New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CONSTITUTION ACT 1902 - SECT 5B

5B Disagreements--referendum

(1) If the Legislative Assembly passes any Bill other than a Bill to which section 5A 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, if the Constitution Further Amendment (Referendum) Act 1930 or any other Act relating to the manner in which the referendum shall be held and conducted is in force, in accordance with that Act or with any other such Act, but if that Act is not in force and no such other Act is in force 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 applies or not.
And in the application of this section to a Bill to which section 7A 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 which require the Bill to be submitted to the electors,

(b) the referendum under this section shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 7A, be held upon a day which shall be appointed by the Governor, and

(c) the day so appointed shall, notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (2), 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.