Section 13 of the Constitution puts some practical obstacles in the way of an early double dissolution.
Assuming the Senate knocks one or more Bills back twice, Prime Minister John Howard can call his double dissolution and force the Bills through a joint sitting afterwards if the Senate remains hostile … using extra numbers in the Reps to overcome the one or two seats that the goverment is likley to be short of a majority in the Senate. (And for the past two decades no government has got a majority in the Senate, and none is likley to in the forseeable future.)
However, after a double dissolution, the election for the Reps and the Senate are likely to get seriously out of kilter because of Section 13.
That section says that after a normal election and half-Senate election, like that on March 2, senators take their seats on the (ital) following (end ital) July 1. But after a double dissolution they are deemed to have taken their seats on the (ital) preceding (end ital) July 1.
So if there is a double dissolution at any time up to June 30, 1997, the Senators will be deemed to have taken their seats on July 1, 1996. That’s right; as if the lot elected on March 2 had not even taken their seats.
That messes things up for the future because Section 13 demands also that senators be elected within one year before the places are to become vacant. That would force the next half Senate election sometime in the year up to June 30, 1999. If the Reps election is to be held at the same time it would mean only a two-year term for the Reps. If the Reps went its full three years it would mean having a half Senate election on its own (where a government would get pasted by a protest vote) and having a Reps election less than a year later.
It can be done, but it is awkward and disadvantageous to a government. So don’t expect a double dissolution until after July 2 next year. By then, of course, the honeymoon is will be over and the Government less assured of victory, so less likely to go early.
None the less, Howard has been consistently determined on industrial relations reform and it seems increasingly likley that a joint sitting is the only way it will happen.