§ 135. “Resign His Place.”
“In England it is a settled principle of parliamentary law, that a member, after he is duly chosen, cannot relinquish his seat; and, in order to evade this restriction, a member who wishes to retire, accepts office under the Crown, which legally vacates his seat, and obliges the house to order a new writ. The offices usually selected for this purpose are the offices of steward or bailiff of her Majesty's three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough, and Bonenham; or the steward of the manors of East Hendred, Northstead, or Hempholme, which, though the offices have sometimes been refused, are ordinarily given by the Treasury to any member who applies for them, unless there appears to be sufficient ground for withholding them. The office is retained until the appointment is revoked to make way for the appointment of another holder thereof.” (May's Parl. Prac. 10th ed. p. 605.)
“The obligation to serve and to continue to serve during the continuance of the Parliament has been relaxed, although by a different method. The Chiltern Hundreds continue, though in a different sense, to afford in the days of Victoria to unwilling legislators the protection which they afforded in the days of Edward the Second.” (Hearn's Gov. of Engl. p. 533.)
Vacancy by absence136.
38. The place of a member shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the House, fails to attend the House.
HISTORICAL NOTE.—In the Commonwealth Bill of 1891 the clause was as follows:—
“The place of a member of the House of Representatives shall become vacant if for one whole session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the House of Representatives entered on its journals, fails to give his attendance in the House.”
At the Adelaide session, 1897, the clause was introduced in substantially the same words; but in Committee, on Mr. Barton's motion, the words “two consecutive months of any session” were substituted for “one whole session.” (Conv. Deb., Adel., p. 734.) At the Sydney session, a suggestion by the Legislature of Tasmania, to substitute “thirty consecutive sitting days in any session” was negatived. (Conv. Deb., Syd. [1897], pp. 460-1.) At the Melbourne session, after the fourth report, the words “entered on its journals” were omitted.