Georgeland Senate

The Georgeland Senate, formally the Senate of the United Islands of Georgeland, is the upper house of the Parliament of Georgeland. While government is formed in the House of Commons, the Senate plays an important role in scrutinizing legislation, and all bills must pass through the Senate to become law. Although legislation can be introduced into either chamber (barring appropriations), most legislation is tabled first in the House of Commons.  The Constitution of Georgeland allocates each of its original states equal membership, but provides for the Parliament itself to decide how many Senators those states have, as well as the provisions for new states. Currently each of the remaining individual states and the two Mainland states recieves 12 senators, while there are six for Delmago Island (which became a state in 1958) and two for the Federal District (which is not a state). The Senate has 80 members, all of which are directly elected for a six-year term. Senate terms begin on 1 January. 

Unti 2005, each state was responsible for the method in which its senators were elected. This created significant problems, as some states used proportional representation and others did not, meaning the numbers in the senate could be vastly different to those in the Commons. Following constitutional reforms, all Senators are now elected

The Georgeland Senate

 via the Single Alternative Vote method, in which candidates or group tickets are ranked by voters, and preferences used to determine quotas.

All Senators serve a term of six years, beginning on January 1. Each state elects one-half of its Senators every three years; usually, but not always, in conjunction with a general election. Prior to 2004, Senators served eight-year terms. The cycle of elections between the House and Senate has been disrupted several times, and elections for one house only have not been uncommon. 

On rare occasions (the last in 2007), both Houses can be dissolved (a double dissolution) and all Senate seats are up for election.

The Senate draws many of its traditions and functions from the British House of Lords, though it is an entirely elected body. Following the Westminster system of government, the Senate does not determine the government - to govern, a party or coalition must control the House of Commons but need not control the Senate. Furthermore, while the two houses have theoretically equal power, appropriation bills may not originate in the Senate and it has no power to reject them, though it may delay them or amend them.

Chamber and symbols

The Senate meets in the Senate Chamber in the Georgeland Houses of Parliament in Topstad. The chair of the President of the Senate is at the front of the chamber, which is moved aside for the Presidential Seat during opening sessions, which always take place in the Senate. During the opening of parliament the President of Georgeland addresses both chambers assembled in the Senate, but as the President is not a senator he may not use the presiding officer's chair, nor preside over the chamber itself. Prior to 1929, the president's chair was used as the Throne of Georgeland, with the representative of the Crown, the Governor-General, opening the parliament. The crown atop the throne was removed in 1930, but the chair is the same one used during Georgeland's monarchy. It is still informally called the throne, despite Georgeland being a republic. Until 1997, the chair next to the Presidential Seat was used by the President's wife (all presidents having been men to that time), but this tradition has been discontinued, and the First Lady or Gentleman now traditionally occupies a seat in the public galleries. 

A large wooden table sits in front of the President's chair. This table is used by Senate clerks as they advise the president. The Mace of the Senate is traditionally placed at the end of this table with its head pointed towards the government senators, who sit on the president's right. The mace is placed while the senate is in session. The Black Rod, carried by the Usher (see below) is placed beside the president's chair only while the President of the Senate is presiding. If he or she is not, the black rod remains in a cabinet in the senate president's office. 

Senators are allocated a desk in one of the three rows on either side of the chamber. All senators speak in their place, as opposed to the House of Commons where ministers speak from the dispatch boxes and microphones on the centre table. The leader of the government in the senate, and their opposition counterpart, are always seated closest to the president. 

Senators

Representation

Senators represent their entire state at-large. From 1891 to 1940 Mainland senators represented individual districts; all other states since have had all senators elected on the same ballot. Many senators have multiple electorate offices; one is usually in a major city, the other often in a rural area. 

Numbers

In 1891, when the Senate first met, it consisted of eight Senators from each of the five states, for a total of 40 members. In 1942, this number was increased to 50, with ten senators from each state. In 1958, in order to increase the number of Senators and thus his own chances of winning senate control, Prime Minister Nathan Keegan granted statehood to the small island of Delmago Island, though due to its small size it was granted only five Senators. This has been regarded for years as unfair on Delmago Island and has led to some calls for reform. In 1970, the Federal District was granted two Senators, bringing the total to 57. In 2000, when the state of Mainland subdivided into East Mainland and West Mainland, each of the new states was given ten senators, making the total 67. Finally, in 2005, the number of Senators was increased to 80 following constitutional reforms - 12 from each of the six large states, six from Delmago Island and two from the Federal District. 

Qualifications

The qualifications for Senators are the same as for Members of the House of Commons. A Senator must be a Georgeland citizen and aged 18 years or older. Senators are required to be legally resident in the state for which they are elected at the time of their swearing-in, but this is a legislative rather than constitutional requirement. 

Current composition

The most recent election for the senate took place in June 2019, concurrent with elections for the House of Commons. Senators elected at that election will take office on 1 January 2020; in the interim, existing senators will continue in office. Senators re-elected in 2019 began their terms on 1 January 2014, although some were appointed mid-term. 

See: List of Georgeland senators 2016-19

Vacancies

Senate vacancies are filled by appointment. When a casual vacancy, defined as the death, resignation, or expulsion of a senator, takes place, the relevant state legislature selects a replacement. The person chosen to fill the vacancy must be from the same party from which the outgoing senator was elected, even if they have subsequently left it. This was merely an unwritten convention until 1958, when it was added to the constitution. 

In recent years, parties have tended to use casual vacancies as a means of appointing senators for long terms simply to give them a parliamentary seat. In 2019, newly-minted Prime Minister Clare Price appointed International Relations fellow and Wicker Prize winner Dr Ted Baxter to the senate, despite Baxter having shown little interest in politics beforehand and having never been a member of the Liberal Democratic Party . Price's appointment allowed Baxter to serve permanently as Minister for Foreign Affairs , which he did until the end of Price's government six months later. 

If a Senator is found to be ineligible after taking office, their replacement is determined by countback - the votes for their seat are recounted, and the position given to the candidate who would have won had the disqualified candidate not been on the ticket. A change proposed by Reform would use the countback method to fill all senate vacancies; both the Liberal Democrats and Conservative parties have declared opposition to such a change. 

Officers

The presiding officer of the Senate is the President of the Georgeland Senate, a distinct office from the President of Georgeland. The President of the Senate fulfills a similar function to the Speaker of the House of Commons in that they regulate debate, decide the order of speeches, rule on disputes, and suspend members who violate rules. The President of the Senate, unlike the Speaker, may vote in divisions as denying them the right to do so would deprive their state of one vote on legislation, at odds with the principle of equal representation. However, in practice the President usually abstains from votes, exceptions being when numbers are tightly-balanced. The President is expected to act and rule in an impartial manner, but maintains their political allegience and can continue to attend party meetings if they so choose. The current President, Scott Burke, does not attend party meetings of the Liberal Democrats. 

The President is elected by the Senate in a secret ballot at the beginning of every new Senate term, or when a vacancy takes place. Normally, the president represents the government party but this is not a guarantee as the government does not routinely have a majority in the Senate. The current president is a member of the Liberal Democrats, while the government is made up of the Georgeland Alliance and Reform. Unlike the Speaker, the President does not routinely face re-election at the beginning of a new session; the Senate must resolve to elect one.

The President is assisted by one or more Deputy Presidents elected by the Senate. The Deputy President presides when the President is absent. In the past, multiple deputies have been elected. By convention, and usually as a result of poltical deals, the Deputy President is drawn from a different party than the President. The incumbent, John Sutherland, is a member of Rally for Freedom (despite being elected as a Conservative).

The Dean of the Senate is the longest-serving senator with an unbroken term of service. The Dean (known as the Father of the Senate until 2012) presides over the senate during the election of a president but has no other duties. The current Dean is Reform senator Frank Walker , also a former Conservative. 

The Leader of the Government in the Senate is a political position, given to the government's most senior senator. The Leader of the Government is responsible for party matters in the chamber and for providing leadership on debates and legislation. At various times the governing party senators have elected a leader, and at other times the position is appointed, depending on the party. There is also a deputy leader, and a Manager of Senate Business who fulfils a similar role to the Leader of the House of Commons. The opposition senators also have a leader and deputy, as well as a Manager of Opposition Senate Business. 

From 2018, due to various defections, the crossbench senators from the Georgeland Alliance and Reform outnumbered both those of the Liberal Democrat government and the Conservative opposition. The Alliance leader in the senate, Florence Roberts, moved that she be recognised as Leader of the Opposition. The president declined to rule and instead the senate voted on the matter, which was defeated when the government and opposition combined to reject it. From 2020, an unusual situation occurred in which the official opposition, Vox, had only four senators while the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives had 17 and 16 respectively. On the first sitting of the Senate in 2020, on February 11, the President recognised the Vox senators as the opposition and the ruling was not challenged.

Non-elected officials include the Clerk, Deputy Clerk and Table Clerk, who are senior public servants reporting to the President of the Senate.