In the Parliament of Australia, the political parties appoint party whips to ensure party discipline, help manage legislative business and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. Additional functions of the government party whips is to ensure that a sufficient number of government members and senators are present in the chamber to ensure passage of government legislation and measures and to prevent censure motions succeeding, and to ensure presence of a parliamentary quorum.[1] Their roles in the chamber include tally votes during divisions, and arranging pairs which affects the ability of members and senators to leave parliament during sittings, as well as the entitlement to be absent during divisions.
Unlike in the United Kingdom, Australian whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes. In practice, Australian whips play a lesser role than their counterparts in the United Kingdom, as party discipline in Australia tends to be tighter.[2] The role of the whip becomes more critical the lower the majority the government has in the lower house of Parliament.
Liberal Party whips are appointed by the leader of the party, while Australian Labor Party whips are elected by the Caucus. For Labor and the Liberals, the chief whip is assisted by two deputy whips.[3]
Similar arrangements exist in the six state and the two self-governing territory parliaments.
- ^ Parliamentary Education Office. Fact Sheet 36: The Party Whip Archived 24 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Parliament of Australia: Parliamentary Library. Free Votes in Australian and some Overseas Parliaments.
- ^ "Fact Sheet – Party Whips". Parliamentary Education Office. Archived from the original on 19 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.