COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL.

No. 20 of 1925.

An Act to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918-1924.

[Assented to 26th September, 1925.]

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1925.

(2.) The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918-1924 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918-1925.

Persons entitled to enrolment and to vote.

2. Section thirty-nine of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from sub-section (5.) thereof the words “unless so entitled under section forty-one of the Constitution” and inserting in their stead the words “unless—

(a) he is so entitled under section forty-one of the Constitution;

(b) he is a native of British India; or

(c) he is a person to whom a certificate of naturalization has been issued under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State and that certificate is still in force, or is a person who obtained British nationality by virtue of the issue of any such certificate”.

Amendment of s. 41.

3. Section forty-one of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (4.) thereof, after the word “Act”, the letter “(a)”; and

(b) by adding at the end of that sub-section the following paragraph:—

“and (b) any Senator who lives in the Territory for the Seat of Government may, if he so desires, have his name placed upon and retained upon the roll for any Subdivision of any Division in the State which he represents and any Member of the House of Representatives who lives in the Territory for the Seat of Government may, if he so desires, have his name placed upon and retained upon the roll for any Subdivision of the Division which he represents.”

4. Section sixty-nine of the Principal Act is repealed, and the following section inserted in its stead:—

Qualifications of Members of the House of Representatives.

“69.—(1.) The qualifications of a Member of the House of Representatives shall be as follows:—

(a) He must be of the full age of twenty-one years;

(b) He must be a subject of the King, either natural born or for at least five years naturalized under a law of the United Kingdom or of the Commonwealth;

(c) He must have been for three years at the least a resident within the limits of the Commonwealth as existing at the time when he is chosen; and

(d) He must be either—

(i) an elector entitled to vote at the election of Members of the House of Representatives;

(ii) a person qualified to become such elector; or

(iii) a person who lives in the Territory for the Seat of Government, and has so lived for a period of one month.

(2.) To entitle a person to be nominated as a. Senator or a Member of the House of Representatives he must have the qualifications specified in the last preceding sub-section.”

Requisites for nomination.

5. Section seventy-three of the Principal Act is amended by inserting in paragraph (a) thereof, after the word “Constitution”, the words “and the laws of the Commonwealth.”