Canberra, 24 August 1967
Confidential
Sir John Bunting, the Secretary of my Department, has written to your High Commissioner telling him of the decision of my Government to limit appeals to the Privy Council from the High Court in matters of Federal jurisdiction. You will be receiving from Sir Charles Johnston some detail relating to this.
My purpose in writing is to assure you that there is no special significance to be attached to this decision nor the timing of it. My recollection is that the two Attorneys-General who preceded Nigel Bowen, the present holder of that office, namely, Sir Garfield Barwick and Billy Snedden, had each decided to move in that direction.1
At present, appeals may be taken in some circumstances from the High Court of Australia to the Privy Council and, in other cases, there may be appeals to the Privy Council from State Supreme Courts. The latter is a matter for the States, and our decision does not affect those appeals.
Under present arrangements, appeals may be taken from the High Court of Australia (other than in inter se matters) by special leave of the Privy Council. Power to limit the matters in which special leave may be granted by the Privy Council is conferred on the Commonwealth Parliament by section 74 of the Constitution. We have decided that this power should now be exercised so as to make the High Court the final arbiter in all matters of Federal jurisdiction. The power of the Privy Council to give special leave to appeal from the High Court in a matter which does not involve Federal jurisdiction will remain. The possibility of there being an appeal to the Privy Council from the High Court in an inter se matter will also remain, although, in practice, it is unlikely the High Court would give a certificate to permit such an appeal. My understanding is that the last time a certificate was given for this purpose was in 1912.
We regard the decision as a desirable expression of national maturity, and I am sure that you will so recognise it. As a matter of interest, the official platform of the Australian Labor Party includes the intention ‘to invest the High Court of Australia with final jurisdiction in all questions and matters’. Our decision also reflects our belief that the prestige and capacity of our High Court are such as to make it fully competent to resolve finally those matters of Federal jurisdiction coming before it.
We sympathise here with you in the troubles you are having with the Chinese in Peking and Hong Kong.2
1 See Documents 415, 420 and 421.
2 A reference to the disorders generated by the Cultural Revolution in China, and the communist-inspired strikes and demonstrations which began in Hong Kong in May 1967.
[UKNA: PREM 13/1320]