At the Parliament of Western Australia, Hon. Shelley Payne, Member of the Legislative Council held a special event to mark Commonwealth Day with the Parliamentary Friends of the Commonwealth group

In this article for The Parliamentarian, I would like to share some thoughts about training for new Members of Parliament and their staff and provide examples of the new approaches that have been adopted in Australia. It is timely that I write on this topic. In May 2022, Australia’s federal election saw eight new Senators and 35 new Members of the House of Representatives elected to the 47th Parliament of Australia.

Speakers and Presiding Officers from across the Commonwealth have met in Australia for the 26th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) which took place from 3 to 6 January 2023. Delegates from more than 30 Commonwealth Parliaments were hosted by the Senate of Australia’s President, Hon. Sue Lines and the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Hon. Milton Dick, MP.

The CPA Vice-President, Hon. Matthew Mason-Cox, MLC lead a delegation from the Parliament of New South Wales to the National Parliament of Solomon Islands for discussions about parliamentary practice and procedure and education for young people. The President of the New South Wales Legislative Council was welcomed by the Speaker of the Solomon Islands Parliament, Hon. John Patteson Oti. The New South Wales delegation included Hon. Aileen MacDonald and Hon. Rod Roberts, MLC from the Legislative Council and Hon. Stephen Bali, MP and Hon. Melanie Gibbons, MP from the Legislative Assembly.

In March 2022, Appropriation Bills were introduced into the House of Representatives, but lapsed, having not passed before the dissolution of the House prior to the general election.

Several commemorative activities marked the death of Her Majesty and the accession of the new monarch, King Charles III. These included a 96-gun salute on 9 September, and a ceremony on the Forecourt of Parliament House at 11.00 am on 11 September, at which the Governor-General read the Proclamation regarding His Majesty The King

A group of 10 Members of the New South Wales Parliament, six parliamentary staff and one former Member, have participated in a workshop on ‘Electoral Observation’. Under the auspices of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association New South Wales Branch, the Australian Electoral Commission arranged for BRIDGE facilitators to conduct a BRIDGE workshop on electoral observation the New South Wales Parliament.

The 26th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth will be hosted by the Parliament of Australia from Tuesday 3 to Friday 6 January 2023.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has provided oral and written evidence to the Parliament of Australia’s Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards. The Committee is conducting an inquiry into the development of codes of conduct for the Parliament of Australia. At a public hearing on 29 September 2022, the CPA’s Head of Programmes, Matthew Salik, gave evidence to the Committee and answered questions on the CPA’s experience in the field of parliamentary codes of conduct, ethics and standards. He noted the CPA’s previous work in developing benchmarks for codes of conduct and supporting Parliaments in this field, providing evidence on the importance of comprehensive ethics training for Members and staff and the need to be forward-thinking, not reactive, when developing codes of conduct

It is with deep sadness that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has learnt of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the CPA Patron and Head of the Commonwealth.

On 19 August 2022, to mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, a panel discussion at Parliament House was held as part of the Senate public lecture series.