a majority of the electors
voting approve the Bill it shall be presented to the Governor for the
signification of His Majesty’s pleasure thereon and become an Act of the
Legislature upon the Royal Assent being signified thereto, notwithstanding
that the Legislative Council has not consented to the
Bill.
(4)
For the purposes of this section the Legislative
Council shall be taken to have failed to pass a Bill if the Bill is not
returned to the Legislative Assembly within two months after its transmission
to the Legislative Council and the Session continues during such
period.
(5)
This section shall extend to any Bill whether it
is a Bill to which section 7A of this Act applies or not.
And in the application of this section to a Bill
to which section 7A of this Act applies:
(a)
the submission of the Bill to the electors by way
of referendum in accordance with this section shall be a sufficient compliance
with the provisions of section 7A of this Act which require the Bill to be
submitted to the electors,
(b)
the referendum under this section shall,
notwithstanding anything contained in section 7A of this Act, be held upon a
day which shall be appointed by the Governor in such manner as may be provided
by law, and
(c)
the day so appointed shall, notwithstanding
anything contained in subsection two of this section, be a day during the life
of the Parliament and not sooner than two months after the Legislative
Assembly has passed a resolution in accordance with that subsection for the
purposes of such referendum.
(6)
A joint sitting of the Members of the Legislative
Council and the Members of the Legislative Assembly for the purposes of this
section may be convened by the Governor by message to both Houses of the
Parliament.
At such joint sitting the President of the
Legislative Council or in his absence the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
shall preside, and until standing rules and orders governing the procedure at
joint sittings have been passed by both Houses and approved by the Governor,
the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Council shall so far as
practicable apply.
ss 5A–5C: Ins
1933 No 2, sec 5 (2).