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Perhaps it should be set as fixed 3-year terms, not 4.
One big difference between state constitutions and their 4 year fixed terms and the Federal parliament is that the states don’t have double dissolutions or if say in Victoria the upper house has a 4 year term then there is no need. A DD can’t be pegged to a fixed term – should there be a trigger, the government of the day needs the flexibility to call that election. Once elected the Senate does have a fixed term and this basically defines to a large extent when a Reps election can be called. No government now would want to have separate elections. A 4 year term would mean an 8 year senate term which is very long in anyones language. A four year term would hopefully lead to better public policy formulation – the term length is actually more important than whether the Reps term is fixed or not.
Personally, I would like to see the seats of senators who resign, die, take diplomatic posts, etc. in the first half of their six or eight year term go to election at the next senate election – not dissimilar to what happened before in 1977. So if Senator X resigns after 2 years, then 7 senators would be elected with the last have a short term. The political parties sometimes seem to treat senate seats like playthings once they have them. If you are elected for 6 years, stay for 6 years and then not run again if you don’t intend to serve the full term.
@Ben Raue: “North Sydney MP Kylea Tink has not yet clarified her intentions.” Kylea Tink has clarified her intentions, saying that she won’t run for a House of Representatives seat at the upcoming election. With neither Kylea Tink nor Paul Fletcher contesting Bradfield, “One of them could be a serious challenge to Fletcher here” should be updated to “Boele could be a serious challenge to the Liberal Party here”. https://www.facebook.com/KyleaTinkNorthSydney/videos/1691116374768566