constitution - senate - 1970

Contexts in which the word constitution was used in the Senate during the 1970s

I ask whether it is also a fact that members of the medical profession cannot be compelled to co-operate in any scheme of medical service because of the words of the Constitution: [More…]
Is this restriction binding on governments only or is the Constitution binding on all Australians so as to prevent all forms of compulsory service? [More…]
That leave bc given to bring in a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution by empowering the Parliament to make laws with respect to tertiary education. [More…]
I do not think that that procedure would upset anybody terribly or overthrow the Constitution. [More…]
As soon as the Interim Council has completed its work, the Minister for education and Science will place its recommendations before the Government so that a further Bill may be introduced prescribing in detail the functions and powers of the Institute and its constitution. [More…]
It reads: Under section 55 of the Constitution, duties of customs, duties of excise and other duties are required to be imposed by separate laws. [More…]
That their concern arises partly from the fact that historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly ail nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contrary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in ‘Commentaries on the Australian Constitution’, Page 951); and [More…]
by leave - The Senate will be aware that to fulfil the requirements of the Constitution the next Senate election must be held before 30th June 1971. [More…]
Is there any prospect of getting a reply to my question of 2 months ago, to which I referred about a week ago, concerning possible conflict between a section of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act and section 92 of the Constitution? [More…]
The query I raise now is this: As the objects of the Bill are limited to the Constitution, and as the Commonwealth Government has no power with respect to manufacturing, does this require an arrangement with the States? [More…]
As the Minister was reported as stating inter alia, that all cases of apparent national service default were investigated, and that action has been stayed pending consideration of a civilian alternative to military service; and since the Minister in reply to a question by myself indicated that Australia is technically not at war, is the Government having great difficulty in complying with the Federal Constitution in forcing young men to serve in thefighting forces as though Australia was technically at war. [More…]
Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution, on 4th December I notified the Governor of the State of New South Wales of the vacancy in the representation of that State because of the death of Senator Ormonde. [More…]
Pursuant to section 21 of the Constitution the Governor of the State of Queensland was notified that a vacancy had happened in the representation of that State in the Senate. [More…]
1 ask the AttorneyGeneral whether, in view of the decision of the High Court in the concrete pipes case last Friday which held that Commonwealth power to control restrictive trade practices extends to intra-state agreements between companies but not to such restrictive trade agreements between individuals, will he consider the need for an amendment to the Australian Constitution to rectify such an anomalous situation and enable legislation against restrictive trade practices to have full impact over the whole of the economy? [More…]
My question which is directed to the Attorney-General refers to reported statements yesterday oy the Prime Minister that the Commonwealth probably has no constitutional power to legislate on pollution, although he doubted whether anyone would challenge the appropriation of funds for antipollution measures. [More…]
In view of the Committee’s emphasis on the urgency of a national approach, will the Attorney-General examine those sections of the Committee’s report which refer to its views on both the constitutional position of the Commonwealth and the Federal concept of the Constitution and let the Senate have his advice in due course? [More…]
Without prejudice to the application of the last preceding sub-section in relation to the constitution of a trade association, the constitution of a trade association is an examinable agreement if it contains restrictions with respect to the right of persons to become or remain members of the association. [More…]
As I understand the position, it involves an issue which has been canvassed often before the High Court of Australia as to the extent of the operations in respect of any particular legislative or Executive act under section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
What are the implications in respect to interstate trade generally, vis-a-vis section 92 of the Constitution, consequent on the High Court’s ruling which upheld Tasmanian State laws preventing the sale of cooking margarine which has been flavoured or coloured to resemble butter? [More…]
Does it mean that any State may now prohibit the import of any given commodity from another State, thus over-riding section 92 of the Constitution? [More…]
In view of the fact that the State Attorneys-General propose to hold a conference on the Constitution and because I think the Tasmanian AttorneyGeneral will be able to raise this matter at that conference, 1 have moved for the discharge of Order of the Day No. [More…]
He felt that this motion gave us in this chamber - a chamber which, of course, is constitutionally and historically associated with the States and their position under the Constitution - an opportunity to approach this subject in that manner. [More…]
Is the Minister representing the Minister for Education and Science aware that the Australian Constitution has been set as a text for social studies in Victorian schools but that many hundreds of students have been unable to obtain a copy of the document? [More…]
Does the Commonwealth Constitution provide for the States to accommodate prisioners gaoled under a Commonwealth law that is distasteful and unpopular in the State, where the State Government is required to detain the prisoners on behalf of the Commonwealth? [More…]
Under the Constitution, the Commonwealth has power to legislate for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes. [More…]
It cannot give it a meaning different from that intended by the Constitution. [More…]
What is their constitution? [More…]
Education in Australia traditionally has been regarded as primarily a responsibility of State governments, but it is true also that ample powers exist under the Constitution for the Commonwealth to make financial contributions in a number of fields, including education. [More…]
The High Court found that the Constitution did not allow it to make the decision and it placed the decision fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the Parliament. [More…]
In the consultations held so far between the Commonwealth and the States relating to the Constitution have local government bodies been involved? [More…]
If not, does the Government intend inviting local government bodies to take part in future discussions related to constitutional reform? [More…]
In view of the fact that this proposition has come from the House of Representatives and a move has been made to alter the constitution of the committee, I think that the wisest course might be to move that the debate be adjourned so that some discussion can take place in order to deal with the mechanical side of the problem. [More…]
swear by Almighty God thatI will faithfully uphold the Constitution of Australia, observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen. [More…]
There may possibly be some confusion as to whether they owe their allegiance to the Queen or to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
I intervene in the 2 minutes available to me only to say that the present Constitution is based upon an agreement between the peoples of the 6 Australian States. [More…]
This is an idea quite foreign to the fundamental concept of the constitution of the Senate. [More…]
Is it not a fact that after the rejection by the Senate of the Commonwealth Electoral Bill yesterday a right existed under the Constitution for the Government to seek a dissolution of the Senate and of the House of Representatives? [More…]
Clause 2, the covering clause of the Constitution Act reads: [More…]
That is the covering clause in the Constitution Act which embodies the Australian Constitution. [More…]
In other words, all of our laws must be subject to the Constitution Act and the Constitution. [More…]
If it is his intention that the power and authority should stem solely from this there are ways in which it can be done legally and constitutionally and in that regard the Constitution, if the honourable senator feels so disposed, should be amended. [More…]
I give notice that contingent on a message being received from the House of Representatives transmitting the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1 973 for concurrence, I shall move: [More…]
I desire to inform the Senate that due to the need for urgent consideration of the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill it is in the interests of the Senate that priority be given to this matter. [More…]
That I should be asked-I speak only for myself- to jazz this Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill through at this speed is most repugnant. [More…]
That 2 1 days after the passing of this resolution there be a call of the Senate for the purpose of considering the third reading of the Constitution Alteration (Prices and Incomes) Bill 1973. [More…]
I declare that the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill is an urgent Bill. [More…]
That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the Bill passing all stages without delay and that standing order 242 be suspended to enable the third reading of the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill 1973 to be passed without a Call of the Senate, and that the question be now put. [More…]
That standing order 242 be suspended to enable the third reading of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill, the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill and the Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill to be passed in each case without a call of the Senate. [More…]
That is a concept, I think, quite new in law in Australia apart from the provisions of the Constitution itself. [More…]
The House of Representatives transmits to the Senate a Bill intituled ‘A Bill for an Act to facilitate alterations to the Constitution and to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at Referendums on Proposed Laws to alter the Constitution’, in which it desires the concurrence of the Senate. [More…]
As the Attorney-General, on 26 September 1973, when speaking on the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill 1973, referred to certain basic standards guaranteed to wage and salary earners outside Commonwealth awards and went on to say that, under this Bill, the Australian Parliament could guarantee basic standards throughout the nation, will he give instances of (a) the basic standards guaranteed by the New South Wales Parliament; and (b) the basic standards referred to which the Australian Parliament could guarantee under the Bill. [More…]
9 be amended to include the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974 which is shown as order of the day No. [More…]
Mr President, the Bill currently before us has the short title Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
Parts of this Bill the Opposition would be prepared to accept, such as clause 3 which seeks the deletion of section 25 from the Constitution. [More…]
I indicated that this was a Bill to facilitate alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
If the provision of a majority of the electors in the States were altered to relate to all the States taken together so that one had a majority of the people of Australiawhich would include the Territories along with the States- that would not facilitate the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
But if, as well, there is a requirement only for at least half of the States instead of a majority of the States, then that would facilitate alteration to the Constitution. [More…]
Leave out ‘To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and ‘. [More…]
The long title will read, if the amendment is carried, ‘to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at Referendums on Proposed Laws to alter the Constitution.’ [More…]
To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at Referendums on Proposed Laws to alter the Constitution. [More…]
-We are told by the Government that the purpose of the Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill is to make Federal funds available direct to local government bodies, by means of grants and low interest loans, to ease the burden of rates and to improve municipal services. [More…]
An alteration to the Constitution is necessary before the Government can implement its plan, and the people are being asked at a referendum whether they believe that the constitutional alteration should be made. [More…]
This is one of 6 major changes to the Constitution proposed by the Labor Government. [More…]
I feel that this is a very important matter because when the people have to go to the poll they have to decide whether or not it is right to alter the Constitution. [More…]
We will have the pleasure of seeing in the future the kind of manoeuvres they will get up to on the other Constitution Bills. [More…]
The Bill before the Senate is the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill. [More…]
That standing order 242 be suspended to enable the third reading of the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974 (No. [More…]
We in the Country Party want to complete the Address-in-Reply debate and then the Government can have the debate on its Constitution alteration Bills irrespective of whether we are opposed to them. [More…]
That standing order 242 be suspended to enable the third reading or the Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974 to be passed without a call of the Senate. [More…]
It provides that before the third reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a call of the Senate. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice, [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974. [More…]
I must inform honourable senators that I ordered the bells to be rung in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. [More…]
Title, leave out ‘To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and’. [More…]
-I propose to respond to the motion for the second reading of the Constitution Alteration (Interchange of Powers) Bill 1974; but, with the leave of the Senate, I ask this question: What is the Government’s intention with regard to the sittings of the Senate today? [More…]
This Bill is not in the same position as the other 4 constitutional alteration Bills. [More…]
by leave- The Senate will be aware that to fulfil the requirements of the Constitution the next Senate election must be held before 30 June 1974. [More…]
I also inform the Senate that the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) has advised the GovernorGeneral that in respect of the following proposed laws: Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1974, Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) 1974, Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) 1974 and Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) 1974, the conditions in the second paragraph of section 128 of the Constitution have been complied with. [More…]
1 ) There is no provision in the Constitution providing for rights of appeal from exercise of discretionary powers conferred by statute. [More…]
1 ) Is there any provision in the Constitution, or in any Act, that where there are discretionary powers under an Act or Regulation there has to be a right of appeal; if so, where is it so provided, and does it so provide for an appeal to an independent tribunal. [More…]
that this principle is fully recognised in section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Section 3 of the Constitution provides that there shall be payable out of Consolidated Revenue for the salary of the Governor-General an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise provides, shall be $20,000. [More…]
The Constitution also provides that the salary of a GovernorGeneral shall not be altered during his continuance in office. [More…]
It is proposed now in this Bill that, for the first time since Federation, the Parliament should establish an amount for the salary of the Governor-General other than that provided in the Constitution. [More…]
that this principle is fully recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That the Senate declare its opinion that on the making of grants of financial assistance to the States under section 96 of the Constitution the Commonwealth Parliament should ensure that: [More…]
As far as possible the detailed administration of national programs financed by specific purpose grants made under section 96 of the Constitution should be carried out by State governments or local authorities authorised by them. [More…]
that this principle is recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution; [More…]
He advanced his own reasons on whether the Constitution is being applied. [More…]
The Constitution will have to be brought into effect finally to resolve something that the Opposition is not prepared to accept despite the decision of the people. [More…]
This is the first Joint Sitting of the Senate and the House of Representatives convened by His Excellency the Governor-General pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution for the purpose of resolving disagreements between the 2 Houses. [More…]
It is, accordingly, an occasion of great constitutional significance in the history of this Parliament. [More…]
I have received a message from the House of Representatives- stating that the House of Representatives transmits to the Senate for its information the rules adopted by the House of Representatives for the conduct of the business of the joint sitting of the Senate pursuant to section 57 ofthe Constitution. [More…]
I inform the Senate that messages have been received from His Excellency the Governor-General assenting in the name of Her Majesty to the following laws as last proposed by the House of Representatives and as affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the Joint Sitting convened by the Governor-General pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution: [More…]
The result of the division is : Ayes 96, Noes 91.1 declare the proposed law affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as required by section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
In my opinion, neither section 57 of the Constitution nor the Proclamation authorises the consideration of any other matters by the Joint Sitting. [More…]
1 declare the proposed law affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as required by section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
2) 1973 Senate ( Representation of Territories) Act 1 973 Representation Act 1973 as last proposed by the House of Representatives and as affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives at the joint sitting convened by the Governor-General pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution by Proclamation dated 30 July 1974, having been presented to the Governor-General for the Royal Assent, His Excellency has, in the name of Her Majesty, assented to the said Laws. [More…]
I declare the proposed law affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as required by section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
The provision seems to be quite in contradiction with the Constitution. [More…]
I have the honour to acknowledge your communication of 9 February 1975, notifying me, in accordance with the provisions of Section 21 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution, that a vacancy has happened in the representation of the State of New South Wales in the Senate through the resignation of Senator the Honourable Lionel Keith Murphy, Q.C., which occurred on 9 February 1975. [More…]
I give notice that, contingent on a message being received from the House of Representatives transmitting a Constitution Alteration Bill for concurrence, I shall move: [More…]
I have received a further message notifying that His Excellency the Administrator, under section 74 of the Constitution, had reserved the Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Bill 1975 for Her Majesty’s pleasure. [More…]
At that time reference was made by Senator Hall to the fact that there could have been other breaches of the Constitution and he stated that they should be heard. [More…]
That is provided in the Constitution. [More…]
The issues that might be involved in debating the Inter-State Commission Bill are well known; they are well founded in the Constitution. [More…]
-As regards the establishment of the Children’s Commission, I think it is appropriate at this stage that I seek clarification on certain constitutional issues which have been raised in connection with this Bill. [More…]
It would be helpful if legislation of this nature were perhaps to begin with the words ‘pursuant to the powers conferred by section’- then would appear the relevant section ‘of the Constitution’. [More…]
My question, which is addressed to the Minister representing the Attorney-General, relates to the resolution of the Senate to establish a judicial committee of inquiry into the pecuniary interests of members of Parliament and to the appropriateness of sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
Pursuant to section 2 1 of the Constitution, I notified the Governor of the State of Queensland by letter dated 1 July 1975 of the vacancy in the representation of that State caused by the death of Senator Milliner. [More…]
Grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution, and [More…]
Further, does the Government see these developments as representing a threat to our democratic institutions by a faceless group of persons who are acting in a totalitarian way to rape the Constitution in a grab for power so as to serve their own vested interests? [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
I present a petition from 10 citizens of Australia praying that the Senate introduce and pass a Bill to replace the Constitution with a new Australian People’s Constitution, the details of which are contained in this petition. [More…]
I ask the Leader of the Government in the Senate: Does the Prime Minister propose to hang on to power and to govern without the Appropriation Bills being passed by the Parliament and in defiance of that provision of the Constitution, section 83, which states that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law? [More…]
The Government has stated on numerous occasions that it would never act outside the law or the Constitution, and I am quite sure that in this particular case the same rules will be abided by. [More…]
That leave be given to introduce a Bill for an Act to provide for the constitution of Aboriginal councils and the incorporation of associations of Aboriginals and for matters connected therewith. [More…]
I want to ask a question in relation to clause 6 and the constitution of the interim council. [More…]
On 14 October 1976, pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution, I notified the Governor of the State of Victoria of the vacancy in the representation of that State caused by the death of Senator the Hon. [More…]
-Senator Knight’s question arises out of the recent decision of the High Court in the case known as Mackellar ‘s case which held that the people of the Commonwealth referred to in section 24 of the Constitution are people of the States and do not include people of the territories and that for the purpose of the nexus provision, territory senators and members are to be disregarded. [More…]
An amendment to the Constitution would be required to change this position; it cannot be done direct by legislation being passed by this Parliament. [More…]
However, this question was raised in discussion at the Hobart session of the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
It is the Attorney-General’s view that if there is to be a proposal for a constitutional amendment it would be desirable for the matter to be taken up formally at the Constitutional Convention, which is scheduled to meet again in Perth later this year. [More…]
That contingent upon messages being received from the House of Representatives transmitting the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977, the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill 1977, the Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) Bill 1977, and the Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill 1977 for concurrence I shall move: [More…]
In respect of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill, the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill, the Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) Bill and the Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill, I move: [More…]
The motion seeks to suspend the call of the Senate in regard to the Constitution Alteration Bills which were introduced by me into the Senate last Thursday. [More…]
The provisions of standing order 242 requiring a call of the Senate and a delay in the putting of the motions in regard to a Bill to alter the Constitution are, in the view of the Government, probably unnecessary in this day and age. [More…]
by leave- I inform the Senate that there is an incorrect statement in my second reading speech on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977. [More…]
-by leave-I regret that both in the House of Representatives and in this place the Ministers, when introducing the Bill seeking a referendum to alter the Constitution in respect of simultaneous elections, should have said that the proposal was in accordance with the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Review in 1959. [More…]
-Mr President, I declare that the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill 1977, the Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) Bill 1977 and the Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill 1977 are urgent Bills and move: [More…]
-Very briefly, for my own edification and the edification of others who may be interested, I ask why clause 5, which deals with casual vacancies, is in the Bill entitled Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill when the Senate also has before it a Bill entitled Constitution Alteration (Senate [More…]
The reason is provided in clause 6 which provides that this clause does not take effect if the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill is passed. [More…]
As 57 honourable senators have agreed to the third reading I declare that the third reading of the Bill has been agreed to by an absolute majority, as required by the Constitution. [More…]
Has the Minister’s attention been drawn to the article in the Melbourne Age dated 24 February 1977, entitled ‘ Bjelke closes land loophole’, in which a spokesman for the Queensland Premier claimed that the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission was ‘dodging the Constitution so Federal enclaves can be set up’ in Queensland, and that agents of the Commission may ‘use unofficial names to get around the State’s refusal to transfer leases to blacks’. [More…]
They seem to me to vest in the head of an authority or in a Minister an arbitrary power which is not consistent with the designs of the Parliament and of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution implies that in the matter of labour relations there ought to be conciliation and arbitration and respect for the rights of both employers and emloyees. [More…]
This Bill follows from the referendum on the Constitution in May this year relating to the retiring age of judges. [More…]
I add only that this was a matter which was the subject of some discussion by the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs when it was dealing with the Family Law Bill a couple of years ago. [More…]
Clause 11 (Constitution of Council). [More…]
by leave- I want to comment briefly about certain matters raised by Senator Haines when she said that the only person who foresaw the problems that can arise in relation to the Senate casual vacancies amendment which was made to the Constitution last year was the South Australian representative of her Party who attended the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
Whilst that may be true of those people who were at the Constitutional Convention, I would draw attention to the fact that members of this chamber very clearly expressed their concern and their reservations in the No case which was published at the time of the referendum last year. [More…]
All of the matters to which Senator Haines referred and more were set out in the No case in relation to this proposal which now has become part of the Constitution. [More…]
But I also believe, in a constructive sense, that the Constitution could be changed to compel the Senate to face the people at the same time as the House of Representatives in the event of the Senate’s exercising of its justifiable right to reject Supply. [More…]
It is important to have clause 4 which provides for the constitution of an Aboriginal council area on the satisfaction of the registrar. [More…]
Since Viktoras Petkus, and the group he is a member of, conducted their activities openly, believing that the Soviet constitution granted them some rights not only in word but also in fact, this severe punishment is a blatant denial of human rights recognized even by the Soviet constitution. [More…]
-The only matter I wish to raise with the Minister on this clause is the constitution of the Executive. [More…]
That leave be given to introduce a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to enable a person holding an office of profit under the Crown to be chosen as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives. [More…]
That leave be given to introduce a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to enable a person holding an office of profit under the Crown to be chosen as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives. [More…]
150 - Constitution Alternation (Holders of Offices of Profit) Bill 1978, Second Reading. [More…]
I notice that whilst this Bill deals with urban transport, like most of these Bills dealing with the allocation of grants there seems to be some relationship to section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Initiate necessary action for a referendum to be held to amend the Constitution to provide for Citizen’s Initiative, on the following conditions: [More…]
The desirability of amending section 44 (iv) of the Constitution in the terms proposed by the Constitution Alteration (Holders of Offices of Profit) Bill 1978 or otherwise; [More…]
The desirability of changes to other provisions of the Constitution relating to the qualification and disqualification of members of parliament. [More…]
The Attorney-General said that although the Constitution was altered in July 1977 to make provision for compulsory retirement of Federal judges, nothing was done until October about providing those who may be forced to retire before they qualified for a pension. [More…]
Your petitioners most humbly pray that the Senate, in Parliament assembled should: initiate necessary action for a referendum to be held to amend the Constitution to provide for Citizen ‘s Initiative, on the following conditions: [More…]
Initiate necessary action for a referendum to be held to amend the Constitution to provide for Citizen’s Initiative, on the following conditions: [More…]
Honourable senators will be aware of the unique provisions of the Malaysian Constitution for the rotation of this office among the nine rulers of the States within the Federation of Malaysia. [More…]
The fact is that nothing in the provisions of clause 90 would affect section 49 of the Constitution which concerns the privileges of Parliament. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government . [More…]
That the Senate requests the Government to re-examine the requirement, contained in Public Service Board General Order 3/D/4, that an officer or employee of the Public Service who wishes to nominate for election to a House of Parliament must resign ‘before nomination’, on the ground that the wording and effect of that provision may be contrary to the provision of section 44 (iv) of the Constitution, which provides that any such person, holding an office of profit under the Crown, shall be incapable of being ‘chosen or of sitting’ as a senator or member of the House of Representatives, in relation to which a conditional resignation, contingent upon being chosen, might be regarded as sufficient. [More…]
For example, in the period covered by the first volume, opinions dealing only with the application of the transitional provisions of the Constitution to particular cases of ‘transferred officers’ have generally been omitted. [More…]
I do not see any good purpose in reiterating the principles of federalism under our Constitution which this Government espouses. [More…]
1 ) Is the existence and status of the Croatian language recognised by the Yugoslavian Federal Constitution, by the [More…]
Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, and by several Australian State Governments. [More…]
In view of the badinage across the chamber, the only way I can think of expressing my situation is by referring to something that happened in about 1936 when, I think, four British law lords and Sir Walter Citrine, as he was later known, of the British Trade Union Congress went to the West Indies to draw up a constitution for that country. [More…]
I accept ministerial responsibility in accordance with the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The Senate was designed, in my opinion of the Constitution, to perform another role and function altogether. [More…]
We believe that the constitution of Papua and New Guinea should provide for the protection and implementation of fundamental human rights and civil liberties along the lines of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [More…]
In the last few weeks, after the High Court ruled unconstitutional a tax imposed by the States, the Government said - and I read it in the papers - that it would legislate to validate the tax. [More…]
Without reference to the Parliament, the Government said that it would legislate and validate a tax which, in breach of the Constitution, had been imposed on the citizens. [More…]
That tax was ruled unconstitutional and the Government said, notwithstanding that it is in breach of the Constitution: ‘We will validate it and make it a retrospective tax to be imposed on the people of Australia’. [More…]
Despite Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution, Japan’s defence forces are expanding at a rate which, I should think, necessitates a very close examination by countries in the Asian area. [More…]
Although the build up in Japan’s armed forces will appear constitutionally only as a build up in its defence forces, it nevertheless will have a very big impact on the balance of power not only in the Pacific and Asian area but also throughout the world. [More…]
In Japan there is not sufficient opposition to the contravention of Article Nine of its constitution which states specifically that Japan is not to rearm. [More…]
Section 51 of the Australian Constitution states: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for ihe peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to- [More…]
And the various subsections are set out in the Constitution. [More…]
The referendum in 1967 to allow a better deal for Aboriginals under the Constitution was carried by an overwhelming majority of the people of this nation and the results of that referendum ought to be implemented in a humane way. [More…]
He completely overlooked the provisions of section 109 of the Constitution which allows the laws of the Commonwealth to supersede the laws of a State where there is inconsistency. [More…]
The legislature which is constituted under the Constitution is this Parliament. [More…]
We would make grants under section 96 of the Constitution to enable State governments, local authorities and volunteer agencies to co-operate in the establishment of regional departments of social welfare. [More…]
to provide for the constitution of a Corporate Affairs Commission and to define its powers, authorities, duties and functions; [More…]
Those will be very material matters for any committee to consider as to the appropriateness now of establishing a federal securities and exchange commission, firstly having regard to the constitutional power that derives from our Constitution; secondly, having regard to the opportunities of State authorities who have hitherto administered the company law and under whose general jurisdiction slock exchanges have operated; and thirdly, whether their displacement by a federal commission would have advantages. [More…]
The Senate has heard the question raised of a constitutional division of power. [More…]
Under the Commonwealth Constitution the Commonwealth has no direct power to set up a securities and exchange Commission. [More…]
The only basis upon which the Commonwealth could claim to be concerned with these matters is under section 5, paragraphs 1 and 20 of the Constitution. [More…]
What guarantees has the Australian Government from the Japanese Government that it will not abandon Article 9 of its Constitution and rearm to Japan’s former level? [More…]
Having said that, I recall, with a great degree of appreciation, the campaign to which the honourable senator has referred regarding the preservation of the nexus now in the Constitution, of 1 to 2 in the number of members in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and I, for my part, will need no reminder to keep that fact well in the forefront of any consideration which is my responsibility. [More…]
You know that that is written into the constitution of this very wonderful Committee. [More…]
In the United States of America there is not a total exclusion of the conduct of foreign affairs between the President and the Congress because there are inside the Congress, and particularly in the Senate of the United States of America, certain constitutional proprieties which the Senate particularly is charged with observing. [More…]
For example, the Senate in Washington moves into the area of presidential powers by the constitutional propriety which it has to observe with its power over the appointments of ambassadors. [More…]
So the United States Senate has a constitutional entry into the area of foreign affairs and defence through its own placita, if I may use an Australian word in the context of the American Constitution. [More…]
It took 68 years even to write into the Constitution that our Aboriginals were human beings. [More…]
Under the Constitution, the legislative power of the Commonwealth is vested in Parliament. [More…]
Under the Constitution it is permissible to delegate that legislative power to other bodies or persons. [More…]
As a man who helped with the framing of the Constitution Sir Robert replied that this was the most important Committee in Parliament because its duty was to see that Parliament ran this country with legislation and that the Executive did not do so by regulations and ordinances. [More…]
That is written into its constitution. [More…]
In a nation with a federal constitution this is seldom an easy task. [More…]
What guarantees has Australia that the Japanese Government will not abandon Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and re-arm Japan to its former level. [More…]
As a sovereign independent country Japan possesses the right to amend its Constitution in accordance with procedures provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
Section 99 of the Commonwealth Constitution provides: [More…]
Section 102 of the Commonwealth Constitution states, in part: [More…]
Mr Deputy President, we must bear in mind that, when the Constitution was formulated, railways had a great significance, a greater significance than they have now. [More…]
The Commonwealth could see what a good thing it is to be in the container business but it has not been prepared to accept responsibilities which 1 believe, as I pointed out earlier, are contained in the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Wriedt referred to 2 sections of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I wish this could be done, I would welcome it, but is it not a fact - and 1 ask Senator Rae, if he is listening to correct me if I am wrong - that this would conflict with that same section in the Constitution about which Senator Wriedt spoke, that there shall not be discrimination between States or parts of States? [More…]
Senator Wriedt took up the question of the Constitution. [More…]
I rather take up the point made by Senator Lillico, namely, that if we intend to be terribly legalistic in regard to the Constitution perhaps we in Tasmania should go a little quietly because, if all the facts about all the money that has been spent by the present Government on providing shipping services to and from Tasmania were known, it might be said that the discrimination is in our favour. [More…]
They believed that it should never have been placed on the statute books and certainly should never have been written permanently into the Australian Constitution. [More…]
As we have known democracy to date, it consists of an organised community under a constitution that has been accepted by the people. [More…]
We in Australia are in a way blessed by the Constitution, but in many cases we find as we try to legislate for the people’s welfare that we are seriously handicapped, first of all, by the Constitution and secondly, this Government and other governments have found to their cost that it seems to be part of the Australian way of life to say no to any government that asks for a change in the Constitution. [More…]
In fact, I have heard somebody say that unless a government is prepared to put a question to the people so framed that they have to answer no to it, and that is the answer that the Commonwealth wants, it will never get its ideas on amending the Constitution put into force. [More…]
So I believe that the idea of having a constitutional inquiry with a notion of changing our constitutional rights will never, or not in our time, be successful. [More…]
Of course, if one was considering the Constitution except insofar as it relates to the Territories under the immediate administrative control of the national government, that would be a reasonable interpretation. [More…]
What was not stated at that time was that the Constitution did not, in fact, bind the Commonwealth Government hand and foot. [More…]
There was a clause in the Constitution which allowed grants to be made for certain purposes. [More…]
The Committee further commented, in paragraph 150, that, when the Constitution was drafted, no government in Australia was responsible lor the general state of the economy, including the level of employment, stability of the value of the currency and the rale of balance of economic development. [More…]
Since the Constitution was written, it has become generally accepted that governments have a responsibility for Ihe state of the economy. [More…]
Constitution’. [More…]
I stand to be corrected by my legal colleagues, but I think that the High Court has extended to wildlife the protection of section 92 of our Constitution. [More…]
That is not mentioned in the Constitution in any form. [More…]
Kangaroos could become a pest in one State and before action could be taken to reduce their numbers they could take advantage of section 92 of the Constitution and hop the border. [More…]
Although the Commonwealth provides substantial financial assistance to the States for roads in the Commo’nwealth Aid Roads Act and also provides a special and distinct grant for the main- tenance of this highway the responsibility for the construction and maintenance of roads is constitutionally a responsibility of the State. [More…]
j.This may be so as far as the Constitution is concerned but I feel the Commonwealth j[ Government should make the necessary [ finance available to complete this section of the highway by special grant to the State Governments, as it has done in the past in respect of other projects. [More…]
The Constitution will not be upset. [More…]
TAA is limited in its intrastate traffic by the Constitution, but Ansett Transport Industries is not limited in that way. [More…]
I think doctors are the only constitutionally guaranteed free people in Australia because under the Constitution services may be provided by government but only in such form as does not amount to the civil conscription of doctors. [More…]
I believe that any scheme that seeks to fix the fees that doctors must charge is a form pf conscription which would be unconstitutional. [More…]
That is done because the Constitution of the Commonwealth requires that there should be such an appropriation. [More…]
Section 81 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution. [More…]
Section 83 of the Constitution then provides: [More…]
lt is apparent in this instance that the regular procedures for the payment of moneys have been flouted and that the Constitution itself has been flouted. [More…]
The Senate may have to pass a resolution of condemnation if there is any repetition of such procedure which amounts not merely to a defiance of the Senate in its clearly expressed wishes but also to a defiance of the Parliament and a defiance of the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Us constitution and procedures are framed in such a way as to ensure the broadest possible consensus within the profession as a basis of Association polciy. [More…]
The section of the Constitution that permits the provision of health benefits of this kind says that the Parliament shall have power to make laws for: [More…]
Under the Constitution, of course, the Parliament is the Senate, the House of Representatives and Her Majesty the Queen. [More…]
It seems that the objectives for its establishment could be achieved by some modification in the constitution ofthe Australian Resources Development Bank. [More…]
But do honourable senators not think that if the Government could achieve what it aims to achieve in this legislation by merely modifying the constitution of the Australian Resources Development Bank it would have been only loo ready and happy to take this course of action? [More…]
Those functions, as T see them, can be limited only by the Constitution of the Commonwealth. [More…]
In other words, it is said that in some way the Corporation is being asked to do things which constitutionally it cannot do because constitutionally the Commonwealth cannot grant the power to such a corporation. [More…]
Changes can be made to any legislation as long as they are within the framework of the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Constitution, and by the decision of the people, we are elected to make laws. [More…]
of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Apart from the requirement that a report be presented each year, there is no parliamentary scrutiny which is capable of being effectively exercised, lt is, in a sense, a way of getting around the Constitution. [More…]
Professor Sawer wrote, under the heading Getting Around The Constitution’, that so often conditions will be found - and he instances the conditions applicable in regard to the holding of shares in commercial television licences - which have no direct relationship to the power under which they are exercised. [More…]
In a case such as this where the one specific object is to carry out a change progressively over a transition period of 10 years and the advice is sought of a board which has been specifically appointed to render available the knowledge it has gained, I do not think that it could be suggested that there is in the generality of the language used in this Bill an attempt to get around the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
The matter of constitutional authority has also received attention and evidence submitted to the Committee tended to establish that the Commonwealth has, through a coalescence of powers in the fields of taxation, defence, external affairs and other areas, sufficient legislative competence to establish a national approach. [More…]
However the Committee firmly believes that bearing in mind the federal concept of the Constitution it is preferable to achieve this national approach through complementary Commonwealth and State legislation. [More…]
The Constitution provides that this Parliament should make such determinations, but it ought to be assisted by the assessment of people who. [More…]
The Committee commends also the growing interest in the well-being of the reef as shown by the constitution of Com mon wealth and Stale royal commissions, each wilh identical membership and terms of reference, to investigate oil drilling and associated operations on the reef, and the appointment of a joint Commonwealth-State committee to study the current plague of the crown of thorns starfish. [More…]
the constitution ofthe Council: [More…]
Honourable senators will be aware that section 51 txxxiv) of the Constitution empowers the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to railway construction in a Stare wilh Ihe consent of that State. [More…]
To put that forthrightly and without qualification would be to take a stand which ignored what are the plain constitutional provisions. [More…]
The Senate, under the Constitution, has a clear power with regard to money Bills which come up from the House of Representatives, 1 would have thought that the time might well come when the Senate would wish to exercise that power; but I would have thought that if it ever were to exercise it it would only be under circumstances of the utmost urgency and importance. [More…]
At the turn of the century there was a fond belief amongst many of the founders of the Constitution that by setting up a Senate which represented State’s rights the States would be protected, but that view has never been realised because, as Alfred Deakin said, the great issues of principle would divide the senators and not the issues of State. [More…]
The only comment I do make is that fisheries outside the territorial limits - I think that is the expression used - are expressly referred lo as being within the Commonwealth’s power under the Constitution. [More…]
Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights which the Constitution confers upon a member of parliament. [More…]
The only secret council legally constituted under the British Constitution where the collective decisions of the council are in accordance with the Constitution is the Ministry. [More…]
I was about to say that 1 have no doubt that it is well known to the Leader of the Opposition that before any member of the Ministry accepts office he has to take an oath nol to reveal the counsel given before the Ministry and the Government of the day arrive at their decisions, lt has always been my understanding as a private member of the Parliament thai the Constitution imposed upon me a duty to question whenever I thought it was needful for mc to do so propositions put before the Parliament by the Government. [More…]
However, to long as I am a member of the Government I am bound by the constitutional principle that the Ministry acts as one unit for the purpose of strong government in putting before the Parliament its final decision. [More…]
Secondly, the Bill amends the constitution of the Australian Stevedoring Industry Authority. [More…]
In relation to the other aspects of the responsibility of Parliament - that is, in the judgment of the merits of the vote of funds for particular purposes which the Constitution allows - I suggest there is not the same opportunity available to the Parliament for the judgment of the merit of the issue. [More…]
But let us look at the constitutional basis on which this situation has arisen. [More…]
Section 15 of the Constitution specifically provides for the filling of casual vacancies. [More…]
The critical point, as Senator Sir Kenneth Anderson says, is the words ‘in session’, lt is very useful to refer to what the learned authors of ‘The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth - Sir John Quick and Sir Robert Garran - had to say about this matter when they wrote this work after the Constitution was established. [More…]
Until the receipt of the statutory notification, that cannot be dune; hence a delay in the notification would delay a choice by me Stale legislature or an appointment by the State Executive lo fill the place until the election of a successor, lt is a principle of the Constitution thai the representation of States in the Senate should be maintained, as far as possible, wilh unbroken continuity, and that no State should be, for any time longer than absolutely necessary, short in ils representation and consequently deficient in ils political strength in the Council of Stales. [More…]
Section 1 1 of the Constitution provides that the Senate may proceed wilh the despatch of business notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for ils representation in the Senate. [More…]
I have to the best of my abilities researched the Convention debates, lt seems to me that the intention of the founders of this Constitution was much as the authors Quick and Garran have indicated, that is, ro ensure that vacancies when notified should be filled as soon as possible. [More…]
Bui it would appear that the words “in recess’ derived not from Westminster traditions but rather from the practice of the United Stales Constitution which has a comparable provision which says that vacancies may be filled by a governor when the legislature of a State is in recess. [More…]
Notwithstanding what conclusions may be drawn from reading (he history of the section, the fact is that we now have an expression in our Constitution which apparently is being relied upon by the Government of New South Wales to avoid - I think the word ‘avoid’ is appropriate in all the circumstances - the filling of a vacancy of that State in this Senate. [More…]
So, if the words ‘in session’ are meant to apply to the commencement of a session until a prorogation some many months later irrespective of the number of sittings, the action of the Western Australian Government would not be consistent with that interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
I say that because the obligation cast by the Constitution is an obligation cast upon the Governor of a State. [More…]
It was well recognised by the High Court in 1907 that the Governor of a State carrying out functions such as those which are conferred upon him by section 15 of the Constitution, acts as the constitutional head of the State and can act on the advice of his Ministers. [More…]
Wales Government could lake is to treat section 15 of the Constitution in the way in which it has been treated by the Parliament of Western Australia, and that is not an unreasonable view to take. [More…]
The alternative view is to ensure that the purposes of the Constitution are observed by proroguing a Parliament which is simply achieved by proclamation and a constitutional situation, if this be the interpretation which is relied upon, will then operate, lt should be noted that by a curious coincidence of events the current session of the New South Wales Parliament is a session which apparently began in August of last year ami is still continuing. [More…]
If the mere airing of this does not carry its own weight then I would hope in due course that the Senate, as a Senate, without regard to Party positions would regard this as an appropriate occasion to ensure by methods which it has at its disposal that this aspect of the Constitution is preserved. [More…]
J entirely agree with what he has said, lt seems to me that New South Wales could have taken the course, even on the interpretation which it has undoubtedly proceeded upon under section 15 of the Constitution, of either calling together the Houses of Parliament and proceeding to the election of a senator to fill the vacancy or of proroguing the Parliament and achieving the same result, at least until the meeting of Parliament as a result of action by the Executive Council, lt is extremely disturbing that the State can be deprived of its representation in this way. [More…]
That would be an abuse of the Constitution. [More…]
But once the Senate was written into the Constitution, whether it was primarily or exclusively for the protection of the States, it was written in as an integral part of the structure of the legislative process. [More…]
In other words, the Senate functioning properly is an indispensable part of the operation of the Constitution and the processes of federal legislation. [More…]
There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent them from doing that, on the information that Senator Greenwood has been good enough to supply. [More…]
But I take it that we would have the same obligation in this country, where we have a written Constitution, similar to thai in the Dicey Conventions of the Constitution in England, and that even if the State governments are not required by law or by their ministerial advisers to do this or that, there is nevertheless a convention that they will do it. [More…]
It may be that other States take the same interpretation of section15 of the Constitution as does Western Australia. [More…]
We should look at the matter in the context of directing it to the attention of the States because they have to make a determination on their interpretation of section15 of the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that the Senate’s point of view would be strengthened if it were to point out to the sovereign States that the Senate is a States’ House and part of its constitutional function is to look after the interests of the States. [More…]
It seems extraordinary that there should be a diversity of opinion amongst the States as to how casual vacancies should be filled in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
The Senate should be able to work out a formula which will meet the intentions which the founding fathers had when they wrote the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that here is a very good and necessary opening for the application of section 96 of the Constitution by making special grants to a State to enable it to do for its rural producers those things on the financial side that the State in its own right cannot do. [More…]
The legislation is designed to validate a breach of the Constitution by the States. [More…]
If the Commonwealth wishes to make grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution in order to clear its conscience in regard to errors which it has made, let it do so. [More…]
It ought to be able to rely upon the Constitution and the decision of the High Court. [More…]
I see no reason why this Parliament should lend itself to what is in substance validating a breach of the Constitution by the States. [More…]
For this reason I believe that the States should have adequate financial resources - resources sufficient to allow them to carry on the functions which they administer under the Constitution. [More…]
We understand that the States requested the Commonwealth to levy this receipts tax because, following the Western Australian case that went to the High Court, it was found that the States did not have the constitutional authority to levy the tax. [More…]
My understanding of that proposition was that it was found that the States did not have sufficient constitutional authority to levy a petrol tax, so the Commonwealth took it over and levied it for them. [More…]
The terms of the Commonwealth Constitution reflect this principle. [More…]
I acknowledge that the Commonwealth Government has no alternative but to levy a uniform tax; thai is provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
I shall quote from the Constitution in a moment lo endeavour to prove my point. [More…]
Section 51 (ii) of the Australian Constitution provides that the Parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to: [More…]
Notwithstanding the endeavours to exclude appeals and reviews of such awards the High Court has held that section 75 of the Constitution permits an application to be made to the High Court for a prohibition or other prerogative writ of that nature to call into question the award on the basis that those judicial or administrative officers who make it are officers of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Does not section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution which takes precedence over the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act 1956-1962 require that trade, commerce and intercourse between the States shall be absolutely free? [More…]
Would not any law which operated to the serious disadvantage of any one State of the Federation, so as to adversely affect trade between that and any other State be in conflict with the spirit and intentions of section 92 of the Constitution? [More…]
of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act 1956-1962 is ultra vires the Constitution and therefore without any force or validity as an argument to justify freight increases in the case of Tasmania which has no interstate land transport system as an alternative to shipping and where trade, commerce and intercourse between the States as a consequence of the recent rise in shipping rates are not now absolutely free? [More…]
I hope a literal interpretation of that question does not mean that it is proposed that under section 92 of the Constitution the Australian National Line will carry free of charge all goods to and from Tasmania. [More…]
The Health, Welfare and Science Committee considered various Bills, as did the Legal and Constitution Committee. [More…]
Unfortunately this principle of the appointment of standing committees was accompanied by some difference of opinion between the Opposition, the Government and members of the Democratic Labor Parly as to the number of committees and the time for their constitution. [More…]
Just what form it would take may be a matter for parliamentary investigation to lay down the metes and bounds, the constitution and mode of operation of such a body. [More…]
Supplementary to that there is provision for assistance under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 96 of the Constitution provides that the Federal Government may make grants for any purpose which it determines from time to time. [More…]
When one looks at this section, one is conscious of the fact that the architects of the Australian Constitution understood, at the time, that there would be problems arising in relation to the financial relationships between the Commonwealth, the States and local government and in various other areas of governmental activity that could not be foreseen at the time of the making of the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, though they could not see this at the time, provision was made in the Constitution to allow for a contingency of this kind to be taken into consideration. [More…]
Is this to be brought about simply because the Government, in its interpretation of the Constitution, says: ‘We have no responsibility’? [More…]
I put very seriously to honourable senators that section 96 of the Constitution was designed to meet a contingency of this kind. [More…]
This matter relates back to the Constitution. [More…]
Although I commend the excellent work that is being done in the development of Canberra as the national capital, I sometimes wonder whether the Constitution, in providing that the federal authorities should look after Territories, intended that such a high level of facilities should be provided to one area of Australia while the rest of Australia is languishing for the want of the sort of services that are so readily available to people in Canberra. [More…]
I put it to the Senate that this provision is in conflict with the provisions of section 92 of the Constitution in the circumstances of this case. [More…]
I hope that a Constitution lawyer will have a look at this situation. [More…]
I believe that section 18 (1) of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act is ultra vires section 92 of the Constitution, which requires that trade, commerce and intercourse between the States shall be absolutely free. [More…]
Some of the things that occur to me are a basic review of the Constitution and a basic review of the set-up between Commonwealth Government, State governments and local government. [More…]
That their concern arises partly from the fact that historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly all nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contrary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in ‘Commentaries on the Australian Constitution.’ [More…]
Thai their concern arises partly from the fact that historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly all nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in ‘Commentaries on the Australian Constitution’, Page 951); and [More…]
In broad outline, as I recall, those principles expressed that matters of very great proportion and area of investigation which would involve protracted inquiries may not be suitable, and probably would not be suitable, for a standing committee which, by the very nature of its constitution, seems more particularly adapted to specific references in a narrow field with the consequence of being able to present a report on a limited area of investigation and to report promptly for the on-going business of the Senate. [More…]
That is contained in the Platform, Constitution and Rules brought down at the Commonwealth Conference of the Labor Party at Melbourne in 1969. [More…]
Does Section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution, which takes precedence of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act 1956-1962, require that trade, commerce and intercourse between the Stales shall be absolutely free. [More…]
Would any law which operated to the serious disadvantage of any one State, so as to affect adversely trade between that State and any other State, be in conflict with the spirit and intention of Section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
If so, would it not follow that Section 18(1) of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act is ultra-vires the Constitution and therefore without any force or validity as an argument to justify freight increases in the case of Tasmania which has no interstate land transport system as an alternative to shipping and where trade, commerce and intercourse between the States, as a consequence of a recent rise in shipping freights, is not now absolutely free. [More…]
I know that the Constitution would have to be altered to provide for this but I believe my suggestion to be very sensible and practical. [More…]
But he now hopes to receive the increase and then could easily say: ‘Well, I had to take it because the Commonwealth was collecting it and it had to treat each State similarly under the Commonwealth Constitution.’ [More…]
We have developing in Australia in our constitutional framework a situation which 1 think bodes ill for the nation unless action is taken to consider the stage that we have reached and the remedial action that should be taken. [More…]
It is unfortunate that after 70 years of federation there have been some 25 efforts to amend the Constitution and only 5 have been successful. [More…]
This, of course, was never the intention of the founders of the Constitution. [More…]
It seems extraordinary that there should be a suggestion, without more, that because it was good enough in 1900 when the Constitution was founded it must be good enough in 1970. [More…]
The Commonwealth has no responsibility whatsoever under the Constitution in regard to education, whether it be independent school education or State school education. [More…]
When the Lighthouses Act was first enacted, it relied in the main on the Commonwealth’s .constitutional power in relation to lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys. [More…]
It thus draws on the external affairs power under the Constitution to cover any deficiency of power that might otherwise have existed. [More…]
Those who drafted the Constitution and those who voted for the change in it which empowered Parliament to make the laws. [More…]
However, notwithstanding this, the Committee believes that, bearing in mind the Federal concept of the Constitution, it is preferable to attempt to achieve the national approach through the system of concurrent, parallel or complementary Federal and State legislation. [More…]
bearing in mind the Federal concept of the Constitution, it is preferable to attempt to achieve the national approach through the system of concurrent, parallel or complementary Federal and State legislation. [More…]
It can provide within constitutional power many services which will be available to the States not involving the exactions of legal discipline. [More…]
Those things may be done within constitutional power to provide services made available to the States. [More…]
In those other areas where complementary Commonwealth and State action may be required the Committee has visualised that type of approach rather than probing the limits of the constitution to call upon the Commonwealth to exact legal disciplines, perhaps against the will of the States, which may be subject to challenge under constitutional law. [More…]
The Commonwealth Government does not have the power under the Constitution to control wages. [More…]
We feel that in an increasing degree we will command the support of those in whose interests the constitution of such a tribunal is contemplated. [More…]
1 refer of course to the ‘Australian Labor Party Platform, Constitution and Rules’. [More…]
- indicated that Australia is technically not at war, it is finding great difficulty in avoiding the technicalities of the Federal Constitution in forcing young men to serve in the fighting forces as though Australia was technically at war? [More…]
At the heart of the legislation was the lack of resolution of where legislative authority under the Constitution lay with respect to the resources of the sea-bed. [More…]
The 9 amending Bills are necessary because the sales tax is imposed by 9 separate Acts to meet the requirement of the Constitution that an Act imposing taxation shall deal with one subject of taxation only. [More…]
It will be apparent to honourable senators from my second reading speech that the Government is drawing to its side additional constitutional powers. [More…]
The original Lighthouses Act was based upon the lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys power of the Commonwealth under the Constitution. [More…]
Although it has not been possible to have an exhaustive consideration or anything more than a superficial consideration, I am concerned as to whether the amendment which has been, proposed is in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
I do not want- to be taken to be dogmatic in any sense, but it occurred to me when I saw the amendment and after speaking to Senator Byrne on the matter that it might not be in accord with the Constitution. [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution which deals with taxes prompted me to take this view. [More…]
As for the constitutional difficulty that may lie in the way of this amendment, I thought of this before proposing the amendment and took some advice upon it. [More…]
This has not been considered a charge in the sense that the Constitution precludes it from being included in the Senate. [More…]
That is necessitated by section 55 of the Commonwealth Constitution which states that every Act imposing taxation must deal with a particular form of taxation. [More…]
The reason for an Assessment Act as distinct from a Taxation Act is to be found in section 55 of the Commonwealth Constitution, to which I have referred. [More…]
For the answer I think one has to look at the Commonwealth Constitution which gives the Commonwealth the right to impose taxation. [More…]
The High Court of Australia has held that, as a matter of constitutional law, laws for the government of a territory can operate wherever territorially the authority of the Commonwealth runs. [More…]
It is used in the Northern Territory (Administration) Act, Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act, Christmas Island Act, Norfolk Island Act, Papua and New Guinea Act, the Constitution Acts of the States and, in respect of specified subjects, in the Commonwealth Constitution, lt has been held by the courts to permit the making of laws having extra-territorial effect. [More…]
The difficulty involved in the honourable senator’s question is that the expression industrial’ occurs in the Constitution, and therefore no amending legislation can change it. [More…]
However, I point out that the question as to whether the employees of the brigades are engaged in industry concerns an interpretation of the Constitution because it relates to the question of interstate industrial disputes in relation to conciliation and arbitration. [More…]
With that in mind, I have difficulty in envisaging that legislation of this Parliament could overcome the problem, because no Act of this Parliament can prevail against the Constitution as interpreted by the High Court. [More…]
In regard to Aboriginal advancement the Commonwealth Government does not have exclusive powers or responsibilities but, as in other matters provided under section 51 of the Constitution, it shares these with the States, subject, of course, to the proviso that in case of conflict of Federal and State laws, it is the Federal taw which prevails. [More…]
Section 51 of the Constitution gives us ample power to introduce legislation without giving the Governor-General these extensive powers. [More…]
Under Section 51 (20) of the Constitution we have power over foreign, trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Senator Greenwood observed that the States have the capacity to pass laws having extra-territorial effect, but that there are certain sensible limitations, i would rather think that the authority for that and for whatever the States do comes not from the Imperial law but from sections 106 and 107 of our Constitution, which preserve the State constitutions and the powers of the State parliaments. [More…]
It would be preferable for us to think in terms of the power deriving from our Constitution rather than elsewhere, but it amounts to the same thing. [More…]
That their concern arises partly from the fact that historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly all nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contrary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in “Commentaries on the Australian Constitution,’ Page 951); and [More…]
That their concern arises partly from the fact that historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly all nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency arc contrary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in ‘Commentaries on the Australian Constitution’, page 951); and [More…]
moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contrary to the teachings oi Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, beside.being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land (Quick and Garran in ‘Commentaries on the Australian Constitution,’ Page 951); and [More…]
That their concern arises partly from the fact thai historians such as J. D. Unwin and Arnold Toynbee have shown that nearly all nations which have perished have done so because of internal moral decay; and partly because obscenity and indecency are contrary to the teachings of Christianity which is the acknowledged religion of more than 80 per cent of Australians, besides being ‘part and parcel of the law of the land’ (Quick and Garran in Commentaries on the Australian Constitution.’ [More…]
But a State Labor government would not do so because price control needs to be introduced at a national level and not within an individual State, otherwise it creates problems in that State, particularly in regard to section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Federal Government has no constitutional power to impose price control. [More…]
To impose price control would require an amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission Act was in conflict with section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; [More…]
It simply recognises an existing association as a reputable, constituted section or unit of the profession which may, by virtue of its constitution, assist the court in guiding the membership of the profession in 2 activities. [More…]
I would have thought that that system would recommend itself to those who were earnestly seeking the constitution of the profession on a basis on which it could hold the confidence of the public. [More…]
The ordinance having made provision for one type of admission only and having constituted a tribunal which has jurisdiction over every member of the profession in whatever field he might practise or specialise has established the legal constitution of an undivided profession. [More…]
I was simply indicating that I understood that, not only as a matter of the effect of the ordinance but also as a matter of the constitution of the Bar Association and further, and more importantly than either of those matters, as a matter of attitude of the members of the Bar Association, there would be no objection to its members becoming partners or to the admission to the Association of persons in partnership. [More…]
If someone has a religious belief that the court should not interfere in and examine his conscientious objection this regulation could well offend against section 1 16 of the Constitution. [More…]
I question the Minister whether the provision should be in the Bill; whether negotiations have been conducted with the States; whether it is within the responsibilities conferred by the Australian Constitution for the Commonwealth Parliament to approve this provision without complementary State legislation. [More…]
It seems to me that if this provision is approved as it stands it will be ultra vires the Constitution without reference of powers by the States to the Commonwealth. [More…]
I can find nothing in the Constitution that authorises the Minister to act in that manner. [More…]
Is this the type of legislation we should be passing in this Parliament, in the full knowledge that we will be transgressing the Constitution? [More…]
The purpose of that constitution is to have a body that will, of its own experience and by reason of its own integrity, judgment and dedication to the purposes for which the Commission is constituted, more effectively market wool. [More…]
I would refer Senator Kennelly to section 72 of the Constitution under which High Court judges may be removed by the Parliament for misbehaviour. [More…]
The words proposed to be omitted by the amendment are copied from section 44 of the Constitution where they are used to make it an exception to the provision that a person who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth is incapable of being a member of Parliament. [More…]
Consistent with the clauses of the Geneva Agreement and provisions of our national constitution, Cambodia may in a case of danger, make appeal to all countries, no matter what bloc they belong to, to provide it with arms and materials. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to meetthe constitutional position disclosed by the decision of the High Court of Australia given last June in Worthing v. Rowell and Muston Pty Ltd and Others. [More…]
of the Constitution. [More…]
The Bill if enacted will, subject to certain exceptions, apply by force of Commonwealth law the provisions of State laws that, in consequent of Worthing’s case, are inapplicable by reason of section 52 (i) of the Constitution. [More…]
Some exceptions must be made for constitutional reasons to the application of State provisions as they stand. [More…]
For example, it will be appropriate to modify provisions of State laws that confer judicial power on bodies that are not courts within the meaning of Chapter III of the Constitution. [More…]
The provisions of this sub-section would fall outside the objects of the Australian Wool Commission as stated in clause 4 of the Bill, and is clearly without the ambit of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
But more importantly I think it is a step outside the Constitution. [More…]
The right to dissent is an inherent part of our Constitution and an inherent part of our democratic way of life. [More…]
J do not interpret section 92 of the Constitution to prohibit the Commonwealth or an instrumentality of the Commonwealth, such as the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, from making a charge for services rendered or facilities provided on a contractual basis. [More…]
Accordingly, there would appear to be no reason why this section should be regarded as inconsistent with section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
Whatever the merits of the proposal it does show an inclination towards the coordination of tertiary institutions such as colleges of advanced education and universities, in particular by the National Union of Australian University Students which recently changed both its name and its constitution to include amongst its members not only students at universities but also students at institutes of technology and colleges of advanced education. [More…]
It is unfortunate if an impression is created that it is using its powers and its representation in order to have foisted on the Territory provisions which are objectionable and which ought not to be tolerated in a community in which we are seeking to establish a set of laws and a constitution which will observe at least a minimum of the basic human rights. [More…]
The sooner there is provision for at least the basic human rights in a Constitution of Papua and New Guinea I would think the better. [More…]
At least we ought to leave a legacy in that community of those basic human rights enshrined in a Constitution. [More…]
1 am nol satisfied with the kind of Constitution that Papua and New Guinea has and which derives from us. [More…]
It is clear that, even though there are some consultations in the Territory with a necessarily small number of persons in that community, the main responsibility for the type of Constitution they are to have will be on us. [More…]
1 would think, and my Party takes this view, that their Constitution ought to embrace those basic human rights. [More…]
Our view is that the Constitution of Papua and New Guinea ought to provide for the protection and implementation of fundamental human rights and civil liberties along the lines of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [More…]
When it introduced the present national service scheme the Government acted in accordance with the powers conferred on it by the Constitution and it did so after an exhaustive review of defence policy and several years experience had indicated it was the only way to increase the strength of the Regular Army to the extent necessary. [More…]
The service required of national servicemen is as provided for in the relevant provisions of the Defence Act and the National Service Act; there are no constitutional difficulties. [More…]
Furthermore, it may be noted that the constitution of the Council when this Bill is passed will provide for persons, not exceeding 8 in number, to be appointed by the Governor-General. [More…]
Arising out of that situation, on 6th July South Australia was obliged to approach the Commonwealth Government for a special grant for financial assistance for 1970-71, under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Constitution, we have our rights and powers. [More…]
The policy of the Australian Labor Party in regard to Papua and New Guinea appears under the heading ‘Papua New Guinea’ in the ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules’ of the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
We ali have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. [More…]
The short title - Immigration (Education) Act 1970 - indicates that the source of power for the Bill derives from the immigration provision in the Constitution. [More…]
The definition of independent school’ is consistent with the similar definition used in Acts which provide financal assistance for independent schools under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
In fact, it is very hard to distinguish a Labor radio station from an ordinary commercial radio station, lt is true that the constitution and articles which brought these radio stations into operation provide that their profits should pass into the general funds of the ALP for research purposes. [More…]
That is right, under section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
In any event, under the Constitution it would not matter whether one was given the 6 months penalty because section 44 of the Constitution provides: . [More…]
This Bill to amend the Australian National University Act provides for certain changes in the constitution of the Council of the University. [More…]
In about 1958, 1 think, a report on the Constitution wa.s presented to this Parliament. [More…]
Had its recommendations been adopted Australians would have been given an opportunity to vote, by referendum, for many changes in the Constitution. [More…]
What is the outcome of ‘some attention at Department level’, mentioned in part 2 of the reply, and can section 51 of the Commonwealth Constitution be relied upon by the Government in order to pass in the Commonwealth Parliament laws for the rationalisation of and the rendering uniform the conflicting State laws in the field of motor car third party insurance. [More…]
However, the Democratic Labor Party, fortified by the widespread and growing belief that such an inquiry is necessary hopes that it will be able to persuade the Government that it should consider this proposition and embark upon the constitution of an appropriate body of inquiry. [More…]
The position is that Standing Order 44 provides that, for the purposes of section 20 of the Constitution, which deals with vacancy by absence, a record shall be kept in the journals each day of senators who fail to attend at some time during the sitting, lt has never been the practice to indicate in the journals that senators not present attended a meeting of a committee which had been authorised to sit during the sittings of the Senate. [More…]
The Attorney-General of South Australia gave Crown law opinion that there is a constitutional obligation for the States to carry out the punishment inflicted by a court for breaches of Federal law. [More…]
I could not find that provision in the Constitution but, as I said, 1 am not a legal man and I presume it is there. [More…]
Before dealing with the farrago of nonsense to which the Senate has just been subjected I think it might be helpful if I referred to section 120 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
I want to refer to section 117 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
It is contended that this method of selection contravenes section 117 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
First of all, 1 think that we ought to know what section 117 of the Commonwealth” Constitution provides. [More…]
I am calling into doubt the validity of the National Service Act in relation to section 117 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Having regard to this illustration, which conversely could be favourable to boys born in the eastern States and unfavourable to boys born at the same instant in western States of the Commonwealth, it is felt that discrimination does exist between residents of the various States and that the Commonweath Constitution is contravened. [More…]
My third point concerns the validity of section 1 17 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
I turn to his argument on section 117 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
But, in this instance, I would be fairly strong in my submission that the question admits of no doubt whatever and that section 117 of the Commonwealth Constitution forbidding discrimination between residents of different States, would not be considered to have any application to the case where, by reason of differences in the time scale, birth days would be registered as different dates in Brisbane and Perth. [More…]
If it was decided that the outgoing Committee, so to speak, was not to meet, I have no doubt that as soon as possible after the constitution of the new Senate the Standing Orders Committee will take this matter into consideration and will make a report to the Senate. [More…]
On this question of child endowment I have had the opportunity to go through policy speeches and our ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules’. [More…]
Our Platform, Constitution and Rules’ continues. [More…]
Our preaessors, in deciding upon the Constitution which governs us, have provided in section 116 of the Constitution: [More…]
The Commonwealth, as bound by the Constitution, should not seek to establish in any way any religion or irreligion in this Territory or in any part of the Commonwealth. [More…]
I do not know how anybody who adheres to the constitution of the United Nations could seriously contravert that it is an important question within the terms of Article 18. particularly when the proposition from Albania was to exclude Taiwan and admit mainland China. [More…]
Although they cling to the old constitution and the limitation of arms, there is no doubt that the Japanese arc looking around very much more. [More…]
I am advised that permanent provision for the holding of such elections on the one day could only be effected by an amendment of the Constitution. [More…]
It seems that this Government imitates the politics of the United States only when it wishes to be repressive and not when the opportunity exists to follow the great democratic principles enshrined in the United States Constitution. [More…]
The right of persons to assemble appears in the First Amendment of the, Bill of Rights, in the United States Constitution. [More…]
Nobody could fairly deny that problems are involved in free assembly of large gatherings of persons, but under the United States Constitution the first right is the right to assemble. [More…]
to point out in good faith errors or defects in the Government or Constitution of tha United Kingdom or of any of the King’s Dominions or of the Commonwealth as by law established, or in legislation, or in tha administration of justice, with a view to the reformation of such errors or defects; [More…]
The Constitution to be amended to provide for the protection of fundamental- civil rights and liberties. [More…]
However, in my view, the Senate in the formulation and constitution of its committees should exercise avery delicate judgment as to the field in which it can be assured that the result will represent a competent performance and a responsible contribution to government.I would have thought that this field was not significantly appropriate for the Senate inquiry. [More…]
I remind honourable senators that it would be necessary to amend the Constitution to take power away from the States in order to enable this Parliament to enact legislation such as that envisaged by a number of speakers on the Opposition side of the chamber. [More…]
He said that the mere statement of constitutional guarantees is not necessarily successful. [More…]
He referred to the fact that, the 1936 Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, section 125 guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. [More…]
These things are far more important, I suggest, than simply writing words into a constitution which are then, as in Russia, not observed when it suits those in control not to observe them. [More…]
The second item is the Constitution Alteration (Tertiary Education) Bill. [More…]
It is not a violation of the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Murphy has made a suggestion about Constitution printings, having in mind that the Minister receives notices and decisions, particularly High Court decisions, which are of tremendous value. [More…]
The Commonwealth can transport laws into adjacent areas only if they are laws which are capable of being passed by this Parliament: Honourable senators will know the restrictions that are in the Constitution of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Section 65 of the Constitution, coupled with section 51, placitum 36, gives to the Parliament, and to it alone, authority to vary the number of [More…]
These Assistant Ministers - I use that term to describe all the persons I have just referred to - are not Ministers of State in the strict constitutional sense: the Queen’s Ministers of State are, under section 64 of the Constitution, only those members of the Executive Council who are appointed to administer Departments of State. [More…]
Because they are not Ministers of State in the constitutional sense, section 44 of the Constitution precludes the payment of any salary to Assistant Ministers in respect of their duties. [More…]
They will thus form part of the Federal Executive Council whose function, under section 62 of the Constitution, is to advise the Governor-General in the government of the Commonwealth. [More…]
At the founding of the United States of America, shortly after the Constitution was adopted, the people put into it Article 1 which provides that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the Press or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble. [More…]
I believe that our Constitution, written for the ages, to endure except as changed in the manner it provides, did not create a government with such monumental weaknesses. [More…]
He said, first of all - this is what he referred to first in his judgment - that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in the Bill of Rights does guarantee freedom of assembly. [More…]
But I repeat that the essential part of his judgment was the reference to the constitutional right to freedom of assembly. [More…]
we have been careful to point out that the Constitution does not bar enactment of laws regulating conduct, even though connected with speech, press, assembly, and petition, if such laws specifically bar only the conduct deemed obnoxious and are carefully and narrowly aimed at that forbidden conduct. [More…]
I understand that the power comes from the interstate trade and commerce provision of the Constitution. [More…]
A tribunal will be constituted by a person appointed by the Governor-General and provision has been made for the constitution of such tribunals by persons residing outside Australia to deal with matters arising in connection with decisions on claims of officers stationed overseas or locally engaged overseas staff. [More…]
I understand that its differences with the Australian Commercial Pig Producers Federation relate mainly to the constitution of that body. [More…]
However, in Victoria and, to a lesser degree, in Queensland some producers object to the Commercial Pig Producers Federation and its constitution. [More…]
The Minister indicated that the constitutional basis for the last Bill before the Senate was the interstate trade and commerce clause of the Constitution. [More…]
I may be permitted, without any endeavour to revive a controversy, to recall his achievements for the ‘No’ case during the last referendum on the Constitution. [More…]
I am mentioning this because if a new Minister is to be appointed and if one of the major areas of his ministerial responsibility is to be this question of environmental control, as the Senate has been the initiating body in directing and stimulating parliamentary interest in this operation and as the Senate is by its constitution a body of the legislature which has the question of the definition of Commonwealth and State rights within its protection, the new Minister should be appointed to the Senate. [More…]
That was the Constitution of the United States of America, whereby an attempt was made to separate the power of the executive and the power of the Congress. [More…]
It is not the Crown which is involved in constitutional government in Australia today, as it is historically understood in the United Kingdom at present. [More…]
It is not the circumstance in which there is a division of power between the executive and the Government clearly demarked by the Constitution of the United States of America. [More…]
As expressed in the Constitution it has a legislative power. [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, 12 May 1971 order and good government of the Commonwealth [More…]
We operate under Executive Government as laid down in the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore when the Western Australian Constitution Act was passed on 25th July 1890 it contained the provision that 5,000 should be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Aboriginal Protection Board for ‘the welfare of the Aboriginal natives, and expended in providing them with food and clothing when they would otherwise be destitute, in providing the education of Aboriginal children (including half castes) and in assisting generally to promote the preservation and well-being of the Aboriginals.’ [More…]
The Labor Party’s constitution in that regard continues: [More…]
However, to turn to somewhat less desirable aspects of this Bill, I think it is common ground that the Government takes the view that these moneys are paid to the States, under section 96 of the Constitution, on certain conditions. [More…]
Section 96 of the Constitution states: . [More…]
I am no constitutional lawyer, as are distinguished members of the Government, but it is my belief, for what it is worth as a small suburban lawyer, that that clause is invalid because it is in breach of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
All I say, as a simple man, is that, looking at it, my belief is that it is in breach of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Having said that, I do not think it is necessary to refer to Senator Wilkinson’s contribution because to say that the Commonwealth has not any sense of responsibility in the field of education is to ignore an enormous programme of social advancement and Commonwealth expenditure over the past 15 years whereby with the various means available to us under our Constitution we have built up a programme of assistance from $54m 10 years ago to $3 12m for this year. [More…]
I accept that the constitution of the new medical board as set out in the new code corrects some of these matters. [More…]
There is no doubt that in many important respects this Bill does introduce progressive measures which were not previously in the compensation code, especially the measures dealing with diseases, the journey provisions, provisions relating to rehabilitation and vocational training, and the administrative parts of the Bill which deal especially with appeals and the constitution of the appeals tribunals. [More…]
But we did have that famous pilgrimage to Canberra on 25th November to comply with certain sections of the Constitution. [More…]
They go further still; they amount, in fact, to a usurpation of powers specifically entrusted by the Commonwealth Constitution to the Commonwealth Parliament, and to it alone. [More…]
Section 51 (i) of the Constitution reserves to this Parliament the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to trade and commerce’. [More…]
Section 51 (xxix) of the Constitution deals with the external affairs power in a similar way. [More…]
Clearly, then, political stoppages and bans of the kind I mentioned amount to trade unions and their officials attempting to ursurp or impede the constitutional powers of this Parliament. [More…]
In conformity with the Constitution that court was established to deal only with industrial disputes. [More…]
Political disputes, disputes against the civil law, or disputes against international law are quite beyond the range of the constitutional power of this Parliament or the arbitration court and quite beyond the range of any purpose for which industrial organisations were set up. [More…]
Because the Constitution has limited the power of this Parliament to legislating for conciliation and arbitration in industrial disputes extending beyond the borders of any one State, it is quite obvious that the court is limited to industrial disputes. [More…]
When that legislation made provisions as one of its objects to register organisations of labour so that men would not have access to it as individuals but could combine in their organisations so as to present their case before the court, quite obviously the purposes of those organisations were limited to the purposes of the court - purposes defined by the Constitution, namely, industrial purposes. [More…]
There can be no question that the Commonwealth Government has power under the Constitution to legislate by way of ordinance insofar as a law of evidence for the Australian Capital Territory is concerned. [More…]
There is no constitutional requirement for the Commonwealth Government to submit this matter to the Houses of Parliament by way of a Bill. [More…]
When one considers the position of the law and the powers to make laws in the Australian Capital Territory one notes that section 122 of the Constitution gives comprehensive law-making power to the Commonwealth to make laws for the Australian Capital Territory. [More…]
The intention of the Constitution was that this Parliament should be the legislative body of the country. [More…]
Those words came from the great mind of one of the men who helped to write the Constitution. [More…]
The Honourable senator will recall that the statute to which he refers provided for the setting up of an interim council whose functions were to make recommendations to the Minister with regard to matters related to the establishment of the Institute and on subject matters which included the functions and powers of the Institute, the constitution of the council, the site and seat df the Institute and co-operation of the Institute with the university that is to be known as the James Cook University of North Queensland, and to furnish to the Minister estimates of the capital and recurrent costs of the Institute- I am able to inform the honourable senator that the interim council so set up has made its report which was received by the Minister on 7th July. [More…]
The issue of whether Assistant Ministers should be appointed raises some important constitutional questions. [More…]
The then Speaker of the House of Representatives took the view that it was not proper - meaning that it was not constitutional - that Parliamentary UnderSecretaries be appointed. [More…]
Put in simple terms, he was relying upon a provision of the Constitution that any person who holds an office of profit under the Crown shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives. [More…]
Under section 44 of the Constitution any person who holds any office of profit under the Crown, or who receives any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth, shall be incapable of being chosen or sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives. [More…]
The section of the Constitution dealing with Ministers is contained in a provision which is set out in Chapter II. [More…]
All I say is that a very serious doubt must be raised as to whether a person who is not appointed a Minister of State to administer a department of State is a Minister within the meaning of section 64 of the Constitution. [More…]
A Committee, to be called the Committee of Disputed Returns and Qualifications, to inquire into and report upon all questions as to the qualification of a senator chosen or appointed in accordance with section 15 of the Constitution or as to the validity of such choice or. [More…]
I think it did meet earlier to consider a question of whether a senator could properly be appointed under section 15 of the Constitution. [More…]
Because the supposed vacancy had arisen out of a general election, the ultimate wash-up was that both the Senate Standing Committee on Disputed Returns and Qualifications and ultimately the High Court held that there should be a general election and not an appointment under the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
Apart altogether from the constitutional question as to whether such a position would conflict with the Constitution in the sense that a person who becomes an Assistant Minister would vacate his office, the Opposition disapproves of the appointment of Assistant Ministers. [More…]
I think that the appropriate course would be to have the constitutional question decided separately. [More…]
I indicate that if my proposal for referral of the question is not acceptable to the Senate I would like to deal with this matter, leaving aside the Constitution, on the basis that the Opposition disapproves of the appointment of Assistant Ministers. [More…]
It will not accept it because in the view upon which the” Government has acted it is unnecessary to refer this constitutional question as posed by Senator Murphy for inquiry by any body. [More…]
I would have thought that where a senator’s constitutional right to sit in this chamber is conferred by the Constitution, the High Court is the appropriate body charged by the Constitution with the duties of interpretation. [More…]
The legal position under our own Constitution has been examined by the Attorney-General (Senator Spicer), who has advised that, in his clear opinion, the 4 Parliamentary UnderSecretaries do not, in law, hold an ‘office’ at all . [More…]
The late Sir Robert Garran, whom honourable senators will recall as a man who helped to write the Constitution, said to the late Senator Rex Pearson, when he asked him about the Committee, that the Regulations and Ordinances Comittee was the most important committee in this Parliament because its duty was to see that Parliament ran the country and that it was not run by the Executive and civil servants. [More…]
Because of the words of such an important man, one who helped to write the Constitution of this country, I took it upon myself as a member of the Committee to treat it in a very serious and important way. [More…]
The Opposition has raised constitutional aspects about the appointment of Assistant Ministers. [More…]
The point that he put was that the appointment of Assistant Ministers may be a breach of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
It has been said that there is no constitutional doubt about the ability of the Prime Minister to appoint Assistant Ministers. [More…]
In my view - and I think in the view of certain members on the Government side - there is a constitutional doubt as to whether he can appoint Assistant Ministers. [More…]
It has been said that the Assistant Minister may not receive additional salary through the fear of disqualification from being a member of Parliament because of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
By the nature of the Senate under the Constitution it has a consistent and persistent life and although the personnel may change the Senate itself as an institution continues unbroken in the sense that it is not the 25th or 26th Parliament, although the Senate may operate in successive parliaments and does. [More…]
One would have thought that before embarking on a line of argument which suggested that there was almost nothing to distinguish a legislative chamber from a court of law the honourable senator would have had a look at the Australian Constitution. [More…]
For his enlightenment and the enlightenment of those enthusiastic lawyers by whom he is surrounded tonight I would like to read section 49 and section 50 of the Constitution. [More…]
When dealings with these journalists this Parliament was not acting as a court of law; it was acting as a legislative body in defence of its privileges in accordance with the powers conferred on it by the Constitution. [More…]
Now it may be argued that this Parliament has not with sufficient precision defined the powers, privileges and immunities which it exercises under this section of the Constitution. [More…]
If we overlook the pettifogging, hair splitting approach which Senator Byrne has adopted in neglect of the Constitution and in a confused equation of a court of law with the Parliament of the land, let us have a look at what was done to these men. [More…]
Senator James McClelland indicated the provisions of the Constitution under which the Parliament has certain privileges. [More…]
Certainly there was in the imposition of a term of imprisonment, which was inconsistent with the Constitution of Australia which embodied the judicial power in the High Court and the courts which the Parliament created. [More…]
Because of the provisions of the Constitution the powers of the House of Commons vested in the House of Representatives are also vested in this Senate. [More…]
But our decision is based upon the ground that a general view of the Constitution and the separation of powers is not a sufficient reason for giving to those words, which appear to us to be so clear, a restrictive or secondary meaning which they do not properly bear. [More…]
The Government has not given consideration to seeking an amendment to the Constitution because on the information available to me more than 99 per cent of the significant agreements which have been submitted to the Commissioner of Trade Practices have been connected with corporations. [More…]
(1) Additional Protocol to the Constitution of the Universal Postal Union [More…]
At the same time, the decision threw new light on the power that section 51 (xx) of the Constitution has conferred on the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws with respect to ‘foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth’. [More…]
Operation and the case against the companies relied entirely on the corporations power in section 51 (xx) of the Constitution. [More…]
To fill these gaps, and as an interim or holding measure, the Government proposes to introduce legislation to overcome the constitutional defects that were found to exist in the present Act. [More…]
This holding legislation will be substantially the same as the existing Trade Practices Act save for the amendments required by a consideration of the constitutional defects attributed to it by the High Court’s judgment and the availability of the corporations power contained in section 51 (xx) of the Constitution. [More…]
Although since the inception of the Constitution power has been granted to the Commonwealth Parliament to legislate with respect to trading and financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth, the decision of the High Court in 1909 had the practical effect of deterring the Commonwealth Parliament from legislating in that respect because of the belief that the legislative power was virtually useless. [More…]
Leaving aside the frills, the Court indicated that there were some drafting problems and in the course of overturning the old decision stated that an enactment in the form of the Australian Industries Preservation Act would have been and was within the scope of the Constitution. [More…]
In other words, although this judgment goes specifically to the determination of the issue before the Court, nevertheless the Court did advert to the latent authority and power that lie within the corporation head of power in the Constitution. [More…]
How that will be used is now only a matter of speculation, but I do think that the Senate can come to the conclusion that the judgment opens a new era in Australian consti tutional history, perhaps-in Australian constitutional relations - between the Commonwealth and the States, and as to the possibilities that now present themselves for the development of this nation. [More…]
But as we move further from the time of the actual setting down of the Constitution, and as there is a consistent and persistent refusal to re-look at the Constitution by way of referenda or constitutional amendment of some kind or another, more and more the area of power is moving from this Parliament into judicial tribunals, and it was left to the High Court to make this very big advance for Australia. [More…]
This advance in the interpretation of power probably more properly should have been left to lie within the province of the legislature if the legislature, under the Constitution, had had the opportunity of so acting. [More…]
Therefore in my view this highlights the need for the Constitutional Review Committee to be reactivated and for the recommendations of that Committee to find at least discussion and perhaps acceptance in the Parliament of the Commonwealth. [More…]
I do not think it is a good thing that such powers should be left to reside in the High Court due to the failure of the other constitutional processes to operate and give viability to the Constitution. [More…]
As I have said, the vistas that open up with this re-interpretation of sections of the Constitution are vast. [More…]
the overthrow of the Constitution of the Commonwealth by revolution or sabotage; [More…]
Does the Minister representing the Treasurer recall that the Federal Government used its initiative and invoked the provisions of section 96 of the Constitution to give some special and quite substantial help to regions in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia where economic conditions have badly affected the well being of those areas? [More…]
He has pointed out quite properly that grants are made to the States under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
He has been a good citizen of this country and he has been guilty of no crime within the country, except that he has belonged to a political party and that is not a crime under our Constitution as has been decided by the High Court of Australia. [More…]
They also recommended a national approach; that some steps should be taken not necessarily exactly along the lines taken by the Senate Committee but necessarily involving consideration of the question of the extent to which action could be taken under the Commonwealth Constitution either by the Commonwealth or by the Commonwealth and the States acting together to create a national water commission or a national environment body of some sort with sufficient power, sufficient teeth and sufficient incentive to take some action to overcome the problems which have been referred to and which are set out, in startling form, in the reports of the. [More…]
At the heart of the financial problems of the Australian Commonwealth lies the language of the Constitution and the developments and interpretations which have accrued over 70 years of our development. [More…]
The founders of the Constitution obviously assumed that the States would have available to them adequate revenues for the discharge of their governmental functions. [More…]
The terms of the Constitution were obviously framed to ensure that the emerging Commonwealth would be secure in the revenues available to it. [More…]
I suppose it started in the first decade of the century when the High Court decided that a provision in the Constitution that the surplus revenue of the Commonwealth would be paid to the States did not prevent the Commonwealth from avoiding surplus revenue by simply passing into a trust account moneys which were not expended in a particular year. [More…]
The next point I wish to stress is that we are dealing with this matter in the Senate, a House of the federal legislature, and the responsibility for the general formulation of law in this Commonwealth constitutionally belongs to the States. [More…]
In this field the States have exercised the primary and inalienable responsibility, recognised ever since the Constitution was brought in by our High Court which will only in very special circumstances grant leave to appeal from decisions of State courts of criminal appeal. [More…]
This could cause difficulties to industry in the placing of its business in various States and I think it would be in contravention of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The latest information that the Parliamentary Library could give me was the Platform, Constitution and Rules as decided at the 28th Commonwealth Con: ference of the Labor Party. [More…]
lt should be written into the Constitution that this shall not or cannot happen. [More…]
It should be written into the Constitution that if this nation goes to war it does so upon a decision of the Parliament - the elected representatives of the people - and not by 12 persons tied up in a Cabinet or by an indivindual who can direct the Governor-General to proclaim a state of emergency which will mean the calling up of all 20-year-olds whether they have been called up for national service, whether they have opted to serve in the Citizen Military Forces or whether they have been members of the Regular Army Reserve, which was referred to by Senator Sim. [More…]
The proposals for such a plan must be developed through a well tried and proven system of consultation and negotiations between the Government and an industry so that, when they are presented to the Parliament, it can be confidently affirmed that the proposals conform to the requirements of the Australian Constitution and to our responsibilities in the field of international trade, that they are legally and practically realistic and that their implementation is sought by the industry concerned. [More…]
Under the Judiciary Act a matter involving the Constitution or its interpretation may be removed into the High Court at the request of any of the parties or at the request of the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth or of any of the Stales. [More…]
But if a matter involving the Constitution should arise for determination, as I understand Senator Cant to be directing my attention, it is a matter of judgment in each case as to whether an Attorney-General should act. [More…]
But the constitutional difficulties so bedevilled all those who worked in the field, and the mainland States showed insufficient interest to underpin an export scheme, that a little more than 3 or 4 years ago purposeful units of the Tasmanian industry waited upon the Department of Primary Industry and received great assistance from the then Secretary, Mr Maiden, whose contribution to the origin of this scheme I acknowledge tonight. [More…]
I acknowledge too the untiring work, over the years that have intervened, of the Tasmanian State Fruit Board; the members of the Australian Apple and Pear Board; the most earnest and skilful officers of the Department of Primary Industry and the untiring efforts of my colleagues, first, Sir John McEwen, then Mr Anthony and now Mr Sinclair, which have resulted in the stabilisation scheme now before us which has surmounted all the constitutional difficulties that bedevilled us for 15 years - the uniformity required by the Constitution for bounties; the non-discrimination between trade benefits required by the Constitution, and the offsetting of section 92 which in this case docs not really offer any obstacle when the exporting States are Tasmania and Western Australia. [More…]
The purpose of the Bill is to overcome the constitutional defects that were found to exist in the Trade Practices Act in that case. [More…]
In my statement of 7 th September I pointed out that the High Court had held that, due to the way in which the Trade Practices Act sought to use all the constitutional powers believed to be available to sustain the legislation, it was open to legal objection. [More…]
I also pointed out that the High Court had made it clear that the corporations power in section 51(xx) of the Constitution could be used to support legislation dealing with the restrictive trade practices of corporations and that the Government had accordingly decided that the immediate remedial legislation should be founded on that power alone. [More…]
The point I make is that under the Commonwealth Constitution the Commonwealth’s power to make Jaws with respect to insurance is not as comprehensive as is commonly supposed. [More…]
If it is impossible to do that, due perhaps to certain provisions in the Constitution, will the Government consider making a special grant to Tasmania in lieu of such a reduction and of the moneys that are spent in the other States on railroads and roadways? [More…]
Pursuant to section 14 of the Commonwealth Grants Commission Act 1933-1966, I present the Thirty-eighth report (1971) and supplement of the Commonwealth Grants Commission on applications made by States for financial assistance under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Can such licensing be instituted under the Commonwealth Constitution, or will it be necessary to take this action under State legislation? [More…]
The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory was established on the basis that it was a Federal court for the purposes of the Commonwealth Constitution and that the tenure of office of the Judges of the Court was accordingly governed by provisions in Chapter III of the Constitution. [More…]
A consequence of that decision is that the provisions in the Constitution with respect to the tenure of office of Federal Judges are not applicable to the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory. [More…]
The tenure to be provided for the additional judges must take account of the fact that the primary judicial appointments of such judges will generally be to Federal courts and accordingly governed by the Constitution. [More…]
On 14th April 1966, following the death of the late Senator Sherrington, he was appointed to the Senate for Queensland by the GovernorGeneral under section 15 of the Constitution. [More…]
In some respects that is a very wise decision although one may well criticise the composition and constitution of the European Economic Community. [More…]
Section 51(ii) of the Federal Constitution requires the Commonwealth, in legislating for taxation purposes, to do so in such a way as not to discriminate as between States. [More…]
The Commonwealth is thus constitutionally inhibited from placing Tasmania ‘in a special taxation bracket’. [More…]
As I said in the Senate on 7th September, after the historic High Court decision, the Court held that an enactment in the form of the Industries Preservation Act would have been and was within the scope of the Constitution. [More…]
It has a limited basis and I understand that it covers no new ground, lt rests mainly on the finance and corporation power given to the Commonwealth in the Constitution. [More…]
We do not accept that the Government should have been starting from scratch on 3rd September, which is the day on which the High Court of Australia said that the Government had power under the corporations power of the Constitution to do what it formerly believe it did not have the power to do. [More…]
A trade association, just because it is a trade association, ought not to be required to register its constitution on the basis that it is deemed to be an examinable agreement. [More…]
It would seem to me to be an unreasonable imposition by legislation, which is designed merely to deal with anticompetitive restrictive trade practices, to require every trade association, as so broadly defined, to submit its constitution to the Commissioner of Trade Practices and to be subject to penalty if it does not. [More…]
At the formation of the Commonwealth the Constitution gave power to the Commonwealth Parliament to legislate on marriage and divorce. [More…]
This has been a sensitive field in the operation of Commonwealth constitutional law in the conferring of power on other judicial bodies and it is one which has come under constant judicial scrutiny. [More…]
There have been many distrubances where tribunals have purported to be vested with judicial power and it has been found to be extra legem the Constitution. [More…]
of the Constitution this Parliament has power to invest any court of a State with federal jurisdiction. [More…]
I think that is to observe the constitutional requirement. [More…]
I know that the provisions of section 51 of the Commonwealth Constitution provide, inter alia, that there shall be an equality of treatment of the individual States, but my own view is that the founding fathers in framing the Constitution would not have anticipated all the very great difficulties that have since arisen in applying the provisions of the Constitution, provisions which may adversely affect Tasmania’s situation as time goes on. [More…]
If it did it would be completely wrong and completely at variance with the spirit of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
We recommend that in the light of any approach made by the Tasmanian Government the Commonwealth Government give consideration lo the granting of some capital assistance under section 96 of the Constitution for the upgrading of the Tasmanian mainline railways. [More…]
Indeed, I might say that in our Party we have had the feeling that perhaps the Constitution should be amended to provide that the Parliament ought to be able to make a retiring age for judges who are in the category of exercising the judicial power of the Commonwealth. [More…]
However that may be, we see no objection to fixing the retiring age at 70 years for those who have been said to be of some perhaps lesser status than those who are specially protected against a retiring age under the section of the Constitution I have mentioned. [More…]
The tenure to be provided for the additional judges must take account of the fact that the primary judicial appointments of such judges will generally be to Federal courts and accordingly governed by the Constitution. [More…]
Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn announced, at a Press conference, that the National Executive Council would expedite the writing of a new Constitution and would appoint new Ministers in 2 or 3 months. [More…]
asked the AttorneyGeneral, upon notice: (1)Is it possible, under the Constitution or by the introduction of legislation, to prevent foreign pyramid-selling organizations, such as ‘Holiday Magic’ and ‘Golden Products’, from becoming established in Australia. [More…]
As honourable senators know, but apparently Senator McLaren does not know, the Commonwealth Constitution does not permit price control. [More…]
Section 45 of the Constitution is relevant to Members of Parliament who occupy statutory offices. [More…]
Can such licensing be instituted under the Commonwealth Constitution, or would it be necessary to take this action under State legislation. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to provide for expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1971-72 on (a) the construction of public works and buildings; (b) the acquisition of sites and buildings: (c) advances and loans: (d) items of plant and equipment which are clearly definable as capital expenditure; (e) grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and (f) new policies not authorised by special legislation. [More…]
The question is whether section 116 of the Constitution which provides for the separation of Church and State is being infringed by allocations of this kind. [More…]
Constitution. [More…]
Certainly an almost identical provision in the United States Constitution was held by the United States Supreme Court to prohibit grants of this kind being made in that country and one would have thought that at least when this rather unique proposition was presented to the Senate the Minister, if only in passing, would have touched on this very important mater relating to our Constitution and the philosophy which, I have understood, for many years has been one of the hallmarks of our society. [More…]
The only point about Senator Wheeldon’s remarks in support of this amendment to which I shall refer is this fatastic notion that there is any question reasonably to be raised under section 1 16 of the Constitution. [More…]
Then I need not argue the proposition any longer because it is only because of that grudging agreement to the now express policy of the Australian Labor Party to give some financial support to independent schools that it occurred to Senator Wheeldon to waft in this fantastic feathery notion that any constitutional doubt is raised by reference to section 1 16 of the Constitution. [More…]
I do not know how it has come about but I assure ; he Senate that it is not part of the Australian Labor Party’s policy to have the State school system run by some religious organisation, whatever it might be, by any church or private body of any kind, apart altogether from the consideration in section 116 of the Constitution. [More…]
The first point I wish to make is that an examination of the constitution of the Australian Broadcasting Commission under the Broadcasting and Television Act will show that it has certain features which are transparently clear. [More…]
:., “.s a starting point, of course, there is the fact that the Constitution clearly debars the States from imposing any of the usual forms of sales tax and other widely hs-ed indirect taxes. [More…]
It could have recommended the use of constitutional power to give ihe Commonwealth an overall disciplinary control of water pollution that would go, perhaps, to pollution of the environment generally. [More…]
It was thought that by co-ordination and by calling upon all the available powers or fragments of power under many of the place ta of the Constitution, this would be effected. [More…]
Senator Greenwood said that we were shackled by the Constitution. [More…]
But the position is that, under our Constitution, the power to make laws with regard to air pollution, water pollution, and the environment generally is essentially disposed to the States. [More…]
They are all bodies, as I have said, which have as their constitution Commonwealth-State ministerial representation and they all have some responsibilities in the area of the environment. [More…]
It is suggested that there is no opportunity for Commonwealth action because the Constitution does not provide the power which would be necessary.In answer to that argument, I point out that one of the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Water Pollution was that there should be, firstly, a quantitative assessment of the past, present and future pollution situation in Australia and, secondly, a continuing assessment of water resources. [More…]
However, notwithstanding this, the Committee believes that, bearing in mind the Federal concept of the Constitution, it is preferable to. [More…]
Quite apart from that, I hope that the Senate and the nation generally will recognise that in areas of environmental control a very real problem is postulated by the Federal Constitution, The Government has twin policies, the first of which is that in these matters involving constitutional difficulties it shall seek co-operation through the States. [More…]
No matter how humble its beginning, it should be started as quickly as possible because, wilh that great fossilised thing called the Constitution, there has to be a tremendous degree of cooperation between the States and the Commonwealth to make sure that the States are fitting into the areas about which 1 am talking tonight. [More…]
What we should do before we make any decision on any of these things, if the Commonwealth Parliament has not the power - I do not think it has under the Constitution - to impose, a moratorium on all high incomes, is to get together collectively in the interests of the Australian people and devise ways and means, by referendum if need be, to give the Commonwealth Parliament powers to impose restrictions on the earning of high incomes. [More…]
Grants of this nature are authorised by section 96 of the Constitution, which is a provision that is almost as well known to the Parliament as section 52. [More…]
But this is part of the constitutional system in which we have 6 States which are independent bodies within the terms of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
It would be too great a departure from the present structure of the constitution that we have established for New Guinea following the inquiry by the constitutional committee in that country for us to alter the Bill in the way proposed by the Opposition, that is to say, effectuating the appointment of these 9 Ministers by making the appointment from the Council itself rather than by the Commonwealth Minister for External Territories making the appointment. [More…]
As a member of the Australian Labor Party, he was chosen to represent Queensland in the Senate under section 15 of the Constitution by the Parliament of Queensland on 2nd September 1937, following the death of [More…]
His service to the Parliament was to continue in the same exemplary fashion as a member of the Select Committee on Constitution Alteration (Avoidance of Double Dissolution Deadlocks) Bill 1950 and as a member of a delegation representing the Parliament of the Commonwealth at the first meeting of the Northern Territory Legislative Council in its new Council Chamber on 25th March 1955. [More…]
Lest members of the Opposition feel that I am seeking aggression, that I am seeking to put aggressive tags on either Russia or China, may I refer to the thoughts of the Labor Party as set out in its little blue book entitled ‘Australian Labor Party - Platform, Constitution and Rules’. [More…]
In the ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules’ of the Australian Labor Party, this reference is made lo the ANZUS Treaty: [More…]
This is the present situation: The Commonwealth Parliament and the State parliaments operate under the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Those powers are limited under the Constitution and the residual powers remain with the States. [More…]
What may have been done under wartime conditions has a different constitutional application, I say without developing the matter very much, from what we are confronted with now. [More…]
In connection with the first issue - the correctness of the report by Mr B. Hill - My Association takes great pride in the fact that its rules and Constitution include a Code of Ethics and machinery for the observance of the Code. [More…]
I am enclosing a copy of the Rules and Constitution of the AJA and draw your attention to Rule 49 (Code of Ethics) and Rules 50, 51 and 52 which deal with complaints, discipline and appeals. [More…]
ls the AttorneyGeneral aware of the constitutional importance of a decision handed down this day in the High Court of Australia while sitting in Melbourne? [More…]
As this decision may be considered to be one of the most important decisions taken in this decade - it relates to section 92 of the Australian Constitution - will the Minister give consideration to my request that he have a competent statement prepared and made to the Senate on the importance of matters thereby decided? [More…]
Hire purchase companies have an immunity because of the operation of the Constitution. [More…]
It could well be that where there has been a vacuum of constitutional power in the past, such vacuum might now be filled by the decision in the concrete pipes case where the High Court suggested that perhaps the Commonwealth’s corporations power under the Constitution has never been fully explored, much less exploited. [More…]
We are getting to a situation and may well reach a situation where, if we do not have the high degree of co-operation which 1 as Leader of the Government feel bound to say we do have and have had - this is to our own credit all round and is an ingredient which is not written into any constitution - the management of the Senate during the life of this Parliament or future Parliaments could be completely stalemated. [More…]
He made it perfectly clear in language which 1 think is accepted by all lawyers and by all those who are concerned about the Constitution, that the role of the Attorney-General must be a different role from that of other Ministers; that although the AttorneyGeneral may, and indeed does, comment freely on political matters as they come before the Parliament, he must not allow the intrusion of his political views and the interests of his political Party into the discussion of an offence which any person is alleged to have committed; and that in fact - and this has been pointed out by other distinguished Attorneys-General, not only of England but also of this country - on many occasions the Attorney-General must act as a safeguard of the rights of the citizen against the views of the Cabinet, against the views of the Government and against the views of the political Party of which he is a member. [More…]
Fundamental in that approach is the obligation to maintain the Constitution, to uphold the laws and to bear true and faithful allegiance to the [More…]
The constitution of Australia, adopted at the time of federation of the then independent States of Crown colonies, passed certain responsibilities to the Commonwealth or national Parliament and reserved others to the States. [More…]
I am not impressed by the proposition - although I am prepared to admit that I could be totally wrong in due course - that this is likely to change very much in the short run of time by constitutional changes. [More…]
Attempts could well be made and, if they are, they might lead to a better understanding but the history of Australian referenda to which I shall refer later is not encouraging to those who seek to find a remedy by constitutional change. [More…]
Under the Constitution there is no direct responsibility at all by Federal government towards local government. [More…]
One is a letter; the other is an article in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ of 24th February 1972 which refers to a most praiseworthy initiative by the Victorian AttorneyGeneral, Mr Reid, which proposes that State Attorneys-General have a discussion on the Constitution. [More…]
One of the best constitutional people in Australia in this day and age is Professor Lane of the University of Sydney. [More…]
Section 51 (XXXVII) of the Constitution invites the States to refer any State matter to the Commonwealth for Federal legislation. [More…]
So, then, in the end the better way of decentralising the federal system might be through cooperation within the Constitution - not by alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
Let me trace something of the history of how this problem emerged because when the founding fathers drew up the Constitution they had an entirely different idea from what has emerged today. [More…]
In so doing they decided upon a federal system in which the centre or the Commonwealth should have limited powers, quite unlike the British Constitution, that the powers should be defined in writing and that we would be bound by those here in the centre of government whereas the Slates would then have residual powers. [More…]
As we have seen in recent times, that is exactly what has happened with this Constitution. [More…]
Into the Constitution was written section 96 which undoubtedly was meant to give the Commonwealth powers in exceptional circumstances to intervene. [More…]
There has been a discovery that the powers which lie within the Commonwealth Constitution are much larger than and quite different from what the founding fathers envisaged. [More…]
The next thing that emerges, apart from the philosophy of this, is the question of the Constitution and the way in which the High Court has interpreted it. [More…]
Whether or not power can be worked out and written down in words - we know the difficulty of lawyers in that regard - one thing we do know is that it is well nigh impossible in (his country to alter the Constitution by referendum unless we are removing powers from the centre or are giving social welfare powers to the centre. [More…]
Since the end of the war and since the proliferation of the use of section 96 of the Constitution the States have not had accountability. [More…]
I know what, he would have liked to have done, but for the Constitution. [More…]
It is envisaged that this body would look at this matter within the limits of the Commonwealth’s Constitutional power. [More…]
This body certainly could look at foreign corporations or trading or financial corporations which have been formed within the limits of the Commonwealth, because those are the words used in section 51 of the Constitution. [More…]
In this instance I am focusing attention upon the actual constitution of the defence forces and upon the enforcement of discipline, firstly from the point of view of physical confrontation with the enemy and secondly from the point of view of traitorous correspondence with the enemy. [More…]
I should have thought that a copy of the Constitution was readily available to any citizen of Australia who cared to call at Commonwealth library offices or records offices, or for that matter at any State government office. [More…]
I should have thought that educational schools would have ready access to copies of the Constitution. [More…]
The proposition that Senator Willesee put, namely, that we ought to be looking at this matter in a far broader context, is a valid one, I suggest, because when we come back to the basic situation we find that all taxation takes its authority from the Constitution, in particular section 51 (ii.). [More…]
of the Constitution. [More…]
If a question were put, for example - That the vote be agreed to - and that question were resolved in the negative, the Senate would have amended a Bill which it cannot under the Constitution amend. [More…]
While recognising the constitutional considerations implicit in the provisions of Standing Order 253, the Committee considers that the procedure could be improved, particularly having inmind the situation which arises when the closure is applied. [More…]
Perhaps part of the strength of the British constitutional system has lain in the vagueness of the constitution and the indefinite and unspecified rights which, in a crisis, in some way can be discovered and implemented. [More…]
The position at law is that, under the Constitution, the State gaols must accommodate persons who have offended against Commonwealth laws. [More…]
The position with regard to the custody of offenders is that the Constitution requires the States to provide in their gaols accommodation for persons who have offended against Commonwealth law. [More…]
The fact that only 5 per cent preferred gaol was, I am sure, in the light of the other alternatives which were posed and the imposition of which in many respects is not within the constitutional power of the Commonwealth. [More…]
reference was made to arrangements which are well under way for a national conference on the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Prime Minister has requested me to prepare for the Government a statement on the issues involved in any proposed changes in the Constitution and also what is involved in ways and means by which changes can be effected. [More…]
Honourable senators will be well aware that the Constitution does not mention education as an area in which the Commonwealth has particular powers or responsibilities. [More…]
But within, for example, section 51 of the Constitution there is provision for, among other things, the Parliament to make laws in respect to benefits to students. [More…]
Honourable senators also will be well aware that in section 96 of the Constitution there is provision for the making of grants to the States for use for any purpose, including education, at the discretion of the States. [More…]
The Commonwealth has made increasing use of those powers, as the Constitution has allowed it to do, and has provided a growing measure of assistance to the States for the purposes of education. [More…]
Has the Minister representing the Minister for Trade and Industry any information which he may be able to give the Senate about any proposed change to the constitution and control of the Special Advisory Authority which gives advice to the Government on emergency protection claimed by Australian industries? [More…]
Article III of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, promulgated on 17lh July 1948 stales: [More…]
That would increase the confidence of the people in the industry and the public at large in the constitution of the Board. [More…]
I think most honourable senators will agree with me when I say that that has stemmed from the fact that the constitution of the Federal Council of the Australian Apiarists Association requires any decisions it makes to be unanimous decisions. [More…]
the beginning of chapter .1 the Committee pointed out that the Commonwealth has statutory responsibility for education in the Territories and that under several sections of the Constitution it can exercise powers and responsibilities in a limited area throughout the Commonwealth. [More…]
The Bill takes up that theme and reflects the general idea set out in the report and the general idea contained in the constitutional references. [More…]
In that respect I remind the Senate that 31) or 40 years ago the High Court of Australia decided that under our Constitution the State teaching services were not of the nature of industrial services and therefore their disputes were nol. [More…]
The Commonwealth, having authority by virtue of its power to deal with Territories, is not restricted to interstate industrial commission disputes in connection with this Teaching Service and therefore constitutionally is enabled to give it unqualified access to the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. [More…]
For the information of honourable senators 1 present a special report by the Commonwealth Grants Commission on the application made by the State of Queensland for financial assistance from the Parliament of the Commonwealth under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 92 of the Constitution, as I understand it, the private operator can challenge the Commonwealth on the fare structure. [More…]
Under our Constitution, to the extent that this matter involves the States it is in the hands of the sovereign States. [More…]
In France, through all her upheavals and changes of constitution, the aircraft industry has survived. [More…]
With regard to the power of the Minister for Education and Science, the Commonwealth Constitution does not give this Parliament direct power in relation to State universities. [More…]
I think I should inform honourable senators that, although the precincts of Parliament House have never been defined in the Commonwealth jurisdiction or the Commonwealth Parliament as they have, for example, by the Parliament in Victoria, to which Senator McManus referred, honourable senators are aware that under section 49 of the Constitution, the powers, immunities and priviledges of the Houses of Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia are the powers, immmunities and priviledges of the House of Commons. [More…]
I have, as is surely well-known in this Senate, on a number of occasions endeavoured to prompt the Government into some deeper consideration of the use of section 96 of the Constitution which provides that special grants can be made available for certain purposes. [More…]
On a number of occasions in the intervening years since 1945 when that decision was made and implemented questions have been raised as to the constitutionality of that decision because of section 99 of the Constitution which concerns itself with the relative position of States and with not giving an advantage to one State over another. [More…]
Having regard to the provisions of clause (ii) of section 51 of the Constitution which deals with the taxation powers of the Commonwealth there have been occasions when people have turned their minds to a consideration of whether the decision of the Chifley Government to institute these relief areas was ultra vires the Constitution. [More…]
Recently I was most interested and intrigued to receive an assurance from people who are concerned with constitutional law that where an Act speaks about States or part of States - I think that is the terminology used - in a serious judgment on constitutional grounds, this has been held not to refer to States or parts of States within the meaning of the Constitution. [More…]
Whether there is now some validity in the argument that States and parts of States cannot be given preferential treatment because of section 99 of the Constitution I do not know but 1 have been told that the decision of 1945 has complete validity and would withstand a challenge in the High Court. [More…]
We accept the fact that Tasmania is a sovereign State within the Constitution which provides for 6 States in the Commonwealth. [More…]
With the utilisation of section 96 of the Constitution, it was possible for grants to be made to the States to enable them to carry on their services. [More…]
In a document entitled Commonwealth Grants Commission, 37th report, 1970’ and the supplement to it, which deals with reports on applications made by the States of South Australia and Tasmania for financial assistance from the Parliament of the Commonwealth under section 96 of the Constitution, some interesting references are made to the bases on which judgments are made on the level of grants to be provided to the various States and for the various types of services. [More…]
The suggestion made by Senator Little was that, because the Commonwealth is the recipient of the revenue under our Constitution and our arrangement, it is an evil body and is doing a terrible thing when it gives money to the States. [More…]
First of all, they created an impossible position for a draftsman seeking to draft legislation that would fit into this extraordinary position of one group of governments with almost absolute powers and another government governed by a written constitution. [More…]
I do not believe that the new amendment will cure all the ills because the Commonwealth cannot legislate beyond its constitutional powers. [More…]
Whatever is put in the legislation will either be invalid or it will have to be read down within the constitution. [More…]
Section 92 of the Australian Constitution states: [More…]
We will still have a Constitution which provides for appeals to the Privy Council. [More…]
Therefore, there is justification for the application by the Queensland Government to the Commonwealth Government for special assistance grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Honourable senators will remember that in 1933 the Commonwealth Government set up the Commonwealth Grants Commission to consider and report on applications that were to be received from the States for special grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Naturally, I have carefully examined the findings of the Commonwealth Grants Commission on the Queensland submission for special grants under section 96 of the Constitution, lt is clear from the report that 2 influences are at work to the detriment of Queensland. [More…]
One of the terms of the constitution of the council is that it has the authority to invest this money and give the bookmakers 4 per cent interest on their deposits. [More…]
The Government of Queensland made an application on 30th September 1971 to the Commonwealth Government for a special grant of financial assistance for the year 1971-72 to be provided under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
There are limits placed on the Commonwealth by the Constitution. [More…]
An important fact was that interstate operators, using section 92 of the Constitution, were able to bring produce up from the other States and compete with the railways. [More…]
I do not believe that the Senate was ever intended by the framers of the Constitution to be a Party House where decisions of the Executive merely received a rubber stamp of approval simply because of a majority of Government supporters in this chamber. [More…]
That Act also provided for the appointment of an Interim Council, which was to examine the matter of the establishment of the Institute and to make recommendations with respect to the functions and powers of the Institute, the constitution of its governing Council, the site of the seat of the Institute and the nature of the co-operation with the James Cook University of North Queensland. [More…]
By that decision the High Court held substantial portions of the 1965 legislation to be invalid, but in so doing the High Court made it clear that the Commonwealth Parliament had adequate power under the so called corporations power of the Constitution to legislate with respect to restrictive trade practices and monopolies, in so far as corporations are involved. [More…]
I refer to the ‘Constitution and Rules’ of the Liberal Party of Australia which I received quite legitimately by writing to the Party and asking for it. [More…]
Just listen to some of the grandiose thoughts on freedom in that Party’s constitution. [More…]
Let us look now at what the Liberal Party’s constitution says about that. [More…]
But this year all that we have from the Government is pure politics, the separation of conciliation and arbitration, the requirement that the Commission which, under the Constitution is charged merely with the settlement of industrial disputes, should take upon itself a consideration of the state of the national economy in the course of its deliberations, the widening of the role of the Full Bench - let us not forget that with a Full Bench, under the Act the Commonwealth has the right to intervene - and the closer scrutiny of industrial agreements. [More…]
It is derived from an industrial power that was written into the Constitution after the fights of 2 great men whose names were well known afterwards - the one Higgins, who became the judge of the court; the other Charles Kingston, well known in South Australia. [More…]
The notion this is somewhat of a pugilistic arena was drawn upon by Sir Robert Garran, the great authority on the Australian Constitution, who wrote in 1930 that in the first 25 years of federation the Commonwealth industrial power played a greater part in political history and legal controversy than did the rest of the Constitution put together. [More…]
It is interesting to quote the constitution of the Queensland Bookmakers Council. [More…]
We ask: ‘Would the Queensland Bookmakers Council now still be acting within their Constitution, by entering into an arrangement with the Queensland Government under section 104a - Bookmakers Guarantee Scheme?’ [More…]
It means that workers’ and employers’ organisations do not have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules. [More…]
If one runs through the provisions of the legislation one finds that there are rigid controls as to the type of constitution organisations can have. [More…]
Constitution of Commission [More…]
They need advice on planning estates, arranging finance, the use of trust funds, entering into contracts, asserting citizen rights under the Constitution, defending themselves or their families in the courts of the land, fighting for their freedom and liberty, and generally in asserting citizenship. [More…]
The suggestion made by the Attorney-General seems to be a reasonable one to clean up this portion, and there will be no difficulty about the other matter of the constitution of the Commission. [More…]
Under the terms of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the big union applies to alter its name and constitution and the smaller union seeks deregistration. [More…]
An application was made to the Industrial Court to change the name of the Building Workers Industrial Union to the Building Workers Industrial Union and Operative Plasterers Federation of Australia and also to change the Union’s constitution to cover the membership of the Plasterers Federation. [More…]
No other section of workers, ambit of industry or constitution was involved. [More…]
But he informed the representatives of the Building Workers Industrial Union that he would not agree to the change of name or constitution until such time as the Operative Plasterers and Plaster Workers Federation applied for deregistration. [More…]
Therefore, at this stage it is a question of whether the amalgamation is carried out legally, in accordance with the constitution finally agreed upon, or whether the organisations continue as they are, with different registrations but acting as a unified body in decisions and in all other respects. [More…]
If that difference can be settled, the Union has only to register its new name and changed constitution. [More…]
There is an organisation which can change its name and constitution to gather in the plasterers organisation, lt has made the application and the plasterers are not opposed to it. [More…]
But once the constitution of A is added to the constitution of B it is clear that there could be admitted to the organisation upon and by reason of the amalgamation the required number of members. [More…]
The amalgamation involves a change of constitution and those other persons could be admitted. [More…]
As one sees the amalgamation provisions of the proposed new section 158h, if something is added to the constitution of the host organisation, under the DLP proposal one has to look at the potential membership, not the actual membership of the deregistering organisation. [More…]
The moment we change the constitution of the host organisation we have to ask: What is the potential membership that the host organisation could get by reason of this change in its constitution? [More…]
They deal with a vexed position which has arisen under the industrial laws because of the operation of the Constitution which, in general, restricts the Commonwealth conciliation and arbitration jurisdiction to the prevention and settlement of disputes which extend beyond the limits of any one State. [More…]
Each of the words in the constitutional provision is a word of limitation. [More…]
It appears that, because the Constitution says laws can be made with respect to conciliation and arbitration, they cannot be made outside those limits. [More…]
The limitations of the Constitution in this field were imposed by the founders, the draftsmen of the Constitution, about 70 years ago. [More…]
The Federal Government has a responsibility for 2 media which under section 92 of the Constitution cross State boundaries - radio and television - and we are acting upon those. [More…]
The policy of the Australian Labor Party at present is stated in the Platform, Constitution and Rules’ as approved by the 29th conference. [More…]
I wish to quote now from the Platform, Constitution and Rules of the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
The most significant development in the Government’s programme has been the constitution of the Interim Council of the Australian Institute of Marine Science which, under the Bill that we are now considering, will be superseded by a permanent Council. [More…]
The Board closely examined the development of this trade under the protection of Section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution , [More…]
Most have foundered on the rock of Section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
But more particularly in Australia, where we operate under a written Constitution, where we have this great problem of the separation of State and Commonwealth powers, the impact of the judiciary in determining the course of this nation has been immense and the influence of the late Sir Owen Dixon perhaps had no equal in the effect it had on the interpretation of the Constitution and in acquitting that Constitution to the modern Australia and to the movement of Australia into the modern world. [More…]
He was at no time a member of this Parliament, but he was a great Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in which is reposed the judicial power which the Constitution establishes. [More…]
His work as a member of the High Court over a period of some 35 years, for 12 of which he was Chief Justice, has left an indelible impact on the development of Australian constitutional law. [More…]
His legal scholarship was immense; his adherence to the lawyer’s approach to the construction and application of the Constitution was unfailing. [More…]
But I venture to say, Mr President, in the presence of my fellow senators that it was in application of these principles to our own specially important Constitution that the late Chief Justice made his most substantial mark and contributed to the building of a body of doctrine which, in my assessment, will stamp his as an era of exposition superior in importance to the great constitutional decisions of the Stuart period. [More…]
We remember that it was in the airways case that he established the essentials of freedom as outlined in section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
Is he in a position to say, in relation to the constitutional requirement for equality of opportunity and treatment for each of the 6 States, that when the level of freight costs reaches a point at which the trade and commerce of one of those States are involved and the economic progress and development of that State are threatened, this would amount to a contravention in 2 respects of the Commonwealth Constitution? [More…]
I ask further: Will he consider using section 96 of the Constitution, if his view is that there is no other head of Commonwealth power to enable such a contribution to be made? [More…]
In view of the statement on a related matter - not an identical matter - this morning by Mr Hawke, I ask the Minister, from his knowledge of the ALP constitution- [More…]
I ask the Minister whether, in view of the statement in this morning’s Press by Mr Hawke on a related matter, from his knowledge of the Australian Labor Party constitution Mr Hawke has the authority to cancel that plank of Labor’s platform. [More…]
In recent months by Acts which this Party opposed this Government has brought in more restrictions against the workers than have ever been introduced in the life of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I also raised in the course of this dissent the suggestion that under section 116 of the Constitution it is highly questionable whether it is within the constitutional power of the Commonwealth Government to give financial assistance to the training of teachers who are specifically concerned not only with imparting neutral nonreligious knowledge to students but also with training them in being specifically Catholic, or Presbyterian, or Jewish teachers. [More…]
With respect, I think that the Commonwealth would probably be going beyond its constitutional power if it did attempt to allocate moneys to specifically religious training or to training which included the religious training of the teacher. [More…]
If the people who are charged with the control and organisation of the Catholic education system believe that that is the purpose of the training of Catholic teachers, I respect that belief, but I suggest that under the Constitution it is nothing with which the Commonwealth can concern itself. [More…]
That principle is so strong that it has been carried into the Constitution of the United States of America where, by an Article of that Constitution, the United States Congress is prohibited from making any ex post facto law. [More…]
That has been restricted because it was the intention of the principles of the common law to mean criminal law, and that applies to the States by another provision of the Constitution. [More…]
The recent case before the High Court of Australia made it clear that the constitutional provisions leave it in the hands of this Parliament to provide, for the 18-year- olds, if they are to be provided for. [More…]
The High Court held that even if the States gave their 18-year-old citizens the right to vote this did not automatically allow them to have a vote in Federal elections, because the constitutional guarantee of Federal voting Tights for those who bad State voting rights applied only to those whom the Constitution described as adult persons who, in the understanding of 1901, were persons of 21 years or more. [More…]
The principle was embedded in the American Constitution that you cannot make an ex post facto law. [More…]
Perhaps the most prominent in terms of the leading legal systems of the world is to be found in Article I Paragraph 9 of the United States Constitution which provides simply: [More…]
It is true that there is under the Australian Constitution no constitutional restriction on the power of the Federal Parliament to enact such a law. [More…]
I point out in this regard that in the first speech I made in this chamber I drew attention to the shortcomings of the Australian Constitution in this regard and I strongly urged the necessity for our country to have a Bill of Rights which would spell out specific rights. [More…]
In the light of what this Government is attempting, I draw attention again today to this gap in our legal code which does not spell out similarly the sorts of rights which exist under the American Constitution and the sorts of precautions against this arbitrary tyrannical conduct which is possible from a government - fortunately a rare occurrence in this country - which is as insensitive to the rule of law as is this Government which boasts so constantly to be the upholder of the rule of law. [More…]
Even though under the Australian Constitution, as I have said, there is no barrier to the introduction of retroactive legislation, the courts nonetheless have made it clear that they do not approve of such legislation. [More…]
As I have said, the shortcomings in our Constitution are compounded when we have, as we have at the present moment, an inept, authoritarian government whose sensibilities have been blunted by an unhealthily long term in office. [More…]
election date might be extended to November, or even to December as seems to be favoured by some sections of the Liberal Parly, or to January as is favoured by another section - after all Santa Claus might bring votes at Christmas and the Government may be able to afford to postpone the election until January - but under the Constitution the date cannot be extended beyond 20th January. [More…]
Under the Constitution the States have that responsibility and I believe that people naturally turn to their State police force when they have any problem or apprehension. [More…]
I am disappointed in relation to the report of the Select Committee on Water Pollution, which contemplated the creation, in cooperation with the States, of a national body projecting the concept of cooperative federalism and not using the overriding powers that the Commonwealth might be able to aggregate under the various heads of power in the Constitution. [More…]
We feel that, because of our strange constitutional situation, the protection of the environment is not a matter that can be handled without the closest co-operation between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
The Committee then goes on to recommend the use of the constitutional machinery of an Interstate Commission which, it says, it might be desirable to set up with powers in this regard. [More…]
We know that under the present constitutional arrangements the States are very jealous of the powers they have in this regard. [More…]
We should be debating on the practical basis of today’s incongruous Constitution. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution stales: [More…]
This means that the Constitution contemplates and appears to guarantee that the entitlement of a State to membership in the House of Representatives shall be determined in a certain manner. [More…]
The Constitution, not any Act of this Parliament, states that the number of members chosen in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people. [More…]
Does it not seem, therefore, that Western Australia is entitled to have 10 members elected, as a constitutional right, at the forthcoming election? [More…]
If it has that constitutional right it may well be that the provisions of the Electoral Act, which do not conform with that view, will not prevail against the constitutional right. [More…]
If the Government has delayed taking action, designedly or otherwise, and this results in a situation where a Slate will not be electing its correct representation, it may well be that that State is entitled to its number of representatives according to the Constitution. [More…]
It may well be that the other provisions of the Constitution relating to what happens in the absence of a division of the State have to apply, those being provisions which may, on certain views, mean that the State as a whole would elect its representatives. [More…]
Where, under the Constitution, a State is entitled to more representatives than are provided for under the divisions which have taken place - those divisions being applicable at present - we should know what should be done in respect of the election in order that that State may have its full entitlement in the House of Representatives. [More…]
Not only the rights of Western Australia but also the rights of all of the people of Australia to a parliament constitutes as provided under the Constitution may be involved. [More…]
1 suggest that one thing which emerges out of this as a matter of extreme urgency and importance is that the constitutional position should be put to rest as quickly as possible Certainly consideration ought to be given by this chamber, if not by the other place, to what should be done in the circumstances. [More…]
I submit that at least the opinion of the Solicitor-General on the proper constitutional course should be obtained and put before the Senate as rapidly as possible in light of the notification which has been placed before the Senate. [More…]
Only recently the High Court of Australia unanimously decided that in terms of section 41 of the Constitution an adult person meant a person of not less than 21 years of age. [More…]
As honourable senators know, section 41 of the Constitution provides that no adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either of the Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth. [More…]
It is this: Because of the tremendous powers under the Constitution of the Senate, and because it has the total power of veto of the lower House - it has been said that the Senate is the most powerful second chamber in the world - an increase in the membership of the House of Representatives without an increase in the membership of the Senate would result in an increasing concentration of power, particularly the power of veto, in a House whose numbers were diminishing relative to those of the people’s House. [More…]
I would refrain from presenting paragraph (4) because this is a most difficult question which involves the interpretation of the Commonwealth Electoral Act and the Constitution, and the application of both. [More…]
The Commonwealth Electoral Act and the Constitution must be read together. [More…]
I think the Senate is entitled to know what is, in the opinion of the legal advisers of the Commonwealth, the constitutional position in relation to the representation of Western Australia and whether, in fact, one more representative should be elected at large from that State or whether some other method needs to be adopted in order that the requirements of the Constitution can be met in relation to this election. [More…]
If so, what is the authority - constitutional, historical or traditional - for such procedures? [More…]
In view of the fact that the Senate by its nature and the form of its composition under the Constitution has continuum over and above the term of the House of Representatives, and that the establishment and extension of the committee system of the Senate have brought under the scrutiny of the Senate matters of an important nature and that the investigation of these matters should proceed with a minimum of delay and that in some cases the Senate has required reports by a certain date, will you inform the Senate before the announced date of the dissolution of the House of Representatives whether it is proposed that the business of the Senate, not being business of a legislative character which requires the complementary existence of the House of Representatives, should be permitted to continue? [More…]
Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania for financial assistance under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Incorporated in this report is the special report (1972) on the application made by Queensland for financial assistance under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Unless there is a Commonwealth and State conference to review the Constitution, so provision can be made for the States and the Commonwealth to live together much more amicably and with much more financial stability than is the case at the present time, something will have to give. [More…]
However, it is of great importance that as speedily as possible we should come to grips with a constitutional review which will include a good look at section 96 of the Constitution and at the shortcomings of the whole of our Constitution. [More…]
We are not operating within the vision of the framers of the Constitution, and after 72 years, with so few alterations having been made to the Constitution by referenda, we are really using the horse and buggy technique in a high speed age. [More…]
I believe that under the circumstances the Commission does a very good job in evaluating this matter within the terms of the present Constitution. [More…]
All I say in conclusion is that I hope that as soon as possible the States and the Commonwealth will get together in conjunction with those people who are capable of having a deep and hard look at the inadequacies of our present Constitution, particularly as they relate to Commonwealth-State financial relations. [More…]
The constitutional convention which is contemplated at the instance of the States, in which the Commonwealth will participate and about which a steering committee has met already to plan the mode of approach for a review of the Constitution, undoubtedly will take into its ambit of consideration this vexed question of Commonwealth and State financial relations, and it is certainly time that that was done. [More…]
We can only hope that that will be one of the early matters considered by the constitutional convention because we must always remember that under the present concept of the Constitution the States are substantially the developing and construction authorities, that the Commonwealth has complete control over the major resources of revenue, and that the reconciliation of those 2 things can be accompanied only by the development and the projection of a proper financial formula. [More…]
The High Court expressed the view that it was not its prerogative to interpret the Constitution but that the Parliament, being the supreme body in a democracy, should grasp this problem and deal with it. [More…]
When certain teenagers in South Australia attempted to challenge the stance being taken by the Federal Government on this matter there was a test, and all 6 judges agreed that under section 41 of .the Constitution an adult person was a person of 21 years of age. [More…]
The words were that the words of the Constitution, as expressed by section 41 of the Constitution, were to be read in the natural sense they bore when enacted by the Imperial Parliament in 1900. [More…]
Section 41 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Much the same proposition was indicated in the recent decision of the High Court when this question of the interpretation of the Constitution and, in particular, the meaning of the word ‘adult’ was canvassed. [More…]
I cannot believe that the draftsmen of the Constitution in 1900 would have contemplated giving the franchise to males and females whose physical growth had reached its maximum, making that fact a criterion of the franchise. [More…]
As I have intimated, under the Constitution the Commonwealth cannot alone legislate to grant the power of compulsory acquisition to the Wool Corporation. [More…]
Similarly the Queen’s power to dismiss a minister through her representative cannot be disputed (Section 64 of the Constitution says ministers hold office ‘during the pleasure of the Governor-General’). [More…]
One might take into account the fact that the establishment of a national pipeline authority by the Australian Labor Party would still have to meet the test of the bar in section 92 of the Constitution to the freedom of interstate trade and commerce. [More…]
But when we say that we should set up a com- mittee to ensure that this will be done we find that the Minister for Civil Aviation (Senator Cotton), apparently acting on behalf of the Government - and I do not think that I am mistaken - says: ‘No, we cannot accept that because it may offend some section of the Constitution’. [More…]
Honourable senators will know that the Australian Democratic Labor Party has been conducting a long campaign in relation to the elimination of federal estate duty so far as it is available to this Parliament to do so under the Constitution. [More…]
As the Commonwealth Government, we will have the power of our funds and the power of section 96 of the Constitution to establish in Canberra a body - a bureaucratic institution, a monolithic public service - that will decide the needs of every State and independent school in Australia’. [More…]
By the power which Mr Whitlam foreshadowed in his Fabian lectures in July of this year and the, power of section 96 of the Constitution, a Labor government will take over the central functions now run by the States which include education, hospitals and other services. [More…]
Do not let anyone believe that the Constitution prevents us from nationalising. [More…]
He went on to say that if section 92 of the Constitution is the charter for free enterprise, section 96 shall be the charter for public enterprise. [More…]
However, I should add that I am unaware of any interpretation of the Constitution that would prevent operators charging rates at a level based on ordinary business considerations. [More…]
The Party’s Platform, Constitution and Rules’ states: [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to provide for expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1972-73 on: The construction of public works and buildings; the acquisition of sites and buildings; advances and loans; items of plant and equipment which are clearly definable as capital expenditure; grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and new policies not authorised by special legislation. [More…]
In my second reading speech I tried to make it clear that under the Constitution the Commonwealth alone cannot legislate for compulsory acquisition of the wool clip. [More…]
It is that under the Constitution the Commonwealth does not have the power to acquire the clip compulsorily unless it has the consent and complementary legislation of the States. [More…]
The idea of establishing a Commonwealth Superior Court developed out of the need to ensure that the High Court of Australia should be readily available to carry out its major responsibilities under the Constitution - namely, the responsibilities of interpreting the Constitution and of exercising appellate jurisdiction as a court of appeal from State courts and Federal courts created by the Parliament. [More…]
The Constitution also vests certain original jurisdiction in the High Court and empowers the Parliament to invest the Court with original jurisdiction in certain further matters. [More…]
The volume of work in the original jurisdiction of the High Court had increased to a degree that, by 1967, made it desirable to make other provision, to the extent permitted by the Constitution, in regard to that work. [More…]
There is a need for something to be done to minimise this work so that there will be no detraction from the capacity of the Court to discharge its primary functions of interpreting the Constitution and sitting as the ultimate court of appeal in Australia. [More…]
Wilh the full support of the Chief Justice, the Government has decided that it should follow the alternative course, which is available under the Constitution, of investing State Supreme Courts and the Supreme Courts of the mainland Territories with original jurisdiction in certain additional federal matters in respect of which the High Court now exercises original jurisdiction. [More…]
Most senators - particularly Senator Keeffe, Senator Poyser and myself - have been inundated with correspondence from various areas where there is private land which, ifsection 96 of the Constitution were taken advantage of to make feed back grants, could be acquired to enlarge national parks.I know that the House of Representatives Committee made certain suggestions on obtaining revenue to cover the cost of acquisition and, as a witness who appeared before the Committee, I suggested other alternative plans. [More…]
The Council’s constitution provides that it shall consist of not more than 11 members, each of whom shall be a principal of an advertising agency which participates in the planning, originating or placing of Commonwealth advertising. [More…]
President Marcos stated that Martial Law had been proclaimed in accordance with the powers vested in the President under Article 7, Section 10, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines as the Republic was threatened by communist insurgency and subversion. [More…]
These 3 claimant States made application to the Commonwealth Grants Commission under the provisions of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Commonwealth Government would probably be thrown out by the States because, under the Australian Constitution, this is an area which is within the jurisdiction of the States. [More…]
1 ask: From where does the Government get the constitutional authority for the granting of moneys to child care centres? [More…]
All grants to the States in connection with housing, education and other things are made under section 96 of the Constitution and there is a stipulation as to how they are used. [More…]
I fail to see where there is any constitutional authority for the granting of moneys in this respect. [More…]
I should think that the Attorney-General would not move in this direction if there were no such constitutional authority. [More…]
I therefore request htm to inform me as to where the constitutional authority for such legislation by the Commonwealth lies. [More…]
I want to mention 2 points in relation to the constitutional aspect. [More…]
I would have thought that a man holding the position of Attorney-General would have known the constitutional position. [More…]
I took the reply of the Attorney-General (Senator Greenwood) to mean that he did not know the position but that he thought we had the power under the social service powers in placitum 51 (XXi iA) of the Constitution. [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: [More…]
I understand that there is doubt in the Department about whether constitutional power exists in relation to this question. [More…]
I think that the answer I received and the common wording of the social service powers outlined in the Constitution leave beyond doubt that there is no substance in that claim. [More…]
It is a very familiar experience for honourable senators on this side of the chamber to hear that all sorts of desirable pieces of legislation have been eschewed or rejected because there is some doubt as to whether power exists under the Constitution. [More…]
But it is not a problem to stretch the Constitution when it suits the Government’s purposes. [More…]
of the Constitution for the introduction of this Bill. [More…]
On the constitutional point which brought Senator James McClelland breathless into the chamber and has always attracted Senator Cavanagh’s interest, 1 do not have with me at the present time the legal opinions which were provided to the Department. [More…]
As far as 1 was concerned, there was no suggestion that the Opposition was challenging this measure because of its lack of constitutionality. [More…]
1 do not think Senator Gietzelt, who was the leading speaker for the Opposition during the second reading debate on this Bill, was suggesting that it should not be passed because of some lack of constitutional power. [More…]
Nor, I imagine, would the Labor Party as a Party be seeking to say that it should rely upon some legal technicality or legal doubt or lack of constitutional basis as a reason why this highly desirable legislation should not be enacted. [More…]
of the Constitution justifies this legislation, then one also would have to go to other sections of the Constitution to build up a constitutional case, if that is the way in which he would seek to approach the matter. [More…]
Nor do I query the constitutional authority for it. [More…]
I wanted to have it clear in my mind whether the Government had the constitutional power to legislate in this way or whether it should legislate as it does in relation to grants to schools under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
But do I take it from his reply that the advisers of his Department are of the opinion that constitutional power does exist for the introduction of this legislation which is before us at the present time? [More…]
I have risen merely to put on record the fact that this matter has been within the mind of the Senate, or at least one member of the Senate, and that it may be necessary in the future for it to be constitutionally resolved. [More…]
The House of Lords is a non-elected House whereas the Senate is a House which has emerged by formal contract from the Constitution as a body which has protective rights over the States. [More…]
I again ask the Attorney-General whether he sought or obtained from the legal experts in the matrimonial causes section of the Attorney-General’s Department any advice or submissions as to whether the matrimonial causes rules were consistent with the Constitution and with the legislation under which they were made. [More…]
If I may be pardoned for doing so - I think this is a matter of high importance to this chamber - I should like to refer very briefly to the Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth, the great textbook by [More…]
The Senate is one of the most conspicuous, and unquestionably the most important, of all the Federal features of the constitution, using the word federal in the sense of linking together and uniting a number of co-equal political communities, under a common system of government. [More…]
They are so represented for the purpose of enabling them to maintain and protect their constitutional rights against attempted invasions, and to give them every facility for the advocacy of their peculiar and special interests, as well as for the ventilation and consideration of their grievances. [More…]
In 1879 by action of the then Government of Queensland - it was ratified by statute - the boundary of Queensland was extended and the Torres Strait islands came under Queensland and then, with the Constitution in 1901, under Australian sovereignty. [More…]
If ever the Senate were called upon to take its stand in terms of its constitutional position and in terms of the very purpose for which it was created, it is now to step in and prevent this happening. [More…]
There is legal opinion - how strong it is, T do not know - that the matter is open to grave constitutional doubt and there may need to be no consultation whatsoever. [More…]
Perhaps at this stage I might refer to sections of the Constitution which bear upon this important question. [More…]
Most relevant to the complicated matter of altering Stale boundaries are sections 111, 123 and 128 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
It might be possible to argue that on the basis of the provisions of the Colonial Boundaries Act of 1895 (and Clause 8 of the covering Act of the Commonwealth Constitution)- [More…]
That was the Act of the House of Commons bringing into operation the Australian Constitution - the King in Council had been granted the power (with the consent of the Commonwealth Parliament) to alter the boundaries of the Commonwealth (and ipso facto those of Queensland) without reference to the electors. [More…]
I think they will be greviously disappointed and will feel that they have not been adequately represented if they find that on this issue, one of those rare occasions when the Senate can stand within its original concept in the Constitution, Slate rights have not been protected. [More…]
Virtually, a person has to be a member of the Plymouth Brethren or some such religious organisation which, by its constitution, makes an organisation something to which an adherent cannot belong before he can obtain the conscientious objection benefit. [More…]
Do they follow the American practice, from which we borrowed so much of our Constitution, where the matter, is raised in the Houses, of Representatives but the decision is actually made in the Senate? [More…]
Page 25 of the Platform, Constitution and Rules of the Australian Labor Party states: [More…]
The report to the Minister states that while there are limitations on Commonwealth power by the effect of section 51 of the Constitution, there has been a readiness by the States to co-operate on this question of environmental and impact studies. [More…]
It is dangerous to tell the people that a parliament will exceed its constitutional powers. [More…]
I point out to people, and particularly to the Premier of Queensland, that the Constitution has given Parliament authority to make laws in certain directions beyond the limits of State control. [More…]
He knows that there is a document called “The Platform, Constitution and Rules of the Australian Labor Party*. [More…]
Will such maternity leave be provided for union members only, as stated in the booklet ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules of the Australian Labor Party’? [More…]
In these circumstances, taking into account section 116 of the Constitution which, in effect, guarantees that there will be no discrimination between religions, it seemed to me that it is not the function of the Commonwealth to decide which are true religions and which are false religions and to start to discriminate between them. [More…]
There are religious sects which may earn the disapproval of many sections of the community, but it seems to me that under the Constitution the Australian [More…]
I say again to the honourable senator that it appears to me that persons have constitutional rights whether we agree with them or not, and that after a thorough consideration of the issues before him a magistrate found that a certain organisation had come into being as a church - an incorporated church with a constitution. [More…]
As I recall reading them, there were some references in the constitution to various matters such as adherents believing in the various books of the Bible, and in particular the Gospel of St Luke, and to a number of other matters, which were sufficient to convince the magistrate that this was a religion, that there was a religion being practised, that there were in fact a number of adherents who supported a minister who did the things that ministers usually do. [More…]
It calls for the constitution of a Senate select committee of a nature totally different from that of any of the committees which have been operating in the Senate over the past 8 years at least, while I have been a member of this chamber. [More…]
Honourable senators will be aware that, under the provisions of section 41 of the Constitution, no adult person who has or acquires the right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right, continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of Parliament of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Document B.l - Constitution of the Croatian Liberation Movement (HOP). [More…]
Document B.2 - Constitution of the official ‘Croatian Ustashi Movement’ and the seventeen principles of the Ustashi. [More…]
Document B.8 - Constitution of the Australian Croatian National Resistance - Oceania (H.N.O. [More…]
Document B.14 - Constitution of the Croatian Illegal Revolutionary Organisation (H.I.R.O.) [More…]
These documents include the constitution of this terrorist organisation fully set out in Document B.14. [More…]
The Constitution of the Croatian Liberation Movement, as revised and issued by Dr Hefer in Argentina in 1967, was printed for the Sydney HOP at the Mintis Press, 117 Burwood Road, Belmore, New South Wales. [More…]
The Constitution of the official ‘Croatian Ustashi Movement’ within the HOP is set out in document B2. [More…]
In that interview Lovokovic did not deny or refute that the Constitution of the Croatian Liberation Movement (HOP) contained a orovision providing for a ‘Military Office’. [More…]
The Constitution of the Australian Croatian National Resistance - Oceania, is set out in document B8. [More…]
and there is an express provision relating to it in the Constitution of H.O.P. [More…]
After I was elected as Chairman the late Senator Rex Pearson asked one of the gentlemen who helped to write the Constitution what were the actual aims of the Committee. [More…]
Through the throughtfulness of Senator Greenwood, at the first opportunity that afforded itself, we are debating a subject that is of high national importance, that is, the position of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in the constitution of this country. [More…]
Indeed, since the decisions of the High Court and Privy Council in the Boilermakers’ case it is difficult to imagine how any court exercising the judical power of the Commonwealth under chapter III of the Constitution could have conferred upon it any jurisdiction to conduct an inquisition. [More…]
I submit that under the Constitution members are not entitled to any allowance except that which is provided expressly by the Parliament. [More…]
What I say is that minds stronger than Senator McAuliffe’s have always regarded the relevant part of the Constitution as amounting to a protection by saying that no member of Parliament shall hold office of profit or receive allowances that are not provided expressly in Acts of Parliament and their regulations. [More…]
The one thing that was good about the proposal for salary increases in December 1971 was the constitution of a tribunal, a permanently constituted tribunal. [More…]
I think that the first thing we should be conscious of is that the Senate has certain constitutional limitations. [More…]
It is stated in the Constitution that the powers of the Senate shall be the same as the powers of the House of Representatives but the limitations, in the nature of things, of a second House, are quite severe. [More…]
The report shows that it had a constitution and that it had rules directed towards terror and violence. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution requires the number of members in the several States to be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people. [More…]
The Constitution thus ensures equitable representation of the people in the House of Representatives, State by State. [More…]
Applying similar constitutional provisions, the United States Supreme Court has, for the last 9 years and more, declared any form of malapportionment within a State to be unconstitutional. [More…]
We should not accept regional discrimination for or against particular regions within States any more than the Constitution allows us to accept discrimination as between States. [More…]
Joint Committee on Constitutional Review in its recommendations endeavoured to safeguard the people against gerrymanders either by lapse of time or distortion of population. [More…]
The Committee further proposed not merely an alteration to the Electoral Act but that the principle should be enshrined in the Constitution itself, that the permissible variation from the quota should be reduced to 10 per cent and this should be written into the Constitution. [More…]
I speak because I was the one who had the pleasure of writing down the original constitution of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Ownership and Control. [More…]
Because of section 92 of the Constitution which provides for free trade, the commodities whose prices I was endeavouring to control in the interests of the public went over the border and were being sold at any price in New South Wales because the Labor Government in that State was not prepared to make a genuine attempt to control prices. [More…]
Again calling on memory, I understand that about 60 per cent of those who voted voted to put back into the constitution the death penalty. [More…]
It is generally said that the United States Supreme Court held that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was a ‘cruel and unusual punishment and therefore offended against the Constitution’. [More…]
If so, will he arrange to let the Prime Minister have a copy of the Australian Constitution? [More…]
In addition to Senator Willesee and Senator Wriedt being abroad at the moment on Government business, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Murphy, is today attending a steering committee meeting on the proposed revision of the Constitution. [More…]
The great defenders of the Constitution opposite have said that the Senate ought to do this or do that. [More…]
I remind the Prime Minister that the Federal Parliament consists of 2 Houses of Parliament and that the first paragraph of the Constitution dealing with Parliament states: [More…]
The Attorney-General left Canberra this morning, I understand with Senator Greenwood, to attend a very important steering committee conference in connection with the proposed revision of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The Bill will draw upon all powers available to the Australian Parliament under the Statute of Westminster and under the Constitution. [More…]
I was sent here by the electors of Western Australia to make certain that the rights of Western Australia and of the Government of Western Australia under the Constitution were upheld as far as is possible. [More…]
It was only at the insistence of the then Colonial Secretary, the Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, that the present provisions were included in the Constitution. [More…]
That can be altered only by the people acting under section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
If as the honourable senator seems to be indicating, there are persons in the community who hitherto belonged to bodies which had as part of their constitution statements indicating that unlawful action should be taken or that there should be actions which would lead to violence and terrorism, and that those persons have shown some change in mind or heart, I believe that that may be a helpful development. [More…]
This is one of the greatest values of our society - mutual protection, not by carrying firearms and retaliating when a gun is shown but by being assiduous at our work, by abstaining from the idea of psychiatry and impossible abstract studies, by work and by making one of our jobs the formulation of a constitution and a structure whereby we lay down laws the non-compliance with some of which means that the penalty exacted by the court will be sufficient to punish the crime. [More…]
Under the constitution of the Liberal Party in Tasmania he is allowed to stand for election against the Liberals and to retain his membership. [More…]
The Australian Constitution limits this Parliament’s jurisdiction to interstate industrial disputes. [More…]
Our immediate aim is to give effect to those aspects of industrial policy which can be dealt with within the rather limited area of power granted by the Constitution. [More…]
It is against this background of technicality and confusion that the Australian Labor Party platform declares that the Constitution must be amended to allow the system for the resolution of industrial conflict to be modernised by enabling the Australian Parliament to establish sensible means for the resolution of questions relating to terms and conditions of employment. [More…]
In the interim, however, we must work through the existing Constitution. [More…]
That is governed by the Constitution. [More…]
That is provided for in the constitution. [More…]
The Committee concluded that the absence of constitutional guarantees in the Commonwealth Constitution had not prevented the rule of law from characterising the Australian way of life. [More…]
The Committee has not chosen, therefore, to recommend the writing into the Constitution of a charter of individual liberties. [More…]
Thus, the Committee concluded that it should recommend the inclusion in the Constitution of provisions ensuring the regular review of the electoral divisions of each State and also accord near uniformity to the value accorded to the votes of the electors for each of the States. [More…]
Our friend says it is in the Constitution, but does not the Government believe in justice? [More…]
Evidently Senator Drake-Brockman has not heard of section 24 of the Constitution - something that has been there for more than 70 years. [More…]
Under the Australian Constitution, a Senate of 64 members would mean a House of Representatives of 130 members and the addition of some 5 electorates. [More…]
The Constitution states that the size of the House of Representatives must be as nearly as practicable twice the size of the Senate. [More…]
When the calculation is made under the terms of the Constitution, honourable members will find that a Senate of 64 members would mean a House of Representatives of 130 members on the present electoral enrolment in Australia. [More…]
Those who tonight have made much of the provision of the Constitution for Tasmania to have a minimum of 5 representatives in the House of Representatives - I agree entirely that it should have a minimum of 5 representatives - forget, of course, that by their proposal they intend that the Northern Territory, which presently has an enrolment of some 27,000 electors, be represented by 2 senators. [More…]
J state for the benefit of those honourable senators such as Senator James McClelland, who sneered and said that Senator DrakeBrockman did not know the Constitution, that there is no constitutional provision for the representation of the Northern Territory. [More…]
The Committee considered the extent of the problems which would arise from inserting in the Constitution a requirement that no division In a State should depart from the quota for that State to a greater extent than one-tenth more or one-tenth less. [More…]
In Britain the electoral system is old fashioned, like so many of its practices, including the lack of a written constitution. [More…]
Accordingly, the Committee has recommended that the Constitution be altered- [More…]
Npt ‘Parliament changes’ but the ‘Constitution be altered’ - to provide that - [More…]
The members of the Government come into the citadel and propose, upon the pretence of some innocent and beneficent purpose, to disembowel, to eviscerate, to emasculate the Constitution, and to do all this while still posing as federalists. [More…]
the problems which would arise from inserting in the Constitution a requirement that no division in a State should depart from the quota for that State to a greater extent than one-tenth more or one-tenth less. [More…]
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Constitutional Review to which 1 have already referred was not particularly happy about that type of gerrymander. [More…]
The Committee concluded that the absence of constitutional guarantees in the Commonwealth Constitution had not prevented the rule of law from characterising the Australian way of life. [More…]
The Committee has nol chosen, therefore, to recommend the writing into the Constitution of a charter of individual liberties. [More…]
Instead, the Committee considers it appropriate, at this stage of Federal history and having regard to recent and contemporary world events, to recommend a constitutional amendment to protect the position of the elector and the democratic processes essential to the proper functioning of the Federal Parliament 329. [More…]
Thus, the Committee concluded that it should recommend the inclusion in the Constitution of provisions ensuring the regular review of the electoral divisions of each State and also accord near uniformity to the value accorded to the votes of the electors for each of the States. [More…]
The Committee considered the extent of the problems which would arise from inserting in the Constitution a requirement that no division in a State should depart from the quota for that State to a greater exent than one-tenth more or one-tenth less. [More…]
lt is no good arguing, as Senators James McClelland argued yesterday, that the Constitution provides for this. [More…]
There is no reference in the Constitution to 2 senators coming from the Northern Territory. [More…]
The Government intends to amend the Electoral Act to provide for 2 senators from the Northern Territory; it does not have to change the Constitution in order to do that. [More…]
As I understand it now, the Government intends to take from the States the very right they have, according to the Constitution, to a controlling involvement in the Senate. [More…]
When one subscribes to a majority report on such a matter as a general review of the Constitution, quite obviously and quite reasonably one subscribes to what is acceptable as a package proposition. [More…]
The terms of our reference were to make a comprehensive review of the Constitution and to bring in recommendations which had, so far as practicable, the greatest unanimous party support that we could give. [More…]
I made it plain that my own opinion, divorced from any countervailing considerations that would enable us to get a package proposition for amendments of the Constitution, was strongly in favour of making allowance for area in respect of electorates and so not be concerned with a mere count of heads. [More…]
If such a redistribution is not carried out, any party can make application to the High Court of Australia stating that Western Australia is not properly represented in the Parliament in accordance with the Act or the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution establishes the Parliament of Australia with a bicameral system comprising a House of the people and a House of the States. [More…]
The Constitution lays down that we must have an upper House for the purpose of protecting the interests of the States. [More…]
The proposal to increase House of Representative’s representation in the Australian Capital Territory to 2 members will be authorised on the basis of section 122 of the Constitution as will the election of 2 Senators for the Australian Capital Territory. [More…]
But the Constitution commits us ito the principle that the number of members of the House of Representatives shall be as near as practicable double the number of members of the Senate. [More…]
Legal opinion is that the provision of senators from Commonwealth Territories - this relates to another part of the Constitution - will not require an increase in the number of members in the House of Representatives. [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution provides: 122. [More…]
The second feature cf the oath or affirmation is that allegiance is to be sworn to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Specific mention of the Queen is not made, but of course allegiance to our Constitution fully embraces allegiance to the Throne. [More…]
The primary purpose of this Bill is to enable Parliament to approve ratification by Australia of amendments to the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation. [More…]
In this the Government is following the example set by the Chifley Government in 1947 on the occasion of major changes to the ILO Constitution following World War II. [More…]
Of course we face difficulties because of our Federal Constitution but if Australia genuinely wishes to ratify conventions ways can be found to do this. [More…]
It is a matter of some embarrassment to Australia that the requirements of the ILO constitution that declarations must be made for these Territories have not yet been fulfilled. [More…]
As I indicated at the outset, its primary purpose is to enable the Parliament to approve ratification by Australia of the amendments to the ILO constitution adopted in 1964 and 1972. [More…]
Amendments to the ILO constitution come into force only when they are ratified or accepted by two-thirds of the member States of the ILO including 5 of the 10 States of chief industrial importance. [More…]
Under the ILO constitution at present, when a member State responsible for the international relations of non-metropolitan territories ratifies an ILO convention there is no specific time limit in which it is required to make declarations providing for the applicability of the convention to its non metropolitan territories. [More…]
The Government is also taking the opportunity while the legislation is before the Parliament to provide for approval of the 2 amendments to the ILO Constitution accepted by the Australian Government on 20th August 1953 and 21 st December 1962. [More…]
The Senate was established by the Constitution and it has to serve certain functions. [More…]
The meeting put forward the suggestion of amending the Constitution. [More…]
So severe and so dramatic have those stresses been, and into so many areas do they intrude, that the States have called for a constitutional convention to take a completely new look at the Constitution to see whether some more equitable and more effective distribution of constitutional power cannot be achieved. [More…]
If this convention is to be held with the maximum goodwill and if it is to achieve a proper constitutional reconciliation and a proper constitutional division of powers, that can only be accomplished in an atmosphere of mutual goodwill. [More…]
Section 30c makes it an offence for a person, by speech or in writing, to advocate or encourage the overthrow of the Constitution of the Commonwealth by revolution or sabotage, the overthrow by force or violence of the established government of the Commonwealth or of a State or of any other civilised country or of organised government, or the destruction or injury of property of the Commonwealth or of property used in trade or commerce with other countries or among the States. [More…]
It came down with the view that the provision in the Constitution should be restored to make the Interstate Commission a viable, operative organisation to control rates that would be charged for the transportation of fuel. [More…]
That view was identical with the recommendation that was put forward by the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review as far back as 1959. [More…]
I have repeated that claim because I think that the Parliament and the people of Australia are going to see in the months ahead a series of alibis and I predict that there will be a seeking of powers of reference under the Constitution because of the failure of price control programs. [More…]
We live under a federal Constitution and with a federal system of government. [More…]
The Senate being the House which was created under that Constitution primarily to have regard to the interests of the States in this federation, I believe that it is our obligation to ensure that the State governments and State parliaments are given every opportunity to have consultations with the Commonwealth Government before a Bill of such magnitude as this is passed by the Senate. [More…]
I point out that under our Constitution there has been a doubt about this matter for 73 years. [More…]
As independent bodies under the Constitution they are entitled to take that step if they see fit to do so. [More…]
From communiques issued to us, it appeared that the meetings reached no agreement except an agreement not to try to solve the central matter at all and not to try to put the question of sovereignty beyond doubt by the only method open to this Parliament - passing legislation making an assertion and allowing the body set up under the Constitution to determine the matter. [More…]
The Commonwealth owes its origin and life to the agreement that was formed between the States and it operates under a Constitution which is fairly explicit. [More…]
The spirit contained in the Constitution may not be so explicit, but if that spirit is denied or not recognised by any of the States of Australia or by the Commonwealth it is a breach of faith in the people who negotiated to form the Commonwealth in the beginning. [More…]
There is nothing written in the Constitution or contained in the spirit behind it which suggests that the Commonwealth should ever be in a position to inflict its will arrogantly upon the sovereign States. [More…]
The States are using the provisions of an outdated Constitution which clearly was written in such a way as not to take into consideration the great changes that have occurred in our national life. [More…]
The States are using this outdated Constitution as an obstruction to the logical processes of Commonwealth jurisdiction. [More…]
The States lost the fight in 1901 when they did not have written into the Constitution a clear definition of who was to be in charge of the waters beyond low water mark. [More…]
I think that we ought firstly to consider our own Constitution to see where it is relevant to debate that issue. [More…]
I believe that it would be readily conceded that, according to constitutional doctrine for the last 40 years, every State has had power to make laws of an extra-territorial operation in regard to anything that affects the peace, order and good government of a State, in most cases out as far as the continental shelf. [More…]
The only thing is that the States’ authority in that respect would always be subject to the overriding authority of the Commonwealth, if the 2 governments make laws within the authority of their own constitutional powers. [More…]
So that Committee, a most able Committee representative of all sections of the Senate, found that that type of legislation denies true ministerial responsibility and excludes from the Constitution the proper resolution of constitutional powers by the High Court of Australia. [More…]
In 1900 we formed the Constitution of Australia which the British Parliament then passed. [More…]
When it tried to alter the Constitution of Australia as the Australian people had expressed it by referendum, the British Parliament, even 73 years ago, met with the most stubborn opposition. [More…]
Complete sovereignty with regard to Australian affairs was then conceded to Australia under its Constitution. [More…]
If an expeditious, final and reliable determination of the issue is wanted, it should be obtained under the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Then, having the expressed will of the Parliament, let the States argue their contention before the constitutional tribunal, the High Court. [More…]
I think he was implying that the Commonwealth was bound under the Constitution to pay ruling rates for the land whereas under State laws, or in some States at any rate, since States have sovereign powers they can resume land for certain purposes without having to pay the full amount for it. [More…]
As the honourable senator is aware, section 101 of the Constitution provides in mandatory terms: [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary far the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
The honourable senator will be aware that an attempt was made in the early days of the Commonwealth to carry out this provision of the Constitution. [More…]
The Commission was established and for some reason it was found to be not constitutional. [More…]
The Commission was in conflict with the proper separation of power because it was given certain functions which would not stand up constitutionally. [More…]
I realise that our Federal Constitution in Australia varies considerably in many respects from that of the United States of America, but there are sufficient similarities to make it desirable, in my view, to examine mutatis mutandis the setting up in this country of a Federal communications commission which would be completely responsible for the control of electro magnetic radiation. [More…]
In each case honourable senators will see that the Government has entered into an agreement: In one case, an agreement with a private company to take over liabilities of more than $40m, and in the other case an agreement with the States to provide grants or loans to those States under the provisions of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
I doubt very much whether this procedure is constitutional where it involves payments to the States. [More…]
I doubt very much whether this procedure is even valid under the Constitution. [More…]
It is certainly quite contrary to the spirit of section 96 of the Constitution, which states: [More…]
I would think it a highly gratuitous piece qf advice by Counsel and highly dubious advice in regard to the clear terms of section 96 of., the Constitution. [More…]
This, seems to me to be an absolute flouting ofconstitutional practice and of the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
The policies which have emerged over the past few years are policies in which the Commonwealth has utilised its power under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution gives to the Commonwealth no power to make laws with respect to housing. [More…]
It is that basis upon which there has been a utilisation of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Council was instructed to make recommendations to the Government for the establishment of the Institute, its functions, powers and constitution and for the site of the Institute. [More…]
These constitutional developments were in accordance with section 122 of the Constitution which provides, in part: [More…]
In 1970 the then Minister for the Interior indicated that his Government: bearing in mind the provisions of section 122 of the Constitution, favours the principle of providing representation for a Territory commensurate with its development and population growth. [More…]
Before I deal with the main argument in support of the Bill I should perhaps refer to the position under the Constitution. [More…]
Section 7 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
The Constitution further provides for an initial number of 6 senators but that the Parliament could make laws increasing or diminishing the number of senators for each State but that equal representation of the States was to be maintained and no original State could have less than 6 senators. [More…]
The Constitution therefore provided for equality of State representation irrespective of the area or the population. [More…]
Section 121 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution is relevant to the question of representation of a Territory in the Federal Parliament. [More…]
It was therefore the clear intention of the founders of the Australian Constitution that Parliament should be empowered to permit representation of residents of the Territories of the Commonwealth in the National Parliament, lt seems clear beyond doubt also that they recognised the injustice of disfranchising a person simply because he transferred from a State to a Territory of the Commonwealth. [More…]
I now refer briefly to a further section of the Constitution which is relevant to the Bill. [More…]
On the basis of advice by the Commonwealth legal advisers, the provision for Territory senators by virtue of section 122 of the Constitution does not cause an alteration in the number of members of the House of Representatives by virtue of section 24. [More…]
Again, because the Australian Parliament is responsible in the Territories for making laws in respect of matters reserved under the Constitution to the States, the Government should be answerable to both Houses of a Parliament each of which includes appropriate representation from the Territories. [More…]
This Bill provides for representation for the Territories in the Senate in a manner different in extent and nature from the representation of the States in the Senate and as I pointed out this difference is authorised by the Constitution. [More…]
The term provided for each of these Territorial senators is not 6 years, the constitutional period for State senators, except in the case of double dissolution. [More…]
The Constitution expressly provides requirements as to the terms of office for senators representing the States. [More…]
The Constitution leaves it to this Parliament to determine the terms of office for senators representing the Territories. [More…]
The Government has adapted the method which was unanimously agreed to 15 years ago by the Constitutional Review Committee, upon which all parties in the House were represented. [More…]
It was recommended by the Committee that the Constitution should be amended to provide that there should be an election for half the senators every time there was an election for the House of Representatives. [More…]
The decision to bring the elections of Territory senators into line with those of the House of Representatives is in accordance with the Constitutional Review Committee’s findings. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution provides, in part, that: [More…]
The Government’s legal advice is that section 24 of the Constitution does not have application in relation to senators who may be provided for a Territory under the provisions of section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
Thus, consistently with section 24 of the Constitution, the introduction of Territory senators will not affect the representation of the States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
Some of this work derives directly from the Constitution and cannot be removed from the jurisdiction of the High Court. [More…]
The Bill deletes any mention of the Queen from the oath or affirmation of allegiance and provides for the swearing of allegiance to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
There is a reference to the Constitution and a crystal clear explanation that the Queen is the symbolic head or the Queen of Australia. [More…]
I think perhaps the silliest feature of the so-called improvements is the swearing of the oath to the Constitution and not to the Queen. [More…]
It says: Take the oath to the Constitution’. [More…]
Whatever objections there may be to the Queen - I do not see any - there are infinitely more objections to the Constitution because the Constitution is simply an Act of the Parliament of Westminster and it has nothing to do with this Parliament at all in its essence and origin. [More…]
I do not think that the swearing to the Constitution has an ominous ring about it. [More…]
I question whether there is any allegiance involved in simply upholding the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Following speakers referred to the use of the terms ‘the Crown’ or ‘the Constitution’. [More…]
All honourable senators are exhorted at times to be aware of the oath we take to uphold the Constitution. [More…]
B., swear by Almighty God that I will faithfully uphold the Constitution of Australia, observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen. [More…]
Secondly, there will no longer be direct reference to the Monarch but rather .the candidate will undertake to uphold the Australian Constitution in which, of course, the role of the Monarch is just as important as before. [More…]
The Minister for the Media (Senator Douglas McClelland) quite wisely and helpfully read through for us the several forms of words, both as they exist in the present Act and as they apply to the Royal style and title and to my own amendment this afternoon, and included a reference to the Constitution. [More…]
The second feature of the oathor affirmation is that allegiance is to be sworn to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Specific mention of the Queen is not made, but of course allegiance to our Constitution fully embraces allegiance to the Throne. [More…]
They are unmatched grants which are made under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is an interesting book called ‘Labor and the Constitution’ by Mr E. G. Whitlam, [More…]
Section 96 of the Constitution is very relevant to this measure and the purpose of making it possible for a State by reasonable effort to function at a standard not appreciably below that of another State. [More…]
The Bill retains the traditional functions of the Grants Commission in the provision of special grants under section 96 of the Constitution to claimant States. [More…]
Members of the Senate Select Committee on Water Pollution found that there were certain difficulties associated with the operation of sections of the Constitution where waterways moved from one local authority area to another. [More…]
If it is wished to control such a waterway for the purpose of obviating pollution or controlling pollution there are grave constitutional difficulties and grave differences between various local government authorities. [More…]
Every time the States ask for additional assistance, every time they are forced to place themselves on the bounty of a financially all-powerful Commonwealth, they strengthen the position against themselves under the Constitution. [More…]
Unless the States are to be placed permanently in the position of mendicants, whose sovereign independence is a mere sham, it is imperative in their interests and in the interests of the people of Australia as a whole, that some way should be found under the Constitution to get rid of this want of balance, so as to make the independence of State legislative and executive authorities a real thing. [More…]
It indicates clearly that the founders of the Constitution, the various State Premiers Conferences and Commonwealth Parliaments have never found a way out of this impasse of StateCommonwealth financial relations. [More…]
I remember reading about the first conventions that were held to formulate the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I start by directing the attention of the Senate to a statement which was repeated the other day by Senator Cotton and which is contained in the printed book ‘Labor and the Constitution’ by Mr E. G. Whitlam. [More…]
That Committee seeks in its recommendations to by-pass the States which the Constitution vests with direct powers in regard to education, and predictably to establish regions, amorphous bodies, which the Labor Party proposes to develop. [More…]
All this is done under section 96 of the Constitution, which I think provides a dubious foundation for application to local government Section 96 states: [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution envisages that local government shall be under the supervision of State government, not of Federal government. [More…]
All that a Federal Government which believed that local government should get more money would have to do would be to use section 96 of the Constitution to make more money available to the States for distribution through the States grants commissions. [More…]
I speak with particular reference to the special interest of Tasmania, the smallest State and the one which in every year since the Grants Commission was introduced in the middle 1930s has been an applicant to that Commission to assess the special finance that should be made available to it under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, the whole Constitution is tied to this chamber. [More…]
The prohibition of strike is therefore clearly relevant to the constitution of the tribunal for industrial disputes. [More…]
Three of the conventions which the Bill seeks to approve deal with the constitution of the International Labour Organisation. [More…]
And, unless he is personally involved, will he as Attorney-General supply to the Senate a professional statement on whether the acquisition of leases by members of Parliament contravenes the provisions of the Constitution which prevent members from having contracts with the Crown? [More…]
If in legislation one finds the expression ‘the Commonwealth’ so that under the Constitution the laws made by the Parliament are to apply in every part of the Commonwealth, does that include the external territories as well as the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory? [More…]
The Government probably has not turned to its powers in the field of social services where, for long since - I think, since the original Constitution - it has had the power to provide maternity allowances. [More…]
We believe that this proposal is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution by which the sovereign States agreed to the establishment of the Federal Parliament. [More…]
The people responsible for drafting the Constitution acted very wisely in this respect as this principle gave a reasonable guarantee to the 3 smaller States that they would have an equal voice in the Senate and provided a balance to the House of Representatives where they were decidedly outnumbered by New South Wales and Victoria. [More…]
This is the belief of MrIan Wilson, M.H.R., and, he claims, a growing number of ‘Australian Constitution watchers’. [More…]
Although there is no provision in the Constitution for this, I am sure that the architects of that document would have expected adequate consultation before such a move was ever contemplated. [More…]
In 1967 a congressional committee considered a proposal that the District of Columbia be represented by 2 senators but the Constitution was not so amended. [More…]
The Constitution gives Parliament a relatively free hand in providing for parliamentary representation for a Territory, lt can allow representation ‘in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit’. [More…]
However, when it comes to the Senate, the Constitution reads, ‘The Senate shall be composed of senators for each State . [More…]
In ‘Annotated Constitution’ Quick and Garran had this to say: [More…]
The problem to be solved in the case of the Australian colonies desiring to federate was similar to that which had to be solved by the framers of the American Constitution; it was - how to reconcile the creation of a strong national government with the claims and susceptibilities of separate and, in their own eyes, quasi-sovereign States. [More…]
The addition of 4 territorial senators would, I believe, upset the balance and the constitutional role of the Senate as a States House. [More…]
As we all know, the Senate is unquestionably the most important of all the Federal features of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The question of Territory representation in the Senate, and indeed in Parliament generally, was the subject of considerable debate at the constitutional convention and also in the United States of America, on the Senate of which country our Senate was so closely modelled. [More…]
It was also the subject of a good deal of comment in Quick and Garran’s commentaries on the Constitution. [More…]
There are some doubts as to the constitutional validity of this legislation. [More…]
It appears to me, one who is not a constitutional lawyer, and no doubt if this legislation is passed the constitutional lawyers will argue, that there is some conflict in the Constitution because, as already mentioned by Senator Jessop, section 7 of the Constitution says: [More…]
The Senate is one of the most conspicuous, and unquestionably the most important, of all federal features of the Constitution, using the word federal in the sense of linking together and uniting a number of co-equal political communities, under a common system of government. [More…]
They are so represented for the purpose of enabling them to maintain and protect their constitutional rights against attempted invasions . [More…]
He then goes on in his minority report, after quoting the United States Constitution which is the same as our own, that is, equality of representation as between the States, to say: [More…]
The Constitution should not be amended to formalise that fiction. [More…]
The Founding Fathers ensured that the constitutional rights of the States were maintained and protected by providing in the Constitution equality of representation of the original States on the basis that the colonies prior to [More…]
Federation were equal constitutionally and politically. [More…]
Section 7 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
The Constitution, in section 122, also provides that the Parliament may allow representation of Commonwealth territories ‘in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit’. [More…]
But such territory representatives in the Senate under this Bill are to have full voting rights and could as non-State representatives hold the balance of power in an institution set up to safeguard the interests of the States - a principle embodied in the Constitution without which Federation would not have been accomplished. [More…]
Although provision was made in the Constitution for representation of territories in the Parliament, our Founding Fathers did not envisage that such representatives would have voting rights. [More…]
It appears te mc that we are again doing as we have been doing very frequently during the discussion of this Bill, namely, trying te put into the Constitution things which ought to be dealt with hereafter by the Commonwealth. [More…]
These delegates sit and speak, but have no right to vote, being unrecognised by the Constitution. [More…]
This Constitution is on a little more liberal basis than that in this respect: the Commonwealth in the case of the secession of a territory which is cumbersome, gives power to allow the representation of it in either House of Parliament under the terms which the Parliament thinks fit. [More…]
It is quite as much as they can have the right to expect, and tab is a more liberal provision than is to be found m the American Constitution. [More…]
This is the fact as regards the representation of colonies under the American Constitution, but we have nothing in the clause to show that it is to be the fact here also. [More…]
At a time when all the States, together with the Commonwealth, are in the process of holding a convention to look at all things pertaining to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, would anyone not believe that all these matters should have been submitted for consideration? [More…]
The Senate of the United States is an assembly of States and it is the deep concern of many of my colleagues that representation in the Senate by political entities other than States presents so fundamental a change of concept as to destroy the present constitutional character of that body. [More…]
Fears of that eventuality can be allayed by the dear mandate of the Constitution. [More…]
An amendment to our Constitution is in order. [More…]
Under section 122 of the Constitution, the Parliament may make laws for the government of its Territories and to assist it in its task a Legislative Council has been established in the Northern Territory and an Advisory Council in the Australian Capital Territory. [More…]
The fundamental proposition put by the honourable senator is answered by the Constitution itself. [More…]
The people, therefore, are entitled to that representation in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution recognises that. [More…]
It has been conceded that those who will be elected to this chamber will not be senators in the sense of senators representing the States; the nexus between the Senate and the House of Representatives will not be affected; altogether, it is a good proposal and is in accordance with the provisions of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Section 122 of the Australian Constitution empowers the Parliament to make provision for representation of a Territory in either House of the Parliament. [More…]
The Government’s legal advice is that Section 24 of the Constitution does not have application in relation to Senators who may be provided for a Territory under Section 122 and therefore the provision of Senatorial representation for the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory would not require an alteration in the number of Members of the House of Representatives. [More…]
If the situation is that all South Australia’s supplies are to be provided from the Canberra factory, does the Minister believe, as Minister for Primary Industry, that his agreement with the various State Ministers for Agriculture will be completely flouted by this attempt by Marrickville to hide behind section 92 of the Constitution and thereby avoid the quota restriction which supposedly was put on by Mr Enderby when Marrickville was permitted to be the sole manufacturer of margarine in Canberra? [More…]
High Court should be in a position at the pinnacle of our judicial system, able to concentrate on its work of being the ultimate appellate court and also on its work of interpreting the Constitution. [More…]
As to the income tax concession the honourable senator has asked me to consider for the whole of Tasmania, as a supplement to the existing income tax zone allowance, I point out the possible implications for that suggestion arising out of Section 51 (ii) of the Constitution. [More…]
The Governor-General is the viceroy of the Queen of Australia (Constitution, sections 2, 61 and 68). [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution provides that the number of members chosen in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people. [More…]
Thus, the Constitution itself ensures equality of representation between States based on the numbers of people resident in those States, a condition which the Australian Labor Party believes should also apply within the several States. [More…]
Obviously, the founders of the Constitution did not take cognizance of the area, density or sparsity of population and disabilities arising out of remoteness or distance, in framing section 24. [More…]
I want to put the record straight and say on behalf of many of my colleagues that we have reached this conclusion on our understanding of the problem and not because it happens to be a rule of the constitution of the Party to which we belong. [More…]
The power and privileges of the Senate as one House of the Parliament deriving immense inherent powers from the House of Commons and the unexaminable authority with which our Constitution clothes those powers must be exercised with responsibility and restraint. [More…]
I think that the Minister for Primary Industry who is at the table intends that the proposal that we have before us which is headed ‘Joint Committee on the Northern Territory-Draft Terms of Reference into the Constitution Development of the Northern Territory’, shall be incorporated in Hansard and that the Committee will be obliged to accept the Minister’s first requirement. [More…]
It will look at the constitution of the Northern Territory. [More…]
Of course, one of the first matters the Committee will consider is the constitution as it stands and it’ will endeavour to bring down a recommendation to this Parliament that it should give the people of the Northern Territory a fully elected Legislative Council at the next election. [More…]
I hope that before Senator Webster goes out of this place he will stand on his feet in this House and say that the Committee has done its work in the very way the Minister wants it done, that is, to give constitutional reform to the people of the Northern Territory, which was lacking for so many years under the Government which the honourable senator supported. [More…]
I refer to the decision made last week at the Constitutional Convention whereby, I gather, the Australian Government proposes to hold a referendum aimed at amending the Australian Constitution to enable powers to be referred by this Parliament to State Parliaments. [More…]
There was some mention by the Prime Minister at the Constitutional Convention of retail sales tax. [More…]
No doubt this would be one of the matters which possibly could be subject to such a reference because the view taken seems to be that this would be covered by that provision of the Constitution- I think it is section 90- which makes such matters exclusively the province of the Australian Parliament. [More…]
The Committee will be familiar I think with the forms of words whereby the Government’s measure holds that the oath should refer to the Constitution of Australia and not to the Sovereign and that the renunciation of all other allegiance should be deleted. [More…]
To support the constitution of the United States. [More…]
In deleting the words ‘the Constitution of Australia’ we presented the argument to the Senate that people declaring allegiance to this country declared it to a head of state, and in our system in Australia a person is the head of state, and that person is Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia. [More…]
The main gist of the OPPOsition’s argument seems to be that the requirement to adhere to the Australian Constitution is, in the eyes of the Opposition, inadequate. [More…]
We do not have to go back so far- only to the previous debate- to recall that Senator Davidson’s clarion call then was that the terminology used referred to the Australian Constitution and he virtually interpreted it to mean that we had submerged any reference to the Royal Family. [More…]
Therefore I cast grave doubts on the constitutionality of the legislation which is now presented to this chamber. [More…]
Those doubts are accompanied by a reference to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act- that is the Act of the British Parliament to which the Australian Constitution is annexed as a schedule or a part- which constitutes the Commonwealth of Australia, to the intervening Statute of Westminster, to the Colonial Laws Validity Act, and to the Acts Interpretation Act. [More…]
It should be noted that the preamble of The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, to which the actual Constitution is an annexure, states: [More…]
Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almightly God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and under the Constitution hereby established . [More…]
It is a Commonwealth established under the crown of the United Kingdom and it is subject to the Constitution thereby enacted. [More…]
One is the dependence of the Federal Commonwealth under the Crown and the second is the Government of the Federal Commonwealth under the Constitution. [More…]
Prior to the Constitution of Australia Act the Colonial Laws Validity Act of 1 865 applied to the then Australian colonies. [More…]
Constitutional conventions have taken place since the enactment of the Statute of Westminster and they are referred to in the preamble to the Statute of Westminster, lt states: [More…]
I turn now to the covering clauses of the Australian Constitution because my proposition is this: That the oath of allegiance must be an oath personalised to the British Sovereign, to the sovereign of the United Kingdom personalised by name, and that merely to make the oath of allegiance to the office of the Queen of Australia is something which this Parliament is not constitutionally competent to do. [More…]
Covering clause 1 of the Constitution states: [More…]
This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. [More…]
Covering clause 2 of the Australian Constitution Act indicates, as do the other clauses, that this is all subject to the law of the Commonwealth of which that is now part and everything therefore must operate within the metes and bounds of that law. [More…]
Covering clause 3 of the Constitution empowers the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation [More…]
Under covering clause 6 of the Constitution, the Statutory definition, it is mandatory that [More…]
Every Act shall be read and construed subject to the Constitution, and so as not to exceed the legislative power of the Commonwealth, to the intent that where any enactment thereof would, but for this section, have been construed as being in excess of that power, it shall nevertheless be a valid enactment to the extent to which it is not in excess of that power. [More…]
In other words the propositions put forward so far to the Senate are that the Queen is the Queen of Australia in right and title of her Queenship of the United Kingdom; that any law that we enact here must be in terms of the law enacted in the Australian Constitution Act and the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The implications of section 8 of the Statute of Westminster, read together with the preamble of the Act- that is the Constitution Act- and the covering clause 2 of that Act, raise the constitutional question whether it is possible for Australia in these circumstances to evolve an Act of succession. [More…]
The affirmation in the Schedule to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia states: [More…]
Clause 2 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, to which I have already refer-, red, reads: [More…]
Senator Byrne quoted the Constitution and the oath of allegiance which members of Parliament are supposed to take. [More…]
The Government, in considering this amendment to the oath of allegiance, was mindful of public reaction to its first proposal which would require prospective Australian citizens to swear to uphold the Australian Constitution. [More…]
But while the Government believes that it has support among the community for the form of the oath of allegiance to the Australian Constitution put forward in the Citizenship Bill, we have accepted the intent of the Senate amendment that was moved by Senator Davidson, I think, in June last in the spirit of compromise. [More…]
B. swear by Almighty God that I will faithfully uphold the Constitution of Australia, observe the laws of Australia and fulfill my duties as an Australian citizen. [More…]
That proposal was not acceptable to the Senate and on the motion of Senator Davidson, supported at the time by, I think, Senator Little, speaking on behalf of the Democratic Labor Party, the Senate amended that proposed oath of allegiance to uphold the Constitution of Australia to read: [More…]
We in turn, in a spirit of compromise, have taken out of the text of the Bill the proposal regarding the Constitution and have now said that the proposed oath of allegiance under the proposal now coming from the House of Representatives should be: [More…]
I know that constitutionally some point may be raised that because the Australian Constitution defines the monarch as ‘the Queen of the United Kingdom, Her heirs and successors according to law’ we ought to retain in our royal style and titles provision the reference to Queen Elizabeth the Second of the United Kingdom. [More…]
That is, of course, a position which is reflected in the provisions of our Constitution. [More…]
In section 2 of the Constitution Act the following words appear: [More…]
Upon examination of paragraph 1 of the Commonwealth Constitution one finds, for example, that the legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Parliament which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate and a House of Representatives. [More…]
It is clear that the Queen, in the terms of the Constitution Act and our Constitution, is the Queen according to the law of the United Kingdom. [More…]
Whether we like it or not, in effect you are saying that what Senator Greenwood said is right but that he is right because or the Australian Constitution which is an Act of the British Parliament. [More…]
But until that is done we have to comply with the law and the constitution as it stands. [More…]
In the legal and constitutional sense- in the Constitution as we are required to observe it- that does not happen, and that is the proposition we have propounded. [More…]
I only rise because I share the concern that Senator Byrne has expressed that we ought to recognise that what is being done under this Bill, as I am sure the AttorneyGeneral himself will acknowledge, is consistent with the earlier legislation which it amends and with the Constitution which it gives expression to. [More…]
I suggested that increased power was available under section 101 and 104 of the Constitution and that the inter-state commission might be available to help. [More…]
This could be done under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Under this Bill, the Government proposes to ask the people of Australia to approve an amendment to the Constitution to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices. [More…]
At the Convention on the Constitution a fortnight ago the Prime Minister outlined the various courses open to us. [More…]
He said that the Australian Government could seek a constitutional change by referendum, but acknowledged that the process takes some months, the number of months depending upon the attitude taken by the Senate. [More…]
In approaching this or any other reform of the Constitution, we have to take account of the realities. [More…]
This was the basic approach taken by the Prime Minister at the Constitutional Convention in Sydney a fortnight ago. [More…]
Another publication is to be a book about the Australian Constitution which is considered suitable for senior high school students and the general public. [More…]
This will apply now and for evermore because it will be written into the Constitution that this Federal Government will have power to grapple with inflation and the inflow of money to the people of Australia. [More…]
It takes the attitude now that it is a good political stunt to oppose what we are trying to write into the Constitution. [More…]
As the world economy shows and as the history of Australia shows, the Constitution of Australia does not give power to the government of the day, whether it be Labor, Liberal, or whatever, to deal with prices. [More…]
What we intend to do, in addition to all the things we have done in 9 months- we have shown more initiative in 9 months than the previous Government did in 23 years- is go to the final masters, the final judges in all of these things- the Australian people- to ask them to give us authority to write permanently into the Constitution of Australia the powers for this Government and future governments to deal with the whole question of prices. [More…]
Contingent on the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1973 having been received from the House of Representatives that Standing Order 242 be suspended to enable the third reading of the Bill to be passed without a call of the Senate. [More…]
Before the Third Reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a Call of the Senate. [More…]
At page 284 Mr Odgers, in pointing out that standing order 242 had been suspended to enable the third reading of the Constitution Alteration Bill to be passed without a call of the Senate, stated that for precedents one should refer to Journals of the Senate, 1 950-5 1 , at page 1 49, and 1 95 1 -53, at page 49.I will not weary the Senate with a dissertation on that which appears in Mr Odgers ‘ fine work. [More…]
The Bill which requires us to take this action requests the Australian Parliament to approve a referendum to amend the Constitution to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices. [More…]
Under the Constitution, the power, if given to the Australian Parliament, will reside in the Parliament. [More…]
If we succeed in defeating this Bill and the Government wants to bring it forward again in 3 months time, as it is entitled to do under section 128 of the Constitution, we will again vote against the Bill. [More…]
One can only applaud the wisdom of the men who drew up the Constitution for their action in giving this House of Parliament concurrent powers with the House of Representatives. [More…]
During the course of his speech in opposition to the second reading of the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill which was introduced by the Attorney-General (Senator Murphy) yesterday seeking referral to the Australian people for a referendum on the control of prices, not only did he say that he opposed price control being imposed but also that he was against letting the Australian people determine by referendum whether there should be price control. [More…]
He again raised it at the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
This Bill requests Parliament to approve a referendum to amend the Constitution to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices. [More…]
Under the Constitution, as the Opposition knows, the power should reside in the Australian Parliament. [More…]
He tried to interpret the Constitution as saying that the Government or the Opposition or a senator or a member can put to the people a question to be decided by referendum; whereas the Constitution lays down that the Parliament will decide whether and what questions are to be put to the people, and this is precisely what is happening in this national Parliament this week. [More…]
If so, the Constitution must be altered. [More…]
The Government, in a bit of political gimmickry, decided to introduce this Bill to alter the Constitution so as to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices. [More…]
Section5 1 of the Constitution is altered by inserting after paragraph (xiv) the following paragraph: (xivA.) [More…]
But I believe that the public will be grateful to the founding fathers who, in drawing up our Constitution, made it very difficult for it to be altered. [More…]
As we all know, a majority of the people and of the States has to be obtained before the Constitution can be altered. [More…]
If one does not want the Constitution to be altered, it is customary for one to vote ‘No’. [More…]
A celebrated statesman of earlier years, when stating why constitutional amendments had a long history of defeat, said that it was obvious that they always would have because of the way the Constitution was set up. [More…]
I have emphasised that the writers of the Constitution, as history has proved, knew their job and that it is difficult to alter the Constitution. [More…]
In rising to support the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill I will startle honourable members on this side of the chamber by a most unusual utterance. [More…]
Legislation in the same form has been brought into the House of Representatives and it will be brought into this chamber, there having elapsed the time required under the Constitution which might invoke the deadlock provision. [More…]
The purpose of the motion is to allow the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1973 to be proceeded with. [More…]
The Government is seeking to press on with a Bill in order that the people of Australia may express their views on the ultimate document- the Australian Constitutionwhich is always a matter paramount even over what might be called the business of either House. [More…]
The message which was forwarded with the Bill requests the Senate to concur in the view that the people should be asked to express an opinion promptly on a constitutional alteration. [More…]
Therefore, it is on grave and weighty grounds that the Senate is asked to forgo General Business this evening in order that the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill- Government Businessshould proceed if it has not been dealt with already. [More…]
As I understand section 128 of the Constitution, it is the Houses of Parliament, not governments, that present referenda to the people. [More…]
But we take this point: A bill to amend the Constitution is not like any other bill that comes before the Parliament. [More…]
We feel that there is an unpleasant atmosphere of high pressure about the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill. [More…]
Last Monday it was regarded as an important constitutional matter by the Government and it was forced through the House of Representatives in a couple of hours. [More…]
The Leader of the Government in the Senate (Senator Murphy) said today that the important thing was for the Senate to pass the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill. [More…]
Senator McManus said that a vote could not be taken today on the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill. [More…]
I would have thought that by now every honourable senator knows how he will vote on the question of putting a referendum to the people relating to the Constitution. [More…]
It is also necessary to get the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill through as well. [More…]
Representatives in putting to the people of Australia the question whether they should decide for themselves to alter their constitution in order to enable the Commonwealth Parliament to legislate in relation to prices. [More…]
I see no reason why the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill should not come to an early determination. [More…]
We would like an early decision on that Bill because, even it it were to be passed through all stages today and all the necessary steps including the suspension of Standing Orders taken today, there would be certain constraints on its implementation in that the Constitution provides that this proposal cannot be put to the people by the Government- I repeat ‘by the Government’ because it is put by the Government - [More…]
But, under the Constitution, it cannot be put until 2 months after it passes through the Parliament. [More…]
The people hold the view-quite rightly, I believe-that the old masters who drew up the Constitution did a very good job to protect the States, particularly those States that have not the population and therefore the votiong strength of some other States. [More…]
So we find on this occasion that the Government, and particularly the left wing academics, see an opportunity through this problem of inflation to hoodwink the people into changing the Constitution. [More…]
Thank God those who wrote the Constitution of Australia have been able to prevent that sort of thing from happening. [More…]
I wish to direct some remarks to this Bill which proposes a referendum to alter the Australian Constitution, and I wish to talk in general about price control and some of the measurements of Government policy which have affected our economy during the past few months. [More…]
I wonder whether it includes Government charges for services, power, communications, postage and all those things which it is within the power of the Government to vary, I wonder whether prices of that sort are envisaged in the Government’s definition which would be affected by this constitutional alteration. [More…]
If we have a power over prices and a power to control them, within the ambit of the Australian Constitution, for the Federal Government to use, does this mean that the Government will use that power as a price freeze control or will it use that power as a price rise justification in terms of the Prices Justification Tribunal which it has already set up? [More…]
If we were to consider that as an alternative to the present measure of referring the power to control prices permanently to the Commonwealth by altering our Constitution we could be adopting a more realistic approach and doing something which could have an immediate effect and which would have the co-operation of the people of Australia. [More…]
I know that there would be a campaign putting forward points of view for and against any alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
If the Senate is to be used as part of the process of educating and informing the Australian public about the proposed alteration to the Constitution, opportunity should be taken for a full and developed debate on this subject. [More…]
So it was extraordinary that an attempt was made to suspend the Standing Orders in dealing with a Bill as important as one seeking to alter the Australian Constitution. [More…]
To conclude my remarks, I stress my opposition to any alteration to the Australian Constitution seeking to give control of prices in isolation to an Australian Government. [More…]
At the moment the Senate is discussing the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill under which it is proposed to ask the people to alter the Constitution in order to give the Commonwealth [More…]
It is reasonable to expect that in regard to such an important matter as the changing of the Australian Constitution there should be a free and unfettered discussion in the Senate on the subject. [More…]
I could not help but notice a peculiarity in the debate this morning in regard to the Labor Party’s approach to changes in the Australian Constitution. [More…]
It was proposed that the Australian Constitution be changed by acts of all the State parliaments. [More…]
In spite of the fact that the proposals were so far reaching- in fact, they swept away the Constitution- the Labor Government laid down that those measures had to be carried before the members of Parliament returned home at the end of the week. [More…]
It seems to me to be a disgraceful concept to be adopted in regard to an important change in the Constitution. [More…]
I cannot see where the vital urgency is in regard to this matter which concerns the Constitution of the people, something that many people in this country still regard as sacred, to be treated in this cavalier fashion and for discussion to be denied. [More…]
What a way to alter the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Yet here we have a partisan conferencewe could not get a more partisan body in the Commonwealth of Australia- setting itself up as a means by which the Australian Constitution shall be altered without regard whatever to the big percentage of the Australian population which has nothing to do with the ALP Conference. [More…]
This is a Bill to alter the Constitution. [More…]
The Senate is debating a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices. [More…]
What it seeks to do is to add to section 5 1 of the Constitution which sets out the powers of the Commonwealth Parliament, a new paragraph ( XiVA.) [More…]
The Government knows that the Commonwealth Constitution protects the people of Australia against hasty ‘ railroading of referendums by making it impossible for a referendum to be presented for at least 2 months and no more than 6 months from the time of the passage of the enabling Bill through this Parliament. [More…]
The very essence of the Constitution means that if the Government is to discharge its proper duty it should allow not precisely 2 months but at least 2 months- somewhere between 2 and 6 monthsfor this problem to be ruminated in public. [More…]
Even if the Senate debated this Bill for the next day or two with the greatest of haste, and by so doing it would fail to discharge its duty under the Constitution and its Standing Orders by deserting its full responsibilities, this power could not be granted to the Government until December. [More…]
There is now a strong probability that there is full and adequate power, even in the Constitution itself. [More…]
So what Dr Cairns said on behalf of his Party was that it would use the powers which it believed existed in the Constitution and that it would test those powers in the courts. [More…]
We, the Senate, are charged by the Constitution and by our Standing Orders to be a House of review and to respect the terms of the Commonwealth Constitution and specifically to respect standing order 242, which is conceived in the very nature of the Senate, which is the child of the Constitution. [More…]
In the same vein, the Constitution says that between 2 and 6 months must elapse between the time when the Bills are passed and when the questions are put to the people. [More…]
As an interval of over 3 months has now elapsed, during which the Senate has failed to pass this measure under the terms of section 57 of the Constitution, the Bill is being introduced so that it may be again passed by this House without amendment, and returned to the Senate for its further consideration. [More…]
In short we have provided for the Government the opportunity on which, if it chooses to avail itself of the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution, it may go to the Governor-General and ask for a double dissolution and thereby put its record to the judgment of the Australian people. [More…]
It is an area in which I understand certain discretion is vested by the Constitution in the Governor-General. [More…]
If we find that the reference of Bills to a committee for further consideration- just as on this occasion a Bill was deferred to enable consultation with the States to take place in an area which is of vital concern to the Commonwealth and the Statesthereby risks the House of Representatives taking the view that the Senate has failed to pass the legislation, we may be placed in the position that we have to acknowledge our rights under the Constitution or abandon the committee system as an aid to legislation. [More…]
As an interval of over 3 months has now elapsed, during which the Senate has failed to pass this measure under the terms of section 57 of the Constitution, the Bill has been again passed by the House of Representatives without amendment, and returned to the Senate for its further consideration. [More…]
The Government has now agreed to these matters being dealt with immediately this afternoon and prior to the resumption of the debate on the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill. [More…]
This Act may be cited as the Constitution Alteration (Prices) 1973. [More…]
No reason at all was given as to why this clause has the description ‘Constitution Alteration (Prices)’. [More…]
This Act may be cited as the Constitution Alteration (Prices) 1973. [More…]
He said that the Bill exhibited all the marks of haste because that clause contained a serious error in that we had left out the word ‘Act’ in the short title and that the clause should have read ‘Constitution Alteration (Prices ) Act 1 973 ‘. [More…]
My understanding is that in Constitution alteration proposals one never includes in the title a reference to the word ‘Act’ because if the Bill is passed it goes to the people. [More…]
There is an amendment of the Constitution. [More…]
For example, in 1907 the short title was ‘Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections) 1906’. [More…]
In 1910 it was ‘Constitution Alteration (State Debts) 1909’. [More…]
In 1929 it was ‘Constitution Alteration (State Debts) 1928’. [More…]
In 1946, the proposal relating to social services was ‘Constitution Alteration (Social Services) 1946’. [More…]
There were the 1913 Bills which included the Constitution Alteration (Trade and Commerce) 1913, the Constitutional Alteration (Industrial Matters) 1913, the Constitutional Alteration (Railway Disputes) 1913 and the Constitutional Alteration (Nationalisation of Monopolies) 1913. [More…]
The Senate is continuing the debate on the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1973, the effect of which is to insert into the Constitution a paragraph which the Government seeks to give it power over prices. [More…]
-This debate on the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill is one of the most amazing debates that I have witnessed in the Senate. [More…]
-We are discussing the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill which provides for the holding of a referendum to give the Commonwealth power to control the prices of any goods which are sold. [More…]
-Senator BYRNE (Queensland) (9.48)-I intervene on behalf of the Australian Democratic Labor Party at this point to indicate the attitude of the Party to the Constitutional Alteration (Prices) Bill. [More…]
As honourable senators know, last week I gave notice of the introduction of the Constitution Alteration (Prices and Incomes) Bill. [More…]
The motion seeks to suspend the standing order which otherwise would require the lapse of 2 1 days between the passing of the second reading of the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill, which is about to be debated, and the putting of the motion for the third reading of the Bill. [More…]
The Constitution provides that there must be a lapse of 2 months between the assent to the Bill by the Governor-General and the presentation of the referendum to the people. [More…]
It has to be suspended because the consideration which one would suppose a constitutional alteration requires has not been given to this proposal. [More…]
It has been thoughtfully put into the Standing Orders because of the unique role that the Senate plays in all constitutional amendments. [More…]
It provides that before the third reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a call of the Senate, which requires 2 1 days notice. [More…]
This was put in for the purpose of requiring thoughtful processes to go into the preparation of constitutional amendments, just as the founding fathers in section 128 of the Constitution required that a Bill for the amendment of the Constitution, once passed its third reading stage, should not be impulsively and promptly pumped out to the public for debate tomorrow. [More…]
As we know section 128 of the Constitution requires that there shall be a delay of at least 2 months so that a proper campaign and proper debate can take place in the country on the matter. [More…]
The proposition before us is that we should allow rapid passage of the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill so that the referendum can be placed before the people in the proper manner. [More…]
If the 2 proposed amendments to the Constitution to give the Government control over prices and incomes are passed at the referendum to be held later this year, will he assure the House that his Government will use both powers and not just the power over prices? [More…]
Very often we cannot tell whether a referendum will go through because there is a caution in the minds of the Australian people when it comes to fiddling around with the Constitution which was given such a great deal of thought when it was first created. [More…]
But the hard cold fact is that when the Constitution was written the writers of the Constitution provided- and it was agreed to by this Parliament- that it would be very difficult to alter the Constitution in the future. [More…]
Because of that, and also because of the efficiency of those who drew up the Constitution, there have been very few alterations to the Constitution since 1 90 1 . [More…]
The Constitution laid down that there would be 2 Houses of Parliament- a bicameral system of government- and if the bicameral system of government means anything, in my view it means 2 principal things. [More…]
In other words, the Constitution, by providing for 2 Houses of Parliament, ensured that the voice of public opinion could be heard by the parliamentarians, the Government and principally the senators sitting in the Upper House, and this has happened so far. [More…]
The Constitution also provides that Parliament should draw up its Standing Orders, and the Standing Orders of the Parliament provides the further safeguard that the rights of the people shall be upheld and that the people, if they so desire, shall be able to make their voices heard before the Parliament takes any action in respect of which the people want to express their opinion to the parliamentarians. [More…]
So in drawing up the Standing Orders the Parliament has made it more difficult to alter the Constitution by including standing order 242 which this debate is all about. [More…]
So the Constitution, our Standing Orders and our system of government have provided for a delay so that the people can make their opinions heard. [More…]
The Government introduced the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill for a referendum to be put to the people exclusively on the question of prices. [More…]
We introduced into this place the Constitution Alteration (Prices and [More…]
The impression has been created here that if a stand had been taken against the Government’s Bill, the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill, the referendum would not have taken place and that any conferring of powers on the Commonwealth Government could not have taken place because no referendum Bill would have been carried. [More…]
I am surprised that the impression has been given, particularly by those who are legally equipped, that such would have been the position because, under section 128 of the Constitution, the contrary is the position. [More…]
In response to what has been put by Senator Greenwood I say that it seems reasonable for the short title of a- Bill which seeks to insert in section 5 1 of the Constitution the word ‘prices’ to be ‘.Constitutional Alteration (Prices) 1973’. [More…]
Over the years, whenever an endeavour has been made to put something into the- ‘Constitution which is of such a short nature, it has, as I recall it, been described in this way. [More…]
After all, it is only the short title of what, if it is accepted by the people, would become a Constitution alteration. [More…]
more and no less than would be comprehended in the Constitutional alteration. [More…]
Under this clause it is proposed that the one word ‘prices’ be inserted in the Constitution among the other matters which are particularly described there as heads of Commonwealth power. [More…]
The meaning of the word prices’, if it comes into the Constitution by reason of the decision of the people following the vote of the Senate today, will be a matter in the ultimate for determination by the High Court of Australia. [More…]
It is no use anyone suggesting that we in this chamber can lay down with precision the limits to the meaning of the word ‘prices’, the word ‘banking’, the word ‘insurance’, or the other words which are set out in the legislative powers conferred on this Parliament by section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: [More…]
It was the view of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review, which was set up by this Parliament, that an amendment to the Constitution ought to be made to cover television. [More…]
A similar situation occurred in relation to a number of other provisions contained in section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
So do not let us suggest that there is anything extraordinary about the fact that there may be imprecision as to the limits of the meaning of a word such as prices’ when set in section 51 of the Constitution. [More…]
I would think also that it would be a very reasonable proposition that if there is not power elsewhere in the Constitution to enable this Parliament to deal with the subject matter of interest there ought to be such power. [More…]
The important thing to remember all the way through is that what we are dealing with is a broad power, necessarily vague because it is a constitutional legislative power. [More…]
What is being given is what has been given before- and in the wisdom of those who drew up the Constitution and of those who drew up other constitutions, these legislative powers were always given in the broad and general way which is proposed by this measure. [More…]
Precise definition was more difficult then, but here we are now with one specific word proposed by the Government to be inserted into the Constitution, and it is the obligation of the Government, which will have the responsibility if this referendum is passed, to initiate legislation under this power to explain. [More…]
Looking at section 128 of the Constitution it appears that if the Senate rejects or amends a Bill and returns it to the House of Representatives and this action proves to be unsatisfactory to that House then in 3 months time the House of Representatives can resubmit the Bill. [More…]
If this Bill- the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill having passed a little earlier- is passed by the Senate before the Parliament rises this week, and we hope that it will now be passed this evening, both proposals can be submitted together to the Australian people for their decision before Christmas. [More…]
Last week we were presented with legislation to alter the Constitution of Australia by the addition of the word ‘prices’ to section 51 of the Constitution. [More…]
One would have hoped that the request for this Parliament to pass a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to enable the Australian Parliament to control prices, was the result of a full and thorough deliberation. [More…]
So this week the Senate is being asked to steamroll through Parliament another Bill to alter the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Yet he came in here and expected to get a Bill to alter the Constitution through this chamber in 90 minutes from the time it arrived, assuming that the other Bill had been completed - [More…]
They become all the more concerned, as my colleague Senator Webster has just pointed out, when they hear from the Prime Minister that wide cross-sections of alterations to the Constitution are proposed by the Government but are not explained. [More…]
You would remember, Mr President, when Senator Murphy as Leader of the Opposition received the support of the Senate when he said the action of this Senate was determined by the Constitution. [More…]
lt does not matter what a standing order may say; if it is contrary to what the Constitution lays down for the Senate, that standing order is inoperative. [More…]
I think we are restricted by the Constitution. [More…]
If one has the numbers, one can carry a lot of things in a chamber while the present provisions of the Constitution apply. [More…]
For the purpose of the question I refer to the speech which the Minister delivered on the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill yesterday in which he said that the State Parliaments have always had the power, and the New South Wales Parliament in particular has frequently exercised the power, to guarantee certain basic standards for wage and salary earners outside Commonwealth awards, and that under this Bill the national Parliament could guarantee basic standards throughout the nation. [More…]
The second stage which will culminate in May or June next year will be the consideration and adoption by the House of Assembly of a Constitution prepared by the Constitutional Planning Committee and the subsequent amendment by this Parliament of the Papua New Guinea Act to make the Act consistent with that Constitution. [More…]
These Bills, the adoption of the Constitution, subsequent amendment of the Papua New Guinea Act next year, and the final step of independence, are all integral stages in the continuous development of Papua New Guinea from dependency to nationhood. [More…]
I have received from His Excellency the Governor-General a message notifying that under section 58 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, he has reserved the Royal Style and Titles Bill 1973 for Her Majesty’s pleasure. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill- and this is its only purpose- is to provide a measure of representation for the Australian Capital Territory and for the Northern Territory in the Senate and thus give some meaningful expression to section 122 of the Constitution in respect of the Senate as an integral part of this Parliament. [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution provides, and I quote: [More…]
I turn now for a moment to a matter which has been the subject of legal advice in relation to section 24 of the Constitution which provides, in part: [More…]
On the basis of the advice by the Commonwealth legal advisors the provision of Territory senators under section 122 of the Constitution, does not cause an alteration in the number of members of the House of Representatives by virtue of section 24. [More…]
Before dealing with the amendments of the Representation Act proposed by the Bill, I will refer briefly to section 24 of the Constitution which is relevant. [More…]
The Government’s legal advice is that Section 24 of the Constitution does not have application in relation to senators who may be provided for a Territory under the provisions of section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
In other words, the requirement contained in section 24 for the number of members of the House of Representatives to be as nearly as practicable twice the number of senators does not relate to Territory members or senators provided under section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
Thus, consistent with section 24 of the Constitution, the introduction of Territory senators will not effect the representation of the States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
Is it not a fact that legally under the Constitution and the Constitution Act we remain the Commonwealth of Australia? [More…]
I think the Leader of the Country Party in the Senate can be assured and confident that the Australian Government and the Prime Minister are taking all the steps available to the Government under the Constitution and under the law to deal with any of the financial problems which are confronting the nation. [More…]
As early as the making of the Constitution the people of Australia recognised that industrial disputes sometimes go beyond the borders of States and affect the whole of the community. [More…]
Although the constitutional provision is extremely technical in that it refers to industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State, it is clear that in this case the effects of the industrial dispute are spreading beyond the borders of one State. [More…]
It is the people of Australia who will have the choice as to whether they wish to amend their Constitution. [More…]
I and the Government see no reason for deciding that the people will not be given the opportunity to decide the form of their own Constitution. [More…]
Mr Whitlam said he had indicated that the incomes referendum would enable the Australian Government to have the same procedure for determining non-wage incomes as the Constitution has always provided for the determination of wages. [More…]
It was said by the Prime Minister that the income of persons who were not wage-earners would be referred to the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission so that the incomes could be controlled in the same way that the Constitution has always provided for the determination of wages. [More…]
It was mentioned at the Australian Constitution Convention. [More…]
The powers to enact laws for conciliation and arbitration and to prevent industrial disputes extend from one particular section of our Commonwealth Constitution, that is, section 51 (xxxv). [More…]
The Constitution provides that the voter shall have before him before he votes both the case for and the case against. [More…]
As one who upholds the rights of the Senate, I ask him whether it is not a fact that the Senate has whatever right the Constitution gives to it to disallow legislation. [More…]
Is it not a fact that the Senate derives its constitution and existence in the same way as the other House of Parliament insofar as it is elected by the people of this country by vote? [More…]
Is it not a fact that the Senate has the authority to carry out its constitutional rights? [More…]
-There is no doubt that under the Constitution the Senate has authority to refuse to agree to any legislation. [More…]
Again, I lay aside the rare provision of a constitutional change by referendum following the decision of one House alone. [More…]
When we get to a fundamental matter like amalgamations or amendments to the constitution I think it is a fair thing to let everybody have a say. [More…]
the States the powers which they possess under the Constitution? [More…]
I believe that such reconciliation could well come from a satisfactory constitution which provides for a proper system of decentralised government. [More…]
The Papua New Guinea Select Committee on Constitutional Development which is already sitting and working in Papua New Guinea is, I believe, likely to come forward with some proposals in this regard. [More…]
Prior to the constitution of The Pipeline Authority, the East-Australia Pipeline Corporation had committed itself to purchase this pipe and the Authority has approved the purchase and taken over ownership. [More…]
Insofar as the Constitution permits and this Parliament allows the laws to be made, the Federal Government will manage the economy properly. [More…]
But one would suppose that within the Territory there ought to be an oath of allegiance to the head of state, the constitution or to the government. [More…]
If it is again treated in that manner, that would be regarded under the Constitution as failing to pass the Bill. [More…]
Under the Constitution the Senate has a particular function. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution gave the Commonwealth the power over external affairs. [More…]
In the absence of any decision by that authority which, under the Australian Constitution, has the exclusive right to determine vexing and disputed questions of constitutional law, namely the High Court, it was very difficult to determine which of the 2 authorities had the appropriate jurisdiction. [More…]
Those eligible to join an organisation will be performing an operation in a factory covered by the award, in a classification covered by the constitution of the union. [More…]
Rather than be the force which its constitution permitted it to be, it went only part of the way. [More…]
As I understand the Australian Constitution, where the Commonwealth Government compulsorily acquires land from any Australian citizen who lives in the States, the Commonwealth shall acquire that land on just terms. [More…]
It is alleged that the provisions of section 51 placitum 31, which requires land to be acquired on just terms, do not apply to Territories under the control of the Commonwealth and that in respect of Territories such as the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory the constitutional guarantees of section 51 do not apply. [More…]
Because in those 2 Territories the Commonwealth has a plenary power, the normal constitutional guarantees do not run to protect the residents of the Territories. [More…]
In any event, why should not the citizens of the Australian Capital Territory and, indeed, the citizens of the Northern Territory have the same protection as have the citizens of the 6 States, namely, that if the Commonwealth should compulsorily acquire the property of any citizen the Commonwealth is bound under the Constitution to pay just terms. [More…]
Australian Constitution by scoffing at a long accepted lands acquisition principle, and because it places land owners in the Territory at a disadvantage compared with those in the States. [More…]
The principle I refer to is laid down in section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
The present position is that compensation for Australian Capital Territory land is determined in line with the terms of the Lands Acquisition Act 1955-66, which obliges the Commonwealth to take into consideration the ‘just term’ provision of the Constitution. [More…]
The ‘just term’ provision of the Constitution has in the past been implemented and accepted in the Australian Capital Territory. [More…]
The position in the States would be different because section 5 1 of the Constitution requires the acquisition to be made on just terms. [More…]
It has been held in the High Court in the case of Teori Tau v Commonwealth that the power of resumption by the Commonwealth does not stem from section 51 and the appropriate placitum under that section but from section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
I believe, in any case, that compensation should be on just terms in terms of the Constitution as it would apply to property within the States. [More…]
If, because of the terms of the Constitution, the Commonwealth is not bound by that in law, I think it is certainly bound by it in equity. [More…]
Yet this Bill comes forward as a direct subversion firstly of the Constitution which as a general rule requires that property expropriated for public purposes be compensated for on just terms. [More…]
But the Constitution did not provide that in relation to land in the Australian Capital Territory acquisition should be upon just terms. [More…]
A lot has been made of section 51 of the Constitution- that land should be acquired on just and reasonable terms. [More…]
So it is not just as simple as the Constitution makes out. [More…]
It was not a matter to which the Constitution adverted when it was formed in 1900 for the simple reason that it was not a matter of concern to anyone at that time. [More…]
There is all the talk that under the Japanese Constitution they cannot have an army and a navy. [More…]
It would be hard not to do so because the constitutional realities in Australia, whether people like it or not, are that the States have been given the power by the Constitution in relation to education. [More…]
The question of the constitution of the Schools Commission was freely debated. [More…]
One of the other problems which I believe is quite a serious problem- I do not want to labour it because I think it is a difficult legal problemconcerns a section of the Constitution which has not been tested to any extent before the High Court. [More…]
It may well be, and I think that many people would argue that it is, unconstitutional for such a proposition to be put forward. [More…]
In fact Archbishop Cahill, who is the secretary of the Episcopal Conference, has said that in his opinion it would be unconstitutional for the Education Executive of the Episcopal Conference to appoint a . [More…]
Why this is so, and I would suggest that even the most captious critic would say it possibly is so- is because of section 116 of the Constitution. [More…]
I have heard suggestions at different times that there would be a constitutional challenge to legislation of this character as it affected independent schools, and it would appear to me that one point which would be inquired into by people opposed to independent schools would be whether aid, if it is given to schools, might be challenged under the Constitution, whereas by giving aid to children it would not perhaps be so obviously open to challenge. [More…]
Under the Constitution, which I quoted on the previous occasion, the only provisions for joint sittings of the 2 Houses are contained in section 57. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 50 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution states: [More…]
The next point I wish to make, and on which we have had some debate, is contained in section 23 of the Constitution which states: [More…]
The Constitution has protected the position of the numerically weaker House and given it the prestige of equality; in fact, it has perhaps given it some superiority. [More…]
Parliament could not proceed to solve the matters before it except pursuant to the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Cavanagh has made reference- I believe it was a very adequate one- to section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
He pointed out the special nature of the provision- it is the only provision known to me- of the Constitution that provides for a joint sitting. [More…]
If we have legislation before us and there is disputation between the 2 Houses, the Constitution lays down what should be done. [More…]
I reserve my options, but I say that we should deal with this matter by way of a piece of legislation and the provisions of the Constitution on the one hand and our Standing Orders on the other hand, because they set out what the function of the Senate should be, and not by means of some resolution by which we abrogate our authority and responsibility as members of the Senate. [More…]
Labor Party speakers sought to claim that our indication that there should be a nominee from the Education Executive of the Episcopal Conference of Australia would be ultra vires section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
But as I read the Constitution, in no way would there be a restriction, quite apart from the fact that the Government itself has sought to use exactly such a category, because section 1 16 reads as follows: [More…]
The recognition that education is primarily, under the Constitution, and essentially, because of decentralisation, a State matter, is inherent in the beliefs of the Opposition and in the Karmel Committee’s report. [More…]
Having set aside the Constitution or the rights of the States or the Commonwealth under the Constitution, it was impossible to determine where the responsibilities lay. [More…]
The High Court is the protector of the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
Because the States may have no power to legislate extra- territorially and because the Commonwealth has restricted legislative power under the Constitution there could be an area of legal vacuum. [More…]
The Commonwealth may have sovereign jurisdiction in the area but if it were territory of the Commonwealth then section 122 of the Constitution would allow the Commonwealth to pass whatever legislation it liked for the area just as it can in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory. [More…]
Dependent upon a proper interpretation of the external affairs power, but looking at that power as it has presently been interpreted, one is faced with the restrictions imposed by the Commonwealth Constitution in this area. [More…]
If the Pipeline Authority Act transgresses the Australian Constitution it could be subject to challenge. [More…]
The High Court is the protector of the Constitution, and no one else. [More…]
Section 5 1 of the Australian Constitution spells out the powers of the Parliament and states: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: [More…]
The passing of the Imperial ‘Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act’ of 1901 rendered it necessary to issue a new Commission to the Governor of Queensland. [More…]
We have a Constitution which says that the Commonwealth Government cannot control fisheries in territorial waters, as I read out to the Senate a little while ago. [More…]
Then he created further confusion by saying that he was not sure what had happened to the fish in the sea because there was conflict between the orders from Westminster and the Australian Constitution as they applied to Queensland. [More…]
Although section 1 14 of the Constitution exempts Australian government property from municipal rating the Australian Government has, over the years, agreed to pay, as an act of grace, the equivalent of municipal rates on housing erected or purchased by the Government solely for domestic purposes, on other property where an element for rates is recovered in rents charged to tenants, and on Defence Service Homes. [More…]
The answer to the honourable senator’s question is found in section 18 of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906-1965 which reads: [More…]
Pursuant to section 16 of the Grants Commission Act 1973 I present the Fortieth Report for 1973 of the Grants Commission on the applications made by the States of Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania for financial assistance under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
One of the things that people forget, particularly the juvenile Press that we have about the country today, is that this Senate derives its constitution from the people of this country and it derives its election from the votes of the people of this country- the same people who elect members to the other chamber. [More…]
We believe that this proposal is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution by which the sovereign States agreed to the establishment of the Federal Parliament. [More…]
The people responsible for drafting the Constitution acted very wisely in this respect as this principle gave a reasonable guarantee to the 3 smaller States that they would have an equal voice in the Senate and provided a balance to the House of Representatives where they were decidedly outnumbered by New South Wales and Victoria. [More…]
Not long ago we had an attempt which the people rightly rejected to break the nexus between the Senate and the House of Representatives in a way which would have destroyed the basis of representation as between the 2 Houses, and could have resulted in the Senate becoming an inferior House under the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I believe that there is a deliberate attempt for some reason to interfere with the affairs of the Senate and to make it an inferior House instead of the House the designers of our Constitution intended it to be, that is, a House having its own strong place in our Constitution. [More…]
That is entirely incongruous with the Constitution, lt is entirely destructive of the fundamental basis upon which the Senate was constituted, and it reflects the complete idiocy of the proponents. [More…]
The Joint Committee on Constitutional Review was first appointed by the two Houses of the twenty-second Parliament to review such aspects of the working of the Commonwealth Constitution as the Committee considered it could most profitably consider and to make recommendation for such amendment of the Constitution as the Committee thought necessary in the light of experience. [More…]
That Committtee recommended some very important amendments to the Constitution. [More…]
That is part of section 57 of the Australian Constitution, I say to the Labor Party and to the Special Minister of State (Senator Willesee) who is in charge of this Bill, that one can confidently predict that this piece of legislation which the Senate is now debating- the Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill 1973 (No 2)- will be rejected by the Senate this evening. [More…]
I hope that those members of the Government who have been so vocal tonight in giving an idea of the great strength that they have, will certainly show some intestinal fortitude in this matter and realise that the Senate will have rejected a piece of legislation on 2 occasions and within the terms of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
One finds that there has been a reaction against any government which has determined a policy of interfering with the constitution of the Senate. [More…]
Two of the matters refer to the Constitution. [More…]
On that occasion I used the opportunity to quote quite extensively from the constitutional discussions which ultimately resulted in the initiation of an Australian Parliament. [More…]
It should be remembered that the Constitution of Australia is based not on the House of Representatives but on the Senate. [More…]
The Constitution provides that this House shall be comprised of so many senators from each of the States. [More…]
Senator Wright said that we should not be upsetting the fundamental constitutional concept. [More…]
Senator Wood took this a little further and said that the constitutional situation is that senators represent people in the States. [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution is very clear. [More…]
Those great people who wrote the Constitutionthe Constitution to which people tonight have displayed great adulation- realised at that time what the situation would be in the years ahead. [More…]
Tonight the Government is relying on the Constitution and is putting forward a perfectly constitutional situation to meet the times in which we live. [More…]
The crux of the matter is that the Government wants to give to those 2 Territories some representation as is allowed and foreseen under the Constitution and the combined Opposition is saying that that is not to happen. [More…]
Joint meetings are provided for in the Constitution under certain conditions. [More…]
Both Senator Marriott and Senator Lawrie raised a certain point, namely, that the projected formula for a joint sitting of both Houses is a formula that has existence and legality within the Constitution and is available in certain situations for certain purposes. [More…]
That is a constitutional situation. [More…]
But it does appear to me, firstly, that it does not import into this suggestion a type of meeting that is contemplated in the Constitution and only for a constitutional purpose. [More…]
I introduce a Bill to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives. [More…]
The key provision in this BDI is a proposal for a new section in the Constitution. [More…]
The other is a special provision for senators whose terms, as to half, commenced on 1 July 1971 and as to the other half will commence on 1 July 1 974, each of whom would in accordance with the existing constitutional provisions have a 6-year term. [More…]
At the Australian Constitutional Convention held in September this year in Sydney, the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) said on behalf of the Australian Government that we would propose to the Parliament, for decision by the people, an amendment of the Constitution which would write into it the principle of substantial equality of electoral divisions for all the Parliaments of Australia. [More…]
This Bill therefore seeks an alteration to the Constitution so as to establish electorates within each state in which the number of people is, as nearly as practicable, the same. [More…]
The Bill therefore, simply stated, is a Bill for an act ‘to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that the members of the House of Representatives and of the Parliaments of the States are chosen directly and democratically by the people’. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution requires the number of members in the several States to be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people. [More…]
The Constitution thus ensures equitable representation of the people in the House of Representatives, State by State. [More…]
Applying similar constitutional provisions, the United States Supreme Court has, for the last 9 years and more, declared any form of malapportionment within a state to be unconstitutional. [More…]
We should not accept regional discrimination for or against particular regions within States any more than the Constitution allows us to accept discrimination as between States. [More…]
We propose that the new provision in the Constitution should deal with State Parliaments also. [More…]
The Bill also proposes an amendment of the Constitution so that each House of each State Parliament will be elected directly by the people of the State. [More…]
Mr President, section 25 of the Constitution provides that if by the law of any State all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at elections for the more numerous House of the State, then in reckoning the number of people of the State or of the Commonwealth, persons of that race resident in that State shall not be counted. [More…]
The way in which this is done is to include a new section of the Constitution that will permit an elector of the Commonwealth to bring a relevant matter before the High Court, and an elector in a State to raise a matter relating to that State. [More…]
I introduce a Bill to alter the Constitution in relation to borrowings for, and financial assistance to, local government bodies. [More…]
The aim of the proposed amendment to the constitution which will be submitted to a referendum at the time of the next Senate election is to make funds available direct to the local government, both by way of grants and by loans at lower interest rates, so that urban and rural councils and other local government bodies can be freed from the straitened circumstances of the past. [More…]
When we come to that stage I will be making some further reference to the actual constitution of the Commission and the interest areas from which members are drawn. [More…]
They are there because the Government in its wisdom wanted to hear the whole of the people from that part of the educational spectrum but it did not want to have its choice limited to the nominations of the Episcopal Conference, quite apart from any constitutional difficulties which might arise under section 1 16 of the Constitution. [More…]
What the Opposition has in mind is to comprehend a number of what we believe have been strongly held views of a variety of people, including even the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) and the Minister for Education (Mr Beazley) as expressed in past statements and actions, of the Labor Party in its approved policy speech, and of a number of organisations throughout Australia which are interested in education, and basically supported by the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Constitution, the States clearly have the overall education responsibility but certainly have responsibility in relation to primary and secondary schools which are the ones with which we are concerned here. [More…]
We also see it as desirable to start from the point of view of considering its constitution and identification and therefore the involvement of the major power areas. [More…]
That is the first stage of my explanation of the Opposition’s view in relation to the constitution of the Schools Commission. [More…]
Notwithstanding that, we believe that the Australian Teachers Federation is representative of the teachers of Australia in its constitution. [More…]
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is another organisation which is similar in its constitution to a commission. [More…]
In a local area like the Australian Capital Territory that may be the appropriate method, but the very fact that at the grass roots there are organisations charged with administering local educational needs constitutes a very good reason why that sort of constitution of the overriding body- the Schools Commission- should not be done in the same way. [More…]
What protection is given by the Australian Constitution is minimal and does not touch the most significant of these rights. [More…]
Ideally, in my view, a Bill of Rights should be written into the Australian Constitution and I proposed at the Constitutional Convention in Sydney that this be done. [More…]
But in the absence of a constitutionally entrenched Bill of Rights, it is proposed that those rights should be set out in legislation of this Parliament, so far as it is within the powers of the Parliament to do so. [More…]
-Well, I think that is a way of expressing what we all know is the position: That by reason of the provisions of section 109, of our Constitution any valid law passed by this Parliament operates to cut across any laws of the State Parliament. [More…]
If any such law is inconsistent then the Constitution operates to cut it down. [More…]
I think the position is expressed rather neatly in the covering clauses of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 5 of the covering clauses of the Constitution states: [More…]
This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every State and of every pan of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State. [More…]
The Commission’s recommendations for assistance to schools in the States will result in grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
of the Constitution. [More…]
So what we are dealing with here is a division of powers under different sections of the Constitution. [More…]
But there is another section of the Constitution which enables us to confer benefits such as scholarships and allowances, which will be improved in legislation which will come before this Parliament and which will satisfy any demands which Senator Rae may see fit to serve on this Government to have regard to the needs of students as well as to the needs of schools- interests which, in his view, are opposed interests. [More…]
The Commission’s recommendations for assistance to schools in the States will result in grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Benefits which the Australian Government wishes to pay to students can be made as a direct Commonwealth grant under section 51 of the Constitution. [More…]
We believe and we say that under section 96 of the Constitution the Australian Parliament is entitled to attach conditions to its grants. [More…]
This, in my opinion, is an attempt to break down the clear power conferred on the Australian Government by section 96 of the Constitution, which is a power to grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit. [More…]
I do not agree with the suggestion just made by Senator James McClelland when he said that there is a clear constitutional power for the Government to do the things it wants to do and that this legislation would break down that power. [More…]
Senator James McClelland, of course, knows that legislation cannot break down the power of the Constitution. [More…]
Legislation is governed by the Constitution, and if the Constitution says that the Commonwealth can do a certain thing legislation cannot prevent the Commonwealth from doing that. [More…]
Article 26 of the United Nations Chaner of Human Rights and in particular the prior right of parents to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children; (aa) the obligation for governments to provide or assist in the provision and maintenance of educational opportunities for all children which are of the highest standard and which recognise the prior right of parents to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children and where provided and maintained by or on behalf of a government ensure that these opportunities are open without fees or religious tests, to all children; (ab) the rights and powers pursuant to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of the State Governments in relation to education; (ac) the need for research into education standards, quality, variety and opportunities in Australia; (ad) the importance of the improvement of the quality of education available to all students attending primary and secondary schools; ‘. [More…]
The third amendment which we would suggest is that regard should be had to the rights and powers pursuant to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of the State governments in relation to education. [More…]
As I have pointed out the Minister himself repeatedly said in his second reading speech and the Karmel Committee said at page 132 of its report that the constitutional responsibility does lie primarily with the States as does the present commitment. [More…]
The ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules’ of the Australian Labor Party under the heading Australian Schools Commission’ states: [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to amend section 128 of the Constitution, the provision in the Constitution which lays down the way in which the Constitution itself can be amended. [More…]
-The purpose of the Bill itself is to amend section 128 of the Constitution and that can only be done by passage through 2 Houses, normally, and the endorsement of the people at a referendum; or, exceptionally, by passage through one House together with the endorsement of the people. [More…]
By the first, we aim to facilitate alterations to the Constitution by amending the requirement that, in addition to a majority of electors voting, there needs to be a majority of States in a referendum to amend the Constitution. [More…]
The real difficulty is that the Australian Constitution has proved in practice to be extremely difficult to amend. [More…]
I remind honourable senators that there have been no less than 26 amendments to the Constitution of the United States, of which eleven have been since 1900. [More…]
After exhaustive investigation, the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review in 1958, and again in 1959, recognised the vital interest of the people in proposed Constitutional alterations. [More…]
The Committee’s proposal would not disturb the Federal fabric of the Constitution, inherent in section 128, but its proposal would serve to lay more emphasis on Constitutional change by the democratic process of majority vote than there at present exists. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution says: [More…]
The need to change the emphasis by amending section 128 of the Constitution has been felt for years; but like so much else, including the second proposal I will put in a moment, nothing- I say nothing- was done by our predecessors in office. [More…]
By the new proposal, it will still be possible to obtain an amendment of the Constitution only if a majority of all the electors voting agree, but instead of requiring a majority of the States- which at present means 4 out of the 6 States, and thus a two-thirds majority- what we are proposing is that a majority of voters in not less than half of the States will be necessary, as well as an overall majority of voters. [More…]
A reference to Quick and Garran indicates that the framers of the Constitution had in mind that new States would quite quickly be created- which would have made more relevant the provision requiring a majority of States. [More…]
But the two-thirds majority is unreasonably high and, given that we have not gone beyond the original 6 States, means in the elegant words of the Constitution Review Committee that ‘for every State in which there is an adverse vote there must be a favourable vote in two states … a Constitutional change has to be supported not only by a majority of States but by two-thirds of the States. ‘ [More…]
I believe that this change will bring the constitutional provisions more into accord with the spirit of the founders in 1901; more into accord with today’s mood of national awareness; and more into accord with democratic principles and processes. [More…]
At the same time, in case any have a sense that this change will make amendment of the Constitution too easy, let me remind honourable senators that had the original Constitution requirement been for no less than one-half of the States, as we now propose, only two more of the 26 proposals put to the people would have been approved. [More…]
In this Bill we seek to delete from the Constitution that part of section 128 which limits voting at referendums to people qualified to vote ‘in each State’. [More…]
This Bill will join the 3 proposals for alteration of the Constitution at present before the Senatethe proposals for simultaneous elections of the Senate and the House of Representatives, for democratic electorates, and for powers in relation to local government finances. [More…]
These 4 proposals will be joined later by a further proposal foreshadowed by the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives on 8 November 1973 and also in the week immediately following the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
We believe that the 2 changes to section 128 of the Constitution contained in this Bill will put referendums on a more democratic basis and make it more possible for the Constitution to reflect more accurately, in contemporary terms, the spirit and the fact of Australia as one united nation. [More…]
The Australian Constitution does not allow the establishment of 2 national parliaments standing side by side. [More…]
ASIO wanted to see the constitution of the Captive Nations people. [More…]
I am looking forward to the results of the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention so that as Australia moves into the next 30 years we can have a completely new distribution of power, so that the States no longer will feel themselves to be mendicants at the table of the Commonwealth and so that the Commonwealth will know at any time in view of its new international responsibilities just where it is going, where its areas of power, clearly and undisputably will lie and the States will have not only the responsibility for certain things but will have the means at their disposal without having to resort to alternative sources of finance by way of annual agreements or special approaches to finance their duties within the Constitution. [More…]
To explain what I mean I shall read section 49 of the Constitution which states: [More…]
I do not know why in this Bill there has been a shift in the language from ‘powers, privileges and immunities’ to ‘powers, privileges and authorities’ and a restriction of the Parliament, when the general and extremely important provision on which the whole operation, a few trifles apart, of this Parliament depends is these words in section 49 of the Constitution: [More…]
I am not at all sure that someone at some stage will not measure this Bill against that section of the Constitution and say that there was a deliberate departure and a leaving out of the privileges of the members and the committees, particularly in the area outside of those grounds. [More…]
That the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, having regard to the fact that proposed laws for the alteration of the Constitution of the Commonwealth by conferring on the Parliament of the Commonwealth power to make laws with respect to prices, or prices and incomes, will be submitted to electors as required by section 128 of the Constitution, and recognizing- [More…]
that the proposed alterations of the Constitution have grave implications for the citizens of the State of Queensland: [More…]
I believe that it is something which much be resolved by a co-operative arrangement between the Commonwealth and the State governments or by the Australian people through an amendment of the Constitution in the ordinary way. [More…]
Broadly, my reasons for doing so are those which I have expressed, namely, that this is a matter of such importance to the Federal system that it must be resolved by agreement between the parties to that Federal compact- that is, all the governments of Australia, Federal and State- or by referendum of all the people of Australia in relation to altering the Constitution. [More…]
Beyond that the Commonwealth has exercised the control which it has under the Constitution. [More…]
He said that these matters should be decided either by cooperative arrangements between the State and Federal authorities or by amending the Constitution. [More…]
What hypocrisy this is, because whatever we put up in regard to amending the Constitution we get the same build-up of fear and small mindedness. [More…]
Every 6 years honourable senators take an oath to uphold the Constitution. [More…]
My idea of the Constitution is that we represent Australia, not the States which, in many ways, are becoming glorified municipal assemblies. [More…]
For the comfort of everybody, I suggest that we should remind ourselves that section 128 of the Constitution particularly provides that no amendment of the Constitution increasing, diminishing or otherwise altering the limits of the State can be passed into law except with the consent of the majority of the electors voting in that State. [More…]
I think that for us to go meddling about with petroleum resources under a legislative outfit like that is primitive indeed and completely different from any constitutional conceptions that I have ever envisaged as being written into or implied in the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
But having had that degree of union that comes from federation since 1900 let us apply the Constitution to the situation as we know it since 1900. [More…]
1 think that it is not to our credit that following the 1967 legislation and the report of the Committee which was finally delivered in December 1971 the constitutional issues have not been resolved. [More…]
There is an express power in section 5 1 of the Constitution: the national Parliament is given power to legislate with regard to fisheries beyond territorial limits. [More…]
Is there anybody who suggests that there is no specific power in the Constitution with regard to lighthouses, lifebuoys and other such things that may be in the territorial sea? [More…]
How could a Bill of a Federal Parliament give to this new continental off-shore area equivalent powers that the Constitution by sections 101,121 and 122 gives to a territory? [More…]
No one can tell me that by passing this Bill saying that sovereignty shall prevail we cannot extend the powers vested in this Parliament by the Constitution. [More…]
I was very glad to see that the Select Committee reported that there was an inconsistency between this primitive antediluvian structure of the petroleum legislation and a modern conception of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I would like to see the arbiter under the Constitution say whether the Commonwealth has power to legislate in respect of the resources in the territorial sea, particularly noting that in the Convention on the Continental Shelf it is declared that the jurisdiction is outside the territorial sea. [More…]
I find in section 128 of the Constitution a provision whereby the limits of any State cannot be altered except by an affirmative vote by a majority of States. [More…]
For example, there is a series of Constitution Alteration Bills which are of immense consequence as every Constitution alteration necessarily is. [More…]
In welcoming them he said that he was delighted to greet the representatives of a Parliament and of a nation which to him represented the ideal form of constitutional government- the ideal being that it was a nation with one Parliament and with one House of Parliament. [More…]
That, of course, is what the Prime Minister wants to achieve in Australia, and by one means or another he is rapidly propelling Australia to that form of constitution. [More…]
It already has many powers under the Constitution which it can use. [More…]
The Constitution was written by the fathers of this Federation back in the 1890s. [More…]
It is the Constitution which governs this Parliament, the Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
If anyone talks about excessive and arbitrary powers let him stand up and say where this Constitution has been contravened. [More…]
Everything which the Labor Party Government has done- and it has done it for the benefit of Australia- has been within this Constitution and under the powers given, in the main, 70 years ago. [More…]
There have been some slight alterations to the Constitution by the people and not by anyone else. [More…]
We are using the powers which were given to us and we will continue to use those powers and to extend them as far as the Constitution will allow in order that the Australian people may have good and active governmentnot a government of the kind they have had over the past 23 years. [More…]
I know that he referred to the Constitution and said that everything that had been done came within the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Cant said that the Government had worked within the Constitution in all that it had done. [More…]
It was stated that the Government had not abused the Constitution in any way at all and that anything it had done in relation to excessive power had been done constitutionally. [More…]
I will not argue with that statement, but I say that the Government has abused the operation of section 96 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The fathers of Federation, in their wisdom, included section 96 in the Constitution to give assistance to the smaller and less affluent States- to give grants for specific purposes. [More…]
When the present Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) campaigned in Federal elections between 1969 and 1972 the whole theme of his argument was that we should try to pitch a policy into the Constitution that was akin to the United States of America and Canada. [More…]
I raise the question of the constitutional implications of this Bill. [More…]
In section 5 1 ( 1 ) of the Constitution rests the power on which the Commonwealth has the authority to legislate the Act and the amending Bill. [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to the Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to ( 1 ) [More…]
I think it is quite conceivable that with the wide scope of this section of the Constitution and the incidental powers, the Commonwealth could control nontrade, non-commerce and also non-interstate matters provided it could be shown that the regulated matter assisted the exercise of or was an appropriate means to the grant under section 5 1 ( 1 ). [More…]
So far as I know there is nothing in the Constitution that says it would not be able to conscript people civilly. [More…]
As Constitutional adviser to Senator Murphy, Professor Howard can be expected to take a strong line on the need for the Government to fully exploit the Constitution when legislating. [More…]
-This clause comes in the part which deals with the Constitution of the Commission. [More…]
The people of Australia are being asked to make a permanent alteration to the Constitution of Australia to enable laws to be made by this Parliament in respect of those subject matters. [More…]
The issues should in no way be obscured by putting considerations to the people as if this constitutional alteration depended upon specific legislative measures. [More…]
We do not know, of course, whether they would get through Parliament, but when the constitutional power is available to the national Parliament it ought to be given proper consideration. [More…]
I ask the Minister representing the Prime Minister: Is it not a fact that at the Constitutional Convention held in Sydney in the first week of September this year the Commonwealth Government agreed that numerous topics suggested as involving constitutional amendment should be referred to standing committees of the Convention for detailed consideration and report? [More…]
Is it not also a fact that at least four of those topics so referred with the agreement of the Commonwealth Government have now been the subject of unilateral proposals in this Parliament for amendment of the Constitution? [More…]
What future, therefore, does the Commonwealth Government see in constitutional conventions? [More…]
Indeed it should be listed that prior to the last election the now Prime Minister asserted that within the existing Constitution his government could govern effectively and with completeness. [More…]
The Constitution of this country provides that judges are to be paid such amount as the Parliament shall fix and that their emoluments shall not be reduced during their term of office. [More…]
I ask: Did not the constitution of the Select Committee make provision for it to continue sitting during time of prorogation of the Parliament until the reconstitution of the Committee? [More…]
Act to amend the Constitution should be treated with somewhat more consideration than a mere dog Act and that therefore every senator, representing as he does, with equal voting strength, one of the 6 States, should be given a special opportunity to be present when the third reading of a Bill to alter the Constitution is moved. [More…]
This would call for 2 1 days notice to be given, and it would follow the spirit of section 128 of the Constitution which places added importance on Bills that alter the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, the Constitution ensures an interval of at least 2 months. [More…]
Therefore, the Constitution ensures full deliberation on a Bill that either commends itself to both Houses or to one House. [More…]
One has only to survey the individual circumstances of those senators who are absent from the chamber today to realise that they are entitled to specific notice and, in connection with a Bill to alter the Constitution, they have a specific responsibility. [More…]
The mere recital of the short titles of the 4 Bills- the first concerns simultaneous elections, the second concerns so-called democratic elections, the third concerns local government bodies and the fourth concerns the mode of altering the Constitutionwould indicate to anybody with the slightest acquaintance with the Constitution the variety of considerations that these Bills will evoke in debate as to whether they are appropriate matters to be put to a referendum. [More…]
As a result, on 8 December, which is next Saturday, 2 questions relating to alterations to the Constitution will be put to the people. [More…]
It was considered desirable that, when an alteration to the Constitution was thought necessary and a Bill proposing the alteration was required to be passed by the Houses of Parliament, there should be a 3-week delay for a call of honourable senators so that the issue could be properly debated before it was submitted to the people. [More…]
Senate in only one set of circumstances; that is, in relation to the very important matter of a change in the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that we should seek their advice on a matter of such importance as the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution makes clear that there must be an absolute majority of the Senate to pass any of the referendum proposals unless it is by way of the subsequent provisions which the Senate rejects or fails to pass. [More…]
Mr President, the matter before the Senate at the moment is a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that the Senate elections are held at the same time as the House of Representatives elections. [More…]
Why is it necessary to alter the Constitution permanently to bring this about? [More…]
Once upon a time, of course, the long title of a Bill to amend the Constitution set out what the referendum proposal was to be. [More…]
There is no need for a constitutional referendum to ensure that simultaneous elections are held. [More…]
Firstly, we can have simultaneous elections at any time that the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) likes to go and see the Governor-General because in section 57 of the Constitution there is provision for a double dissolution if there is a disagreement between the 2 Houses. [More…]
There is no constitutional or legal reason why the Government should not take out the House of Representatives at that time. [More…]
We are told that the main provisions of the Bill are for a new section in the Constitution giving senators a term equal to 2 terms in the House of Representatives, and for simultaneous elections of both Houses. [More…]
The great strength and the great value of the Senate is its independence, and the Constitution, as it now stands, gives it that independence. [More…]
The Senate at that time remembered that it was constituted by the Constitution in a different fashion from the House of Representatives for the very purpose of having a different approach on proper matters. [More…]
As Senator Withers said in the course of his speech this afternoon, unless there had been a different approach and a different constitution of the Senate there would never have been any Federation. [More…]
The second point I wish to make about the constitution of the Senate is that honourable senators are elected for a term of 6 years. [More…]
That, in the minds of the thoughtful framers of the Constitution, would give, and it has given to this place, a stability that is not available under the Westminster system to the House responsive to the responsible Government down below. [More…]
Having given the Senate that 6-year term the Constitution founders said: ‘There is only one event in which the Senate can be dissolved’. [More…]
Since the constitution of our select and standing committees the Senate has had a great impact upon policy. [More…]
So I just pause for a little silent pity towards the author of this proposal; and the more so when I reflect on how he has masqueraded as a constitutional constructor. [More…]
A constitutional convention was in the wind when he came into office, and he said he would support it. [More…]
‘In the Constitution, I have pointed out’, said Mr Whitlam to the assembled Convention in Sydney, ‘it is possible only for the States to refer matters to the Commonwealth. [More…]
-As one who has always stood for the independence of this chamber, I think that I should say a few words in connection with this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
I do not think it is a very good move at all to change the Constitution to enable this place to be taken to an election every time the House of Representatives decides to go to an election. [More…]
That is not how the Constitution ought to be altered. [More…]
If the proposal is not put to the people immediately because the Senate declines to do so and accepts the proposal to refer the matter to a committee, the Government will treat this course as a failure to pass in terms of the Constitution and will, at the earliest opportunity, bring forward the proposal again in such a way that the provisions of section 128 can be availed of, and it can be put to the people without the concurrence of the Senate. [More…]
The wisdom of those who framed the Constitution has been praised. [More…]
If one House declines to pass a referendum Bill which has been passed by the other House, after the constitutional interval the matter can be put directly to the people so that this kind of obstruction cannot prevail. [More…]
The interposition of a committee between the alteration of the Constitution and the people ought not to be supported. [More…]
Therefore, it appeared to the Government that the convenient way of synchronising elections of the 2 Houses was to alter the Constitution so that when there was an election for the House of Representatives there was one for the Senate also. [More…]
Yet here we have a Bill that proposes to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that members of the House of Representatives and of the Parliaments of the States represent numbers of people rather than numbers of electors. [More…]
To alter the Constitution so as to ensure that the Members of the House of Representatives and of the Parliaments of the States are chosen directly and democratically by the People. [More…]
A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to rid Australian Parliaments of anti-Labor gerrymanders and to insert pro-Labor gerrymanders in their stead. [More…]
When I find in an Australian Parliament’s proposal to amend the Federal Constitution a provision saying on what basis each House of the Parliament of a State shall be constituted, I just wonder what the [More…]
In the Federal Constitution, which is a Federal compact between the States, certain provisions are set out. [More…]
The Constitution of each State . [More…]
shall, subject to this Constitution - [More…]
It will vote against the Bill because it is unnecessary, because it is a further erosion of the Constitution and because it is an underhand way of grabbing powers from the States to centralise arbitrary power in Canberra. [More…]
We further believe that it is within the Government’s power now, under the present Constitution, to make this money available. [More…]
Section 96 of the Constitution states: the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit. [More…]
Therefore it is possible for the Federal Government to make grants to local government now under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The proposed alterations to the Constitution are irrelevant and unnecessary. [More…]
What could and should happen under the present Constitution is that money going to local governments ought to go to them via the State governments. [More…]
-The Australian Democratic Labor Party is opposed to the Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill. [More…]
vote to prevent the people considering the question whether the people’s own Constitution should be amended in a particular way, that way being to enable the Commonwealth to borrow money for and to grant financial assistance to local government bodies. [More…]
The newly elected Government has pressed for and secured direct representation for local government on the Constitutional Covention which met for the first time in the middle of this year and which intends to consider various constitutional matters. [More…]
At the Constitutional Convention, the Prime Minister secured the agreement of the leaders of five of the State delegations that the Australian and State governments should come together to consider amending the financial agreement that is referred to in the Constitution. [More…]
If honourable senators opposite face up to the matter, the brutal truth is that they are opposing the wishes of the Australian Government and the House of Representatives to let the Australian people exercise their right under the Constitution to vote on whether the constitution should be changed in this way. [More…]
Then, if the people want this proposal, it will become law, the Constitution being altered. [More…]
It is hard enough to alter the Constitution, even when the proposals get to the people, because of the mass of misinformation put before them, but Opposition senators are not even willing to let the people have a say on the matter. [More…]
To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at Referendums on Proposed Laws to alter the Constitution. [More…]
The title makes no mention of what is intended in paragraph (c) of the second clause of the Bill, that is, to reduce the number of States required to indicate their approval for a proposed change in the Constitution. [More…]
At present section 128 of the Constitution requires a majority of the States to vote for a proposal. [More…]
The Constitution which was drawn up at the end of the last century was a compact between all the States. [More…]
Undoubtedly a very strong reason for their agreement was that for any proposed changes to the Constitution, a majority of States would be required to signify their approval. [More…]
The States must have and are entitled to have a major role in any proposed changes to the Constitution. [More…]
The States have a separate interest to be protected with respect to constitutional change, and it is up to the Senate, composed of senators elected on a State-wide franchise, to ensure that the State interest is protected. [More…]
This clause proposes that the following words in section 128 of the Constitution shall be omitted: [More…]
Clause 2 (a) of this Bill proposes to alter section 128 of the Constitution to allow qualified electors in the Territories to vote. [More…]
I remind Government senators that under the Constitution it is not the Government which submits propositions to the electors, it is the Parliament or one House of Parliament after the other has rejected the legislation and then the Governor-General submits it. [More…]
If that is his proposition in regard to the legislation now before us will he also accede to my proposition that if the Senate passes a Bill for an Act to submit to the people a referendum to alter the Constitution, the House of Representatives also should let that Bill go to the people? [More…]
-The Australian Country Party agrees with the provision of this Bill that will give electors in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory the right to vote on proposals to alter the Constitution. [More…]
It is obvious that every qualified person should have a say in whether the Constitution is altered, regardless of where in Australia he or she lives. [More…]
But my Party is opposed to the proposal contained in this Bill that the Constitution can be changed, given an overall majority of electors, with agreement on a 50-50 basis between the States. [More…]
It cannot be that the Australian Labor Party is half-hearted about its desire to alter the constitution. [More…]
As I have said in debate on another Bill, Labor is proposing a multiplicity of constitution changes- so many that we cannot doubt it is serious. [More…]
The other possible reason, of course, is that the Government may reckon its chances of getting Constitution alteration proposals past the States are enhanced if the required majority of States is aligned with the number of Labor State governments. [More…]
As we know, there are 3 Labor State governments at the moment, and a three-three ‘majority’ of the States is what the government’s amendment to the constitution proposes. [More…]
-I direct my remarks primarily to that part of the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill which deals with the determination of the majorities necessary to ensure the passage of a referendum. [More…]
I feel that the proposal is based on a total misconception of the very purpose of the Constitution and the nature of the federation of the States. [More…]
The preamble to the Constitution states: [More…]
The proposal to alter the provision concerning the alteration of the Constitution to 3 States from the present constitutional requirement of four appears to me to be a denial of the concept of the banding together of a series of colonies and States into a federation. [More…]
The Bill is for an Act to facilitate alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at Referendums on Proposed Laws to alter the Constitution. [More…]
The proposal is one which, if carried by the people, would facilitate alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution is difficult to alter. [More…]
There is no doubt that that makes it extremely difficult to alter the Constitution. [More…]
It would mean that, if a majority of the people- we wish to extend that from a majority of the people in the States to a majority of the whole of the people of Australia, whether in the Territories or in the States- were in favour of a proposal and at least half of the States were to vote for the proposal, the constitutional referendum would be taken to be approved. [More…]
Where is the justification for saying that the people should not be given the opportunity to make alterations to the Constitution easier? [More…]
Those are the words of the long title; that is, to facilitate alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
We are plainly putting to the people that we want to make it easier to alter the Constitution. [More…]
I take the view that this proposal in paragraph (c), limiting the majority to half of the States, is a provision of the Constitution relating to a State and that no State would be bound by it unless a majority of electors voting in that State approved the proposed law. [More…]
That expression ‘And if in a majority of the States a majority of electors voting approve the proposed law’ is a provision of this Constitution in relation to the States which states: [More…]
Therefore no alteration in any manner affecting the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the majority of the electors voting in that State approve the proposed law. [More…]
I know that this has been the subject of a division of opinion, but I would like to know, from the Attorney-General, for the purpose of considering the Bill at the appropriate stage what is the view of the Government on whether an alteration to this effect would be valid in any State where a majority of voters were against this proposed law which enables the Constitution in relation to that State to be altered by a 3-State majority instead of a 4-State majority. [More…]
The reasons have been given- that this matter ought to be determined by the people according to the provisions of the existing Constitution. [More…]
That would be unaffected by this proposed alteration to the Constitution. [More…]
The Committee having removed the provisions of the Bill that it has removed, the Bill would not facilitate further alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
While it would still relate to the extension of a vote to the people of the Territories as well as the States, the Bill would not provide a facilitation for alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
They have their obligations under the Constitution; so do we. [More…]
The provision of continuing religious indoctrination which is undoubtedly prized by Catholics and which is their main justification for the perpetuation of their separate school system, is a matter to be entrusted to their own religious orders, and should not, in fact, probably cannot under the Constitution be a matter with which the Commonwealth Government can concern itself. [More…]
I say to Senator Drake-Brockman that the Australian Government is paying the money under section 96 of the Constitution in order to help the States to implement their own plans, and there is no centralised control from Canberra, which is the phrase used by him. [More…]
Although I have heard the indications that the Bill will be dealt with expeditiously early next session, all I can say is that at this stage the Government will regard the failure by the Opposition to deal with the Bill now as a failure to pass it within the meaning of the Constitution. [More…]
More particularly, in view of the Constitutional Convention which has been convened, which has sat already and is continuing its deliberations, it would be inappropriate if the constitutional relations of the Commonwealth were allowed to be redetermined and redefined, as no doubt they will be in some areas if the recommendations of that Convention are adopted, and it would be inappropriate if at the same time the diversity of law were allowed to continue without interruption and the systems were allowed to continue to develop in their own way. [More…]
It seems most appropriate that there should be a parallel attempt to look at the legal system while we are looking at the Constitution. [More…]
But as had been pointed out already, a very large sum of money is being spent by way of State grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Australian people have taken their decision in relation to whether the Constitution should be amended. [More…]
If the Opposition thinks that because the people of Australia have rejected the proposals put forward in the referendum it is entitled to go ahead and oppose the legislative proposals brought forward by the Government under the Constitution as it now stands, I think it will find that it is sadly mistaken. [More…]
I ask the Minister, as an international advocate who has appeared successfully at The Hague: Is it not a fact that the Soviet Constitution provides that every citizen shall be free to leave the Soviet? [More…]
I accept what the honourable senator said about the Constitution of the Soviet Union. [More…]
There is also a reference in section 116 of our own Constitution to the freedom of religion. [More…]
I think everyone would agree that a person who has publicly identified himself against a particular constitutional view would, from a commonsense point of view, hardly be likely to be the person selected to present a case on behalf of the Commonwealth in favour of that view of the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that Opposition senators have chosen to abuse one of the safeguards planned by the founders of our Constitution. [More…]
Of course, I am in good company in saying this because Senator Wright, in his dissenting report associated with the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review in 1959, said, when speaking of proposals to amend the constitution of the Senate: [More…]
It is not the constitution of the Senate which needs reform. [More…]
As I have said before, the Senate is part of the legislative process of this nation, as is clearly stated m the Constitution. [More…]
Will that local government share in the proposed alteration to the Constitution that we were talking about last week? [More…]
The resumption of the land under this BUI is left to the State authorities, as I understand it, and that means that it is not subject to the Commonwealth Constitution, under which properties can be acquired only after the payment of just compensation. [More…]
Therefore, if the State authorities are to handle the resumption of land they are not bound by that provision in our Constitution. [More…]
I am told that this complex was conceived in the idea that it has some basis of solving the problem of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
I am just pointing out to the Government that one of the things which the Australian Constitution said, in line with human rights and fundamental justice, is that if the Government wants to acquire a citizen’s property it can do so only on just terms. [More…]
As this is Australian Government legislation, clause 8 gives the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation every power which the Constitution allows the Australian Government to confer. [More…]
The Constitution established the High Court of Australia, and it empowered Parliament both to create other federal courts and to invest the courts of the States with federal jurisdiction. [More…]
The High Court would thus concentrate on its task of interpreting the Constitution and acting as the ultimate Court of Appeal within Australia. [More…]
The Bill will give the Superior Court jurisdiction in those matters which, under the Constitution, are matters of federal jurisdiction. [More…]
This means that the Court would have jurisdiction in matters in which the Constitution itself confers jurisdiction on the High Court, or provides that jurisdiction may be conferred on the High Court by laws made by this Parliament. [More…]
It is not, of course, constitutionally possible to divest the High Court of the jurisdiction conferred on it directly by the Constitution. [More…]
It is true that in 1 946 the alterations to the Constitution gave authority to the Federal Parliament to make laws regarding health. [More…]
There is no breach of the Constitution, there is nothing underhand or secretive about the Government’s intentions. [More…]
It is acting well within the framework of the Constitution and under the legislative powers available to it. [More…]
As a member of this Government I say now- I am sure that this feeling is shared by my colleagues- this Government does not contemplate, nor does the Constitution permit, any nationalisation of doctors, dentists or members of allied professions or occupations. [More…]
I have previously announced the constitution and terms of reference of the Committee but I should record them for the information of honourable senators. [More…]
Part III of the Bill deals with the constitution and meetings of the Petroleum and Minerals Authority. [More…]
I have no doubt that I shall be referred to section 98 of the Constitution which, in relation to any law with regard to trade or revenue, prevents this Parliament giving preference to one State over another. [More…]
So, if a person has a mining title under the State law but the minerals are in the ground it would seem quite feasible, under this Bill, for the Petroleum Authority to go in and take over the mine, and it is doubtful whether any compensation would be payable except insofar as the owners would be protected by the Constitution. [More…]
It affects the remuneration of judges, Ministers, members of the Parliament, heads of departments and statutory officers- that is to say, the most important officers in the constitution of this country. [More…]
I wish first to refer to the constitution of the Tribunal. [More…]
The salaries of Federal judges, after a long history, are guaranteed under the Constitution not to be reduced during a judge’s tenure of office. [More…]
Under the Constitution the salaries of Ministers may be altered upwards or downwards. [More…]
The salaries of judges are guaranteed irreducible by the Constitution. [More…]
By way of preface, it may be observed that the power of the Governor-General under section 58 of the Constitution to return a Bill with a recommendation for amendments is a power that the Governor-General exercises on the advice of his Ministers. [More…]
In accordance with section 2 1 of the Constitution I notified the vacancy to His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia. [More…]
Contingent on a message being received from the House of Representatives transmitting a constitution Alteration Bill for concurrence I shall move: [More…]
Because of some matter on which this is contingent I have not done so today, but it will be proposed to the Senate that we sit tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., 8 p.m. to 1 1 p.m. and on Thursday from 1 1 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Because certain Constitution Alteration Bills, some of which already have been before the Senate and, as has been indicated, will be brought on again, it may be necessary for the Senate to sit on Thursday night. [More…]
attempted to change the federal system of the Australian Constitution by diminishing the responsibility of the States; [More…]
With this in mind Liberal Party senators noted with pleasure the Queen’s statement for the Prime Minister that his Government intends to pursue its policies to the utmost by using its constitutional powers resolutely. [More…]
Let us hope this means that there will be no more back door sallies on the Constitution by the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
Political commentators would have us believe that this statement about using constitutional powers constituted a threat by the Prime Minister of a double dissolution. [More…]
The words would make more sense if directed by the Prime Minister to his Caucus, for I would imagine that if Caucus makes the Prime Minister back down on many more issues he just might use his constitutional powers to take them all back to the electorate, even if some of them would be left swinging. [More…]
The most effective constraint the nation has on the Prime Minister is the Senate, which was set up as a deliberate act, by those who drew up the Constitution, to make the federation more than an ideal. [More…]
Our very Constitution is a negation of the mandate theory. [More…]
If a government has any doubt about the lightness of its cause, those who drew up the Constitution in the last part of the century put in section 57, which allows a government to test whether the people support it or its opponents. [More…]
The Constitution does not state that the legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Australian Labor Party or some egomaniac. [More…]
I repeat: The Constitution states that the legislative power shall be vested in the Queen, a Senate and a House of Representatives. [More…]
One of the inconsistencies of the Australian Labor Party is that while its own constitution provides for equal State representation in its Party councils, presumably so that State divisions of the ALP are fully protected, it has decided that this is not desirable or necessary in the national Parliament. [More…]
The ALP hopes to facilitate procedures to alter the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that a remedy lies in the reconstitution of the Inter-State Commission. [More…]
Section 101 of the Constitution provides that there shall be an Inter-State Commission to administer not only the provisions of the Constitution dealing with interstate trade but also to administer the laws made under the Constitution relating to interstate trade of which shipping, of course, is an important integer. [More…]
The Commission is required by the Constitution to be set up to administer- let us forget about adjudication- the laws of the Constitution and the laws made under the Constitution relating to interstate trade. [More…]
Lastly, and probably most importantly of all, there is an essential need for the Inter-State Commission, the one and only fair CommonwealthState agency that is created in the Constitution, if only because of the operations interstate, and particularly in Tasmania, on the sea road by the freight forwarders. [More…]
Ever since section 92 of the Constitution freed the interstate transporter on the mainland and to Tasmania from any other regulatory control a degree of cost has been developed by the freight forwarders that is an extraordinary burden. [More…]
What must always be remembered about alterations to the Constitution is that they deal with the transfer of power. [More…]
It was for all these reasons that the Senate, in its original wisdom, said that in this chamber following the second reading of a constitution alteration Bill which senators perhaps supported and voted for there would be a 3-week delay before the third reading was taken. [More…]
The Government, with no experience whatsoever, except the experience which is revealed by its financial handling of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, which is woeful, has propositions to amend the Constitution. [More…]
All that honourable senators on this side are suggesting is that the constitutional processes laid down be observed and that they should not be dented or perverted to suit the whim or the convenience of an impulsive government which, in another place this afternoon, was so unenthusiastic about another constitutional proposal that it could not whip up the required constitutional majority. [More…]
I want it to be understood by the country that the Senate stands by the Constitution, from the point of view of presenting alterations to the Constitution for the people’s vote. [More…]
He said that one is to ensure democratic elections in the House of Representatives, but the Government presumes to alter the Constitution to provide the rules for the election of members of the State Houses of Parliament. [More…]
I hope that the Senate will insist upon constitutional methods, patient and objective reasoning, and will thoughtfully put these matters to the people. [More…]
I hope that we can rely, as we did in December, if the matter is properly and patiently presented, on the people giving a response which will be in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
He said that there was no need to pass the matter by referendum or to alter the Constitution because Mr Whitlam has every right to go to the people now to have a double dissolution, and then he could synchronise the elections for the two Houses. [More…]
The Bill is designed to enable the people to vote on whether they will have an alteration of their own Constitution to provide for democratic elections for the House of Representatives and democratic elections for each House of Parliament of the States. [More…]
The proposal is to let the people vote on whether they will alter the Constitution in that way. [More…]
So, in accordance with the Constitution, after 3 months the House of Representatives again by an absolute majority has passed the proposition and has sent it to the Senate. [More…]
He said that mostly when proposals for alteration of the Constitution are put forward they involve a transfer of power. [More…]
In November last, the House of Representatives passed by absolute majorities the following 4 Constitution Alteration Bills: Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974- passed on 14 November; Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974- passed on 15 November; Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill 1974- passed on 15 November; Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974- passed on 21 November. [More…]
On 4 December 1973 the Senate referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill; rejected the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill; rejected the Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill; amended the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill, amendments which were rejected by the House of Representatives. [More…]
In accordance with the provisions of section 128 of the Constitution in respect of Constitution Alteration Bills passed in one House- in this instance, the House of Representatives- by an absolute majority on 2 occasions and which already have been rejected, have failed to pass or have been unacceptably amended in the Senate, the Government re-introduces the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill in the Senate so that it can proceed towards a referendum on the matter, a referendum that the Government intends be held concurrently with the next Senate election. [More…]
1 commend to the Senate the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
In so doing I point out that I expect the Senate to deal promptly with this and other Constitution alteration Bills that will follow. [More…]
The Government is invoking the constitutional provisions. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution provides for a situation like this. [More…]
When the House of Representatives has passed a Bill by an absolute majority and the Senate rejects or fails to pass that Bill- in December 1973 it rejected this Constitution Alteration Bill- the House of Representatives is entitled to pass the Bill again. [More…]
It has sent the Bill to this chamber and the Government is going to take advantage of the constitutional provision which allows the Government, which has the majority in the House of Representatives, to see to it that such a measure gets to the people. [More…]
The people of this country are entitled to deal with their Constitution as they see fit. [More…]
Any man who opposes or endeavours to delay and obstruct the people having a vote on their own Constitution cannot pretend to call himself democratic. [More…]
Fortunately the Constitution enables us to get past that position. [More…]
The authors of the Constitution foresaw that there might be obstructionists such as those in the Opposition here, and they dealt also with rejection of or failure to pass a Bill. [More…]
We on this side are not saying that this Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill ought to be delayed indefinitely. [More…]
There is in the community a constitution and there is a proposal put forward by the Government which has twice gained the acceptance of the House of Representatives by an absolute majority, and in December last year was rejected by the Opposition parties in the Senate, that the people of Australia have a say in the alteration of their own Constitution. [More…]
The people of Australia are the only ones who can do it, and no amount of going to the Governor-General and getting a double dissolution will in any way give the people the opportunity to speak on the alteration of their own Constitution. [More…]
All that the Government is doing is endeavouring to enable the people of Australia at the next Senate election to have a say also on whether they want to alter their own Constitution to provide for democratic elections to be overseen in the ultimate by the High Court of Australia. [More…]
But the Opposition in the Senate is determined to do everything it can to prevent the people having that say on their own Constitution. [More…]
Let us send it off to a committee or do some trickery or use some device so that we can prevent the people having their say on these constitutional questions at the next Senate election. [More…]
Why should the Opposition not be high-pressured into doing what it ought to have done last December, that is, simply agree to the people having a say on the Constitution? [More…]
It is only the people of Australia who can change the Constitution. [More…]
Fortunately, as I have said, those who framed the Constitution provided for meeting obstruction such as honourable senators opposite are putting up tonight and will put up in the future in relation to other measures which they have already rejected by providing that it is enough if one House passes such a Bill. [More…]
It is identical with the procedure which was proposed by the Government when the previous Constitution Alteration Bill was before the Senate today. [More…]
From the arguments which have been advanced in the debate on the first Constitution Alteration Bill today, I appreciate that a great deal of point taking is being engaged in prior to a Senate election. [More…]
I refer Senator Murphy to his statement in 1967 when the matter was last before the Senate prior to the series of Constitution Alteration Bills last year. [More…]
It is intended to be used in connection with such great matters as an alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
Although it is being done in a manner which does not befit alterations ofthe Constitution, this Bill must, as a matter of character, be styled an alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
That is a complete misreading of the Constitution. [More…]
Under our system the Constitution does not provide that there shall be any referendum by way of petition originating with the people. [More…]
That is what is provided in the Constitution. [More…]
We insist that the legislative processes contemplated in the Constitution be strictly observed. [More…]
After all, section 128 of the Constitution endows this chamber with tremendous power of authority in relation to referenda. [More…]
The Attorney-General is one who has protested day after day and year after year as to the importance of this chamber, the importance of the deliberative function of this chamber, the importance of the constitution of committees of investigation of this chamber and in a large measure took the initiative in having some of these committees established. [More…]
We say that the Constitution has contemplated that a proposal for a referendum shall get the legislative attention of the Parliament before it is placed before the people. [More…]
That is provided in the Constitution. [More…]
As we insist on that, we insist on strict compliance with the constitutional Act. [More…]
This process is surrounded by all the circumscriptions and all the defences that it should have, because the amending of the Constitutionof the written document, the contract and compact of Federation- is a sacred arrangement and not likely to be disturbed and certainly not likely to be disturbed by a government electing through control in one House to by-pass the complete legislative process by compelling legislation through the Upper House and then saying to the people that the decision is theirs. [More…]
That is contemplated in the Constitution. [More…]
Before the Third reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a Call of the Senate. [More…]
I do not think that those acquainted with the Constitution would be deceived by that, because they understand that on 4 December the measure was put to this Senate and rejected. [More…]
The measure was simply to put to the people of Australia the question whether they wanted to vote to alter their own Constitution to enable the Federal Parliament to provide finance directly to local government. [More…]
The Constitution provides for a period of 3 months to elapse in such circumstances- and 3 months elapsed between 4 December and 4 March. [More…]
If we cannot get the approval of the Senate on it, the Constitution provides that 3 months after it is rejected or the Senate fails to pass it, it can nevertheless be put to the people. [More…]
I suppose you will try to delay it or in some way try to cover up the fact that you want to deny the people of Australia a vote on the proposition so that in their wisdom or unwisdom, whatever it may be, they can decide how they want to shape their Constitution. [More…]
But honourable senators on those benches say: ‘We insist upon the Constitution, we insist upon all this’. [More…]
I would suggest that it is not a very good day for democracy when the Opposition parties, after having so decisively rejected this measure, which was simply a measure to put the proposition to the people, now, again, in March- when the Government is proceeding as expeditiously as it can to fulfil the constitutional requirements- are pretending that they need time to make up their minds or to debate the issue. [More…]
Let the people make up their minds about whether they want to alter their own Constitution. [More…]
I invite the attention of honourable senators to the second reading speech I delivered earlier today in presenting the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974, and my second reading speech when I introduced this Bill previously on 20 November 1973. [More…]
The proposal now is that the Constitution be altered to enable that to be done if the people vote for it. [More…]
The Constitution provides that such a proposal, if put through the House of Representatives again after 3 months and again rejected by the Senate, or if the Senate fails to pass it, can be put to the people even if the Senate has tried to prevent its being put to them. [More…]
It intends to refuse, if it can, to let the people have a vote but it is not going to succeed because the Constitution provides for the people to have a say even though there is a majority of senators here who try to prevent their having a say in the alteration of their own Constitution. [More…]
This follows the procedure which the Opposition suggested and which the Senate acceded to on the occasion when the last Constitutional Alteration Bill was discussed. [More…]
What we are asking is that there be a week before we resume the debate on this Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill. [More…]
We in the Opposition know that under the Constitution it does not matter whether we in this chamber defeat this measure or whether we support it. [More…]
In the case of this Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill I ask honourable senators to think of the time schedule. [More…]
We are performing a function which under the Constitution we are charged to perform. [More…]
He has come into the Senate as Leader of the Government in the Senate with a request from the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) that he bulldoze through the Senate tonight a series of Constitution alteration Bills, debate on which was gagged in another place. [More…]
It has been part of our responsibility to see that governments, whatever their political complexion, made up of majority parties do not become arrogant in the application of the power that is unquestionably and rightfully theirs to the point that they exercise that power unwisely, not in accordance with the Constitution or against the interests of the people. [More…]
Whilst it is true that, under the rules laid down in the Constitution, in a referendum the people will express their point of view, I must point out that until that stage is reached we, the senators in this place and the members in another place, are the people who express their point of view. [More…]
The Government has come back and said that the Constitution nevertheless provides that if the House of Representatives passes such a measure for the second time after an interval of 3 months and this place rejects or fails to pass it the people can have their say. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice. [More…]
This approach is simply another indication of the kind of approach that was taken by the Opposition yesterday to the 2 other Constitution Alteration Bills; that is, to obstruct, to delay and to fail to pass the Bills. [More…]
I invite the attention of the honourable senators to the second reading speech which I made on 21 November 1973 when the Bill was introduced and also to the remarks which I made in connection with the Constitution Alteration Bill yesterday. [More…]
In accordance with the provisions of section 128 of the Constitution in respect of Constitution Alteration Bills that have been passed in one house- in this instance, the House of Representatives by an absolute majority on 2 occasions and which already have been rejected, have failed to pass or have been unacceptably amended in the Senate, the Government reintroduces the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill in the Senate so that it can proceed towards a referendum on the matter, a referendum that the Government intends be held concurrently with the next Senate elections. [More…]
I also remind the Senate of what I said when re-introducing the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill yesterday, that I expect the Senate to deal promptly with this and the other 3 Constitution Alteration Bills that first came before this chamber in November last. [More…]
I commend to the Senate the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974. [More…]
If the Leader of the Government will tell us what the Government’s program is, what the dates are, what the problems under the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act are, what the problems of printing are and all the rest of it, we will see whether we can help him. [More…]
We know that under the Constitution the Senate election can be held as late as Saturday, 29 June. [More…]
The Constitution provides that such a proposed law can be brought back again. [More…]
After all, they are the only ones who can agree to an alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
That year is significant because in that year the then GovernorGeneral granted to the then Prime Minister, Mr Menzies, a double dissolution under the terms of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution has, in almost identical words, the same provisions as appear in section 128 of the Constitution under which the Governor-General may submit questions to the people for a referendum for the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
What was the position in France before De Gaulle abolished the Constitution? [More…]
The Liberal Party has talked about the requirement for an amendment to the Constitution to bring them into line. [More…]
Mr Menzies, as he was at the time, did not think there was a requirement for an amendment to the Constitution to take the House of Representatives out on its own. [More…]
I do not see any reason why the Constitution should not be amended to bring the 2 Houses into line and for half the Senate to retire at the time of each House of Representatives election. [More…]
I listened to Senator Greenwood working himself up into a lather of indignation at the way in which we had treated the Senate committees by recommitting this proposal in the face of the fact that the Opposition had had the numbers to refer it to the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs when it was last before the Senate. [More…]
Does anybody in the Senate seriously believe that the reason why the Opposition referred this matter to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee was for it to get more serious consideration? [More…]
Everybody knows that that was an attempt to bury this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
One imagines that it would have sat down and looked at the history of proposals for constitutional reform. [More…]
If the Government proposition is that merely because a Bill to alter the Constitution passes through the House of Representatives twice by a constitutional majority it can- it does not have to betherefore be submitted by the Governor-General to the electorate, and that that is democracy, will the Government give an unqualified undertaking that should the Senate twice, by an absolute majority, pass a Bill to alter the Constitution, even though that Bill should be rejected, laid aside or amended unacceptably in another place, the Prime Minister will advise the GovernorGeneral also to submit the proposition contained in that Bill to the people? [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution says that the people will be allowed to vote on matters which have passed each chamber twice. [More…]
That is the exact proposition we are putting forward in saying that the Constitution alteration proposals should be submitted to the people for their judgment. [More…]
After the first message, which concerned the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill, had been read the Leader of the Government sought the suspension of so much of the Standing Orders as would prevent the Bill being passed through all its stages without delay, to which the Opposition agreed. [More…]
It has been suggested that in some way the Senate, in taking the stand that it is taking, is intruding unduly, almost without authority and certainly quite indefensibly in the progress of a Constitution Alteration Bill. [More…]
It is interesting to compare the provisions of section 128 of the Constitution with the provisions which deal with Bills which may lead to a double dissolution. [More…]
Bills involving an amendment of the Constitution, if passed by the House and rejected twice by the Senate, may after a period be submitted to the Governor-General for the referendum proposal to be put to the people. [More…]
That is not the case with a Constitution Alteration Bill which has as its primary objective that the proposal go before the people. [More…]
Therefore, the widest possible scope and opportunity, in the case of Constitution alterations, is given to each House, including the Senate, to ensure that it plays its legislative role in the proper fashion and at the proper time. [More…]
Let us look at the most recent proposal which came before the Parliament for a Constitution alteration. [More…]
In those circumstances it is presumptuous for people to claim that the Senate is almost trespassing beyond its powers by intervening and stultifying in some way the opinion of the House on a matter involving this fundamental question of alterations to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Judging from the history of this country, I do not think that the putting of a question to the Australian people by way of a referendum should excite the government of the day very greatly because so often people who go forward with great enthusiasm for the questions being put find that the Australian people are very hard to move when it comes to changing the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Despite the fact that the present Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) may have some ambitions and ideas about changing the Constitution, and despite the fact that he thinks the Constitution is not right because it does not suit him personally or politically, the Australian people generally believe that under the Constitution, creaky as some might think it is, we have not done so badly after all. [More…]
Often we see them come into this chamber waving this little booklet ‘Platform, Constitution and Rules ‘ of the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
I am proud to say that I belong to a Party which sees fit to publish its constitution, rules and platform. [More…]
But I have yet to see a copy of the platform and Constitution of the Liberal Country League or the Liberal Party. [More…]
-in reply-On 31 October 1950 a call of the Senate was dispensed with in respect to the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1950. [More…]
On 12 July 1951 the Constitution Alteration (Powers to Deal with Communists and Communism) Bill 1951 was introduced into the Senate shortly before noon. [More…]
On 4 December 1973 the call of the Senate was dispensed with in respect of the 4 constitutional alteration Bills which were before the Senate. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Constitution to enable interchange of powers between the Australian Parliament and the State parliaments. [More…]
The Government proposes that this Bill, along with several other proposals for constitutional amendments already submitted to this Parliament, will be put to the people by referendum at the time of the forthcoming Senate election. [More…]
-The Bdi is a Bill to amend the Constitution, but it requires the approval of the electors in accordance with the constitutional provisions. [More…]
There already is a provision in the Constitution, in section 51, paragraph (XXX- VII), for reference of powers by State parliaments to the Australian Parliament. [More…]
Honourable senators will recall that, during the first meeting of the Constitutional Convention in September last year, heads of delegations agreed in principle that the Constitution should be altered to allow for interchanges of powers and to remove the existing doubts about the operation of the present power. [More…]
But State laws passed in pursuance of a designation by the Australian Parliament will be subject to the general limitations applicable under our Constitution to State laws- for example, section 92 will apply. [More…]
I hope that these provisions will encourage the States to refer to this Parliament powers such as family law, defamation and shipping and navigation which, in this context, have been raised at the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
The proposed alteration to the Constitution contained in this Bill, if approved by the people, will introduce a degree of flexibility in the distribution of powers under our Constitution that has been lacking for far too long. [More…]
I do that because whatever might have been the arguments raised in support of a speedy debate for the other proposals to amend the Constitution, there is absolutely no justification which on any pretext can be put forward on this occasion. [More…]
Whatever arrangements might have been made between the parliamentary counsel of the States and the Commonwealth, surely this Parliament has an obligation under the Constitution and as part of the legislative process to give consideration to the legislation which is brought forward. [More…]
There are few Bills more fundamental to the operation of our Constitution than the one which we are now asked to consider. [More…]
The Constitution provides that there shall be a short distribution of a pamphlet which will attempt to set out the implications of this proposal as seen by one side and by the other. [More…]
The matter was raised at the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
It is quite clear that not only is nothing precipitate ever going to be done but, as far as the Opposition is concerned, if it can help it nothing will be done by the Senate to assist the Government in its program of putting to the people at the next Senate election certain proposals for altering the Constitution. [More…]
When a proposal in respect of some alteration of the Constitution is put up in this chamber honourable senators opposite say: ‘ It should be discussed at the Constitutional Convention’. [More…]
When we bring forward a proposal that has been discussed at the Constitutional Convention and in respect of which a great deal of consultation has been had with the parliamentary counsel of the States and so on, honourable senators opposite are not even prepared to proceed with the second reading of the matter. [More…]
I am not sure how much of the debates of the Convention and other matters have been presented to the Parliament, but I know that Opposition senators are determined to see to it that the announced program of the Government to put the proposals for an alteration to the Constitution to the people for their decision at the time of the Senate election is spragged. [More…]
Reference is made in the amendment to an attempt to change the federal system of the Australian Constitution by diminishing the responsibility of the States. [More…]
What this Government cannot do through administrative action or through this Parliament it is trying to do through alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
I hope that the people of this country will consider these proposed constitutional alterations, which we understand will be presented at the next Senate election, and give them the same kind of treatment as was meted out to the prices and incomes referenda last December. [More…]
The third point made in the amendment moved by Senator Withers is that we regret attempts to change the federal system of the Australian Constitution by diminishing the responsibility of the States. [More…]
In accordance with the provisions of section 128 of the Constitution in respect of Constitution Alteration Bills that have been passed in one House- in this instance, the House of Representativesby an absolute majority on 2 occasions and which already have been rejected, have failed to pass or have been unacceptably amended in the Senate, the Government reintroduces the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill in the Senate so that it can proceed towards a referendum on the matter, a referendum that the Government intends be held concurrently with the next Senate elections. [More…]
I also refer the Senate to what I said when re-introducing the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill on 6 March 1974, namely, that I ask the Senate to deal promptly with that and the other 3 Constitution Alteration Bills that first came into this chamber last November. [More…]
But assuredly, failure to complete consideration in the Senate this week will be treated by the Government for the purposes of section 128 of the Constitution as failure to pass. [More…]
This Bill vitally affects our Constitution. [More…]
The last time that the Constitution alteration Bills were before the Senate the Opposition parties rejected two, amended one, and this present Bill was referred to one of the Senate committees. [More…]
I claim that we were fulfilling our constitutional obligation and our obligation to the Australian people. [More…]
When Parliament reassembled the Government could have restored the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill to the notice paper, as it is doing with the Australian Industry Development Corporation Bill and the National Investment Fund Bill. [More…]
The Constitution clearly gives that discretion to another; it does not give it to the Prime Minister. [More…]
The Senate has powers under the Constitution which make it an equal House of Parliament with the House of Representatives, and as far as we are concerned the Senate is not going to be a spongy rubber stamp. [More…]
For example, with the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill the Opposition in the House of Representatives wished to move an amendment in that place, but because of the application of the guillotine the Opposition there could not move the amendment and make clear its intentions. [More…]
The Bill has very long term implications for the Senate and for the Constitution as such because it deals with something which will be written into the Constitution, which will be permanent and which will remain, if carried by a majority of electors in a majority of the States until, if thought necessary, another referendum is held to change it. [More…]
There is no need for a constitutional referendum to ensure that simultaneous elections are held. [More…]
Firstly, we can have simultaneous elections at any time that the Prime Minister likes to go to the GovernorGeneral because section 57 of the Constitution contains a provision for a double dissolution if there is a disagreement between the 2 houses. [More…]
If such study is not permitted, there is no choice but to reject any Bill which attempts to alter the Constitution in such a fundamental way. [More…]
To be consistent, we should vote again for its referral to a committee to ensure that the committee did the job which it was asked to do, and that is to examine all the ramifications of the proposition which it to be placed before the people as an alteration to the Constitution. [More…]
We recognise that the Government will be able to refer to the representative of Her Majesty, the Governor-General, this proposition and seek the right to put it to the people in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
The Government has the constitutional right to do so. [More…]
He has become very tender about the costs involved- as if the costs involved in altering the Constitution are important compared with the right of the people to have the proposition properly presented to them and to understand fully the alteration which the Government proposes to make to the Constitution. [More…]
Is it the will of the Government that the parties should have no time to campaign for the return of their senators, or does the Government believe that in a fortnight’s campaign 5 propositions to alter the Constitution can be seriously debated for the understanding of the public, most of whom have not read the Constitution or understood what it means, and at the same time the functions which politicians have a responsibility to fulfil- that is, in an election campaign to place before the people their ideas, their programs and what they stand for- can be fulfilled? [More…]
It wishes to fiddle with the Constitution which took years of consideration by the fathers of Federation to compile and which gives us the whole basis on which the democracy of this country has functioned. [More…]
The Government wishes to alter the Constitution in this cavalier fashion because it is the [More…]
I want to remind the Government of what the Constitution says about Senate elections. [More…]
If that election had taken place only 6 weeks before the expiration of the terms of service of the sitting senators the State of Victoria could have been without 5 of its representatives until such time as the Constitution was legally interpreted on this question. [More…]
The Constitution says more than that the election to fill the vacant places shall be made within one year before the places are to become vacant; it goes on to say that the term of service of a senator so appointed shall be taken to begin on the first day of July following the day of his election. [More…]
According to the Constitution the term of service of a senator who is elected at such an election cannot begin until the first day of July of the following year. [More…]
There is another provision of the Constitution that says that the Senate may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate. [More…]
I am not professiong to say that what I am putting will inevitably be found to be right; I am reading the Constitution as it is. [More…]
If Senator McAuliffe can put any other interpretation on the words ‘the first day of July following the day of his election’ than a date that follows the date of a senator’s election he is a genius because no one else in the world could put such an interpretation on such a provision in the Constitution. [More…]
The Government can rush around smashing in doors and knocking on doors at 3 o’clock in the morning and arresting people, and get away with it, but it cannot get away with fiddling with the Constitution on which this very parliamentary system is based. [More…]
The Government is entitled to avail itself of the terms of the Constitution and to place referendum proposals before the people, but will it have the opportunity in the time available to it to put to the people the arguments for and against the 5 questions involved? [More…]
-The Senate is debating the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974. [More…]
All these Bills are particularly important; they are the mode by which a point for consideration by the people can be put at a referendum to decide whether the Australian Constitution should be altered. [More…]
The alteration of the Constitution is a major matter, but it appears to me that the Government takes it very lightly. [More…]
The Bill before the Senate and the related Bills, I believe, indicate that the Government is attempting to trick the people into approving the greatest plunder of the Australian Constitution ever attempted. [More…]
The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENTSenator Webster, I am sorry to interrupt you but I would ask you to limit your remarks to the subject matter before the Senate; that is, the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1 974. [More…]
If so, it needs to be looked at to see what in fact the Labor Party is promising the electors by seeking to change the Constitution. [More…]
Why does he introduce this great number of Constitution alteration Bills? [More…]
Senator Murphy says that the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill is another of the Bills which the Senate should press through immediately. [More…]
Yet, that speech, and that is the Labor Party case to the people to which I referred, gave no hint of Labor’s plans to launch, with unprecedented intensity, an attack on the very cornerstone of democracy, namely, the Austraiian Constitution. [More…]
The Government was not given a mandate to fiddle with the Australian Constitution. [More…]
This Bill that we are debating proposes that the Constitution be altered to ensure that, in future, elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate will be held at the same time. [More…]
Today the Senate is debating one of the proposals that the Government has put forward for the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
This proposal is that in all cases hereafter when the House of Representatives goes to the people for election there should be held a Senate election simultaneously, irrespective of the circumstances that have brought on the election and irrespective of the essential elements of the constitution of the Senate. [More…]
It is for that very reason and to safeguard stability, responsibility and faithfulness to the people in some measure, that a constitution has been framed. [More…]
We know that this country would never have unified to the state of nationhood that it has attained under the form of a federal constitution unless a common basis had been found to enable the 6 colonies at the time to agree upon a constitution to establish this Parliament. [More…]
So the assumption grew that elections should be held at the same time if possible, but there were cardinal considerations with regard to the Senate that made that assumption quite unreal and quite subversive to the Constitution. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution was therefore formulated. [More…]
When the Constitution was being debated, that section engaged the delegates’ attention far more than any other single section in the Constitution. [More…]
It is only in that case that Constitution provides any authority for the Governor-General to dissolve the Senate. [More…]
A unique feature that was implanted into the Constitution in 1900 was a continuance of the British system of responsible government as against the American presidential system that was talked of at some time. [More…]
In one proposal which is cognate to this we see a pattern of referenda designed to subvert the States and to alter the constitution of the States. [More…]
This Bill is not in order from the point of view of ordinary constitutional processes, because the people who accepted the Constitution in 1900 laid down with great particularity and emphasis the means whereby the Constitution should be amended. [More…]
The answer is, because people in the Houses of this Parliament are daily involved in political matters in which the Constitution is the guide. [More…]
Senator Murphy asserts that when we referred this Bill to our Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee in December, we failed to pass it. [More…]
If this power that Senator Murphy’s Government is now seeking were at present in the Constitution no Senate election would be held in 2 months’ time. [More…]
We are being asked to write into the Constitution a power which would, in future, prevent any kind of mid-term elections. [More…]
Let me look further at the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
The founding fathers of the Commonwealth Constitution were wise people, even though Senator Mulvihill thinks that they, 74 years ago, lacked the wisdom that he has today. [More…]
If one examines how the founding fathers put the Constitution together, it will be noted that they saw that the concentration of power in one man or in one group was bad. [More…]
When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution they made 2 quite significant points. [More…]
Section 7 of the Commonwealth Constitution states in an unqualified way: [More…]
However, section 28 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
Basically, they wrote into the Constitution the idea of the need for continuity in the Senate over a period of 6 years, recognising that in the popular or lower House there could be convulsion, that the term of office might be shortened, that a Prime Minister might well choose to hold an election for the House of Representatives before the 3 years laid down in the Constitution had expired. [More…]
They then put 2 methods into the Constitution which are available to a Government of the day if it wants to rectify these matters. [More…]
If the Government of the day, under the existing Constitution, wants to bring elections for the 2 Houses into line it can do so now without seeking any more power at all. [More…]
But under the present Constitution it is competent for a government at any time to bring elections for the 2 Houses into conjunction. [More…]
The power lies, at this moment, within the Commonwealth Constitution to do so. [More…]
But if the Commonwealth Government wants to go further, it has specific power under section 57 of the Constitution to seek a double dissolution and to bring out simultaneously the whole of the lower House and the whole 60 senators in a joint dissolution of the Parliament. [More…]
We would not be having a Senate election in 2 months time if the power sought in this Bill were now written into the Constitution. [More…]
The founding fathers wanted a continuity of thought and they wrote it into the Constitution. [More…]
They also wrote into the Constitution the devices by which the Government of the day could bring the 2 Houses into line after they got out of line. [More…]
The people of Australia should understand that those who are talking today of reforming the Constitution with regard to the Senate are pledged to the abolition of the Senate. [More…]
Under the Constitution the Senate stands as a brake upon such an obsession. [More…]
I think it is well for us to remember that the Constitution is not wrapped around the House of Representatives, it is wrapped around the Senate. [More…]
Under those circumstances 1 cannot see the great fuss and stampede of the Prime Minister and others in wanting to bring in this change to the Constitution so that we will have simultaneous elections. [More…]
Looking at the whole situation from the Australian point of view, from the parliamentary system and from the Senate’s aspect, I feel that the proposed amendment to the Constitution is one which we should not support. [More…]
I hope that if this proposal to amend the Constitution goes before the people they will reply to it in similar vein to the case in which I think I played some part when the people rejected a recommendation of the previous Government when it wanted to break the nexus between the Houses, which would have affected the Senate. [More…]
Whether the people want to vote for or against the proposals, the Government said to them: ‘We undertake as part of the program upon which we ask you to vote for us that we will put to you certain proposals so that you may decide whether you want to alter your Constitution’. [More…]
This was acceded to following the acknowledgement of the Leader of the Opposition that the several Constitution alteration Bills must be dealt with before the Senate rose. [More…]
It was resolved, contrary to the clear wishes of the Government as expressed by me, that the Bill be referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs for inquiry and report to the Senate as soon as possible but not later than the first sitting day after 1 February 1974. [More…]
I then stated specifically that if the proposal was not put to the people immediately, because the Senate declined to do so and accepted the proposal to refer the matter to the Committee, the Government would treat this course as a failure to pass in terms of the Constitution, and would at the earliest opportunity bring it forward again in such a way that the provisions of section 128 could be availed of and the proposed law put to the people without the concurrence of the Senate. [More…]
In my opinion the Senate’s action in sending the proposed law to the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs on 4 December 1973, particularly when construed in the light of the failure of the Committee to meet to consider the matter, constituted a failure to pass the proposed law within the meaning of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
It may not be necessary to advance this argument but I think it should be understood that there is a theme which runs through the speeches of members of the Opposition, that is, that the provisions of the Constitution in regard to referenda as well as dissolutions upon deadlock somehow postulate some breach of duty by the Senate. [More…]
1 believe that there is a heavy public demand for it, but irrespective of whether that is right the Government’s proposal is merely to let the people say how they want their own Constitution to operate. [More…]
They are in opposition not only to the Government; they are also in opposition to the people of Australia when they want to deny them an opportunity to vote on their own Constitution. [More…]
This Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill is the second of these infamous referendum Bills which the Government is proposing before the Senate and on which I express the viewpoint of the Opposition. [More…]
Secondly, irrespective of what happens in this chamber, whether the proposal is carried or lost- and the Prime Minister has made this point abundantly clear- the Prime Minister may go to the GovernorGeneral and, under the Constitution, he may ask the Governor-General to put this proposition to the people. [More…]
It is a Bill proposing a referendum which is that the Constitution be amended in 2 respects. [More…]
These are new powers which the Government wants inserted in the Constitution. [More…]
Of course, the Government seeks to have the Constitution amended so that these may be inserted. [More…]
The Bill which we have before us seeks to amend the Constitution. [More…]
We are concerned at the moment with a Bill which seeks to give authority to place before the people of Australia a question suggesting that the Constitution should be amended. [More…]
If the referendum were to be supported and these new provisions were included in the Constitution we would be sounding the death knell of local government. [More…]
It is not necessary to alter the Constitution to alleviate local government’s worsening financial position. [More…]
This it has the power to do under the Constitution. [More…]
It is obvious that this can be done without the Commonwealth Constitution having to be changed. [More…]
So one has to look for the reason why it is sought to change the Constitution. [More…]
I submit that it is more than just a phobia that is possessed by the Government to rewrite the Constitution. [More…]
On every occasion on which the Senate has dealt with matters relating to referenda we have had conjured up in this House by the wild thinking of Opposition senators bogus suggestions of all sorts of dire consequences to the people of Australia if the Constitution is amended. [More…]
What is involved here is an attempt to change the Constitution as it relates to financial arrangements by giving local government direct access to the Loan Council, acting in concert with the States and the Australian Government. [More…]
He said that if this Senate, firstly, and, subsequently, the Australian people are persuaded to change the Constitution this will change local government bodies and the structure of local government. [More…]
How can any constitutional change which seeks only to affect access to loan funds change the structure of local government bodies? [More…]
We recognise the compelling nature of the problems of local government, but emphasise that financial arrangements must serve and strengthen the Constitution, not undermine it. [More…]
Let us look at the Constitution. [More…]
I have learned with appreciation too that local governments form a very particular part of the government of Australia, notwithstanding the fact that the Constitution of this country makes no reference to local government at all. [More…]
The Constitution speaks of the central governments- the Commonwealth Government- and the States, which proves that the local governments are the creation of the States. [More…]
It states in the heading.To alter the Constitution to enable the Commonwealth to borrow money for, and to grant financial assistance to, local government bodies’. [More…]
If the Government is genuine in its desire to give more money to local governments then it could do that under the system which already exists within the Constitution. [More…]
In other words, under section 96 of the Constitution the Federal Government, when it makes a grant, has not only the power to say what money will be allocated but also how that money will be spent. [More…]
When the Constitution was written and when section 96 was put in it was never intended to be used in this way. [More…]
Section 96 was included in the Constitution purely to help the development of this country and to help the poorer and less populated States with specific grants. [More…]
Secondly we have the situation where the Government has the constitutional power to say to any local government or, as they are now called regions, how it will spend that money. [More…]
If the Government is genuine when it says that the Constitution needs to be altered- as one Government senator said the Constitution is 73 years old and it needs to be brought up to date- we do not disagree with that. [More…]
An Australian Constitutional Convention has been operating and holding discussions for more than 12 months. [More…]
The Convention which seeks to review and revise the Constitution is attended by representatives of every political party in every State parliament and the Commonwealth Parliament, and local government representation from every State of this Commonwealth. [More…]
Alternatively, and particularly if the seven heads of government cannot agree, the Australian Parliament could sponsor a referendum to insert the words ‘or elected local government bodies’ after the word States’ wherever that word occurs in section 105A of the Constitution. [More…]
Local government appreciates the opportunity to participate in the Convention to review the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Amend section 105A of the Constitution to read as follows: [More…]
Local government appreciates the opportunity to participate in the Convention to review the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Does this Bill deal with the Australian Constitution? [More…]
The first, of course, is the question of the acknowledgment of local government in the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I understand, and I am sure that we all understand, the wish of local government to be recognised in the Constitution. [More…]
Since 1901, according to the delegates handbook, there have been 6 previous attempts- one by royal commission- to review and change various parts of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
The most important and forceful was made in 19S9 by the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review. [More…]
They said that the previous Government gave them no opportunity, in 23 years, to have direct access to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Mr Rogers, one of the most important men in local government in Australia today, said: 1 emphasise again that it is implicit that if local government is to play its part in providing the services required of it, it must be an established arm of government recognised by the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 96 of the Constitution power exists now for the Government to make to State governments certain grants. [More…]
If the proposed referendum were carried and the amendment to section 96 of the Constitution by the addition of the proposed section 96a were to become a feature of the Constitution, what would be the position of the local government authorities? [More…]
However, I do not believe that we need to change the Constitution of this country to bring this about. [More…]
Why do we need to change the Constitution? [More…]
There is no necessity to change the Constitution in this regard, and in those circumstances, to save the people the trouble and the Commonwealth the expense, I propose to oppose the legislation. [More…]
The Bill seeks to alter section 5 1 of the Constitution by inserting after paragraph (iv) the following paragraph: (ivA.) [More…]
That section has been in the Constitution since Federation; it is a section that applied for 10 years after the establishment of the Commonwealth or for such additional time as the Parliament decided. [More…]
Irrespective of whether it is for or against, the issue may be put to the public because the Constitution provides for that kind of obstructive attitude which the Senate had hitherto displayed. [More…]
Somehow the notion has arisen that this Opposition wants to arrogate to itself the right to prevent the Australian people from voting to change their own Constitution. [More…]
If an Australian Government elected by the people wishes to put a proposition to the people to vote to change their Constitution, will any person in this Parliament deny the right of the Australian Government to go to its own people and say: ‘We ask you to change your own Constitution and we want you to vote in a free and regular election on whether you choose to change your own Constitution’? [More…]
These men opposite want to deny the right of the Government to go to its own people and say: ‘Are you willing to change your own Constitution?’ [More…]
Now these men who are anti-democrats are denying the rights of their own people- they are doing it here day after day- and are using every device to prevent their own people from having a say in changing their own Constitution. [More…]
The Australian Government is simply wishing to approach its own people and ask them whether they will say yes or no to a change of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
We will go out and we will ask the Australian people to vote against them because we do not agree with them, but never would we deny the right of a government elected by the people to go to its own people and say ‘We, the Government of Australia, ask you to vote to change your Constitution in such and such a manner’. [More…]
What has happened here is one of the greatest negations of democracy in that those opposite with their temporary majority are daring to arrogate to themselves the right to prevent the Australian Government from going to its own people and asking them whether they will say yes or no to an amendment of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Yes, the over-reaching of a temporary majority in this place which dares to intervene between the Government elected by the people and the people themselves when the Government simply desires to seek their vote on whether they would change their own Constitution. [More…]
The representative of the Democratic Labour Party, who will be putting himself to the people in a month or so, in response to my statement that the Government had the right to go to the people to seek the people’s views on whether they wanted the Constitution changed, said: ‘You know you do not have that right at all’. [More…]
These referenda are going to be put and whatever honourable senators opposite do, whether this legislation is carried now or not, these referenda ultimately will be carried by the people of Australia and they will become part of the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
The Government has been anxious to get through the Constitution alteration Bills, and that it why the reconstitution of the committees has not been proceeded with. [More…]
The Opposition almost made it a condition of our reaching the Constitution alteration Bills that we did not interrupt the AddressinReply debate. [More…]
We are now dealing with the Constitution alteration Bills. [More…]
It is certainly my intention when those debates are concluded, if we can deal with the matter speedily, to move for the reconstitution of those committees this morning. [More…]
I will discuss with the Leader of the Opposition when the most convenient time will be, but it is the intention of the Government to move for the reconstitution of the committees today. [More…]
That is, if only he could alter the Constitution. [More…]
Not only does he want to alter the Constitution in several aspects now, but also he wants to make it easier to alter the Constitution in the future. [More…]
In fact, if the Labor Party were to have its way entirely the Constitution would be so easy to alter that there would be little point in having one. [More…]
The second provision facilitates altering the Constitution by requiring an overall majority of electors with a 50-50 agreement between States instead of the present 60-40 basis between States. [More…]
It is obvious that every elector in Australia should have a say on whether or not the Constitution is to be altered, regardless of where those electors live. [More…]
To facilitate alterations to the Constitution and to allow Electors in Territories, as well as Electors in the States, to vote at referendums - [More…]
I do not know where that word ‘referendums’ comes front on proposed Laws to alter the Constitution. [More…]
As against that, I believe most Australians will hold grave doubts as to the advisability of making it easier for Governments to alter the Constitution. [More…]
It has lumped these 2 proposals together either because it does not really want those living in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory to be given a vote on proposals to alter the Constitution, or because it is hoping to float through its proposals to simplify altering the Constitution on a wave of sympathy for the electors in the Territories. [More…]
Let me again repeat what I said when this Bill was before the Senate last year: The Constitution, which was drawn up at the end of the last century, was a compact between all the States. [More…]
Undoubtedly a very strong reason for agreement by the States was that for any proposed changes to the Constitution a majority of States would be required to signify their approval. [More…]
The States are entitled to play, and indeed, must play a major role in any changes proposed to the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 128 of the Constitution it is the Parliament which puts a proposal to the people. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution does not state that if the Government decides to put a matter before the people and the Senate twice within an interval of 3 months decides to reject the proposal, the Government may then submit its proposal to the people. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution uses the word ‘House’. [More…]
If we are to accept the argument put yesterday by the Government senators that we would be acting undemocratically in not allowing the proposal to go to the people then I ask this quesiton and I would like to hear the comments of Government senators on this proposition when they reply: If a Bill which would submit a proposal for an alteration of the Constitution to the people should pass through the Senate with a constitutional majority of 31 votes, go to the House of Representatives, and be rejected and then, after an interval of 3 months, again be passed by the Senate with a Constitutional majority of 3 1 votes, would the Government give an absolute undertaking that it would advise the Governor-General to submit that proposal to the people? [More…]
We have been asked to approve a series of constitutional alteration Bills which have been shown in debate to be unacceptable in that broadly they represent a plunder of State rights and an attempt to centralise power in Canberra. [More…]
So, in an attempt to overcome what it fears will be a no vote by the people, it seeks to change the longstanding method by which alterations to the Constitution can be effected. [More…]
It is not difficult to understand why the Government wants to be able to change the Constitution if only three of the States instead of four give their approval. [More…]
-The Bill before the chamber is perhaps different from the other proposed referendum Bills because while they deal with specific heads of power this Bill relates to the actual machinery of the Constitution itself and to the mode of altering the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
Federation was essentially a compact between 6 colonies, then becoming the States, to be participants in a Federal body under a written Constitution. [More…]
That concept was maintained in the written Constitution and it has always been a fundamental part of it in the creation of this body which is here substantially to represent the States and to protect the States. [More…]
Therefore any departure from that in any way particularly by this chamber is a departure from the primary and fundamental concept of the Constitution itself. [More…]
Insofar as the Constitution is a solemn compact, a solemn contract, in which the States have this most important role, it seems to me to be basic logic that if that instrument is to be subject to change and if the States are to have a continuance of their primary significance there must be an overwhelming vote by the States as such for or against any alteration to the compact of federation, the Constitution itself. [More…]
It would appear to me to be a departure that if we are not going to insist upon a vote by the majority of States to vary the Constitution but enable the referendum to be passed on an equality of State votes, together with a majority of the aggregate of the people ‘s votes it will be, to use my original term, a misconception of the very nature of the compact of federation. [More…]
-No, I am talking to the Bill concerning the mode of altering the Constitution. [More…]
It is on that basis that I appeal to honourable senators to give their consideration seriously to this Bill and to see whether there is any element of prudence or wisdom at all or whether there is not such a fundamental change being effected in the provisions of the Constitution by this means that the original concept of federation will be lost and destroyed completely. [More…]
We support that concept which would give all Territorians the right to vote on propositions altering the Constitution because, after all, variations in the Constitution are matters of great concern to them. [More…]
We say that if you are going to disturb the Constitution, if it is a document which is so important in determining the relationships between the Commonwealth and the States and the States inter se, it should only be done by a majority of the States indicating in a clear and decisive manner their preparedness to have that variation made. [More…]
After all, in this chamber, which is a States chamber, by the nature of its constitution if a resolution is propounded and there is a division of equal numbers the resolution is lost. [More…]
I think we can and should do no less in relation to an alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
I find it inconceivable that a person who believes in the right of a majority of the people and a majority of the States to alter the Constitution- that is what he says is the proper and desirable position- would oppose the Government putting to precisely that body the proposed alteration so that, if in their wisdom a majority of the people and a majority of the States decided to alter their Constitution so that in future changes could be made by a majority of the people and half the States, they would be able to do so. [More…]
If the compact is that the alteration can be made by a majority of the States together with a majority of the people and the majority decides to change what the honourable senator calls the compact, how can anyone possibly resist it if those who have the wisdom and so on and those who are given the power by the Commonwealth decide deliberately to change the Constitution? [More…]
There was a misconception in his mind as to the role the Senate is required to play in relation to a constitutional alteration. [More…]
As I said on another occasion, there is no provision in our Constitution for amendments to the Constitution to be initiated by motion of the people at large, by petition, by resolution or by any approach at all. [More…]
In other words, the Constitution contemplates that a proposition, whether propounded by the government of the day, or, as is also contemplated in the Constitution, by the House of Representatives or this chamber, should go through the legislative process as an examination of the desirability of putting that proposition to the people. [More…]
Obviously that was contemplated in the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution also wisely provides that, if for some reason a proposition should not be able to find passage through both Houses, the propounder is not inhibited from presenting it to His Excellency the Governor-General, who may then elect to present it to the people. [More…]
That does not apply in respect of constitutional alterations. [More…]
It is quite wrong to say that, because we are insisting on the prior scrutiny in terms of the Constitution and because we are insisting on carrying out our duties, in some way we are inhibiting the right of the people to be heard, as if that were the only point. [More…]
In addition, what we are doing here is carrying out scrupulously the duty which is imposed on us under the Constitution. [More…]
First of all, if we advert to section 128 of the Constitution we will see that the provision is: [More…]
Before the Third Reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a Call of the Senate. [More…]
It has the same effect under section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
The matter that troubles you, Mr President, as I understand it, is the part of that provision of the Constitution which deals with how questions are decided in the Senate. [More…]
It may not be troubling you, Mr President, but section 23 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
At several places in the Constitution an absolute majority is specified but that is not so in the case we are dealing with. [More…]
Questions here are to be decided by a simple majority except where the Constitution spells out that there must be an absolute majority. [More…]
This question has been discussed before in the Senate and the Senate ruled twice that the Standing Orders had to give way to the provision in section 23 of the Constitution which states: [More…]
In a sense you would be saying that if you took the constitutional provision set out in section 23 of the Constitution and applied it, the question would be carried because there was the simple majority. [More…]
That would give effect to the constitutional provisions. [More…]
That seems to me to be a reconciliation of the Constitution with the provisions of standing order 242. [More…]
I think the constitutional provisions ought to have been more closely observed when drafting the Standing Orders and I hope that we can clear them up. [More…]
If an alternative view were taken, that standing order 242 was invalid as being substantially in conflict with the Constitution, one would have to say that the measure had been passed, and then send it back. [More…]
In either event I think the result becomes the same under section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
To get involved at this stage in an arid legal argument about the conflict between section 128 of the Constitution and standing order 242 will not advance the work of the Senate much this afternoon. [More…]
The Constitution provides in the second paragraph ‘for this case’. [More…]
The expression requires consideration so that the position of this House will be made clear to those who have responsibility for the subsequent constitutional processes so that they may know whether to act with or without reference to the High Court. [More…]
The Governor-General will have to address himself to the question of what the Senate procedures mean in relation to compliance with that process as required by the Constitution. [More…]
But then we come to standing order 242.I submit that the only construction that you can give to that, if you adhere to prevailing rulings as to the reconciliation between section 23 of the Constitution and the standing order which requires an absolute majority either to pass the third reading of a constitutional Bill or to suspend Standing Orders, is to disregard the second sentence of standing order 242.I say that if you continue to apply the rulings that have been given on the standing order on suspension of Standing Orders, because it has been held that on the passage of a simple majority, notwithstanding the standing order requirement of an absolute majority, the simple majority prevailed. [More…]
By the same reasoning you are compelled to give effective operation to section 23 of the Constitution which requires that the question as to the third reading of the Bill as amended be passed by the Senate and that is agreed to. [More…]
Then if you ignore the requirement of an absolute majority as required by standing order 242, by reason of the superior force of section 23 of the Constitution, you also ignore the latter part of the standing order which says ‘the Bill shall be laid aside without Question put, and shall not be revived during the same Session’. [More…]
The question in the Constitution is simply whether or not the Bill passed this House with an amendment, which it did. [More…]
I put that to you, Mr President, because I can foresee that if the Government does not wish to take the opinion of the judicial structure, the Governor-General may request that that be done, such, I believe, is the complication on a constitutional matter in which the processes of today have involved us. [More…]
In accordance with the canons of interpretation, I think we must accept the literal and grammatical meaning of a particular section of the Constitution unless there is some ambiguity about it that would lead to such absurdities that it could not possibly be accepted. [More…]
If they are in conflict with the Constitution, of course the Standing Orders cannot prevail. [More…]
Therefore, we have to see what the Constitution says. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution lays down very clearly that each House must pass the legislation by an absolute majority when it is first presented. [More…]
If section 23 of the Constitution did not raise any difficulty, of course, there would be no problem at all. [More…]
Section 23 of the Constitution deals with questions in this [More…]
In the case of a Bill which seeks to alter the Constitution, the Standing Orders provide that this is the way in which it is passed: There is a first reading, a second reading and a third reading; but if the third reading shall not have been carried by an absolute majority the Bill shall be laid aside. [More…]
I do not find in that view any conflict with section 23 of the Constitution; I do not find in it any conflict with the earlier rulings or decisions of the Senate. [More…]
It seems to me that the argument which has been put to the effect that standing order 242 is in some conflict with section 23 of the Constitution does not stand up as a proposition. [More…]
If one accepts that the Constitution contains both section 23 and section 128, it must be taken, I suggest, that section 128 qualifies section 23. [More…]
That being so, standing order 242 accords with the Constitution. [More…]
As it does accord with the Constitution, the position is that there has not been a failure to pass, a rejection or an amendment. [More…]
Therefore, under section 128 of the Constitution it may not be put to the Governor-General for the exercise of his prerogative in accordance with that section of the Constitution. [More…]
It is described by its short title as a democratic elections Bill and it purports to be a Bill by which a question will be submitted to the people of Australia by referendum to amend the Constitution whereby it is stated that the members of the House of Representatives and all the parliaments of the States shall be chosen directly and democratically by the people. [More…]
May I say quite simply that the major provision of the Bill is to have an amendment of the Constitution so that the House of Representatives and the Parliaments of the States will be chosen from electorates which are relatively equal in size on the basis of the number of people who live in the electorates? [More…]
In short, what the Bill endeavours to enshrine in the Constitution is an equal division of electorates based on population. [More…]
That is why it is a wholly fair comment to regard this Bill as a calculated manoeuvre, no matter how attractively it might be couched and described, to ensure that by an electoral distribution written into the Constitution the Labor Party will go far towards perpetuating its rule in the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution in, I think, 7 respects. [More…]
I do not desire to go through each of the particular clauses which are sought to be amended but if one were to do so one would find that there is an attempt to amend the various sections of the Constitution in a way that is more restrictive of the Parliament’s power to pass laws than is the present position. [More…]
I simply refer to the fact that at the moment with regard to the qualifications of electors, the Constitution states ‘until the Parliament otherwise provides’. [More…]
So long as the words ‘until the Parliament otherwise provides’ remain in the Constitution, Parliament may pass laws as a majority of the Parliament from time to time deem them to be necessary. [More…]
If the provision which the Labor Party is now proposing is written into the Constitution, one consequence will be that only laws of the type which are specifically set out can be passed until the Constitution is again amended. [More…]
I believe that this Bill should be retitled and that for the sake of honesty the title should be ‘Constitution Alteration (Labor’s Gerrymander) Bill’. [More…]
It is impossible, in a period of a fortnight, to ask the people to change their Constitution in relation to questions of this magnitude and complexity. [More…]
The other day a member of the Australian Labor Party suggested that one had to be a Queen’s Counsel to understand the Constitution. [More…]
Yet we are to go out onto the hustings and, in a fortnight, explain to the people the Constitution as it now stands and why it should be amended to enable the Commonwealth to impose upon the States a system of voting that is different from the one they have already accepted. [More…]
The purpose of the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill is to ensure that the members of the House of Representatives and of the parliaments of the States are chosen directly and democratically by the people. [More…]
I rise to express my complete opposition to this Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill. [More…]
In doing so I am not deterred in any way by the argument repeatedly advanced on behalf of the Government in this chamber, in the course of this debate and earlier debates on the constitutional alteration Bills, that somehow or other it is none of the business of the Senate, one of the 2 Houses of Parliament, to deter or impede the Government in putting its suggestions for alteration of the Constitution to the people. [More…]
I believe that this Bill, particularly its title, is an excellent example of why the Constitution places responsibility on both Houses of Parliament to decide which measures should or should not go to the people. [More…]
This Bill, although its title is the greatest misnomer that it could possibly be, seeks the making of some changes in the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Of course the electors, when they consider these matters, will realise that in fact including these things will not lead to such a guarantee in the Constitution. [More…]
The Bill seeks to include 2 very important changes in the Constitution which may well escape the electorate. [More…]
It seeks a constitutional requirement that electorates in this country will be drawn up on the basis of that feature and not on the basis of the actual right to be an elector, namely, being an Australian citizen. [More…]
Surely the question of what is the right electoral system for a State parliament should be determined under our Constitution, under a federal system, as we know it, by the parliaments of the States or by the people of the States but certainly not by the rigid provisions of the Constitution which is applicable only to the Federal Parliament. [More…]
What it says here about the parliament of Western Australia, the one with which I am particularly concerned is that in future when its electoral laws are being considered they must conform to this straight-jacket which is imposed by this new provision in the Constitution, if it were passed, which is to apply everywhere in Australianot only to the Federal Parliament but also to the State parliaments. [More…]
I think that by reason of that omnibus resolution which has just been agreed to for the reconstitution of the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs and the reference to that Committee in December 1973 of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill which, by the said resolution, is now made a reference again to the Committee, we have a nice pot of porridge of a constitutional mixture similar to that which was discussed this afternoon. [More…]
But I can appreciate honourable senators understanding that they would need a great deal of time to put in simple terms the reasons why they would oppose such obviously desirable alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
Last week the Opposition announced that it would oppose the Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974. [More…]
All the State Premiers but one attended that dinner and the following day an announcement was made that in principle- I think the words ‘in principle’ convey fairly accurately the sense of what had been arrived at- agreement had been reached on a proposal whereby the powers of reference which the States have to refer matters to the Commonwealth would be clarified and that the Commonwealth would accept that there ought to be written into the Constitution a means by which the Commonwealth could refer powers to the States for State action. [More…]
I can only say that I look forward with great interest to seeing the proposal made by the Commonwealth to amend the Constitution in the way that the Prime Minister indicated. [More…]
On Tuesday last the Prime Minister told a Press conference in Canberra that the Attorneys-General of all the States had considered and approved the text of the Constitution alteration powers Bill now before the Federal Parliament. [More…]
Together with my colleagues from the other States I agreed last year that the Services of our parliamentary draftsmen would be made available to assist in the preparation of a draft Bill relating to a constitutional amendment to provide for an interchange of powers between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
However, at the time it was made clear by other State Attorneys-General and by myself that under no circumstances did this action indicate approval by the States of the proposed change in the Constitution. [More…]
The amendment which has been proposed is designed to defer this Bill until it has been considered by all State governments and by the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
I think it is fair that the Constitutional Convention should have the opportunity of examining a proposal which, after all, emanated from the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
This proposal bids fair- if the text can be agreed upon by the various parties involved- to have the support of that Constitutional Convention. [More…]
If it has merit in terms of improving the working of the Constitution, one would expect that it would go before a referendum with the backing of that Convention and therefore with the prospect of support from the people. [More…]
It introduces new sections 108a and 108b into the Constitution. [More…]
I have read with interest a fairly long article on the reference power in the Australian Constitution and the problems which the attempted use of that power has created in the past. [More…]
He indicates that it is a matter of history that the States have been reluctant to refer matters to the Commonwealth, not withstanding that at the time the Constitution was established Alfred Deakin suggested that this was one means whereby the Constitution could be changed in form, as to the distribution of powers, without the necessity of having a strict amendment of the Constitution. [More…]
They are the only matters in which a reference of power has taken place under the Constitution and in which laws made pursuant to that reference have had effective operation. [More…]
Notwithstanding that those matters have occurred, it cannot be said that they have significantly altered the Constitution in the way which was envisaged by at least one of the founders. [More…]
I wonder how far that provision might operate to exclude other provisions in the Constitution. [More…]
If it is accepted, it is a provision in the Constitution. [More…]
The power of the Parliament of the Commonwealth to designate a matter under this section is not limited by the provisions of this Constitution other than this section . [More…]
There are 2 prohibitions in the Constitutionone in section 92, and one in section 99- both of which impose restrictions. [More…]
I wonder whether it would be possible for the Commonwealth to designate a matter in such a way as to exclude sections 92 and 99 of the Constitution. [More…]
Any imperfections which the Senate may have in that area have been overcome by the express language of the Constitution. [More…]
It may be that the possibility which I have raised- it is purely an interpretive suggestion which I am offering- can be answered, but it seems to me to be fairly open where we give to the Parliament a power to designate matters, to impose conditions and to suggest that this power is, as sub-section (3) of section I08a says, ‘not limited by the provisions of this Constitution other than this section’. [More…]
-The Senate is debating a Bill entitled the Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974. [More…]
The Bill aims, by its passage, to put to the people by way of referendum a proposal to add to section 108 of the Commonwealth Constitution, the effect of which, the Government said, would be to enable an interchange of powers between Commonwealth and State governments, and vice versa. [More…]
To the motion for the second reading of the Bill the Senate Opposition has moved that all words after That’ be deleted and that the following words be inserted: the Bill be deferred until after consideration has been given to its proposals by all State governments and by the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
I think I am right in saying that there has not been a referendum which in fact sought to give back power to the States; that is, to relinquish power from the central written Constitution. [More…]
I simply say that whilst uniform taxation persists and whilst the Commonwealth exerts its powers of takeover and duress through the uniform taxation device and through section 96 of the Constitution, any idea of a game of political ping-pong is illusory. [More…]
If it is, then of course it will act to do something to rectify the injustices of the present uniform taxation system and the present gross breach of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
I remind the Senate that the people of Australia decided that they should determine where the power should lie as between the written and fixed Constitution of the Commonwealth and the residual constitutions of the States. [More…]
Whilst the sovereignty lies with the Commonwealth in terms of uniform taxation and in terms of section 96 of the Constitution, it will always be possible for the Commonwealth, by the duress of finance, to persuade the States to give up certain powers for a defined or indefinite period. [More…]
The fact that proposed section 108b of the Constitution puts all sorts of legalistic qualifications on this matter is, to me, of no importance at all because after a while the power becomes entrenched; after a while the will to take it back is gone and, in fact, the ability to take it back is gone. [More…]
In fact, of that were so, the position of the States today would be entirely different, because the Commonwealth Constitution sees for the States an entirely different de jure sovereignty from the de facto sovereignty that exists today. [More…]
If it is interested in this matter as a demarcation dispute, to use an industrial term, then why does is not call a conference of the States on the whole range of governmental powers and get a clear demarcation of functions so that we do not have this enormous difficulty that happens all the time of the Commonwealth intruding, by means of section 96 of the Constitution, into the affairs of the States, in terms of its erosion of these powers and its takeover bids. [More…]
Indeed, the States agreed to do this but there were some disabilities regarding the true meaning of section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
Apparently there is no alternative method of the Commonwealth giving powers to the States under the existing Constitution. [More…]
It seems to me to be an endeavour to raise another bogy to convince the Australian people that no attempt should be made by any government to revise the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I think it has to be said fairly that the views of the Australian Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) in respect of the Constitution are well known. [More…]
He raised his views, and the views of the Government, on this matter very strongly and convincingly at the Constitutional Convention which was held in Sydney in September last. [More…]
I think it was a unique experience for those of us fortunate enough to be members of that Convention to find that in the great majority of the contributions at that Convention there was general agreement on the need to revise the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Delegates from the States, from local government and from this National parliament expressed in one way or another a need for the Constitutional Convention or for a referendum to determine these matters. [More…]
It does seem to me that there was a general conviction amongst wide sections of the Australian public of the need to revise the Constitution. [More…]
I have to stress the fact that this Government has endeavoured to refer matters of constitutional change to the Australian people, not to make some back door arrangement, not to attempt to bypass public opinion, but rather to give the Australian people an opportunity to have a 1970 look at the Constitution, which people should know is now well over 70 years old. [More…]
Senator Carrick quite rightly drew attention to the fact that there is a reluctance on the part of the Australian people to change the Constitution. [More…]
If the people are not yet able to see the need to change the Constitution it ought to be part of their general education to have the debates in this place presented to them; then by a campaign, to try to make them understand that the responsibilities of government require that they should look at this matter in a more responsible way. [More…]
This inevitability of all men failing to agree on important questions meant that the Prime Minister has had to take steps to put a Bill through the House of Representatives, meeting the very strict requirements of an absolute majority of both Houses of Parliament, which is one of the safeguards in the Constitution, then have the matter go through the due processes and ultimately to be placed before the Australian people. [More…]
It is a rather tortuous path which those who seek to change the Constitution have to travel. [More…]
Surely as a result of the safeguards that are built into our Constitution and with the good sense of the electors there is ample opportunity for the Constitution to be protected from any act of irresponsibility. [More…]
Surely the Prime Minister ought to be recognised as a very courageous man for taking the steps that he has taken in a period of political difficulty, in this country, seeking to effect changes in the Constitution which after all, if agreed to, must still be determined by the Australian people and which would mean only a transference to the Commonwealth of powers that already exist at the State level. [More…]
Nevertheless it is only right that the Government should have the opportunity to go to the Australian people and give them an opportunity to review the Constitution. [More…]
We should have the opportunity to go out and talk to the Australian people to convince them that the time has arrived in Australia’s development for updating and modernising the Australian Constitution. [More…]
But I found, as I have told the Senate before, that it was utterly impossible because of section 92 of the Constitution and because of interstate trade. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Constitution to enable an interchange of powers between the Australian Parliament and the State parliaments. [More…]
So I say that while this Bill which seeks to amend the Constitution and to enable an interchange of powers between the Australian Parliament and the State parliaments is indisputably attractive in its text, it is something that has to be examined very carefully and there must be unanimity between the States and the Commonwealth before a decision is made. [More…]
It is quite natural that at the Constitutional Convention in Sydney the Premiers said to the Prime Minister: ‘That is a very good idea. [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have exclusive power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to- [More…]
No matter what may be said by Senator Greenwood about alleged attempts by the Prime Minister to mislead the public about the attitude of the States to this offer, I refer him to the report of the proceedings before the Constitutional Convention, which I believe Senator Greenwood along with myself attended on the relevant day. [More…]
After the Prime Minister had floated this suggestion which is embodied in this proposed amendment of the Constitution, the Premiers and representatives of the various States rose in their seats and expressed their reaction to this offer. [More…]
It is urged on us that these aspects are matters which can be, in the words of paragraph (xxxvii) of section 5 1 of the Constitution- [More…]
In every one of these proposed alterations which has been considered Senator Greenwood has shown a total inability to distinguish between passing a Bill in this Parliament and permanently altering the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution is not altered until the people of Australia, with the difficult processes which have been set out- so difficult that, as many honourable senators have pointed out, there have been few alterations to the Australian Constitution- as the final arbiters - [More…]
It has been discussed by a committee of the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
We get an amendment which says that the Bill should be deferred until after consideration has been given to its proposals by all State governments and by the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
If this does not indicate a paranoid determination by the Opposition to oppose all suggestions for change of the Constitution and to deprive the Australian people of their rightgiven to them under the Constitution- to pass judgment on proposals for alteration of the Constitution, I do not know what it does. [More…]
When introducing this Constitution Alteration (Interchange of Powers) Bill the AttorneyGeneral (Senator Murphy) in his second reading speech stated: [More…]
The chairman of the committee, the honourable Leon Punch, said only recently that his Committee had commended the draft legislation and said the proposal would bring about a highly desirable and important improvement to the Constitution. [More…]
The genesis of this proposed amendment to the Constitution appears to have been a discussion which took place at a dinner during the Constitutional Convention last September. [More…]
In this very informal manner an alleged agreement was made between the Prime Minister and those Premiers that in principle they agreed to a constitutional amendment by which the interchange of powers between the Commonwealth and State parliaments would be facilitated. [More…]
As I have said, the occasion was the holding of the first sessions of the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
In September of last year a major convention to review the whole of the Constitution of Australia was held for the first time for many years. [More…]
It was a convention which held and does hold some considerable promise for a thoroughgoing review of the Constitution. [More…]
Maybe it will be able to produce some worthwhile amendments to the Constitution which could be expected io obtain the support of the Australian people. [More…]
This being the case, it is very odd that in the course of such a convention the Prime Minister and 5 of the 6 State Premiers should informally get together and decide on some amendment to the Constitution, particularly when those 6 gentlemen made up only a very small fraction of the total number of people attending this Convention. [More…]
Even if it is true that the agreement about the terms of the Bill was given some imprimatur by the Attorneys-General, it still appears to me to be a preposterous suggestion that that invalidates our independent consideration and judgment of a Bill which proposes that the people be asked to alter the Constitution, and to alter it permanently. [More…]
Government senators have said in this debate, as they have said over and over again when speaking on other constitutional alteration legislation, that somehow or other the Senate is not really entitled to consider independently or to oppose Bills which provide for the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
I have already had some occasion in a previous debate to deal with that point and at this stage I do not wish to do more than reiterate- and reiterate over and over again if I have the opportunity-the fact that the Constitution places upon this Parliament and this chamber the responsibility of proposing amendments to the Constitution. [More…]
It is a responsibility and duty which under the Constitution is placed fairly and squarely upon this chamber and the House of Representatives. [More…]
How naive is the proposition which was put this afternoon by Senator James McClelland that we, with that responsibility on our shoulders, should simply say that, even though we may be opposed to a particular constitutional amendment, even though we may believe that this is a matter that should be given further consideration, and even though it is a matter which perhaps vitally affects the States and which the State governments and the State parliaments should be given the opportunity to discuss before it is put to the people, we should not give any consideration or weight to these things; we should simply pass this Bill through the Senate without exercising any of the responsibilities and judgment which, as I said, are placed upon our shoulders by the Constitution. [More…]
The proposal to amend the Constitution in this Bill is, in my view, a very minor question of constitutional amendment. [More…]
A case may be put in favour of an amendment of the Constitution so as to facilitate the reference of powers by the States to the Commonwealth. [More…]
An argument may be made that there should be provision for a reference of power by the Commonwealth Parliament to the State parliaments, which provision is absent from the Constitution at present. [More…]
As I have said, it is a proposal which- I hesitate to say it- emanated from the Constitutional Convention, although that body has not properly considered it. [More…]
It may be in the process of considering it, but at this stage it is merely a proposal which emanated from the informal meeting which took place at the time of the Constitutional Convention between the Prime Minister and 5 of the 6 State Premiers. [More…]
It is one of the numerous proposals relating to the alteration of the Constitution which were put forward at the Convention. [More…]
Prior to the suspension of the sitting I was discussing the rather peculiar circumstances which appear to have given birth to this Bill for an alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
It does leave one with an uneasy feeling as to why this Bill should now be rushed on by the Government ahead of all the other major questions for constitutional amendment which are being discussed by a committee of the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
The argument that has been put forward here today by Senator James McClelland gives force, I believe, to the suspicions which I hold about the purposes of the Government in promoting this amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
In this field Commonwealth law prevails over State law by virtue only of a special section in the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 52 of the Constitution the first of the Commonwealth exclusive powers is the power to legislate with respect to the seat of government of the Commonwealth. [More…]
It revealed a peculiarity in the Constitution which this Parliament under the previous Liberal-Country Party Government immediately rectified. [More…]
The third matter which is an exclusive one under the Constitution relates to any department of the Public Service. [More…]
Another one that is mentioned in section 52 refers to other matters declared by the Constitution to be within the exclusive powers. [More…]
Does the Government seriously intend under this Constitution Alteration Bill to transfer to State parliaments any powers in relation to raising revenue of the nature of excise? [More…]
Therefore I believe it is again trying to hoodwink some of the State Premiers or State Opposition leaders into believing that under this proposed constitutional alteration the States will gain some benefit. [More…]
I strongly question the wisdom or the propriety of inserting into the Constitution a power which would have such a major indirect effect on the existing provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
If there is to be such a major change in the revenue raising by the Commonwealth vis-a-vis the States the only proper, open and honest way to do it is to put to the people a referendum that section 90 of the Constitution be changed to give the States the right to raise revenue in the nature of excise. [More…]
If a major change such as that is to be made and it is the people who are going to pay, it should be their decision by referendum to change the Constitution in that way. [More…]
There is in the Constitution a very salutary provision that the Commonwealth Parliament in raising taxes shall not discriminate between States or between parts of States, yet under this legislation, if it were passed, it appears that the Commonwealth Parliament would have the power to hand the power over to the States without that salutary provision. [More…]
This would completely abrogate and bypass that very important provision in the Constitution which provides that taxes imposed by the Commonwealth should be uniform and not discriminatory between the States or parts of States. [More…]
We see that either all these provisions, few and all as they are, are not conceivable propositions, they are not meaningful propositions or that they represent a backdoor method of changing the Constitution in a very material and major way without any reference to the people who should really decide whether major changes are to be made to their Constitution. [More…]
In other words, if the Government wants to make changes to the Constitution it should put the proposals for a clear cut amendment to the Constitution one way or the other and not leave the matter to bargaining that may go on informally at dinner parties or behind closed doors where the people are not consulted and are not able to decide whether they approve of this method of changing the Constitution. [More…]
This proposal would enable that sort of back door bargaining to be carried on and would enable the people to be bypassed completely in making changes to the Constitution. [More…]
It is not really in a meaningful way to provide for a 2-way process as the Government represents in the hope of getting support from the States and in the hope of softening them up for many other major constitutional changes designed to transfer more and more power from the States to the Commonwealth Parliament. [More…]
As I have said, I believe that it is wrong in principle that changes in the Constitution relative to the powers of the Commonwealth and the States should be determined by the State and Commonwealth Parliaments alone. [More…]
As I have said, I am opposed to that in principle as a method of changing the Constitution. [More…]
For all those reasons I will support the amendment and oppose in principle generally this method of seeking to amend the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The impression that is being given by speakers on the Government side is that a proposition for an amendment to the Constitution having been presented, all this Parliament should do is to let that proposition go to the people for their decision. [More…]
It is a dangerous misreading of the Constitution and a dangerous misreading of the powers of the Parliament in relation to an amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
After all, a number of things emerge from an examination of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution states: [More…]
In other words, the Constitution lays down firstly, that a Bill must go through the legislative process and either pass through both Houses of Parliament or be twice rejected before it can go to a referendum. [More…]
In other words, this Parliament is given a very definitive place and role in the presentation and passage of a proposed constitutional alteration Bill. [More…]
Yet the Constitution contemplates that this chamber could pass a Bill for a proposed constitutional amendment and it could go to the other place. [More…]
If the Senate had insisted on the Bill and passed it again, it would have been within the ability of this chamber to present its proposed constitutional amendment to the Governor-General for presentation to the people. [More…]
If the Government states that when it presents a Bill for a referendum it should not be opposed but that the people should speak, I challenge the Government on this point: If we on this side of the Senate pass a Bill for a proposed amendment to the Constitution and it is rejected in the other place and, we pass it again and it is again rejected, would the Government resist that legislation and say that we were not entitled to put our proposal to the people? [More…]
In other words, what the Constitution says is that there must be, as it were, a primary scrutiny of proposed referenda proposals by the legislatureby the elected persons. [More…]
That is what is contemplated in the Constitution and what is laid down in it. [More…]
If we were to pursue any path but that which is laid down in the Constitution, we would then ourselves be failing to discharge a responsibility which has been entrusted to us and, in fact, imposed upon us under section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, it is important that the people should know that this chamber, approaching this matter as it does, has discharged a high constitutional obligation. [More…]
I would say that any honourable senator who thinks otherwise in relation to the passage of this Bill completely misconceives his individual duty and completely misconceives the role that the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Parliament at large must play in the presentation and passage of constitutional amendments. [More…]
Let the people realise that as we consider this Bill and other constitutional bills in depth and at leisure and examine them in this prior way before they go to the people we are discharging our constitutional obligations. [More…]
I believe that there is an obligation on all senators not merely to use a political ploy which would have the effect of destroying the effective participation, constitutionally contemplated, of this chamber in the passage of referenda proposals. [More…]
If we were to be parties to such a manoeuvre we would be recreant to the trust which is ours, imposed upon us under the Constitution as senators representing the States in the federation. [More…]
Senator Byrne referred to section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
He seemed to imply that there was some irregularity in the Government’s approach in respect of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
I was waiting for him to support his case by indicating where in fact the Government was not abiding by the constraints of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
Perhaps in their wisdom the people who drew up our Constitution foresaw our present Prime Minister with his desire to change everything as quickly as possible. [More…]
I make no apology for siding at times with those who suggest a certain slowness of action as is required by our Standing Orders and by the Constitution. [More…]
It appears to me to be a remarkable state of affairs that the GovernorGeneral is not permitted to make the decisions required by the Constitution. [More…]
My understanding of the matter is that when a referendum Bill is passed by both Houses the question of the submission of the cases is covered by section 6a of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act, which states: [More…]
The matter is then dealt with under the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution provides that in that event the process can proceed without the Senate. [More…]
In view of important matters which have arisen, I ask: Is it not a fact that in 1951 the then GovernorGeneral, Sir William McKell, and the then Prime Minister, Mr Robert Menzies, accepted that the Governor-General had an independent discretion as to how he exercised his choice under section 128 of the Constitution and the double dissolution section, section 57? [More…]
If so, would this restriction be applied to other States, and if not, would this not constitute a violation of section 99 of the Commonwealth Constitution? [More…]
arising under the Constitution, or involving its interpretation: [More…]
Here we have transferred to the new Court the jurisdiction of existing Federal courts and existing Federal jurisdiction now belonging to the High Court and the State Supreme Courts in the one instance vested in the High Court, as I conceive it, by the Constitution, and vested in the other courts by virtue of provisions of the Constitution under Federal laws. [More…]
We have the jurisdiction which will remain from the common law and the State constitutions and statutes the subject matter for exercise by State judiciaries. [More…]
On the other hand, we will have a system or a hierarchy of Federal courts briefly as follows: By virtue of the Constitution we have a Federal supreme court called the High Court of Australia. [More…]
The third class of courts referred to by the Constitution is such other courts as the Parliament vests with Federal jurisdiction; that is to say, the State system of the judiciary. [More…]
In subsequent provisions of the Constitution there is reference to the division between what we call State jurisdiction and Federal jurisdiction. [More…]
The Constitution, having established that division between the 2 classes of courts, Federal and State, then provides imperatively in section 75 that in certain matters the High Court shall have original jurisdiction. [More…]
Without literally comparing the matters enumerated in sub-clauses (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of clause 19 of the Bill with the matters set out in section 75 of the Constitution, it is my present impression that what is contained in sub-clauses (a) to (e) of clause 19 is simply a copy of section 75 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Bill before us prescribes in the first chunk of jurisdiction that is to go to the new creation 5 separate descriptions which it will be found are already vested by the Constitution as original jurisdiction in the High Court. [More…]
I ask the Senate to take particular notice of that fact because I will subject the language of section 75 of the Constitution to particular scrutiny in terms of the most distinguished jurist of our age, the late Sir Owen Dixon. [More…]
(h) and (i) of clause 19 of the Bill transcribe matters in the same terms of description as expressed in section 76 of the Constitution under which jurisdiction is not imperatively conferred upon the High Court, but under that section the Parliament has powers to make laws conferring original jurisdiction on the High Court in any matter: [More…]
Arising under this Constitution, or involving its interpretation: [More…]
I have read section 75 and 76 of the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 75 jurisdiction is conferred by the Constitution upon the High Court. [More…]
It can be seen that in that respect this Bill is a very important step in the development of this divided jurisdiction whereby the framers of the Constitution thought proper to divide the judicial power, authority or jurisdiction of the courts of this country into Federal jurisdiction or State jurisdiction. [More…]
The courts administering the law should all derive an independent existence and authority from the Constitution. [More…]
Some practical difficulties would occur in carrying such a principle beyond the superior courts, but it is not easy to see why the entire system of superior courts should not have been organised and erected under the Constitution to administer the total content of the law. [More…]
Mr Justice Dixon when at the Bar made a most notable contribution by way of submitting evidence to the royal commission presided over by Mr Justice Nicholas which inquired into the Constitution in 1929. [More…]
Moreover, it is extremely difficult to say whether, when a party complains of wrongs, the elucidation of some of which involve the interpretation of the Constitution and some of which do not. [More…]
I hope I have conveyed an understanding of the absolute nonsense of the description of ‘subject matter of jurisdiction’, which was bad enough when incorporated in the Constitution in 1900 but unpardonable if copied as a description of Federal jurisdiction’ for a new court to be created in Australia. [More…]
These provisions in truth sacrifice the interests of the litigant to the desire of the framers of the Constitution to preserve to the High Court the power of giving constitutional rulings and making constitutional precedents. [More…]
When these provisions are considered in relation to section 77 and the use which has been made of that section, it will be seen that the greatest difficulty and confusion have arisen, and an incredible burden has been placed upon the litigant who has the misfortune to be affected in his litigation by any Federal law or any other matter with which sections 75 and 76 of the Constitution are concerned. [More…]
That is granted, subject to certain exceptions, by the Constitution. [More…]
It is also said, in justification of this Bill, that the High Court will be able to concentrate on its task of interpreting the Constitution and of acting as the ultimate court of appeal. [More…]
It is important to observe that the Constitution provides in almost identical terms for the vesting of jurisdiction in the High Court. [More…]
Even if one were to vest the jurisdiction in the State courts the same kind of limits would apply because only that jurisdiction referred to in sections 75 and 76 of the Constitution can be vested by this Parliament, whether it be in the superior court or in the courts of the States. [More…]
It is not a Bill to develop in conjunction with the States in a Federal system; it is a Bill which is designed to take over from the States all those responsibilities and privileges which the States have traditionally had and which are entrenched in the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
That whereas our constitutional parliamentary democracy was clearly developed as a Federation to preserve for all time to the Australian people their cherished right to live as free men and women, enjoying complete liberty of worship, assembly, speech, movement and the communication of knowledge and information, and whereas our existing Australian flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’ are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State parliaments, the Government-General and State Governors, and the independent courts of justice, and whereas all such rights, liberties, heritage, advancement and prosperity, etc., are of no avail if our armed forces are unprepared or incapable of repelling invasion of our shores or withstanding other military threats, so therefore must all these things be accorded the highest national concern and priority. [More…]
that this principle is recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The situation is covered by sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
The effect of Senator Gair’s appointment as Ambassador is to vacate his place as a senator by virtue of the Constitution. [More…]
I ask: Does not the relevant section of the Constitution state in effect that any person who holds an office of profit under the Crown shall be disqualified from taking his place in the Senate? [More…]
But may I suggest to him, first of all, that he should refer to sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
I also indicate to him that I do not accept his analysis of the legal or constitutional position. [More…]
As I say, the advice that is given is that technically the vacation of office which arises under the Constitution certainly occurred before the Government of Queensland took action, and there is nothing that the Government of Queensland can do which will alter the position which is required to be observed by the Constitution and the law. [More…]
Apart from death, he may resign or he may vacate his office in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. [More…]
Also if that is correct, what does the Government propose to do in regard to section 46 of the Constitution, which provides that for every day on which a senator who is not capable of holding his seat in this chamber because he holds an office of profit under the Crown so sits he shall be liable to pay the sum of one hundred pounds to any person who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction? [More…]
As you are aware, the position of Ambassador is an office of profit under the Crown and also carries with it fees for services rendered to the Commonwealth, within the meaning of Section 45 of the Constitution, which I had agreed to take. [More…]
The effect of my appointment as Ambassador was to vacate my place as a Senator by virtue of the Constitution. [More…]
I have considered Senator Gair’s letter in the light of my responsibility under section 21 of the Constitution, which requires the President to notify a vacancy in the Senate to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened. [More…]
Senator Gair’s letter, however, is not I think one of resignation, but a notification that the effect of his appointment as Ambassador to Ireland was to vacate his place as a senator by virtue of the disqualification provisions of sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is the assignment from the Queen to the Governor-General under section 2 of the Constitution; that appeared in the Commonwealth Gazette’of21 June 1973.I table that document. [More…]
On 14 March 1974 His Excellency the Governor-General pursuant to section 2 of the Constitution and pursuant to the assignment of Her Majesty the Queen given on 30 May 1 973 approved the appointment of Mr Gair as the Ambassador of the Australian Government to the Republic of Ireland. [More…]
My opinion has been sought on the question of when the former Senator’s place became vacant by reason of the operation of sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution, lt is my view, although naturally the matter is not totally free of doubt, that as from 14 March the former Senator became a person who then held an office of profit under the Crown. [More…]
It is my view, therefore, that as from 14 March but in any event, certainly as from 21 March, the former Senator’s place became vacant within the meaning of section 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
I think the better view in this case is that the office of Ambassador was held by the former senator from the moment His Excellency the Governor-General exercised pursuant to the assignment and section 2 of the Constitution those powers of the Queen relating to the appointment of Ambassadors. [More…]
If one cared to look carefully into the matter one would probably find previous occasions, although not rarely, when there has been a vacation of office under the relevant sections of the Constitution. [More…]
I merely indicate that we on this side of the chamber believe that we have an obligation under section 47 of the Constitution to investigate the whole of this matter. [More…]
By that means, not only will your statement be fully aired and not only will Senator Murphy’s statement and the documents which he tabled be thoroughly examined, but all honourable senators will have the right to put their views on whether section 47 of the Constitution applies or whether some other section of the Constitution applies. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice, [More…]
But it did not happen, and the question is when did the vacation of office take place under the Constitution. [More…]
As Attorney-General and as one who should know both the Standing Orders and the Constitution, at the time the AttorneyGeneral informed Senator Gair that he was not, in Senator Murphy’s view, a Senator, did the Attorney-General inform Senator Gair that he should not vote in this chamber? [More…]
Advice given to the Government is that certainly after 21 March the senator had ceased to be a member of the Senate, having vacated his office by reason of the provisions contained in sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
If there is a vacation by force of the Constitution in the light of the events that have occurred then that is an automatic vacation and that is the end of the matter. [More…]
I turn now to the constitution of the Commission as stated in clause 5. [More…]
Section 47 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
In the case of R. v. The Governor of South Australia in 1907 and reported in 4 Commonwealth Law Reports, page 1497, the High Court refused to determine whether a senator had been validly appointed under section 15 of the Constitution because this was, amongst other things, a question respecting a vacancy within the meaning of section 47. [More…]
The procedure outlined in section 203 provides a proper means of ensuring that complicated questions involving the interpretation of the Constitution can be determined by the highest judicial tribunal in the country, the tribunal which is charged by the Constitution with the function of interpreting and applying the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
The questions raised by Mr Vincent Gair’s letter to the President are questions of constitutional law. [More…]
I would have thought that where a Senator’s constitutional right to sit in this chamber is conferred by the Constitution, the High Court is the appropriate body charged by the Constitution with the duties of interpretation, lt would be an unreal situation if this Parliament or any one House of the Parliament were to decide whether or not a senator had the qualifications to remain in this chamber. [More…]
I do not say that it overrides section 47 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is a provision under section 47 of the Constitution. [More…]
The choice of a person to hold the place of a Senator by the Houses of Parliament of a State or the appointment of a person to hold the place of a Senator by the Governor of a State under section fifteen of the Constitution shall be deemed to be an election within the meaning of this section, and the provisions of this Division shall, so far as applicable, have effect as if that choice or appointment were an election within the meaning of this Division. [More…]
Re: Senator Gair, Sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution and his appointment as Ambassador. [More…]
Two constitutional questions arise. [More…]
The first is whether Senator Gair became incapable of sitting as Senator by reason of section 44 (jv) of the Constitution, in that from a certain date he held an office of profit under the Crown. [More…]
Sections 44 (iv) and 45 (iii) of the Constitution are probably intended to be complementary to each other, an office of profit comtemplating continuous employment and a fee or honorarium comtemplating limited or short-term services. [More…]
As to this, it is my opinion that the section must be read as including services to be rendered in the future as well as services which have been rendered in the past because otherwise it would be easy to evade section 45 (iii) of the Constitution by accepting a fee before rendering the services in question. [More…]
A Committee, to be called the Committee of Disputed Returns and Qualifications, to inquire into and report upon all questions as to the qualification of a Senator chosen or appointed in accordance with section IS of the Constitution or as to the validity of such choice or appointment, and as to the vacation of his seat by any Senator, shall be appointed at the commencement of each Parliament in the following manner: [More…]
What is the course to be takenIs it to be said that the provisions of section 203 of the Constitution are not to be availed of? [More…]
Despite the view that there is an exhaustion of the power which was formerly available under section 47 of the Constitution because the Parliament made another provision which now appears in substance in section 1 8 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act, is it to be said that nevertheless the Senate will have its Committee of Disputed Returns and Qualifications inquire into and report upon the matter? [More…]
When the power under section 47 of the Constitution was originally unimpaired by provision made by the Parliament it was understood that a decision on a matter of this nature was to be a decision made at least after consideration in a judicial manner. [More…]
It is possible, even if we did not have section 203 of the Constitution, to have a body approach such a question, even though it may not be a court, in a judicial manner. [More…]
If we are not to proceed under section 203 of the Constitution, and if we are to ignore the view which has been put that the Senate’s power has been exhausted, does the Senate intend to have this question, which affects the rights of persons, determined in a judicial manner by the Standing Committee of Disputed Returns and Qualifications? [More…]
We have a right under section 23 of the Constitution’ I cannot recall whether that is the correct section; I do not think it is relevant anyhow- ‘to come to the decisions the Senate wants. [More…]
However, 1 do not want to get involved in this interesting and technical but sterile and arid argument as to the effect of section 203 of the Constitution. [More…]
While no doubt it is a very good exercise which allows Senator Murphy to indulge in the realms of fantasy and which allows him to quote sections of the Constitution and sections from the Commonwealth Electoral Act, it is an unreal situation because it does not come to the nub of the question. [More…]
Leave out all words after ‘That ‘, insert ‘That the Senate, in pursuance of its powers under section 47 ofthe Constitution, resolves [More…]
that, at the time that the President made his statement on 3 April 1974, Senator Gair had not resigned his place in the terms of section 19 of the Constitution and he was therefore, at the time of the statement, a senator for Queensland and accordingly, at the time of the statement, the Senate was entitled to regard Senator Gair as a senator for Queensland; [More…]
that there is abundant evidence that the Prime Minister and his responsible Ministers knew and intended that Senator Gair would cease to be a senator by resigning his seat in the Senate in the terms of section 1 9 of the Constitution; [More…]
that, following the issue of a writ by the Governor of Queensland for an election to fill 5 vacancies in the Senate, in compliance with a request from the Prime Minister, the Government’s attempt to assert that Senator Gair had vacated his seat under section 44 or 45 of the Constitution on either 1 4 or 2 1 March 1 974, and did not now need to resign as originally intended, deserves the gravest censure and the Government should resign.’ [More…]
It was to be brought about by a resignation directed to the President in terms of section 19 of the Constitution. [More…]
One would have thought better of these great constitutionalists who seem to have solicitors-general, general counsel and about 200 lawyers in the AttorneyGeneral’s Department to help them. [More…]
The Government now attempts to assert that Senator Gair vacated his seat under section 44 or 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
Kerry O’Brien said that Professor Patrick Lane of Sydney University is an expert in constitutional law. [More…]
I believe that the Senate has a duty and a responsibility under section 47 of the Constitution for itself to take on board this very vexed question. [More…]
I would have thought that where a senator’s constitutional right to sit in this chamber is conferred by the Constitution, the High Court is the appropriate body charged by the Constitution with the duties of interpretation. [More…]
That the Senate, in pursuance of its powers under section 47 of the Constitution- [More…]
That the Senate, in pursuance of its powers under section 47 of the Constitution resolves . [More…]
Let us look at section 47 of the Constitution, which has already been referred to by Senator Murphy. [More…]
Every aspect of the powers referred to in section 47 of the Constitution has been provided for by the Parliament. [More…]
This phrase ‘Until the Parliament otherwise provides’ permeates the Constitution. [More…]
It appears in many other sections of the Constitution as well as section 47.I have looked through the books in an attempt to find in the decided cases some words from the High Court to define what is meant by ‘Until the Parliament otherwise provides’. [More…]
I can conclude only that when the Parliament has otherwise provided, either under this section or any other section of the Constitution, it has been accepted by everybody affected that that resolves the question; one does not then look at the Constitution but one looks at the legislation until the Parliament has otherwise provided. [More…]
If one cared to look carefully into the matter one would probably find previous occasions, although not rarely, when there has been a vacation of office under the relevant sections of the Constitution. [More…]
That there is abundant evidence that the Prime Minister and his responsible Ministers knew and intended that Senator Gair would cease to be a Senator by resigning his seat in the Senate in the terms of section 1 9 of the Constitution; [More…]
It could only have related to the Constitution, for it refers to the acceptance of an office of profit under the Crown. [More…]
As you are aware, the position of Ambassador is an office of profit under the Crown and also carries with it fees for services rendered to the Commonwealth, within the meaning of section 45 ofthe Constitution, which I had agreed to take. [More…]
I would have to examine 2 sections of the Constitution, especially if they were drawn to my attention. [More…]
It is suggested that this chamber should abdicate its function to decide on its own Constitution at the present time when an assault has been made upon its integrity by the Prime Minister of the day, Mr Whitlam, offering an office of profit, as is admitted, to one of our members, keeping it secret until the appropriate time, now claiming to have maintained it clandestine for some 20 days, and then purporting to trundle it out before the public at a time when the advantage would be unassailable. [More…]
It is a disgrace to the medium that pretends to present public issues to the country to find such garbled and ignorant use of terms that are of very different connotation in the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that an extraordinary vacancy may occur, firstly, if a senator dies; secondly, if he is expelled; thirdly, if he resigns by writing to the President as required by section 19 of the Constitution; and, fourthly, if he forfeits his seat. [More…]
I suggest that there is the greatest difference between a voluntary act of resignation of a senator and a contrived forfeiture of his office under either section 44 or section 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
Who could suggest that in any real sense that person holds an office of profit within the terms of the Constitution? [More…]
We have already had attention drawn to the other phrase in section 44 of the Constitution relating to the holding of an office- not any office, but an office of profit. [More…]
The Attorney-General says, if you please, that section 156 of the Electoral Act is exhaustive and that no remnant of jurisdiction remains in this Senate to exercise the jurisdiction which formerly belonged to us by virtue of the section of the Constitution. [More…]
Of course, they are words which he used in relation to section 5 1 of the Constitution which gives this Parliament power over matters in respect of which other sections provide ‘until the Parliament otherwise provides’. [More…]
I suggest that all I have said is confirmed when one considers the structure of the whole of this part of the Constitution. [More…]
That the ridiculousness of that ought to appear when honourable senators examine section 2 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
The position is quite interesting when one looks at the Constitution, as I have done. [More…]
Having established who is eligible, the Constitution, as is quite reasonable, deals with the case of a senator or a member of the House of Representatives who does something which takes away his right to be a senator or a member of the House of Representatives. [More…]
Section 45 (iii) of the Constitution is the important section because it states that if a senator ‘directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth’ his place shall thereupon become vacant. [More…]
I contend that this is in the normal flow of the way in which the Constitution was compiled and is presented here. [More…]
When a person has been elected or appointed, as he can be by a GovernorinCouncil in any of the States- he can be appointed; he does not have to be elected- if any one of the provisions of sections 44 or 45 of the Constitution are contravened, the Senate can meet and determine whether any action should be taken against the person who is sitting as a senator. [More…]
Senator Wilkinson, as a layman, proceeded to build his case by reference to sections 45 and 47 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I would go along with what the honourable senator said in relation to the Constitution in making out his case if it were not for what appears in the House of Representatives Hansard record of 2 August 1946. [More…]
I had to study the Standing Orders and the Constitution and abide by what they set down to ensure that he resigned from the Senate in the proper manner. [More…]
I think that it is worth repeating the attitude of Senator Greenwood, as stated on 24 August 1971, when he was Attorney-General: 1 would have thought that where a Senator’s constitutional right to sit in this chamber is conferred by the Constitution, the High Court is the appropriate body charged by the Constitution with the duties of interpretation. [More…]
That is Senator Gair’s interpretation- and also carries with it fees for services rendered to the Commonwealth, within the meaning of Section 45 of the Constitution, which I had agreed to take. [More…]
The effect of my appointment as Ambassador was to vacate my place as a Senator by virtue of the Constitution. [More…]
The effect of my appointment as Ambassador was to vacate my place as a Senator by virtue of the Constitution. [More…]
This culminated on the evening of 2 April in an action taken in the Queensland Parliament, through the Governor of Queenslandvery properly under the powers vested in him and in his Government under section 1 5 of the Commonwealth Constitution- to issue a writ for the coming Senate election. [More…]
Accordingly, under section 1 5 of the Constitution, the Governor of Queensland issued a writ and an election is now in process for the election of 5 senators in Queensland, the election date being 1 8 May. [More…]
You, Mr President, studied that letter to determine its nature and you on that day made a statement in this Senate, saying, if I may precis it, that you had considered the letter of Senator Gair in the light of your responsibility under section 2 1 of the Constitution which requires you to notify a vacancy in the Senate to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy occurs, that you had to satisfy yourself whether such a vacancy had occurred; that you had reached the opinion that Senator Gair’s letter was not a letter of resignation but a notification of his appointment as Ambassador to Ireland and that in his view the effect was to vacate his position as a senator by virtue of various disqualifications under sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution, and that you therefore, quite properly, referred the matter back to the judgment of the Senate, having the conscious knowledge that your responsibility was under section 2 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
Mr President, you, very properly under section 21, studied Senator Gair’s letter, concluded that it was not a letter of resignation and concluded also that within your powers of determination Senator Gair had not resigned and to that extent at least he was still a qualified senator; but that to the extent that events relating to his appointment may have disqualified him under sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution, you would refer this to the Senate. [More…]
You, Sir, no doubt had clearly in your mind that you would do so under the terms of section 47 of the Constitution, which is the relevant one at this moment. [More…]
So the Constitution charges this Senate with a normal responsibility of determining the qualifications of Senator Gair at the date of reference of the letter and whether that vacancy had occurred at that time. [More…]
I say that the Senate has a fundamental obligation to act within that section of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 44 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Equally, section 45 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
As to his disqualification under section 44 or 45 of the Constitution, Senator Gair has said: ‘I was a senator until 3 April’. [More…]
The first matter that comes in consequence is this- and I think Senator Murphy said this-that in looking at the section of the Constitution under which the Senate itself may determine the question of a vacancy until and unless otherwise provided, the Attorney-General (Senator Murphy) would argue that as the Electoral Act has been passed under the relevant section the Senate, to use his term, has exhausted its own power to determine this matter. [More…]
The section of the Constitution uses the permissive word ‘may’, and on any interpretation of that word, on the authorities in the High Court and elsewhere, that permissive or facultative term is one that must be given its ordinary meaning unless there is substantial evidence to the contrary. [More…]
What I am arguing is that the Senate has the power under the section of the Constitution - [More…]
The Senate has the power under section 47 of the Constitution either to make the decision whether it will sit in judgment itself on the question of a vacancy or whether in a particular case it will pass that judgment over to the High Court sitting as a court of disputed returns. [More…]
The authority I quote is from a recent textbook called ‘The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia’, annotated. [More…]
That is section 47 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is crystal clear to me, since I have read the Constitution, that Senator Gair agreed to accept the appointment and that it then went through the normal and formal channels of approval; that is to say, he accepted, it was then conveyed to the authorities in Ireland, and then conveyed to the Governor-General, and he gave his formal assent to it. [More…]
Of course, when certain members of the House became aware of some of the loopholes- I suppose that is the way one could describe the incident- a conspiracy was begun in which the Premier of Queensland, not acting honourably and in accordance with the Constitution, conspired with the Leader of the Country Party and certain persons in this place to deceive the national Parliament and to deprive the people of Queensland of an opportunity at the elections on 18 May of electing a successor to Senator Gair. [More…]
that, at the time that the President made his statement on 3 April 1974, Senator Gair had not resigned his place in the terms of section 19 of the Constitution and he was therefore, at the time of the statement, a senator for Queensland and accordingly, at the time of the statement, the Senate was entitled to regard Senator Gair as a senator for Queensland. [More…]
The Leader of the Opposition well knows that in the Constitution- this is the very point at issue- there is another provision by which Senator Gair could vacate his office in a number of circumstances. [More…]
that there is abundant evidence that the Prime Minister and his responsible Ministers knew and intended that Senator Gair would cease to be a senator by resigning his seat in the Senate in terms of section 19 of the Constitution . [More…]
I know, as we all know, that there is an extraordinarily important matter of business before this Parliament but the point of my motion is that the Senate has an obligation to ensure that its composition, its constitution, is adequately and properly determined, and always determined, and secondly, as the House representing the States, that all the States have their equality of representation. [More…]
There are about 14 steps which have to be followed, and they are set out in the Constitution and in the Commonwealth Electoral Act. [More…]
On 19 September 1973, when speaking about the Constitution Alteration (Prices) Bill 1973, the Leader of the Opposition in this chamber said: [More…]
On 13 March of this year, when speaking on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill, the Leader of the Opposition said: [More…]
The Constitution makes it plain that whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President of the Senate shall notify the same to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened. [More…]
Rather did I think that Senator Gair’s letter was a notification that the effect of his appointment as Ambassador to Ireland was to vacate his place as a senator by virtue of the disqualification provisions of sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
It makes the statement that I claimed to have conspired in breaking the Constitution. [More…]
If those 10 Bills were categorised it would be seen that three of them were electoral Bills, two were constitution alteration Bills- legislation which in any event should have awaited consideration by the Constitutional Convention- and two were two health Bills. [More…]
I support the amendment on one major ground and that is in order to defend the rights of the States which, under our Constitution, to a very large degree have powers and responsibilities in this matter. [More…]
The second reading speech states that the Constitution provides that the salary of the GovernorGeneral should be $20,000, until the Parliament otherwise provides. [More…]
The Constitution provided that the salary of a Governor-General should not be altered during his continuance in office. [More…]
But lest those who put forward the proposition for an increase be misunderstood, it ought to be understood quite clearly that whereas the Governor-General’s salary has remained unaltered at $20,000 since the Constitution, the appropriations that have been made to relieve him of expenditure which at that time he bore and to provide for his establishments have increased enormously. [More…]
If we allow a disparity between the influential and powerful in high office too great as compared with other people we will do the constitution great disservice. [More…]
I submit that we will be doing the Constitution a great disservice if we introduce on different grounds and different conditions for a GovernorGeneral a pension which is expressed to be the equivalent of 60 per cent of the salary of the Chief Justice for the time being, unless we make it comparable in the conditions of entitlement to those to which the judges conform. [More…]
attempted to change the federal system of the Australian Constitution by diminishing the responsibility of the States; [More…]
Just look at the 4 constitutional Bills which were trotted up and which one assumes will be part of the next election. [More…]
Then we have the claim made by the Prime Minister, as I understood him, that the State Attorneys-General had agreed to the text of the Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill and the contrary statement by the Attorney-General of Queensland in the Parliament of that State denying that an agreement was ever made. [More…]
The founders of our Constitution realised that that principle did not apply in the case of the Senate, which is just as much a House of democracy as is the House of Representatives. [More…]
They included in the Constitution a provision which permits us to take the action we propose to take tonight. [More…]
They would not have put that provision in the Constitution had they felt that it ought not to have been availed of. [More…]
The Prime Minister used that defence as the occasion for rebuking Senator Murphy because he said that the Constitution permitted us to do what we propose tonight. [More…]
The Constitution gives that right to the Senate. [More…]
When the Constitution was established over 70 years ago, two of those who established it- the 2 persons to whom I refer, Sir John Quick and Sir Robert Garran, were intimately involved with the writing- said: [More…]
When the Constitution was written and the Senate was created, it was given power to do certain things. [More…]
The Constitution is really wrapped around the Senate in that, if the creation of the Senate had not been agreed to in order to satisfy the various States, there would not have been an Australian Parliament. [More…]
Subsequently, the Australian Constitution was altered by the insertion of section 105 A, which was approved by referendum dated 17 November 1928 and was assented to on 15 February 1929. [More…]
that this principle is fully recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That, in pursuance of section 13 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the senators chosen for each State shall be divided into 2 classes as follows: [More…]
The Senate will recall the great width of that important amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
He had a deep respect for this institution and an even deeper respect for the Constitution which establishes this institution. [More…]
It seems a shame to me that such a scheme is castigated as being conscription of doctors or socialisation of medicine, particularly when socialisation of medicine or nationalisation or conscription of doctors is exactly and particularly proscribed by the Australian Constitution. [More…]
attempted to change the federal system of the Australian Constitution by diminishing the responsibility of the States; [More…]
I refer to the Constitution which provides the framework of government in Australia. [More…]
I have sometimes heard Opposition senators speaking of the Australian Constitution with the reverence which an antique salesman sometimes displays when he is trying to sell an old chair. [More…]
All were opposed by the Opposition parties for motives which seemed to me to be less than elevating if one analyses the requirements of a modern constitution in a country such as ours. [More…]
It is significant that in 1959 two of those proposed changes were recommended by an all-party committee which reviewed the Constitution. [More…]
When one talks about the Constitution one must consider it as a framework of government not only for the protection of liberty but also for the efficient management of our society. [More…]
In 1959 the Constitutional Review Committee referred to the enormous costs involved in High Court litigation arising from problems associated with sections of the Constitution which were considered appropriate in 1 90 1 but which are no longer appropriate in 1974. [More…]
In the 24^ years that I have been in this place I have seen a fascinating course of development of Constitutional experience. [More…]
However, I have yet to witness for the first time, as do all other honourable senators the possibility of the full development of section 57 of the Constitution in the form of a submission of Bills after a double dissolution of the Parliament, and a joint sitting of both Houses. [More…]
There are some who would say that the course of action which the Senate took was against constitutional convention. [More…]
Whether the Constitution is up to date- Senator Button from Victoria suggests that is not the case- or whether it needs revision has little relevance because one of the compelling facts in this situation is that it is the present Constitution. [More…]
Before considering a revision of the Constitution we ought to realise the provisions it now expresses and then study them to ascertain whether they are prudent or otherwise. [More…]
It should be noticed that our Constitution was framed in the decade ending in 1 900 and finally was enacted in that year. [More…]
Therefore, far from the Senate being given just its historical existence, owing its constituent members to the accident of birth, the Senate was the first and vital suggestion, the foundation stone, of the Australian Federal Constitution. [More…]
When we come to the question of double dissolution and its application to money Bills we go to Part V of the Constitution which consists of a few significant sections of the Constitution. [More…]
It is after an enumeration of the powers of the Parliament, the exclusive powers of the Parliament, and a definition of any distinction between the powers belonging to this place and another place that we find section 57 brought into the constitution. [More…]
In the contemporary text that expounded that Constitution, a text that is regarded with veneration as an authority, except in certain respects where experience has disclosed need for amendment, Quick and Garran at page 687, when commenting by way of notes upon section 57, says: [More…]
The Constitution provides that the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives, shall be dissolved. [More…]
The provision made by this Constitution for the dissolution of the Senate is the latest and greatest experiment in Federal Government. [More…]
Therefore, the balance which came into the Constitution was that if the Senate, specially constructed with the powers to which I have referred, deemed it proper in the exercise of its responsibility twice to reject a Bill after a 3 month interval, it put its judgment to the decision of the people just as the House of Representatives action in relation to the Bill is put to the judgment of the people. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to provide a measure of representation for the Australian Capital Territory and for the Northern Territory in the Senate, giving some meaningful expression to section 122 of the Constitution in respect of the Senate as an integral part of this Parliament. [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
The constitutional position with regard to the power vested in this Parliament to provide representation for the 2 Territories as proposed by this Bill is clear. [More…]
I have already quoted section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
The founders of the Constitution obviously recognised the simple justice of the notion that, since the Parliament would make laws for the Territories, the citizens of the Territories should have a voice in that Parliament. [More…]
On the basis of advice by the Commonwealth legal advisors, the provision of Territory senators under section 122 of the Constitution does not cause an alteration in the number of members of the House of [More…]
As honourable senators would know, the Constitution provides, in section 24, that the House of Representatives shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the number of members shall be as nearly as practicable twice the number of Senators. [More…]
The Government’s legal advice is that section 24 of the Constitution does not have application in relation to senators who may be provided for a Territory under the provisions of section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
In other words, the requirement contained in section 24 for the number of members of the House of Representatives to be as nearly as practicable twice the number of senators does not relate to Territory members or senators provided under section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
Thus, consistently with section 24 of the Constitution, the introduction of Territory senators will not affect the representation of the States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Houses of this Parliament are again being given an opportunity to enact this Bill. [More…]
The honourable senator can get away with it in this place at question time by referring to the constitution of the Labor Party, to what the Labor Party stands for and to what the Labor Party has done for the armed Services of this country. [More…]
In May the people threw out the Government’s request to be given power to amend the Constitution so that electoral divisions could be determined on the basis of total population instead of numbers of eligible voters. [More…]
That he should take that viewpoint raises very interesting questions about the Australian Constitution. [More…]
In 1959 the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review also dealt with this question and made recommendations which were designed to alter the Constitution in order to overcome the type of attitude which is now prevalent in this chamber. [More…]
They felt so strongly about the matter that they considered these principles should be enshrined in the Constitution of this country. [More…]
There is nothing in the Constitution to guarantee that all Parliaments must be elected directly and democratically by the people. [More…]
Both Mr Daly and Senator Murphy have argued that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has declared that any form of malapportionment within a State is unconstitutional under the American Constitution. [More…]
I know that there has been a development of doctrine in the United States of America since the cases of Reynolds v. Sims and Westberry v. Sanders which suggests that if you do not have equal electorates you are denying to people the equal protection which the American Constitution vests in them. [More…]
Justice Rehnquist, writing for the Court, argued that prior cases condemning smaller deviations were distinguishable because they applied standards for congressional districting drawn from article I, section 2 of the Constitution. [More…]
Relying on dictum in Reynolds v. Sims, the initial state legislative districting case, Justice Rehnquist found that more flexibility [is] constitutionally permissible with respect to state legislative reapportionment’ m order to enable states to pursue rational policy objectives. [More…]
Let us recognise that the United States Supreme Court, applying a different constitution from that which applies in Australia has, in fact, held that a margin of at least 16 per cent is consistent with equal protection and equal rights. [More…]
Let us not forget also that when the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review delivered its report in 1959, irrespective of the 10 per cent variation recommendation which members of that Committee gave at that time, the advice of those disinterested distribution commissioners- those who had experience in recommending and drawing up boundaries and managing the electoral system- was that there should be a 20 per cent tolerance. [More…]
Senator McAuliffe in particular referred to the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review to incorporate into the Constitution a provision for electoral law with a limit of 10 per cent variation in the quota. [More…]
the provisions of the Bill are consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia establishing the Senate; [More…]
In those circumstances it ought to be the Senate’s concern as to whether what is being proposed will rebound to the benefit of the Senate, will preserve the status of the Senate as contemplated by the founders of the Constitution, and will, if the arguments in favour of giving representation to the Territories are accepted, provide the most efficacious representation to the residents of the Territories. [More…]
The first matter to which I refer is whether this measure, if carried, will be constitutional. [More…]
Will it be consistent with the provisions of the Constitution? [More…]
I appreciate that the general purport of the Constitution is to confer upon the High Court of Australia the power to make decisions as to whether or not laws passed by this Parliament are or are not constitutionally valid. [More…]
But I think it would be an unnecessary and imprudent restriction upon this chamber or upon the House of Representatives to withdraw from discussion or controversy the question whether or not the measure which was before the chamber was in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
I do not question that the Government is relying upon section 122 of the Constitution to justify this piece of legislation. [More…]
One arises from a perusal of the provisions in chapter 1 of the Constitution and the other arises from an examination of chapter 8 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 7 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 1 0 of the the Constitution provides: [More…]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this Constitution, the laws in force in each State, for the time being, relating to elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to elections of senators for the State. [More…]
I do not doubt that an argument of some weight can be advanced that the provisions of the Constitution, as outlined in the sections I have read and the other sections in Part II of chapter I of the Constitution, suggest that the Senate is, as a matter of law, the States House which the founders of the Constitution contemplated that it would be. [More…]
In those circumstances can the functions of the States House, can the purposes of the States House, can the ability of the States House to act, as is contemplated by the Constitution be overcome by an Act of the Parliament which simply swamps the Senate with representatives from each of the several Territories of the Commonwealth? [More…]
It may be arguable, therefore, that the absolute terms of the provision in section 122 of the Constitution are to be qualified by the implication that the Senate shall consist as a States House and that any representation of the Territories in the Senate must have regard to the purposes for which the Senate was constituted. [More…]
In section 128 of Chapter VIII of the Constitution there is a significant provision which is seldom adverted to. [More…]
That section prescribes the procedure under which the Constitution may be amended. [More…]
No alteration diminishing the proportionate representation of any State in either House of the Parliament, or the minimum number of representatives of a State in the House of Representatives, or increasing, diminishing, or otherwise altering the limits of the State, or in any manner affecting the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the majority of the electors voting in that State approve the proposed law. [More…]
They do not have elected assemblies with authority conferred by the Commonwealth Constitution and they do not have legislation of the Imperial Parliament, as the States have at present. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to provide a measure of representation for the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory in the Senate giving some meaningful expression to section 122 of the Constitution in respect of the Senate as an integral part of this Parliament. [More…]
I refer too to the responsibilities and privileges of the Senate provided in the Commonwealth Constitution and expressed also in existing Senate Standing Orders. [More…]
The Congress is concerned about its continuation should there be a change of Government or should there be a different attitude on the part of this Government The Congress wants a constitution that will permit it to continue as an organisation with or without Government support. [More…]
Members of the Congress have agreed to a constitution which preserves a continuation of its role of advising the Minister and the Department. [More…]
We believe that the most immediate objective is to bring about a cease-fire and to get the position back to what the constitution was all about in 1 960. [More…]
The second objective is to work for the restitution of constitutional government in Cyprus. [More…]
I do not think that there is any doubt that Archbishop Makarios is still the constitutionally elected President. [More…]
One would hope that the nations which have special rights under the constitution of 1960- namely, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom- play their part responsibly and hold themselves in great restraint during what must be a tremendously difficult time. [More…]
It will have additional marketing powers in Australia and powers over general promotion and marketing which did not apply under the constitution of the old Apple and Pear Board. [More…]
We in the Opposition oppose this legislation on other grounds besides those that I mentioned last night, they being mainly constitutional grounds concerning section 7 of the Constitution which states that the Senate shall be composed of senators for each State. [More…]
There is little doubt that the Government is using section 122 of the Constitution in order to bring down this legislation. [More…]
We believe that the legislation defies section 7 of the Constitution. [More…]
the provisions of the Bill are consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia establishing the Senate; [More…]
Of course this refers to section 7 of the Constitution, which I mentioned before and which provides that the Senate is to be composed of representatives from the States. [More…]
Yesterday arguments were raised in the Senate to suggest that section 128 of the Constitution would prohibit the Bill becoming law because it would diminish the proportional representation of any State unless the majority of electors voting in each State approved the proposed law. [More…]
Passage of this Bill would result in there being another 4 senators and that would regularise the arrangements between the Senate and the House of Representatives because, according to the Constitution, the House of Representatives should have twice as many members as the Senate. [More…]
This adds to the argument that the Government has been putting forward about the need to modernise our Constitution. [More…]
We live in an entirely different world to that of the days when our founding fathers put certain restrictions in the Constitution. [More…]
1 remind the Government that on several occasions it has put before the people referenda proposals which sought to change the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, as a responsible member of the Senate, I believe that anything which will endanger this chamber in which we sit constitutionally and anything which will weaken the influence of the States- this place is a States House- ought to be rejected by any responsible member of this chamber. [More…]
It surely would be incumbent on any responsible government to seek the advice and the opinion of the Attorneys-General and the Solicitors-General of the States and to work out whether this Bill is acceptable constitutionally. [More…]
I think that the Labor Party can be likened unto white ants, because with this Bill they seem to be nibbling away at the very core of the Constitution that set up the Senate as a State’s House. [More…]
I think it is valid to raise constitutional matters in this debate. [More…]
It is quite conceivable that Territory senators with only a 3-year term could hold the balance of power over the sovereign States, thereby thwarting the concept of the Senate as the proper House of review envisaged by the architects of our Constitution. [More…]
It surprises me that a former Premier of a State, understanding the Constitution which was drawn up in 1900 and realising that the Senate was established on the even representation of the original States, should now believe that the Senate should be subverted by the addition of extra senators from wherever they may come. [More…]
I refer now to the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Steele Hall should read the Constitution as it relates to the House to which he has been elected. [More…]
Part II, section 7 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution should be impressive to the man who has been elected to this Senate and who is a former Premier of an important State. [More…]
No alteration diminishing the proportionate representation of any State in either House of the Parliament, or the minimum number of representatives of a State in the House of Representatives, or increasing, diminishing, or otherwise altering the limits of the State, or in any manner affecting the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the majority of the electors voting in that State approve the proposed law. [More…]
It would have done Senator Steele Hall much more credit if he had begun by referring to the platform, constitution and rules of the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
-One of the matters is shown as amendment 2 (a) to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That representation, as I have quoted from the Constitution, is to be an even representation in this place from every State. [More…]
If a committee were set up in this case members from both sides of the Parliament could look at the proposition to see whether there would be a subversion of our Constitution if extra senators were brought in. [More…]
The second point is that there is a Bill to say that in regard to this question of deciding, in the terms of section 24 of the Constitution, the size of the House of Representatives you are not to take into account the 4 proposed Territory representatives in the Senate. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution states: [More…]
I leave aside the question of whether the Representation Bill is constitutional. [More…]
I, as a poor lawyer, have the gravest doubts that it is constitutional. [More…]
But, Mr President, this Senate does not rest only on the Constitution; it rests upon the will of the people as clearly expressed through the ballot box. [More…]
I want to place on record one of the really authoritative statements regarding this matter by quoting from ‘The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth’ by Quick and Garran: [More…]
For my part, I have the gravest doubts that what is sought to be done is constitutionally legal. [More…]
Anyone who reads the Constitution must reach the conclusion that Part II sets out quite clearly to establish a Senate which shall have certain inevitable lines which cannot be altered except by referendum. [More…]
Later sections of the Constitution, sections 122, 123 and so on, provide that the Territories shall have the capacity for representation. [More…]
Those of us who have looked at the debates of the convention in 1 897 and thereabouts and who have sought to find what was in the minds of our constitutional fathers have quite a clear view- we must have, from reading the debates of those years- that there was never any thought that there would be introduced into this chamber senators from the Territories who would have full voting rights and who would upset the formula of an equality of numbers from each State. [More…]
I am trying to articulate that the methodology contained in this Bill is not only against the will of the people but is fundamentally against the Constitution and is of such magnitude that before anything is done much more important steps should be taken. [More…]
Whether it is constitutionally legal to hold more than one joint sitting on more than one Bill is something that the High Court may determine in the future. [More…]
Whether the Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill, the Bill we are now debating, is constitutionally legal is a matter for the future to determine. [More…]
Certainly the Bill raises many apparent ambiguities and conflicts within the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
What I have said is that I regret very much that the Commonwealth Government in bringing this measure to the Parliament has done nothing to bring to the constitutional convention of the States and the Territories a debate upon the long range future of the 2 Territories. [More…]
All of these things are apparently available within the Constitution and should be examined before we look towards representation. [More…]
The purpose of the Bill is very clear; that is, to provide some measure of representation in this chamber for the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory as provided for in section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
The amendment proposes that a select committee inquire into and report to the Senate on whether the provisions of the Bill are consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth establishing the Senate. [More…]
On views expressed by legal authorities it is clear beyond doubt that this Parliament has the power to provide senatorial representation for the Territories to the extent and on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit as provided by section 12 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
Perhaps I should mention that the honourable senator who moved the amendment to this legislation expressed an opinion on 1 1 April 1972 as the then Attorney-General concerning section 24 and section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
In my opinion section 24 is concerned with the representation of the people of the States only and has no application to the representation of the people of the Territories under section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
I rise to speak in this debate with no spirit of tendentiousness and certainly with no purpose other than to defend a cause of substantial import on a constitutional basis. [More…]
I speak in a Senate that was constituted under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of 1900, an indissoluble federal Commonwealth federating 6 States. [More…]
The 6 States undertook to agree to a federal Constitution of those 6 States. [More…]
The fundamental proposition upon which the whole Constitution was laid was that each of the 6 States should have equal representation in the national Parliament- this Parliament which we operate 74 years later. [More…]
I promise honourable senators that while I am here I will defend the Constitution and the Liberal purpose. [More…]
The Constitution created this Senate of the States on the basis of 6 States, each with equal power in this place. [More…]
Having been defeated below, the Murphys and the architects of manoeuvre see in section 122 of the Constitution a way in which to assail the Constitution. [More…]
Although based upon a federation of 6 States, the Constitution did advert, of course, to other areas of its jurisdiction, namely the Territories. [More…]
Having adverted to that so that we would be entitled to make laws for the Territories and so that we might, in our judgment, allow the representation of the Territories in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on such terms as the Parliament thinks fit, great distinction is drawn in the Constitution between the States and the Territories. [More…]
Throughout the whole of the Constitution the federation is shown basically and fundamentally as a federation of the States. [More…]
So with the Whitlam Labor Government having been defeated in the Senate election following the double dissolution, having gained 29 seats only out of 60, and with the people being entitled to expect the other 3 1 senators to defend the cause of senatorial constitutional integrity, we are bound, when this Bill is presented to us after the dissolution, to give it the best of our consideration. [More…]
They are to be improved and guided by this Commonwealth, but their representation in either House of Parliament must be without disrupting to any degree the essential principles of the basis of our Constitution. [More…]
One can go through the Constitution and find provisions such as this: That the Senate shall be composed of senators of each State; and one can go to the provision that was debated this afternoon and which has been put in another Bill in the hope that it will escape attention. [More…]
Therefore any senator who represents the people of his State has, I think a most superficial understanding of the Constitution and really does not represent the purpose of the people of the State if he allows 36,000 people of the Northern Territory to send in here 2 Territorial representatives or senators- one-fifth of the number representing New South Walesand, having regard to the even balance of the Senate, probably to exercise the preponderant vote in the Senate. [More…]
Am I not to be conceded the view that this Part of the Constitution deserves consideration by a select committee for at least a fortnight? [More…]
Is it, in order to save a few of the superficial members of the Senate maybe two or three weeks in the course of a year, to fail to give this issue fuller, more fundamental thought and so prevent the Senate being undermined by a political manoeuvre whereby Whitlam, having expounded himself in the Chifley Memorial lecture on the cause of the Constitution versus Labor now comes to promote the cause of Labor against the Constitution? [More…]
This is the most ingenious, cunning trick that has been conceived to subvert the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that those of us who are opposing this legislation because of the need to preserve the Senate are taking a view more in keeping with what was intended by the people who drew up the Constitution of this country and set up the 2 Houses of Parliament. [More…]
The founding fathers ensured that the constitutional rights of the States were maintained and protected by providing in the Constitution equality of representation of the original States on the basis that the colonies prior to Federation were equal constitutionally and politically. [More…]
The Constitution provides in section 122 that the Parliament may allow representation of Commonwealth Territories ‘in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit’. [More…]
But such Territory representatives in the Senate under this Bill are to have full voting rights and could as non-State representatives hold the balance of power in an institution set up to safeguard the interests of the States- a principle embodied in the Constitution without which Federation would not have been accomplished. [More…]
Although provision was made in the Constitution for representation of Territories in the Parliament, our founding fathers did not envisage that such representatives would have voting rights. [More…]
In fact, concern was expressed at the constitutional discussions that the provision did not preclude such representatives having the right to vote. [More…]
Giants in those constitutional discussions such as Deakin, Brown, Barton and Braddon are recorded in convention debates which indicate that thinking. [More…]
Practically every time the government of the day has gone to the country to alter the Constitution the people have said ‘No’. [More…]
If we do what this legislation wants us to do, we will start to destroy the Senate as I believe it was intended to be established when the Constitution was framed. [More…]
Unfortunately we are stuck with a Constitution which those wise founding fathers made it almost impossible to alter. [More…]
If we do find it hard to change the Constitution let us not try to pretend that all the wisdom of the ages is enshrined in this already old fashioned document. [More…]
The basis upon which the Representation Bill is put forward is that the formula under the Constitution and also under the Representation Act whereby there is a nexus between the number of members of the House of Representatives and the number of senators is to be altered. [More…]
Let me put it this way: The Constitution states that the number of members of the House of Representatives shall be twice the number of senators. [More…]
Then section 24 of the Constitution sets out a procedure whereby the number of members of the House of Representatives from each State is to be determined. [More…]
That constitutional provision also gives power to the Parliament to provide how the number of members shall be chosen from each State. [More…]
The Government has said in the second reading speeches which have accompanied this Bill that on the legal advice available to the Government the people of the Territories are not to be included in the expression ‘the people of the Commonwealth’ in the Constitution. [More…]
I would have thought that if one were to examine the part of the Constitution in which section 24 appears one would find there sections dealing with the States and the representation of the States. [More…]
Nothing in that part of the Constitution refers to the Territories or the representation of the Territories in the Senate. [More…]
To keep the nexus in position is to ensure that there is no enlargement of the Parliament beyond what is the reasonable anticipation of the founders of the Constitution and the thinking of the people of Australia. [More…]
He asked the Prime Minister whether he was aware of the doubt surrounding the justification for a double dissolution in the light of the Senate’s second failure to pass the Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill, due to the fact that the period of 3 months, as required by section 57 of the Constitution, did not elapse between the Senate’s first rejection of the Bill and the second passing of the Bill by the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Constitution provides that we can do so. [More…]
The scheme will not socialise doctors or nationalise doctors or conscript doctors as the Australian Constitution proscribes such an activity. [More…]
It would be intolerable if a Labor Government were to use the alibi of the Constitution to excuse failure to achieve its socialist objectives-doubly intolerable because it is just not true that it need do so. [More…]
The Prime Minister is using section 96 of the Constitution to take over the public hospitals of Australia and to shrink the private hospitals and absorb them into a nationalised scheme. [More…]
I said that the circumstances set out in our amendment raised questions of the highest constitutional importance. [More…]
I make that point in respect of the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution as they could conceivably apply to the Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill. [More…]
Although the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution are probably very well known to most of us by now, I think it is important that I should read this section again for the purposes of establishing my argument. [More…]
The view that we on this side of the Senate wish to express firmly is that the advice which must have given to the Governor-General by the Prime Minister (Mr Whitiam) in order to establish that ground of double dissolution did not satisfy, and could not conceivably satisfy, the provision of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
It certainly could be said that at that stage the first step required under section 57 of the Constitution had been completed in that the House of Representatives had presented a proposed law which the Senate, on 2 April had rejected. [More…]
I shall quote a high constitutional authority in relation to this matter with which I am sure the Government will not disagree. [More…]
It is not conceivable that the Government would suggest that the Bill, having been rejected only on 2 April and rejected- or perhaps honourable senators might say ‘failed to pass’- on 10 April, should possibly in any way satisfy the conditions of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
The question of when section 57 of the Constitution comes into operation, whether for a double dissolution or for a joint sitting, or for both, is of the highest constitutional importance. [More…]
The Senate would lose all its character under the Constitution, all its independence, its principle of equal representation of the States and its role as a House of review, apart altogether from its other duties and responsibilities. [More…]
So we believe that this issue is of the most fundamental importance to the Senate and to the Australian Constitution, and we believe that it is appropriate that we should express this view in debate, have it enshrined in the records of the Senate and have it made known to the Australian public and to the Governor-General. [More…]
Mr President, Senator Durack ‘s amendment raises the question whether it would be in accordance with proper constitutional practice for the Senate to express its opinion to His Excellency, the Governor-General, as proposed in his amendment. [More…]
This is an issue of fundamental constitutional importance. [More…]
Plainly, it would not be constitutionally proper for the Senate to pursue the course of action proposed in the amendment. [More…]
In the constitutional instrument issued for that purpose, His Excellency noted that the conditions upon which he was empowered by section 57 of the Constitution to dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously had been fulfilled in respect of six proposed laws, including the Bill for the Petroleum and Minerals Authority Act 1973. [More…]
He observed that, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Houses of the Parliament were again being given an opportunity to enact the Bill. [More…]
May I interpolate here, Mr President, that, whilst the amendment purports to be concerned with the observance of the procedures of section 57 of the Constitution, the underlying complaint of the Opposition with the Bill is to be found in those few words in which the amendment asks that the Bill be ‘re-drafted as a new Bill’. [More…]
But, instead of getting on with the debate on the merits of the Bill, the Opposition, by this amendment, seeks to raise an issue that is irrelevant for present purposes and is one with which it is constitutionally inappropriate for the Senate to concern itself. [More…]
Mr President, those who are familiar with constitutional practice and parliamentary procedure will perceive in the amendment moved by Senator Durack a resemblance to happenings in the Senate on at least three previous occasions. [More…]
In 19 14 the Senate sought to have certain proposals to amend the Constitution put to the people under the deadlock provisions of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Senate sent an Address to the Governor-General requesting His Excellency to exercise his constitutional powers to submit the proposed amendments of the Constitution to the electors. [More…]
I have perused the Address which you, on behalf of the Senate, presented to me on the 19 June, in which the Senate requests me to exercise the power vested, under certain conditions, in the Governor-General, by section 128 of the Constitution, to submit to the Electors the six proposed laws for the amendment of the Constitution, which are annexed to the Address. [More…]
Following the established usage of responsible government, I have consulted my Ministers, who by the express terms of the Constitution are appointed to advise me in the government of the Commonwealth, and have submitted the Senate ‘s Address and accompanying documents to them. [More…]
Mr President, we have here a concise and correct statement, by the GovernorGeneral of the day, of the constitutional principle raised by the motion now before the Senate. [More…]
It is not the function of the Senate, under the Constitution, to furnish advice to the GovernorGeneral. [More…]
More specifically, it is not the function of the Senate to furnish advice to His Excellency for the purposes of section 128 of the Constitution, or, as I shall now illustrate, for the purposes of section 57. [More…]
Shortly before the double dissolution the Senate presented an Address to His Excellency in which the Senate stated its opinion on the interpretation of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Sir Ronald Ferguson again made the constitutional position quite plain in the following passages: 1 am advised further that to accede to the request contained in your Address would imply a recognition of a right in the Senate to make the Ministers of State for the Commonwealth directly responsible to that Chamber for advice tendered to the Governor-General in relation to the exercise of an Executive power vested in him by the terms of the Constitution, and that such a recognition would not be in accordance with the accepted principles of responsible government. [More…]
The second paragraph of section 57 of the Constitution contemplates that the Senate may fail to pass a Bill or that it may pass it with amendments. [More…]
It would be a grave misuse of the processes of the Senate to evade the issues to which the Senate should be directing its attention by adopting this amendment which would be both constitutionally improper and constitutionally futile. [More…]
But there is another reason- and that is that the constitutional processes of section 57 of the Constitution have not yet run their course. [More…]
In the Government’s view, it would not be constitutionally proper to table the legal opinions before the joint sitting is held. [More…]
It is a situation which is provided for by the Constitution, and I concede that. [More…]
In the case of this Bill, surely it is important for us to know and to be satisfied that the situation of deadlock- the constitutional provisions of deadlock- have been reached. [More…]
So we in this chamber have introduced an amendment which sets out the chronology, which sets out the events and which demonstrates that the constitutional provisions have not been satisfied. [More…]
We suggest that when these facts are set out there is one interpretation which stands out, and that is the prima facie interpretation that the constitutional provisions have not been satisfied. [More…]
The Government ought to recognise that the rights which the Constitution confers are rights which all parties, whether they are in government or in opposition, ought to protect because they are in due course the only protections in our constitutional democracy which we can rely upon. [More…]
There have been various requirements, which the Constitution has imposed, which have qualified responsible government in its purest form, and one of those qualifications is to be found in the operation of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution requires that a discretion be exercised by the GovernorGeneral in regard to certain matters. [More…]
That, of course, was in the context not precisely of section 57 of the Constitution but of the timehonoured situation in a responsible government situation of whether a request by a Prime Minister for a dissolution of the lower house must be acceded to in every instance by the GovernorGeneral to whom it is addressed. [More…]
He has a responsibility for seeing that the system works as required by the law and conventions of the constitution but he does not try to do the work of Ministers. [More…]
The message informed the Speaker that the Legislative Council in accordance with long-established precedent practice and pro.ced:e, and for that reason, declined to take into consideration a Bill affecting those sections of the Constitution Act . [More…]
I cite these references in order to demonstrate the distinction between the 3 considerations contained in the New South Wales legislation which are the identical provisions contained in section 57 of the Australian Constitution that the right to either a double dissolution or a joint sitting arises when there has been either a rejection, a failure to pass or a passage of the Bill with unacceptable amendments. [More…]
I felt that Senator Murphy’s speech tonight was the socialist Left view of the constitutional Head who must, under a socialist view, simply be there in a puppet fashion to do the will of the Ministers. [More…]
Quite clearly, no one denies the competence of the constitutional Head to seek that advice. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution sets out the terms on which a double dissolution can be granted. [More…]
It establishes a series of events which, on the facts, cannot constitute a failure to pass or a rejection in terms of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
In the proroguing of Parliament all legislation was removed under the Commonwealth Constitution from the parliamentary lists. [More…]
In fact, it is the duty of this Senate and of this Parliament- it is certainly the duty of this Opposition- to say to the Government of the day: ‘In our view, you have offended legally section 57 of the Constitution under this Bill’. [More…]
What I have is a brief for the Australian people and the powers under our Constitution and existing law to preserve, conserve and develop the precious minerals we have in Australia. [More…]
that this principle is fully recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution; [More…]
The Government, not having the power to nationalise the industry under the Constitution, as we know, has taken the only effective step available to it, and that is the creation of this Authority which will in fact work in conjunction with private enterprise, where necessary, in order to establish a proper working arrangement between Government and private enterprise. [More…]
It is not subject to State law because its powers flow from the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
It would be a denial of the Constitution to make the exercise of the Authority’s powers subject to a State. [More…]
This matter has not been clearly resolved under the Constitution, and it ought to be resolved. [More…]
The Opposition believes that although it is appropriate for the question of the Commonwealth’s sovereignty over the off-shore areas to be resolved, although we support the claim to sovereignty and although we support in principle the idea that the Commonwealth Government should have a broad legal and constitutional sovereignty over these areas, when all is said and done we are even at the present time engaged in an international conference at which we are asserting very broad claims over the continental shelf extending seawards 200 miles or more. [More…]
So although we accept this claim in principle and would want to do everything to facilitate its being made and to see the establishment in international law on these matters, we take the view that under our federal system of government and under our federal Constitution the appropriate bodies to have the jurisdiction in regard to the control of mining on the seabed are the respective State parliaments and State governments. [More…]
I do not take the view that some would take, from the constitution of the Tribunal, that its determination relieves us of the final responsibility to determine which part of the appropriation from public expenditure shall come to our pocket and what is relatively just when compared with other sections of the community, having regard to our responsibility, in my view, at a time of wage explosion now burgeoning and expanding in the next few months. [More…]
The Constitution provides that until Parliament otherwise decides, parliamentarians shall decide their own salaries. [More…]
But in fact the people regard the Parliament as the high court of the realm and they know instinctively that in the final analysis all power and all authority within the Constitution is derived from the Parliament. [More…]
WHEREAS a Proclamation made on 1 1 April 1974 by the Governor-General of Australia then holding office recited that the conditions upon which the Governor-General is empowered by section 57 of the Constitution to dissolve the Senate and the House of Represenatives simultaneously had been fulfilled in respect of the several proposed laws intituled: [More…]
AND WHEREAS, since that dissolution and the election of the Twenty-ninth Parliament, the conditions upon which the Governor-General is empowered by section 57 of the Constitution to convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives have been fulfilled in respect of each of the said proposed laws: [More…]
This freedom from obstruction in the coming to or the going from the House is part of the law of Parliament and I believe that, although the Houses of Parliament at Canberra do not state the right by Sessional Orders, it is a privilege that belongs to the Commonwealth Parliament by virtue of section 49 of the Constitution. [More…]
Firstly, it is intended to extend the provisions of the present Act to open up the possibility that the proceedings of a joint sitting of the Parliament convened in pursuance of section 57 of the Constitution may be broadcast. [More…]
The Parliament has no constitutional responsibility for State courts and cannot, under the Constitution, intervene in the organisation of these courts. [More…]
I want to quote to Senator Marriott from the platform and constitution of the Labor Party, which members of the Opposition so often hold up when it suits them. [More…]
Platform, Constitution and Rules’. [More…]
By section 49 of the Constitution it is enacted that the powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament, and until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Under section 49 of the Constitution one of the undoubted powers of the Senate (and of the House of Representatives) is the power to summon witnesses to appear before it to give evidence and produce documents. [More…]
This will be immensely helpful to any government irrespective of its political persuasion because until now little has been known of the operations, construction and constitution of these institutions. [More…]
It seems to me that at this time in the history of this Australian Government the concrete pipes case appears to give the Government a power under the Constitution to implement direct controls over the non-bank financial organisations and that that is a power which the Government seeks to use. [More…]
I suppose that if a government had wanted to go in for this sort of regulation it might have been possible in the past to rely.on the banking power in the Constitution; because I do not think that it could be denied that many of the institutions which we now seek to cover by this Bill are properly classifiable as banks. [More…]
If I look to the platform, constitution and rules of the Australian Labor Party to see the goals, to see what is likely in the future in terms of the Labor Party’s directionalism of policy on banking, merchant banking and finance houses, I learn from the passage headed ‘Economic Planning’ 2 things. [More…]
It is true that in 1967 there was an alteration to the Constitution by way of a referendum and that some assessment was made at or about that time or prior to that time, but in fact they were not acknowledged as people for the purpose of determining the total population of Australia until the 197 1 census. [More…]
With respect to Victoria the document points out that since the inception of the Constitution of the State of Victoria in 1855 Aborigines have been entitled to enrol and vote in that State although neither enrolment nor voting became compulsory until 1962. [More…]
The first Victorian Parliament was elected under the provisions of the Victorian Constitution Act, 1855. [More…]
The Constitution in outlining the qualifications of electors made no distinctions on the grounds of race but the franchise was restricted. [More…]
Although Aborigines were (under the Victorian Constitution of 1855) not excluded from voting in Council and Assembly elections, certain restrictions (requiring electors to be owners, lessees or occupying tenants of property of certain stated values) would have debarred many sections of the population including between 80,000-250,000 gold diggers and presumably many Aborigines, from the right to vote in State elections. [More…]
Where, at the joint sitting, a proposed law as last proposed by the House of Representatives nas been affirmed in accordance with section 57 of the Constitution, the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall, for the purpose of presentation of the proposed law by the Chairman to the Governor-General for the Royal Assent, certify on a fair print of the proposed law as so affirmed that it is a fair print of the proposed law, as last proposed by the House of Representatives and as affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives at the joint sitting. [More…]
The joint sitting will be the first ever held by the 2 Houses pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
For the purpose of regulating the conduct of the business and proceedings of the joint sitting, the Houses are empowered by section 50 of the Constitution to make rules. [More…]
They provide only for those procedures which appear to be necessary for the consideration of proposed laws under section 57 of the Constitution and the rules keep as close as possible to standard parliamentary practices. [More…]
This provision is in accord with section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
This suggestion has been put up by one of my colleagues who says that the wording in this amendment is more in accordance with what the Constitution states, lt says that each senator and each member shall have one vote, that is, he shall be entitled to one vote, because we all know that we are entitled to vote. [More…]
Section 23 of the Constitution provides that each senator shall be entitled to one vote. [More…]
Within the Constitution of this country the Federal Government is entitled, under laws passed by this Parliament, to acquire property on just terms from any State or person only for purposes in respect of which this Parliament has power to make laws. [More…]
I suggest that the Senate will scrutinise the Constitution from section 1 to section 128 in vain in an effort to find any purpose for which this Parliament has power to make laws that embrace the purchase of a slum area of Sydney for rehabilitation or reconstruction and for letting or sale to citizens. [More…]
That is not a dry constitutional, legalistic approach. [More…]
We in this country live by the Constitution and the laws made under it as administered by the courts. [More…]
We ought to know sufficient of our constitutional immunity to know that we are not liable for rates or State taxes. [More…]
No such power was given to this Parliament in the Constitution, and I protest that $ 1 5.75m that we have exacted from the taxpayers pursuant to our taxing powers should be illegally appropriated. [More…]
I am addressing myself to an important constitutional proposition. [More…]
It behoves the whole Senate to insist that moneys that we collect from our people are appropriated only to Federal constitutional purposes, and this is not one of them. [More…]
Under section 96 of the Constitution assistance has been given to the [More…]
Of course, since then the Minister has entered into an agreement with the States to provide, under section 96 of the Constitution, the largest grant that has ever been given to the States for housing purposes and at the lowest rate of interest that has ever been prescribed. [More…]
Let it be understood that this Joint Sitting is a last resort, a means provided by the Constitution to enable the popular will- the democratic process- ultimately to prevail over the tactics of blind obstruction. [More…]
The Constitution provides that if the Senate in certain circumstances twice rejects Bills passed by the House of Representatives, the GovernorGeneral may dissolve the Parliament and new elections may be held. [More…]
The Constitution further provides that if, after a double dissolution and fresh elections, the Senate still obstructs such a Bill a joint sitting of both Houses may be held to consider it. [More…]
Even the Sitting itself, an event clearly envisaged and provided for by the Constitution, has been subject of a desperate last minute, last ditch legal challenge by our opponents. [More…]
What we are now proposing- this reduction in the permissible variation between electorateswas first proposed 15 years ago by the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review established by Sir Robert Menzies in 1 956. [More…]
The Liberal Party members were Sir Neil O’sullivan; Sir Alexander Downer, son of one of the founding fathers of Australia’s Constitution, a Minister, later High Commissioner to Britain; Mr Justice Joske; and Senator Wright- now one of the opponents of this legislation. [More…]
That Committee- that all party Committee on Constitutional Reviewunanimously recommended exactly the measure that we are now putting forward, briefly at the end of 1958, and with full reasons at the end of 1959. [More…]
The Committee recommended that the Constitution be amended to provide that: . [More…]
On repeated occasions since 1959 the Labor Party, now twice confirmed as the Government, has sought to amend the Electoral Act to establish in legislation the principle which the Committee believed should be enshrined in the Constitution itself. [More…]
This is the objective of the legislation now before this Parliament- to implement by law a proposal endorsed by the distinguished Committee of both Houses and all parties as a constitutional amendment 15 years ago. [More…]
Finally, in May this year, the Government submitted a referendum to the Australian people seeking to have the principle of electoral equality entrenched in the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution always has provided that the number of electorates in the several States shall be in proportion to their populations. [More…]
The Labor Party put forward a constitutional proposal which would have torpedoed any consideration of the principle of one vote one value. [More…]
Fortunately the people of Australia were not hoodwinked, even by the name of the referendum proposal which described it as a democratic amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
Unless members of the Opposition understand the consequences of the Constitution and the view that the Australian public will have of its consequences, they will certainly be condemned to that side of the House. [More…]
He says democracy is frail in Australia because one chamber of this Parliament is prepared to exercise its rights which it was guaranteed under the Constitution. [More…]
Australian Federal governments have never tried to subvert the Constitution by, for example, extending the life of a Parliament. [More…]
The Government, both in its attempts to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act and in its unsuccessful proposals to amend the Commonwealth Constitution, has exhibited a total disregard for the principles of the democratic process. [More…]
Benjamin Franklin once said that the right to fair and equal elections is at the very heart and core of any free constitution. [More…]
That statement was made by a man who played a very important part in framing the Constitution of the United States of Amenca. [More…]
So it was assumed that, consistent with the constitutional requirement, there would be equality of value of votes cast in elections for this Parliament. [More…]
That is what the Australian Constitution requires. [More…]
It is assumed in the Australian Constitution that politiciansmembers of this Parliament- will act as honourable men, will ensure that their electorates are so framed as to allow the people to give expression to their view. [More…]
In the United States Constitution Convention debate of 1 778 James Madison said: [More…]
Back in the 1890s when the Constitution was drawn up the size of electorates was based on population. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution says so. [More…]
Is this not the issue that was fought out in the Constitution Convention? [More…]
Unless we return to the principles of the Constitution in which the quotas for electorates are fixed on a population basis and make the sizes of electorates more related to that factor, there will be injustice in this country. [More…]
We should come back to the principle on which the Constitution was founded and pass this legislation in order to make sure that when the people vote for candidates there is an equal opportunity for each political party to form a government. [More…]
This is a Government which in a short period of time between the 2 elections, has put through the largest number of Bills introduced in any one year; the largest number of Bills declared urgent in any one year; the largest number of Bills passed into law in any one year; the largest number of Constitution alteration Bills in any one year; the largest number of sitting hours in the last 60 years; the largest number of debates on the adjournment in any one year in the House of Representatives; the largest number of general business matters voted on in any one year; the largest number of petitions presented in any one year; the largest number of grievance day debates in any one year; and the list goes on and on. [More…]
The principle was recognised by those who framed the Australian Constitution. [More…]
For example, in section 24 the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives should be comprised of members directly chosen by the people. [More…]
Those who drew up our Constitution felt so keenly about the representation of the people that they expressly did not follow the example of the United States Constitution. [More…]
The American Constitution did not allow the Territories to send members to Congress but simply permitted the Territories to send delegates to Congress who could speak but not vote. [More…]
When the Australian Constitution was adopted there were no Territories but it is quite clear that the establishment of Territories was in the minds of the framers of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 122 of the Constitution provides that Parliament may allow the representation of Territories in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which the Parliament thinks fit. [More…]
In the most recent debate on this matter in the Senate the Opposition Parties sought to argue that the Bill was unconstitutional. [More…]
This committee was to inquire into whether the provisions of the Bill were consistent with the Constitution. [More…]
In the Government’s view the Bill is entirely consistent with the Constitution. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth and the number of members shall be as nearly as practicable twice the number of senators. [More…]
Section 24 of the Constitution does not, in our view, apply to senators for a Territory; that is, in meeting the requirement in section 24 for the number of members of the House of Representatives to be as nearly as practicable twice the number of senators, Territory senators are not to be counted. [More…]
Thus, consistent with section 24 of the Constitution’, the introduction of Territory senators will not affect the representation of the States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
By that means the Association avoided the provision of its constitution that it should not be partisan in political matters. [More…]
What more absurd system can we have as a system of structural government written into our Constitution than one in which measures originate in the House of Representatives; having been considered in the House of Representatives go across to the Senate where they are considered again and are rejected or amended in ways in which the House of Representatives, or the people’s house as it is called, does not accept; after the necessary time lag come back to the House of Representatives where they are again debated; and are then sent across to the Senate where they are again rejected; this action leading to a double dissolution? [More…]
It is our basic law- the Constitution- which insists that people go through this enormous time scale of effort and frustration and which provides the opportunity for people who have lost the election, who have put their points of view to the people and who have had them rejected, as a government in exile, so to speak, in the Senate to say: ‘We will not accept the will of the people. [More…]
The Constitution speaks of the people of the States. [More…]
He seems, of course, to have forgotten that we are talking about the Constitution and within the Constitution, a Bill that can be passed to change the character of one of those Houses. [More…]
Indeed, section 7 of the Constitution states: [More…]
He is now turning to a device which will increase the number of honourable senators so that he will not have to rely on the normal constitutional process which has been with us since 1901, and although the number of honourable senators has been increased relying on section 7 of the Constitution and on the concept of the Senate as a States House, the Government has seen fit to enlarge the Senate not for the purpose of giving greater voice to the Territories of the Commonwealth but rather to give itself perpetual control of that place. [More…]
If one cares to look at section 122 of the Constitution one sees therein power for this Parliament to provide for Territory representation in the Parliament; so it is nonsense to say: ‘For the time being we are giving a voice to 2 Territories alone- the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory’. [More…]
In fact, this Government, by legislation within the terms of section 122 of the Australian Constitution, can give exactly the same Senate representation, or indeed more Senate representation, to each one of the Australian Territories. [More…]
They had no right even to vote in referenda which proposed changes to the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 122 of the Constitution machinery is laid down for giving all electors of the Commonwealth a vote in choosing a representative for both Houses of the Parliament. [More…]
What do people from overseas think when they go to the Alice Springs district and they are told that the people who live in this international tourist resort do not have a representative voice in the Senate and that they cannot even vote in referenda which propose changes in the Constitution. [More…]
He bitterly opposed the people of the Northern Territory being allowed to vote on proposals to alter the Constitution. [More…]
We on this side of the Parliament look with great pride to when this vote will be taken, because when the vote is taken we will see a majority of votes- as is needed under the Constitution- in this Joint Sittingto give the people of the Northern Territory the just rights for which they have been fighting since 1911. [More…]
The real purpose of this measure is to dilute the Senate, to change the Constitution and to oppose the expressed will of the people. [More…]
I say that it is unconstitutional. [More…]
The Government puts forward the proposition that its legal validity arises from section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
Unless one reads section 7 with section 122, this measure is unconstitutional. [More…]
These Bills therefore not only are called into question on constitutional grounds but also are substantially against the will of the people as expressed at 2 referenda. [More…]
Furthermore, on constitutional grounds the Senate was created on the basis of equality, originally with 6 senators for each of the States and then the number was lifted to ten. [More…]
So many members opposite are seeking to change the Constitution but not by the methods proposed by the Constitution. [More…]
Unfortunately we are stuck with a Constitution which those wise founding fathers made it almost impossible to alter. [More…]
You are not merely the borers in the framework of the Constitution. [More…]
Do not strike down the fundamental tenets of this Constitution. [More…]
We believe that the consistency of our record is well before the people and that when the Government lays before the High Court the arguments on constitutionality the High Court will be interested in reading the document as a whole. [More…]
It has not even chosen to utilise any other aspect of the Constitution in its argument except section 122. [More…]
But we also believe it ought to fall to the ground because it contrasts so much with the undying principles of the Australian Labor Party’s platform to abolish the Senate and reduce this bicameral system, which is provided for specifically by the Constitution, to simply a unicameral system. [More…]
As the honourable member well knows- he quoted Senator James McClelland on this subject- the situation is such that a straight out abolition of the Senate is almost impossible, because there is a heavy body of legal opinion which says that a Constitution alteration referendum proposing such a question would have to be carried not only by the majority of people in the majority of States but that it would have to be carried in every State. [More…]
With the great outlook of the Opposition today, these great progressives that we have heard so much about and who have all these grand ideas for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, one can just imagine them supporting something designed to alter even the crossing of a ‘t’ or the taking away of the dot from an ‘i’ in the Constitution. [More…]
Because it has been made up of State senators, it is argued that people who live in the territories should not be allowed representation in the Senate, although this has been clearly envisaged in the Constitution. [More…]
But even though there were no territories at that stage, there was acknowledged in the Constitution the possibility that one day this Parliament would have to legislate for exactly that situation. [More…]
As I say, even in those days section 122 was written into the Constitution. [More…]
I state for the benefit of those people who like to quote the Convention of 1897 and the Australian Constitution which was drawn up at the turn of the century that that is not the situation today. [More…]
The Opposition says that the Government is thwarting the Constitution. [More…]
I repeat that we are putting the electoral situation back to where it was when the Constitution was first written. [More…]
Having said that by way of weary introduction, I remind the Parliament that to read the debates of 1 897 dealing particularly with section 57 of the Constitution, which enables both Houses to meet here now to consider this Bill, is to run through the roll of the greats of early Australian history- Deakin, Barton, Trenwith, Glynn, Isaacs, Symon and Forrest. [More…]
The Bill represents the most significant assault ever on the Australian Constitution. [More…]
If this Bill is carried, becomes an Act and remains a valid Act of Parliament, it will be the most significant de facto alteration ever made to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I want to take the assumption- a rather extravagant one albeit- that this Bill, as an Act, is found to be a valid exercise of power, and I want to show to the Parliament the effect of it upon the Constitution. [More…]
When the Constitution was drawn up, when it was agreed to by the Australian people, it was agreed to only after very sustained argument and discussion, and it was no lightly arrived at decision. [More…]
There are 2 sections of the Constitution which are being manifestly disturbed by the introduction of this legislation. [More…]
The second section of the Constitution which is being disturbed is section 24. [More…]
The men who wrote the Constitution were men of reason, men of justice. [More…]
Does it not come down to this: Because the Australian Capital Territory did not exist and in fact was not even in contemplation, and because the Northern Territory had only a handful of inhabitants at the time that the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, the citizens of these 2 areas of Australia are forever to be denied equality of representation in the national Parliament. [More…]
I do not know whether members opposite have bothered to read section 122 of the Constitution, but it states: [More…]
The second significant matter is contained in the Australian Labor Party’s Platform, Constitution and Rules’. [More…]
We have heard the relevant section of the Constitution read many times, but we just do not seem to be able to get through to the Opposition so I will read it again. [More…]
There, in plain language, is the constitutional legitimacy for this measure. [More…]
Alfred Deakin, one of the greatest of the founding fathers and the one who showed a great deal of insight into the way the Constitution would work, said: [More…]
I am sure that any student of the Constitution would agree that the Constitution is not just a rigid set of words; it is a living document. [More…]
I do not care in what way you frame the Constitution. [More…]
I refer to the late Sir Robert Garran, who assured Prime Minister Curtin that not only did the Constitution allow for territorial representation in both Houses but also that the majority of the founding fathers definitely understood that this would take place as soon as there were Federal territories with appropriate population numbers. [More…]
Here again, the Constitution clearly states otherwise. [More…]
There is clearly no such obligation whatever in the terms of the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that it is precisely the kind of development which the founders of the Constitution foresaw. [More…]
People like Deakin, Piddington and Garran, men of great vision and men with a sense of history, foresaw the need to make provision in the Constitution for this historic Joint Sitting this evening. [More…]
This is the threshold behind which we consider the strength of our Constitution. [More…]
We do not guarantee a system of law and order unless we properly understand and implement the Constitution. [More…]
But that all forgets a just interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
Defence demanded that we federate, and the prudence of the day compelled an agreement between the 6 States to federate on the terms of the Constitution. [More…]
The recital is that the people of the States agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Constitution hereby established. [More…]
The 6 original States are guaranteed equal voting power in this Senate, and no one can detract from that except by persuading the people to allow an amendment to be made to the Constitution. [More…]
It is on the State Constitution that the Senate is founded. [More…]
It is written into the Constitution that the Senate is part of the Australian Parliament, and this produces the protective system. [More…]
I disagree completely with the honourable member for Moreton that this is the most historic alteration to the Constitution. [More…]
Probably the most historic change in the Constitution was that which occurred when the High Court ruled that there could be uniform taxation. [More…]
It does not change the Constitution. [More…]
What sort of arguments have we heard today from some of the constitutional sages from the other side of the Parliament? [More…]
Senator Greenwood told us with great indignation how shocking it is that the House of Representatives should have made decisions about the constitution of the Senate when the Senate did not want to have its membership changed in this way. [More…]
The Piltdown men opposite would tell us that, because a group of politicians amongst whom the Labor Movement was almost totally unrepresented, if not totally unrepresented, almost 80 years ago decided to devise a Constitution whose purpose would be to preserve the property rights of the wealthy citizens of that day, to withstand the scourge of the Peasants’ [More…]
Revolt of which they had recently read and to allay the fear that the events of the last 500 years might catch up with them, a Constitution of that type is with us forevermore and is never to be departed from, like the Three Estates of King Louis XVI, We reject that also. [More…]
We believe that the Constitution of Australia has to be changed in order to move with the changes in the circumstances of our country. [More…]
Since the foundation of this Commonwealth the political Labor movement has developed, giving representation to people who were not represented when the Constitution which we now have inflicted upon us was first presented to an unsuspecting group of colonials. [More…]
There are to be senators whose casual vacancies are replaced by a formula set out in the Constitution. [More…]
It must know that there are grave doubts as to the constitutionality of these Territorial representatives. [More…]
It must know that the earlier sections of the Constitution appear to be in conflict with section 122. [More…]
On the contrary I believe that the right course for this Government and this Parliament to follow is to take this matter to the Constitutional Conventions between the Commonwealth, the States and local government, to invite Territorial representatives to those conventions, and to have protracted discussion on the future nature and structure of the Territories, their movement into full statehood and their representation in this Parliament. [More…]
The Senate itself is performing its constitutional function. [More…]
Whether the members of the Labor Party like it or not, the Senate itself is inherently inside the Commonwealth Constitution a States House. [More…]
I urge that these measures be put aside, that they be taken to the Constitutional Convention, that second thoughts be given to them so that we can move these Territories into full Statehood and real and proper recognition. [More…]
But I am afraid that I can never quite get over the worship that the honourable member and so many others opposite have for the Constitution. [More…]
There is a very great danger in this Parliament and in this country in our becoming worshippers of the Constitution. [More…]
If one reads of Jefferson, Franklin or any of the other great founding fathers, one sees that they warned against the very thing that we in this country are doing today, namely, believing that at the time the Constitution was framed some great wisdom was handed down from the mount to those who framed it. [More…]
I believe that if we had to draw up a constitution tomorrow there would be the wit, the wisdom and the intelligence in politicians on both sides of the parliament to draw up a better constitution than those people did 80 years ago. [More…]
I ridicule the attitude that the Constitution is sacrosanct and must not be touched for all time. [More…]
I could be marginally out in these figures, but I believe that at the 2 Constitutional Conventions the Labor movement had one representative out of 135. [More…]
Those people who drew up the Constitution were, primarily, men of property, merchants, farmers and men of influence in our community. [More…]
The result is a constitution which is ultra-conservative and ultra-cautious. [More…]
One of the great shames of our history is that at the time of the drawing up of the Constitution the Labor movement was not fully represented, as it should have been. [More…]
No less an authority than my friend and colleague, the honourable member for Moreton, with his usual felicitous turn of phrase, in most moderate and temperate terms described this legislation as an assault on the Australian Constitution and our federal system. [More…]
It would not just provide territorial representation in the Senate, as envisaged by section 122 of the Constitution; it would also provide territorial senators who would have full voting powers in the Senate. [More…]
It would substantially affect that part of the Constitution referring to the establishment and working of the Senate. [More…]
Therefore this legislation is nothing short of an attempt to subvert the Constitution. [More…]
I am not one of those who says that the Constitution should never be changed. [More…]
The Constitution stands quite apart from any other law or Act of Parliament, being a compact, as has been said in this debate before, between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
This would be a complete negation of our Constitution because we must not forget that if Territorial Senate representatives can be created by this legislation there will be nothing to stop the Government increasing the number in either the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory, or the number of Senate representatives from other Territories as well if the Government believes that by so doing it could gain control of the Senate. [More…]
We are told that section 24 of the Constitution is not to apply to them yet they are to attract to themselves power equal to those of the true Senate representatives of the States. [More…]
I put it to the Parliament that the Government cannot have it both ways, lt seems strange, putting it in the lowest possible key, to claim that these people would be full senators for the purposes of some sections of the Constitution- for example, section 22 and 23 relating to votes and quorums in the Senate- but not in others, for example, section 24 relating to the nexus between the number of senators and the number of members in the House of Representatives. [More…]
But we state very firmly that this Parliament has a wider responsibility- to uphold the Australian Constitution and to preserve the checks and balances of our Federal system and our bi-cameral form of government. [More…]
As I have described, it contravenes in important respects the basic principles embodied in the Constitution and the form and working of the Parliament. [More…]
-Mr Chairman, section 57 of the Constitution provides that where the requirements for a joint sitting have been satisfied the sitting shall vote but may deliberate; that is, it need not necessarily deliberate on the proposed laws put before it. [More…]
Both sides of the Parliament had to put forward to the Australian people the sort of amendment to our Constitution which enabled the provision of maternity allowances, widows’ pensions, child endowment, unemployment benefits and pharmaceutical, sickness and medical benefits. [More…]
He had that clause inserted in a proposed amendment to the Constitution and enabled the Australian people to accept it. [More…]
So Mr Menzies introduced into an amendment to the Constitution the words: ‘But so as not to introduce any form of civil conscription’. [More…]
That amendment to the Constitution was passed and on that basis we constructed the present medical scheme assisted by government with a voluntary use of medical funds by the Australian people. [More…]
When the amendment to the Constitution was passed, the High Court of Australia held that the requirement by the then Labor Government with regard to pharmaceutical benefits was an infringement of the provision of the Constitution relating to civil conscription. [More…]
If that were upheld by the High Court as an infringement of the Constitution with regard to civil conscription, can members imagine what the High Court of Australia may say not so long ahead with regard to sessional doctors who, under the Hayden health scheme, will be required to deal with government in the way in which this form-filling-in government always requires? [More…]
We in this Government realise that the Constitution prevents civil conscription, and we agree with that. [More…]
It is because we believe that an affluent society like ours can afford to provide adequate medical care for its citizensthe Constitution confirms our right to do so- that we believe it is our duty to provide this care. [More…]
Nothing that this Government does can be considered other than in a context of power and its propensity to stretch the Constitution to its very limit. [More…]
When one remembers what was attempted last December, what was attempted in May and what was carried out yesterday, one can see that the Prime Minister and the honourable member for Oxley intend to make themselves the gravediggers of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The commonsense of the Australian people was manifest when the Constitution was first adopted, because in the matter of health only one power was conferred on the Commonwealth Government- the power of quarantine. [More…]
When, after the Second World War, the social service amendments were made to the Constitution, further powers in respect of health, hospitals, medical benefits, etc., were conferred upon the Commonwealth Government, but not so as to authorise any form of civil conscription. [More…]
In my opinion neither section 57 of the Constitution nor the Proclamation authorises the consideration of any other matters by the Joint Sitting. [More…]
It has been suggested that property can be seized without compensation, that the interests of the States of Australia have been completely ignored, and that genuine assistance is not available to the smaller companies, despite the specific provisions of the Bill supplemented by the Lands Acquisition Act and the Austraiian Constitution. [More…]
But before going into the substance of the legislation I say that when this Bill last came before the House of Representatives I said that there were grounds for grave doubt as to whether the passage of the Bill through the 2 Houses of Parliament conformed to section 57 of the Constitution to enable it to be a double dissolution issue. [More…]
Under the export power of the Constitution, the Commonwealth already has complete and absolute power to control and regulate policy. [More…]
As we all know by now, under section 57 of the Constitution 3 months must elapse after the Senate’s first rejection or failure to pass a Bill before it can be commenced again in the House of Representatives. [More…]
If 3 days can be 3 months, then under this Government the Constitution under which we operate is really in jeopardy. [More…]
The Authority is not subject to State law because its powers flow from the Constitution and it would be a denial of the Constitution to make the exercise of its powers subject to a State. [More…]
But I suggest that in order to have this proper measure of control there is ample legislative power within the present construction of our Constitution, and through taxation and other means. [More…]
As we all know, the Government cannot nationalise anything except by legislation passed by the Parliament and then by an alteration to the Constitution. [More…]
It is just not true to say that the role of the Senate is on either of the bases on which it was originally put by the framers of the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Constitution of Australia this just would not be possible if the proposed Federal Act as it is presented to us were enacted. [More…]
This Bill, if it is enacted, will deprive the consumers of that opportunity to have claims referred, because under section 109, the Commonwealth Constitutional position is such that this would no longer be possible. [More…]
That the Senate affirms the decision taken by resolution of the Senate on 31 May 1973 that the Australian Parliament join with the Parliaments of the States in the Constitutional Convention to be convened to review the Australian Constitution in September of that year, and at such subsequent times as the Convention from time to time determined, and agrees: [More…]
Section 109 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Municipal corporations are not, in our view, within the meaning of trading corporations as in the Constitution’. [More…]
The clause deals with the constitution and composition of the Trade Practices Commission. [More…]
By the Constitution which the honourable senator is fond of referring to, and its virtues, this Parliament is empowered to make laws with respect to financial or trading corporations. [More…]
I am not sure whether that provision will stand up because the question of whether it can stand the test of challenge depends on the Constitution and not on what the Act says. [More…]
‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen,’ are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the independent Courts of Justice, [More…]
I think that all State members of parliament have run into particular instances where they have been unable to proceed with what has been a desirable move in their particular State because it did not fit the general restrictions of the Australian Constitution or interstate trade. [More…]
What can the Government do about small claims that are made under this Act when one remembers the limitations placed upon the Federal Government by the Constitution? [More…]
In other words, the explanation we give is that we have avoided- except in the area which I mentioned about the contracting out provisions- the striking down of State laws by the operation of section 109 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution provides that where there is an inconsistency between State and Federal law the Federal law prevails and that means that the State law is nullified. [More…]
It is the Constitution which says that and nothing in an Act of Parliament which enacts an inconsistent law can continue the life of State law against that constitutional invalidity provision. [More…]
The Attorney-General knows the provisions of the Constitution and matters arising under Federal laws can be heard only in Federal courts or in State courts invested with Federal jurisdiction. [More…]
But because under the Constitution the Commonwealth cannot act without such referral of power, we have done what is right and proper in regard to corporations. [More…]
All honourable senators opposite can complain about is that because of the Constitution we cannot cover the whole field and as to relations between individuals, we cannot cover and change the law respecting those persons. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice. [More…]
In other words, we have seen the 2 Houses of Parliament acting in accordance with their proper constitutional functions. [More…]
I believe that this has been a good example of the way our constitutional bicameral system works, and that it has been a good example of the proper and important role of the Senate under our Constitution. [More…]
I think that various bodies, which might be called private corporate bodies, such as sporting clubs, have this provision in their constitutions. [More…]
I know that in the Constitution of the Liberal Party a method exists whereby a certain number of members of the Party can place a requisition, I think, with the General Secretary and the General Secretary must convene a general conference of the Party. [More…]
It is also an admission by the Government that the Soviet Union is acting against its own constitution which provides, amongst other things, that every union republic shall have the right freely to secede from the U.S.S.R. [More…]
I believe that most unions, if not all, would have some provision in their rules and constitution for a ballot to be decided by the members. [More…]
I refer to the ‘Australian Workers Union Constitution and General Rules’. [More…]
Senator Hall’s proposed amendment completely takes away the right of a union to conduct its own affairs by conducting a ballot for an amalgamation under the rules and constitution of the union. [More…]
We will also provide for secret ballots for fundamental alterations to an organisation’s constitution where those alterations would significantly affect the rights of members of the organisation. [More…]
It is a distressing fact of political life, as revealed by the contribution we have just heard from the Leader of the Opposition (Senator Withers), that the Opposition appears to be so bankrupt of any constructive contribution to the government of this country that all it can debate on a motion relating to the Constitutional Convention is the question of representation inter partes. [More…]
The fact is that the second session of the Constitutional Convention, set down for the first week in November, will be a landmark for the Australian nation. [More…]
No one disputes that the Constitution is in need of urgent revision. [More…]
For the past 12 months scores of persons throughout Australia, including members of Parliament of all political persuasions, have been engaged on the task of endeavouring to get before that second session of the Constitutional Convention proper proposals for the amendment of the Constitution. [More…]
That situation is necessitated, of course, by the provisions of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
It is a good principle yet in the case of the Commonwealth Parliament it is something which is prohibited by the Constitution unless the principle is acknowledged. [More…]
A Federal government does have certain rights under the Constitution. [More…]
He referred to his puzzlement at the argument put forward by people that the Constitution provided a framework for government which was a bulwark for the freedom of the individual. [More…]
Would it be an invasion of the privacy of the heads of any of our departments if a similar proposition were put forward about men who are advising the Government in relation to legislation and who are guiding our affairs under the Constitution? [More…]
We are certainly given the powers under the Commonwealth Constitution to make requests. [More…]
The founding fathers deliberately wrote into the Constitution that whilst there were certain Bills which the Senate could not amend it could certainly reject them. [More…]
The founding fathers specifically wrote into the Constitution the power to make requests. [More…]
Not only that, but the operation of the Estimates Committees has given honourable senators who have been associated with those Committees some knowledge of the constitution of departments, of the way in which estimates have been arranged in past years and of the reasons for expenditure on increased staff or increased commitments for particular projects which are put forward by the government in the interests of the public in general. [More…]
The Constitution states that the revenues of the country should be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and that no money can come out of that Fund except by a message from the Governor-General and by a motion introduced into the House of Representatives, which is the House of Government and which is the place from where the money is basically controlled. [More…]
Is it solely a mimic, a reproduction, of the House of Representatives or is it intended to be under the Constitution and by constitutional practice a different House? [More…]
that this principle is recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
For all its difficulties and shortcomings, the Australian Constitution is not an insurmountable barrier against social reform and social justice . [More…]
It would be intolerable if a Labor government were to use the alibi of the Constitution to excuse failure to achieve its socialist objectives . [More…]
This is what he said, that it would be intolerable if a Labor government used the Constitution. [More…]
He said there was no way you could hide behind the Constitution. [More…]
I raise this matter because it involves a question of constitutional priority. [More…]
The constitutional priority involved in this situation is that the Constitution of Australia states that the [More…]
I point out to honourable senators that I am not quoting the exact words in the Constitution. [More…]
What is involved is the constitutional proprieties of the Senate versus the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Constitution laid down quite clearly and unequivocably that the Senate takes precedence of the House of Representatives. [More…]
I wish to know by what right a Vice-Regal notice can be sent to the newspapers of Australia putting below the Speaker of the House of Representatives the President of the the Senate, who traditionally for 70 years has been acknowledged constitutionally and without qualification as being senior to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on these ceremonial occasions. [More…]
The announcement also ended Tasmania’s association with section 96 of the Constitution because even long before the Grants Commission was established Tasmania had, going back to 1912-13, received section 96 grants from the national Government. [More…]
Honourable senators may recall that at the Constitutional Convention one of the broad propositions put forward by the Australian Government was that the Constitution should be altered so that the Federal Parliament would be able to arm the Government with the broad powers of economic management which are held by governments of other countries. [More…]
It is quite absurd that the Government does not have clear powers to manage the economy and that honourable senators opposite should take up their present stand when they will recall that they bitterly opposed the constitutional referendum to enable this Parliament to have powers over incomes and prices. [More…]
This is basic to the management of the economy, yet they took the stand that not even the Federal Parliament was to be entrusted with those constitutional powers. [More…]
Unfortunately, as the honourable senator would know, unions are compelled by the peculiarities of our Constitution to make excessive demands. [More…]
One of the most extraordinary features of our Constitution as it has been interpreted by the courts is the arbitral power. [More…]
Some day there may be a different interpretation of that aspect of the Constitution, but it would be better if we were to amend the Constitution to remove that absurd operation of it from our industrial affairs. [More…]
It does so pursuant to the Constitution and some legislation. [More…]
-Will the AttorneyGeneral confirm that expenditure by the Commonwealth of moneys to purchase either the buildings or the plant of the Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia Limited in Sydney for the purposes of public housing or car production is not authorised by this Parliament or by the Constitution? [More…]
Will he therefore put into proper perspective claims by Mr Hawke, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and President of the Australian Labor Party, that the Commonwealth Government cannot constitutionally do what he says it ought to do? [More…]
I am not prepared to agree with the honourable senator, irrespective of whatever the merits might be of such an acquisition, for the simple reason that I am not satisfied that his assertions about the Constitution in particular are correct. [More…]
The Bill attempts to deal with one of the most complex legal situations which the Constitution has projected. [More…]
The real heart of the problems lies in the demarcation constitutionally of the power of a legislature to make laws with respect to the settlement of industrial disputes between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
Section 51 (xxxv) of the Commonwealth Constitution provides a system for the settlement by conciliation and arbitration of industrial disputes which extend beyond the boundaries of any one State. [More…]
In the early days of our nation when the Constitution was being interpreted and was developing its own particular glosses there was an extension of the powers of the Commonwealth with regard to that head of power in a manner which had not been contemplated by those who had originally drafted and conceived the nature of the Federal power. [More…]
I do not believe- and maybe I am pessimistic in my approach- that there will be co-operation between the various groupings to resolve the constitutional problems which the Moore v. Doyle case has thrown up. [More…]
I believe that the ultimate solution must be an amendment of the Constitution, and I hope that the parties involved could use the difficulties found in the Moore v. Doyle case to reach the stage where a constitutional amendment, couched not in extravagant terms but in language which has the ability to command support from both wings of the political movements in Australia, and from employer organisations and unions, might be devised. [More…]
It is an interesting sidelight possibly on the attitudes which parties take that the desire to use the processes of the Constitutional Convention for the promotion of a further referendum on this subject of widening the industrial power of the Commonwealth was expressed as part of the Opposition Parties’ platform at the last election. [More…]
I understand that the Australian Labor Party favours some reform of the Constitution in this area. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention is currently constituted and is about to come into its second session, with or without Commonwealth representation. [More…]
The first was that whether the Commonwealth Parliament can initiate these proceedings by this sort of legislation depends upon a favourable reading of the Constitution. [More…]
It depends upon reading into placitum 35 of the Constitution and interpretation of the incidental power of the Constitution on placitum 39 of section 5 1 which will enable the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws which really relate to State organisations. [More…]
I am of the view that such a power can validly be given under the Act in pursuance of the power to legislate under placitum xxxv which authorises Parliament to make laws with respect to conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State and placitum xxxix which authorises Parliament to make laws with respect to matters incidental to the execution of any power vested by the Constitution in the Parliament. [More…]
The kernel of what Mr Justice Sweeney recommends is based upon the validity of a law of the character which is contained in this Bill under the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Yet, he goes on to express what in the light of recent history we can only regard as the most purblind optimism when he suggests that we can have a constitutional amendment passed. [More…]
If there is one thing that should have become clear to practising politicians in this country, it is that the most difficult thing to do is to persuade the citizenry to amend this out-of-date document, the Australian Constitution. [More…]
In my opinion, the Commonwealth Parliament could enact such a law in the exercise of its power under section 51 (xxix ) of the Constitution to make laws with respect to external affairs. [More…]
As Senator Rae has already indicated we are not debating the substance of the report of the Securities and Exchange Committee but merely the reconstitution of the Committee and its constitution. [More…]
Has the Minister’s attention been drawn to reported remarks of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate that the Prime Minister, in a fit of arrogant pique, had decided to boycott the Constitution Convention and that the Government’s insistence that Senator Hall should be represented at the Convention was totally unreasonable? [More…]
Is it a fact that when the Constitution Convention was held in 1973 there were 8 Government representatives and 8 representatives agreed to between Opposition parties? [More…]
Are we to assume from this arrangement that Senator Greenwood was prepared to accept a representative of the DLP as being entitled to be in attendance at the Constitutional Convention but is not prepared to give like representation to Senator Hall, who is a selfprofessed Liberal? [More…]
At that stage the Commonwealth took unto itself the powers which the Constitution had given it and created a uniform divorce procedure and law throughout Australia. [More…]
In this Bill, and particularly in the amendments which the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs proposes, there are suggestions that the Commonwealth should go further in exercising its powers over marriage, divorce and matrimonial affairs. [More…]
It is important to recognise that in relation to the suggestion which we make we believe that judges should no longer be appointed for life as the Constitution requires. [More…]
-There are some constitutional difficulties there. [More…]
The power to set up this court and the power in respect of matrimonial matters generally rests on 2 placita in section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
I ask that the Senate now give consideration to what has happened in Western Australia and to ensure that no such thing will happen in any other State in Australia, and that to the best of our ability here we will ensure that nothing in our Constitution is contravened but that we will, if necessary, go across State borders and ensure that the rights of the people in Western Australia are maintained. [More…]
I stated to its recent conference that I thought that under its previous constitution it was not receiving the expression of Aboriginal people. [More…]
The members agreed with me to change the constitution so that the proposed National Aboriginal Congress would be meeting in committee at the settlement level and from there at the regional level. [More…]
I recall the statements of Opposition senators in the pre-election campaign that various referenda ought not to be carried because matters ought to be considered at the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
When any proposition is put up to change the Constitution honourable senators opposite find some reason for voting against it here and then for delaying it. [More…]
Can the Minister say whether this commission, because of the provisions of the Australian Constitution, would really only have the power only to draw salaries and incur large costs at the expense of the Queensland taxpayer? [More…]
He could easily have saved the Queensland taxpayers an estimated half a million dollars a year- I understand this is what the exercise is likely to cost- by going to any Australian Information Service bookshop and purchasing a copy of a book called ‘The Australian Constitution’ for 55c. [More…]
But one absolutely fatal deficiency in the proposal to set up a purely Federal Family Court is the requirement in the Constitution that all judges appointed by the Federal Government under the Constitution have to be appointed for life. [More…]
The only way to get around it would be to amend the Constitution. [More…]
There have been, of course, the efforts- I would regard them as strained attempts- to invoke a Commonwealth power to justify legislation where on the face of it there is no Commonwealth power, but that is a matter of by-passing the Constitution for which ultimately the High Court of Australia is the guardian. [More…]
They have been making grants which are in the form of direct aid- the type of grants which the Government can push through under section 96 of the Constitution whereby the Federal Government can tell the State governments how much money they will get for their extras and how that money is to be spent. [More…]
It has applied section 96 of the Constitution which it has not used but rather has abused. [More…]
I am referring to section 96 of the Constitution and the way in which this Government operates under it without Grants Commissioners. [More…]
2) I should seek leave of the Senate to move a motion which, if passed, would refer the interpretation of new policies to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee. [More…]
I point out that section 53 of the Constitution provides, in part: [More…]
Section 54 of the Constitution states: [More…]
The question of the interpretation of the Constitution as to what revenue or moneys should be considered as falling in the category ‘ for the ordinary annual services of the Government’ has since Federation been regarded not as a matter for the Government’s interpretation or for that of the High Court but rather as a matter to be decided by the Parliament. [More…]
Grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
Grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
that this principle is fully recognised in Section 1 16 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice, [More…]
At this point an interim council would need to draw up a constitution and have this approved and would then make application for a further grant which would be the $20,000 or, as it will be in future, $40,000. [More…]
Department of Social Security is primarily responsible for approving the constitution of interim regional councils and regional councils and for advising the Social Welfare Commission on the administrative implications of policy issues generally. [More…]
On page 6 of the document statements are made concerning the constitution and the suitably constituted association which is needed. [More…]
But as I understand the substance of Senator Baume ‘s disquiet, it is that the problem can be that if there is not sufficient advertising and publicity given to the constitution of the regional councils, this will make it much easier for some small pressure group to exercise a quite disproportionate influence. [More…]
1 which was prepared by the Interim Committee of the Social Welfare Commission and which refers to the Australian Assistance Plan, makes reference to the constitution of regional councils in paragraph 2.3 of chapter 2. [More…]
That specifies the same requirements of representation in the constitution of regional councils. [More…]
There were difficulties involved in the early stages, as I have conceded already to the Committee, but subsequently a constitution was properly established. [More…]
And whereas our existing Australian Flag and our national anthem, ‘God Save The Queen’, are perpetual reminders of these hard-won freedoms and of the wise British principle of the division of power, so well reflected in our own Australian Constitution with its careful separation of powers as between the Crown and Commonwealth Parliament, the Senate, the State Parliaments, the GovernorGeneral and State Governors, and the Independent Courts of Justice. [More…]
The honourable senator’s Party has breathed its last and will not get back into power until it has changed its constitution, its policies and even its name. [More…]
Here in our country we live under a constitution which happens to be written. [More…]
Of course the written Constitution is not the all determining factor. [More…]
We are also involved in three other elements of the Constitution because, constitutionally, applications can be changed by the judicial judgment of the High Court of Australia. [More…]
The Constitution charges the High Court with that authority. [More…]
The Constitution practice can be changed by fiat. [More…]
The Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) has determined that the Bills in the House of Representatives should be described as Bills of the Parliament of Australia and that the parliamentary offices in the capital cities where we have our representatives will be know as the Australian Parliamentary Offices notwithstanding that the Constitution refers constantly to the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
There is a fourth method by which constitutional practice can be altered. [More…]
The Constitution begins in this sort of way: There shall be a Parliament of the country which will be composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and traditionally in the Westminster system the President of the Senate, in this case, or the President of the Canadian Senate or the President of the Legislative Council of South Australia, for example, would take precedence of Mr Speaker. [More…]
It sought through a special Premiers Conference a voice and a vote for local government on the Loan Council and it proceeded with a referendum to enable the Constitution to be amended to. [More…]
Although this Parliament has always had the power under the Constitution to make laws with respect to marriage and divorce and all the other things that go with marriage and divorce nearly 60 years elapsed before any government was- I do not know how to put it- game to take on the knotty, thorny problem of making a common law for divorce, marriage and all the other things that go with divorce and marriage for the whole of Australia [More…]
The Committee is firmly of the opinion that this Part requires substantial redrafting to incorporate the creation under the Bill of the Family Court of Australia, a family court of record, being invested with the full jurisdiction of the Commonwealth under section 51 of the Constitution (viz. [More…]
The Committee is concerned with the effect on the creation of the family court and the appointment of judges of Section 72 of the Commonwealth Constitution, which in general requires judges of the Family Court created by Parliament to be appointed for life. [More…]
The Opposition opposed the proposals to amend the Constitution to enable the Government to deal with prices and incomes. [More…]
Before the people would ever trust them again they would need to change their constitution, their policies, their leaders and their name. [More…]
Senator Everett referred to the constitutional provisions. [More…]
I think this Bill has some constitutional aspects which ought not to be overlooked. [More…]
Section 5 1 of the Constitution states that the Parliament shall have power to make laws in this area with respect to marriage, divorce and matrimonial causes, and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants. [More…]
To that extent I think the name of the Bill goes beyond what could be regarded and ought properly to be regarded as constitutional power. [More…]
If one goes back to the English legislation at the turn of the century when our Constitution came into force, it will be seen that ‘matrimonial cause’ was given a very narrow interpretation. [More…]
The words ‘matrimonial cause’ went into our Constitution at that time and in the 1959 legislation it was given a very limited interpretation. [More…]
I believe that the power which the Commonwealth Constitution gives to the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws is not as extensive as the Bill assumes that power to be. [More…]
I would say that the Constitutional provision is quite clear. [More…]
I referred in an earlier discussion to section 51 of the Constitution sub-clause (xxi.) [More…]
-The amendment which Senator Greenwood has moved goes to the very heart of this Bill and certainly to the very heart of the report of the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs because, if it succeeds and if these amendments are made to the definition of matrimonial cause’, we may be sure that practically all that is sought of substance in the Bill will be defeated. [More…]
But because we chose in 1959 to call an Act the ‘Matrimonial Causes Act’ it does nothing to define or limit the powers which the Constitution gave to the Commonwealth- namely, the powers over marriage, divorce and matrimonial causes and in relation thereto parental rights and the custody and guardianship of infants. [More…]
The Constitution is, of course, the limitation as defined, as found by the judges, and if that is not satisfactory to the people of Australia, then it can be amended by the people of Australia. [More…]
One thing is clear: lt is not suggested that this approach ought not to be taken if it can constitutionally be taken. [More…]
I think that there is virtually a consensus throughout the country that if the matters can be attended to in this way under the Constitution they should be attended to. [More…]
As I understand it, no argument is raised against the desirability of the definition, if that can be done constitutionally. [More…]
I would ask the Senate not to alter the definition because to do so would really take away the features of this legislation which I think have been generally applauded as very great advances and if they are constitutional they are eminently in the public interest. [More…]
I accept what Senator Missen says- that the Constitution is the ambit of the power. [More…]
I think Sir Garfield Barwick and the Parliament in 1959 looked at the constitutional power and they sought, consistently with earlier definitions, to limit the operation of the Act to that constitutional power. [More…]
But I invite him to consider that if in this area constitutional power is lacking legislation will not rectify the position because there is no Commonwealth power to rectify it. [More…]
That was not the situation, of course, in those earlier decisions in Kotsis v. Kotsis and Knight v. Knight to which I referred where the defect was in the constitution of the members of the State court and whether or not there had been Federal jurisdiction vested in the registrars or commissioners who had made the decisions which were subsequently declared to be invalid. [More…]
I do not know how the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs adverted to these matters. [More…]
There is no suggestion in this Bill that it would be exercised other than within the Constitution. [More…]
There is a no establishment clause in our ConstitutionI think it is section 1 16- and we would certainly be in contravention of the Constitution if we started to hand over money generally to the churches. [More…]
Lest the Government challenges this, I refresh the minds of senators by reading the definitive statement by Mr Whitlam in his printed book entitled ‘Labor and the Constitution’. [More…]
I would have thought it would have struck him right at the outset as having constitutional problems which he would not have thought would have been so easily passed over as, in fact, they have been passed over. [More…]
The report of the Senate Committee stated in a passage I read during the second reading debate that it was concerned with the effect on the creation of a family court and the appointment of judges and of section 72 of the Commonwealth Constitution which, in general, requires judges of the family court created by Parliament to be appointed for life. [More…]
If one looks at the Constitution it indicates that the judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in courts such as these. [More…]
To the extent that the Constitution permits, jurisdic tion is conferred on the Court in respect of matters not otherwise within the jurisdiction expressed by this Act or any law to be conferred on the Court that are associated with matters (including matters before the Court upon an appeal) in which the jurisdiction of the Court is invoked or that arise in proceedings (including proceedings upon an appeal) before the Court. [More…]
In debate at the Committee stage much mention has been made of the Federal Constitution. [More…]
The solution comes not from me but from Senator Greenwood, as recorded at page 2685 of Hansard when last Thursday night he, speaking with all the authority of his position as Deputy Leader of the Opposition, said that he would support an amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
If in that time we could not achieve an amendment to the Constitution then both parties ought to resign. [More…]
I am not prepared to accept the notion that any appointment can be made to a Family Court and the judge may be there until he is in his eighties, lt is all very well to say that we can overcome that matter easily, that all we have to do is amend the Constitution. [More…]
I find it extraordinary, in view of the record of constitutional amendments- defeat after defeat- that anybody in this chamber would believe it is a simple solution to have the Constitution amended. [More…]
Apart from that, it seems to me not only to be a necessity as a result of the Constitution but that it makes good sense and makes for good co- operative federalism. [More…]
One can only hope that a more reasonable successive government will seek to avoid the consequences before too many of these potentially geriatric judges have been appointed or that there is a courageous government which will have an amend ment’ to the Constitution which will operate as from the day it is passed. [More…]
They would continue unless we can change the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution of this country requires that the Commonwealth Government shall provide assistance to the executive government of a State if it is confronted with a situation which is called in the Constitution ‘domestic violence’. [More…]
Among other things, the Guidelines state that Councils need to have a constitution and to bc either- [More…]
The worker delegates for all ILO industrial and analogous Committee meetings to which the Australian Government is invited to send a tripartite delegation arc selected in accordance with the provisions of the ILO Constitution under which Member States ‘undertake to nominate nonGovernment delegates and advisers chosen in agreement with the industrial organisations, if such organisations exist, which are most representative of employers or workpeople, as the case may be, in their respective countries’ (Article 3:5). [More…]
subject to the Constitution, authorizing an officer of a court to perform and exercise powers and functions, on behalf of the court or otherwise, in relation to proceedings under this Act and enabling the court to review the decision of that officer in relation to the performance or exercise of any function or power; [More…]
the duties of officers ofthe Family Court; ( 0 subject to the Constitution, authorizing an officer of the Family Court or of another court exercising jurisdiction under this Act to perform and exercise powers and functions, on behalf ofthe court or otherwise, in relation to proceedings instituted in the Family Court or proceedings tinder this Act, and enabling the court concerned to review the decision of that officer in relation to the performance or exercise of any function or power: [More…]
Insert the following new clause: 17c A Judge shall, before proceeding to discharge the duties of his office, take, before the Chief Justice or a Justice of the High Court of Australia or a Judge of the Family Court or of another court created by the Parliament, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form in the Schedule to the Constitution and also an oath or affirmation in the following form- [More…]
The clause would require the judge to take an oath of allegiance as set out in the Constitution and would also require him to say: ‘I do swear that I will well and truly serve in the office of Chief Judge, Senior Judge or Judge of the Family Court of Australia and that I will do right to all manner of people according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, So help me God.’ [More…]
A judge shall, before proceeding to discharge the duties of his office, take, before the Chief Justice or a Justice of the High Court of Australia or a Judge of the Family Court or of another court created by the Parliament, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form in the schedule to the Constitution and also an oath or affirmation in the following form: [More…]
Putting the matter in quite general terms the conclusion we have arrived at is that with a group of States operating under a Federal Constitution it is impossible to adjust a financial scheme so that the financial resources available to each would be exactly apportioned to the expense of the function it is to perform. [More…]
It is equally of interest to note that the writers of this third report so many years ago stated that the grounds of the claims of the States can be classified under the following general heads: Defective working of the Constitution; effects of Commonwealth policy; poverty of resources and economic inequalities; and financial needs. [More…]
One is to exclude the State from the federation by an amendment of the Constitution; but, as that would leave the Commonwealth responsible for the State’s debts, it could hardly be chosen as a practical alternative to a special grant. [More…]
I wondered whether Queensland would prefer, if the Commonwealth would like to manipulate its grants situation and the backing it gives to Queensland, that the Commonwealth forced Queensland into being a separate State outside the Constitution or whether the Commonwealth would like to take it over as a Territory. [More…]
I, … do swear that 1 will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen of Australia her heirs and successors according to law and that I will loyally as in duty bound uphold the Constitution and the laws of Australia. [More…]
do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen of Australia her heirs and successors according to law and that I will loyally as in duty bound uphold the Constitution and laws of Australia. [More…]
No person is eligible for appointment to the Commonwealth Service unless he (or she) makes an oath or affirmation of allegiance to the Queen and the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Public Service Act all temporary employees, except those employed overseas, must, like permanent officers, take an oath or affirmation in which they swear or declare allegiance to the Queen and to uphold the Constitution. [More…]
It is in the same form as the Schedule to the Constitution. [More…]
It is one thing to consider a high constitutional position but the point is whether this principle should be extended to a whole range of citizens, the permanent and temporary employees of the Australian Government. [More…]
The oath of allegiance which appears in the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Commonwealth Constitution there is no direct head of power to enable a Commonwealth government to have sovereignty or responsibility over urban and regional development. [More…]
As a result a Commonwealth government in Australia cannot, under the Constitution, act unilaterally on policies relating to urban and regional development. [More…]
The Bill appreciates that if the Commonwealth Government is to evolve and implement policies of this nature it must do so under section 96 of the Constitution, and in doing so must arrive at individual agreements with the States. [More…]
In opening my remarks on this Bill last night I drew attention to the fundamental fact that the Commonwealth Constitution provides no power to a Commonwealth Government to legislate directly with regard to urban and regional affairs. [More…]
I pointed out that therefore any attempt on the part of the Commonwealth to move in this direction must be done under section 96 of the Constitution by arrangements with the States. [More…]
He said this, of course, in the context of what he had written in his book entitled ‘Labor and the Constitution’. [More…]
He went on to refer to the philosophy of the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam)- what he said in a Fabian lecture and what he said in his book on Labor and the Constitution in which he says that there must be more control. [More…]
What the Liberal Party says in this place and everywhere else is that there is something sacred about the notion of States in the Australian Constitution and that State governments are per se possessed of some particular virtue which we on this side of the chamber do not seem to understand. [More…]
I take the view- I go back to the constitutional basis of this Senate- that we have the right to review legislation and to amend or reject it. [More…]
On that basis, under the Constitution I believe that we have the right to amend this clause. [More…]
This Senate has constitutional rights. [More…]
The people who founded the Constitution desired certain actions or gave certain powers. [More…]
The Constitution gave us that power and under the Constitution if the Senate wants to refuse a Supply Bill it has a perfect right to do so. [More…]
I think it is reasonable that the renovation of the constitution of the Australian Wool Corporation in this fashion is reasonable in view of the Government’s support of the industry. [More…]
The owners have rights which I believe this Parliament should always accord them and indeed which the Constitution itself accords to all residents of States, namely that if a government wants to acquire their land, it is to be acquired on just terms. [More…]
I think the Constitution permits the making of special laws for any race of people other than normal Australians. [More…]
During a period of some 18 months in which the Bill was in preparation the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Northern Territory which was examining the constitution of the Territory said that there should be an official sharing of the remaining functions in the Territory. [More…]
There is a certain audacity about this, a certain almost buccaneering audacity which seeks in a fascinating way for the first time to establish a head df power which is not written in the Constitution but which is as it were, the infusion of the whole Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Quite clearly, the Commonwealth Constitution does not give the Commonwealth power over trade and commerce within the States. [More…]
The Constitution gives the Government customs power over exports and imports but it does not give it trade and commerce powers. [More…]
I have moved this amendment simply because such a provision is inconsistent with the Constitution and with the practices of the States. [More…]
This is a quote from the Constitution, I understand. [More…]
I am no lawyer, but there might be some argument about the application of constitutional power. [More…]
When one is viewing a piece of Government legislation which involves heavy financial support from the Government- the Government has received the congratulations of the House for that part of its actions in regard to the wool industry, which is a major part of its actions- and when a huge sum of money may be available on commercial terms from the Government, or by Government auspices, that was not available otherwise, it is not reasonable to expect the Government not to have some very large measure of say in the constitution of the Australian Wool Corporation. [More…]
I wish to draw to the Minister’s attention Part III- Constitution and Meetings of the Commission. [More…]
The Constitution is ignored and the rights of the people of Queensland, the rights of the people of Papua New Guinea and the rights of the Torres Strait Islanders are just not taken account of in the assertions that our present Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) makes about what should be the independence of Papua New Guinea. [More…]
We have a Constitution in this nation which ought to be observed. [More…]
I know that is old fashioned to members of this Government because to them the Constitution is something to be defied and ignored and not to be respected. [More…]
But the people of Queensland, who so resoundingly gave their opinion of this Government only last Saturday, are entitled, under the Constitution of this Commonwealth, to be consulted if there is any adjustment of the boundaries of Queensland. [More…]
In accordance with section 2 1 of the Constitution I notified the Governor of the State of New South Wales of a vacancy in the representation of that State caused by the resignation of Senator Murphy. [More…]
The Senate is of the opinion that proportional representation for the Senate calls for maintaining the status quo in Party representation when casual vacancies are filled by the choice or appointment of a person pursuant to section 1 5 of the Constitution, and that, if a senator is succeeded by a senator of another Party, proportional representation is destroyed. [More…]
Secondly, if the force has been established, what is its constitution and when is it expected that it will commence its investigations? [More…]
1 ) The Senate is of the opinion that proportional representation for the Senate calls for maintaining the status quo in Party representation when casual vacancies are filled by the choice or appointment of a person pursuant to section 1 5 of the Constitution, and that, if a senator is succeeded by a senator of another Party, proportional representation is destroyed. [More…]
One of the constitutional conventionsthe manner of filling casual vacancies in the Senate- is threatened. [More…]
Section 1 5 of the Constitution states in part: [More…]
The problem of assuring that this principle be secured was tackled first by the report of the Select Committee on the Constitution Alteration Bill of 1950. [More…]
The Constitution provides that if the State Parliament is sitting, the successor shall be appointed by both houses of Parliament at a joint sitting. [More…]
As the Committee had already reported to the Parliament it sought a constitutional formula to require the Parliament or Governor of a State in making an appointment to fill a casual vacancy arising in the Senate, to choose some one who was a member of the same political party as the senator whose place had become vacant. [More…]
at the same time, avoided reference to political parties in the Constitution. [More…]
The Committee acknowledges that the instances just referred to have been the exceptions and not the rule and it wishes to make it plain that, since proportional representation has been the system for electing senators, various State parliaments have been called upon to make appointments to fill a casual vacancy and, in each instance, the State concerned has scrupulously observed the principle which the Committee would have liked to incorporate in the Constitution. [More…]
At this juncture, the Committee merely reiterates its view, expressed in the first report, that all members who sat on the Committee thought the principle should continue to be observed without exception so that the matter may become the subject of a constitutional convention or understanding which political parties will always observe. [More…]
It can be done for the sake of the Senate and of the Constitution. [More…]
Leave out all words after ‘( 1 ) The Senate is of the opinion that ‘, insert- the choice of a Senator to fill a casual vacancy is by section 1 5 of the Constitution the sole responsibility of the Houses of Parliament of the State, or if the Houses of Parliament of the State arc not in session, of the Governor of the State acting upon the advice of his Executive Council; and [More…]
It has of necessity under section 15 of the Constitution to be left with the States, but at the same time the forms and conventions that have existed over the years in the political life of this country, especially since 1949 when proportional representation for the Senate came into being, should be put into practice and maintained. [More…]
Senator McKellar and quoted Quick and Garran as follows: lt is a principle of the Constitution that the representation of States in the Senate should be maintained, as far as possible, with unbroken continuity, and that no State should be, for any time longer than absolutely necessary, short of its representation and consequently - and I underline these few words to follow- deficient in its political strength in the Council of States. [More…]
Leave out all words after ‘( I ) The Senate is of the opinion that’, insert- the choice of a Senator to fill a casual vacancy is by section IS of the Constitution the sole responsibility of the Houses of Parliament of the State, or if the Houses of Parliament of the State are not in session, of the Governor of the State acting upon the advice of his Executive Council: and [More…]
In that circumstance, particularly from the point of view of the State governments in this country, surely the Senate is the only braking force that those governments have in the constitutional set up. [More…]
The Constitution has served this country well and hopefully will serve it well for many decades to come. [More…]
Is there a constitutional backing for that sort of thing or is this just the changing of a practice? [More…]
We accept that there is a constitutional requirement in regard to the filling of a casual vacancy. [More…]
We do not selectively accept the Australian Constitution; we accept it in its entirety. [More…]
The comment quoted from the Prime Minister’s remarks that this was an act of sabotage against the Senate, an act of sabotage against the clear will of the people of New South Wales and an act of sabotage against the Constitution. [More…]
I wish that the Prime Minister was not selective in his indignation about breaches of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The situation surrounding the filling of this Senate vacancy is a reflection of the attitude of the people in the State of New South Wales and in every other State in this country, including the 2 States which have Labor Party Governments, that the Constitution has not been upheld by this Government since 1972 and that every means to circumvent it have been invoked by this Government. [More…]
For a Prime Minister to now talk about upholding the Constitution is something that should be placed at his feet. [More…]
-In every way that this Government has been able to devise means to circumvent the Constitution in regard to State responsibilities it has done so. [More…]
I am suggesting that the present situation is evidence of the reaction of a State Government when it has an opportunity to use its Constitutional power under section 15 of the Constitution to show its displeasure. [More…]
I believe that much thought has been given to the filling of casual vacancies in this Senate not only in order to preserve the balance of the representatives from the various States of Australia but also to keep in mind the spirit of the Australian Constitution and the system under which we are elected. [More…]
the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review in 1958 about the filling of vacancies. [More…]
To talk of sabotage of the Australian Constitution, as the Prime Minister has done, only emphasises the attitude which this Government has had to the various Australian States. [More…]
I believe that they see written into those words the spirit of the Senate itself as a corporate body, its relationship with the States and its acceptance that under the Australian Constitution there is a means and a requirement for the filling of a casual vacancy in this place. [More…]
It is easy to run to the Constitution and to say what this amendment does, that the responsibility is finally with the Parliament of New South Wales, but I believe that if this convention is breached it will be necessary to find some device to be put to the Australian public by referendum to secure a proper way of selection of replacement senators for resigned or departed senators rather than to rely on the whims and political choices of people such as Mr Lewis. [More…]
It will be the obligation of the Federal Government to put to the Australian people at the earliest opportunity a referendum to alter the Constitution to put beyond doubt the method of choice of successors and to prevent the piracy which has been intended in this case. [More…]
There is one written into the Constitution of Tasmania. [More…]
It is not totally satisfactory, but it is written into the Constitution of that State. [More…]
This was done without consultation with the States of Australia and, because of that, it ignored the Constitution completely. [More…]
I also support it with a feeling of sadness in that I look across at the Opposition benches and I see a number of honourable senators who, over a long period of years, have proclaimed their insistence on the observance of the Constitution and constitutional conventions; yet on this issue and in this context, purely to give some protective ointment to the Premier of New South Wales they retreat from those convictions that they have professed so strongly over such a long period. [More…]
I am pleased that he has done so, because I do not doubt that in a consideration of this matter the sub-committee and its advisers will start with the authoritative work of Quick and Garran in their commentaries on the Constitution. [More…]
If the members of the sub-committee take the trouble to read the commentary by Quick and Garran on section 16 of the Constitution they will learn, if they do not already know, that even before any question of proportional representation was involved in election to the Senate the procedure for filling a casual vacancy under section 1 5 of the Constitution was regarded- this is supported by the convention debates- as an extremely temporary measure until either the expiration of the term of office of the vacating senator or the next House of Representatives or Senate election. [More…]
I will read portion of what is contained on that page, because I think it is relevant in this context to indicate that it was never intendednever even contemplated- that section 15 of the Constitution could be used in this blatantly political way to upset in some cases at least the balance of power in the Senate. [More…]
I suggest that what that does is to indicate that the framers of the Constitution never comtemplated, even before proportional representation- I emphasise that- that the Premier of a State presumably without consultation with his colleagues or other members of parliament could blatantly state that he would take advantage of the accident that he was in power on the other side of politics and would appoint a successor who could alter in a practical way the voting situation in the Senate [More…]
As Senator Wright has interjected, I remind him that he was a member of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review which reported in 1959. [More…]
Will that honourable senator, who so often has proclaimed respect for the complete upholding of the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, retreat from his endorsement of the report when it unanimously expressed the view that without exception- they are the words contained in the report- what Mr Lewis is threatening to do should never be done? [More…]
How sincere can his protestations of respect for the Constitution, its letter and its spirit be when, after having been a party to that report- I refer to page 43 of it- he retreats and says, in effect: ‘Let us water down the Government’s motion; let us give Mr Lewis a little ointment that the public barbs seem to indicate he needs’? [More…]
In the first place, such action would set a precedent which any person with respect for the Constitution surely would not want set. [More…]
That is what the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review said in 1959. [More…]
Senator Wright is the great upholder of the Constitution and has been for a quarter of a century. [More…]
The article by an academic in the ‘Australian’ today to which I have referred suggests, as I have said, the next counter move in this constitutional game of chess. [More…]
This is what happens once people start to tinker with constitutional convention and constitutional practice. [More…]
I hope I never see the day- I would have thought that the professed upholders of the Constitution would never want to see the day- when matters of this nature will be the subject of chess moves of a constitutional character in order to gain political advantage. [More…]
If the issue had arisen in another context not involving a Liberal government and a Liberal Premier, it would have brought the stern condemnation of those who for so long in this chamber have said that the Constitution, what is implicit in it and what is convention as a result of it must be fairly upheld. [More…]
Sir John Latham thus brought to the performance of the duties of the office of Chief Justice a wide and varied experience of public and international affairs and a familiarity with the working of the Australian Constitution gleaned both in the days of his practice at the Bar and in government during his term as a Cabinet Minister and as a parliamentarian. [More…]
We have a written Constitution, but it does not cover all the circumstances of government. [More…]
There is no reference in the Constitution to the Prime Minister. [More…]
There is no substantial reference in the Constitution to cabinet government. [More…]
It is based not on a written constitution but on a great mass of understandings and conventions which are observed. [More…]
If the Liberal Party as the great upholder of constitutional tradition in this country and the great upholder of the position of the Senate does not view this possible departure from that convention with the greatest concern and if it attempts to substitute that view of greatest concern with one of commendation, it will be a somewhat meek and mealy-mouthed form of the tradition which has prevailed. [More…]
It is sad that the Party of Sir Robert Menzies which in 1 95 1 , defeated on the Communist Party Dissolution Bill by the decision of the High Court, took appropriate steps constitutionallysteps which a Party in that position should take- and sought a referendum to obtain power in connection with that issue. [More…]
That was the Party of Sir Robert Menzies which ever since has encouraged people to believe that it was the upholder of tradition in this country, that it was the upholder of the national heritage in this country, and that it was the upholder of the Constitution of this country. [More…]
I had been in this chamber only about 3 weeks when I heard Senator Wright, the honourable senator from Tasmania, rise and say: ‘I stand here as the bulwark of the Constitution’. [More…]
I thought: Whatever happens we have a bulwark of the Constitution on the other side of the chamber who will preserve us in every vicissitude which this country may face politically. [More…]
I now realise, in view of his attitude today, that Senator Wright was not talking about the Constitution when he said that but was talking about his own constitution. [More…]
He is here to safeguard his own constitution and his own skin. [More…]
The Opposition has moved an amendment asking the Senate, now that it has entered upon a discussion of the filling of the casual vacancy following the appointment of Mr Justice Murphy, to affirm, as mentioned in paragraph ( 1 ) of the amendment, that the choice of a senator to fill a casual vacancy is, by section 15 of the Constitution, the sole responsibility of the Houses of Parliament of the State. [More…]
The Senate, if it has any scruples as to the Constitution, ought to be quite careful and most cautious about its language in this respect. [More…]
But the third point about it is that these disciples of elevated constitutional integrity- I notice that Senator Everett is out of the chamber at the moment, and I wish expressly to bring him within the aura of the phrase- ought to give credit to the Opposition in the Senate when it does maintain the Constitution and established conventions, and when the Opposition goes further and commends to the parliaments of the States the practice that has been observed in this regard they might become a little generous in their understanding. [More…]
In addition to constitutional provisions and conventions the Opposition commends the acceptance of and compliance with the practices that have been observed in regard to section 15. [More…]
Let us proceed to a constitutional discussion. [More…]
I suppose that it will be accepted by all members of the Senate if I assert that the States have a peculiar interest in the constitution ofthe Senate. [More…]
Indeed, without an acknowledgement of their interest in the constitution of the Senate, there would have been no Federation. [More…]
Having dealt with that, the Constitution then went on to concede to the newly created Federal Parliament the right to legislate as to the method of choosing electors, having prescribed that in choosing senators each elector shall have one vote. [More…]
Without a constitutional amendment to section 15 of the Constitution, the Parliament could not go on and fulfil completely in the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act the only method by which proportionalrepresentation could be completely applied. [More…]
Section 15 of the Constitution was imperative. [More…]
-Section 15 being in the Constitution as it is, to whom do we assert in the first part of our amendment it gives the sole responsibility for filling the vacancy? [More…]
Section 1 5 of the Constitution, in committing the decision not to a political party, not to an Executive and not to an independent, but to the elected members of the State Parliament, I would have thought commits the responsibility to a body democratically elected and constitutionally indicated in that section. [More…]
So if it is found that the Constitution is in line with the general theme that the Senate is a body in which the States have a particular interest and that the Constitution prescribes that the members of both Houses of the State Parliament sitting together shall fill a casual vacancy, it can be seen that it may be that a decision by the people’s representatives in the State Parliament would be a more appropriate interpretation of the will ofthe people in February 1975 than a transfer of votes from an election held in May 1974. [More…]
Mr Odgers referred to the Select Committee on the Constitution Alteration (Avoidance of Double Dissolution Deadlocks) Bill in the fourth edition of ‘Australian Senate Practice’. [More…]
That was understood by the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review, of which I was a member, as was the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam). [More…]
The Joint Committee on Constitutional Review considered providing the review that the double dissolution committee had recommended. [More…]
As reported in the Constitutional Review Committee’s report the Committee found it impossible to devise a provision which would allow for the transmission of votes according to party nomination. [More…]
The scandal of that comes from the stable of the purists, from those people who expand their chests with righteous indignation in the anticipation that Senator Wright will desert the principles of the Constitution and convention. [More…]
I think we might reflect that there were the greatest difficulties before the Constitutional Review Committee in writing in a specific provision that would become constitutional law requiring that the successor on a casual vacancy should be a member of the same party as the vacating senator. [More…]
One need only state these points to see that it is quite inappropriate, as the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review decided, to write a rigid formula of words into the Constitution to give effect to this practice. [More…]
If it cannot go into the Constitution, by the very absence of definition it is a malleable practice in the circumstances to which I have referred. [More…]
First of all, there is a provision in section 5 1 of the Constitution that enables all States by their own act to transfer matters to the Commonwealth, so that the Commonwealth can legislate upon them. [More…]
If the States concede their constitutional power to fill a casual vacancy they could refer that power to the Parliament of the Commonwealth and enable the Commonwealth, having got rid of section 15, to go on and add to the present truncated proportional representation provisions, those provisions that would enable casual vacancies to be filled in accordance with those principles by a transfer and a recount of votes. [More…]
Am I to be attacked as subverting the Constitution when I point out that in accordance with its provisions the practice might be translated into a convention or even into a constitutional power? [More…]
I would have thought in a highly contentious political arena such as this that it would be questionable whether a convention has been established in the full meaning of a constitutional convention. [More…]
I suggest, even upon those rather superficial considerations in which I have engaged at greater length than probably is pleasing to the impatience of some of the impulsive debaters who preceded me, that an analysis of the situation shows that so far from subverting the Constitution by giving my vote to my Leader’s amendment I have with more care than some who have preceded me analysed the provisions of the Constitution and sought to act completely in compliance with the specific provisions of the Constitution and the practices, not merely the conventions, that we have established. [More…]
Having established incontrovertibly that, in accordance with the constitutional law, the sole responsibility for filling this vacancy rests with the Houses of Parliament of the State, and commending a practice that has been established in the last 25 years, I suggest that in that respect I am seeking to uphold the Constitution scrupulously. [More…]
I think they are as capable of assessing the constitutional and political repercussions as are members of this chamber. [More…]
One way in which not only the Constitution but also responsible politicians down the years have attempted to retain some meaning in the democratic process is by the convention or practice, call it what you will, that when a senator vacates his seat, for whatever reason, he will be replaced by a member of the political party to which he belonged. [More…]
One of the weaknesses of the system results, as Senator Wright in one of his more lucid moments told us, because of section 15 of the Constitution. [More…]
Owing to the requirements of the Constitution an election has to be held before the balance of the departing senator’s term has been completed by his successor, and this throws the alignment of the Senate out of adjustment. [More…]
1 do not believe that it is any use Senator Wright, Senator Withers, Mr Lewis or anybody else saying that he is entitled to distort the Constitutionthat is what they are doing- or to distort the nature of democratic government in this country because he strongly disagrees with the policy of the Australian Labor Party and the present Government because it is centralist, communist, socialist or whatever else. [More…]
Mr Killen very admirably has pointed out that if we were to rely on the written letter of the Constitution the whole structure of parliamentary government in Australia would collapse. [More…]
At Federation the principal source of revenue of the States was customs duties, and one of the prime purposes of Federation was to eliminate the customs barriers between States and to create the principle of freedom of trade throughout the nation as it is enshrined in the famous section 92 of our Constitution. [More…]
Section 87 of the Constitution attempted to solve it by providing that during the first 10 years of Federation the States should receive 75 per cent of the customs revenue. [More…]
It is interesting to note the terms of section 87 of the Constitution because there is the germ of this proposal. [More…]
That has been a particularly serious factor for the States because not only by this arrangement of uniform taxation had they been excluded from imposing income tax- of course, that is not only personal income tax but also company tax- but also by the Constitution they have been precluded at all times from raising tax in the nature of excise, the definition of which the High Court has interpreted quite widely. [More…]
This situation gives the States no rights of their own in the total revenues which are raised in Australia, despite the fact that the States have been excluded in one case by the Constitution and in another case by policies of the Government and decisions of the High Court from the 2 major sources of public revenue and the 2 sources which would provide the greatest form of growth in public revenue. [More…]
This Bill proposes to alter the Constitution to ensure that Senate elections are always held at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives. [More…]
A similar Bill was introduced by the Government in November 1973 and, after it had twice failed to pass in the Senate, was submitted to referendum on 18 May 1974 in accordance with the second paragraph of section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
The constitutional amendment now proposed will give senators a term of service equal to 2 terms of the House of Representatives. [More…]
This transitional provision would thus give the senators concerned terms of service that are generally in line with those envisaged by the Constitution in section 13. [More…]
The intention of the men who drafted our Constitution and the expectation of those who voted for it was that every 3 years there should be an election of the House of Representatives and half the Senate. [More…]
There is only one way in which simultaneous elections of the Senate and the House of Representatives can be assured at all times and that is by the constitutional amendment that is proposed in this Bill. [More…]
In 1900 John Quick and Robert Garran- later Sir John Quick and Sir Robert Garran- who were the first, and who are among the most distinguished, commentators on the Constitution, described the High Court of Australia as ‘the crown and apex, not only of the judicial system of the Commonwealth, but of the judicial systems of the States as well. ‘ [More…]
It is true that, for reasons peculiar to the circumstances of the time, the Constitution did not initially and automatically close off the avenue of appeals from Australian Courts, including the High Court, to Her Majesty in Council. [More…]
But the Constitution gave the plainest of indications that the High Court was expected to become the final court of appeal from all Australian courts in all Australian matters. [More…]
The Constitution itself began the process. [More…]
Now, almost 75 years from the enactment of the Constitution, Parliament is being asked to take the 2 remaining steps needed to make the High Court of Australia the final court of appeal for Australia in Australian matters. [More…]
From the beginning- that is to say, by force of the Constitution itself- the High Court was given jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the Supreme Courts of the States. [More…]
The High Court was not confined, as is the Supreme Court of the United States of America, to federal or constitutional cases. [More…]
It seems to me that this part of clause 18 ought to be tidied up as a consequence of the amendments made to the constitution of the Commission earlier in the clause. [More…]
When this Committee dealt with and amended clause 18, which deals with the constitution of the Commission, it made a fundamental amendment to sub-clause (l)(c) by deleting General Manager’ and inserting ‘Chairman of the Darwin Citizens Council’. [More…]
I have since fought to have that view incorporated in the legislation and the Constitution of this nation. [More…]
To make direct representation for local government a condition of participation by the Australian Government at the proposed Constitution Convention of 1 973. [More…]
These services are best provided by local authorities, but the Constitution makes no mention of local government. [More…]
That the Senate declare its opinion that, on the making of grants of financial assistance to the States under section 96 of the Constitution, the Commonwealth Parliament should ensure that: [More…]
as far as possible the detailed administration of national programs, financed by specific purpose grants made under section 96 of the Constitution, should be carried out by State Governments or Local Authorities authorised by them. [More…]
I think it is fairly clear to everybody in Australia and certainly quite clear to everybody in the Senate that the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) and the present Government would like to carry out some fairly drastic surgery on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
It is also clear that it will continue to deny him that possibility and that it will deny him access to the scalpel of constitutional amendment whereas he still has access to what I would call the bludgeon of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is my suggestion to this chamber that he has set out in a quite determined way to use that bludgeon to shape the Constitution more to his liking and into a form which is generally not acceptable to the Australian people. [More…]
They may be harsh words to use about what appears in the Constitution to be a fairly inoffensive section. [More…]
I am one who believes that section 96 in one form or another is a section which is needed in the Constitution so that the national Government of Australia is able to carry out the sort of principle which has been laid down for the Grants Commission to follow. [More…]
It must be used in the spirit in which it was put in the Constitution. [More…]
Firstly I would refer to the Labor Party’s approach to the Constitution. [More…]
I would also like to refer to the Government’s recent attempts to amend the Constitution because that will get us away from mere words and give us actions by which we can judge the Government and its attitude to the shape of Australia’s administration and government. [More…]
I point out that it was fairly clear at the time that the Constitution was enacted that this section was to be only an interim measure because it refers to ‘a period of 10 years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides’. [More…]
But to return to the Labor Party’s approach to the Constitution, it is something which the Labor Party has not been shy about. [More…]
In part IV of that platform, on the first page, we find a series of constitutional matters for which the Labor Party stands. [More…]
It stands, amongst other things, for amendment of the Australian Constitution to clothe the Parliament of Australia with such plenary powers as are necessary and desirable to achieve international co-operation, national planning and the party’s economic and social objectives. [More…]
In fact there is a very wide ranging program put forward by the Labor Party which would require substantial amendment of the Australian Constitution if it is to be directly brought into operation. [More…]
It might be asked: Why does the Labor Party want to bring about these changes to the Constitution? [More…]
If honourable senators look at the published documents of the Labor Party, and in particular to some of the addresses of its present leader and the present Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Whitlam, they will find a fairly clear indication of why the Labor Party finds the present constitutional arrangements in Australia quite unsatisfactory. [More…]
I can summarise what I am about to quote from a speech by Mr Whitlam by saying that the Labor Party resents the fact that the Constitution represents some fetter on its ability to do whatever it likes to the Australian community. [More…]
The address is headed ‘The Constitution versus Labor’. [More…]
That heading in itself is fairly instructive because we see the Constitution set up as an opponent of Labor and therefore something which presumably is to be tackled by it and battled with. [More…]
The Federal Parliament enjoys under the Constitution ample opportunities for redistributing income among Australians and carrying out other superficial and palliative reforms. [More…]
So in 1957 Mr Whitlam suggested that the Constitution had put it beyond the power of the Labor Party to perform. [More…]
It has been handicapped, as they were not, by a Constitution framed in such a way as to make it difficult to carry out Labor objectives and interpret in such a way as to make it impossible to carry them out. [More…]
In that brief extract I think it is made clear that we have an attitude in the Labor Party which is born of the fact that it sees the Constitution as preventing it from imposing its pattern on the community. [More…]
Later in that speech Mr Whitlam made it clear that the Constitution also places substantial fetter on the Labor Government’s power to nationalise industry. [More…]
The interesting omission from that address- the year is significant, 1957- is section 96 of the Constitution as a tool for achieving Labor’s aims. [More…]
In the speech which I have just quoted he canvassed a number of ways in which Labor could tackle constitutional reform either through ordinary amendment or by using different devices such as State governments referring powers to the Commonwealth. [More…]
In more recent times- I move to November 1973- one gets a fairly clear indication that Mr Whitlam no longer sees the Constitution, which gives a clear delineation of functions between the States and the Commonwealth, as something which will stand in his way. [More…]
In a reference to the Constitution, after stressing the constitutional difficulties in the way of a Labor Government, he said: [More…]
To balance that seeming pessimism, let me say that a determined Government, a Government clear on what it wants to do for Australia, can find means of living with the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution imposes great limitations but the Constitution is not an alibi. [More…]
It is determined to take over State functions, whatever the Constitution says. [More…]
When one looks at what the Government has done specifically to try to amend the Constitution, I think it is clear that it has seriously set out to carry out its platform. [More…]
Although it has not put forward constitutional amendments which would achieve all the objectives which are set out in the platform, it has certainly put forward a series of amendments which go some of the way and which achieve some of those aims. [More…]
In May 1974 four Constitution amendments were sought. [More…]
There was an attempt to reduce the separate power and authority of the Senate in the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill was intended to make alterations to the Constitution easier. [More…]
This was an attempt to further Labor’s aim to amend the Constitution readily. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) referendum was an attempt by the Commonwealth to control the makeup of State Houses of Parliament. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Local Government [More…]
If that is not so, there is no need for that Constitution amendment because it is totally unnecessary other than for that purpose. [More…]
It is plainly warranted by the provisions of Section 96 of the Constitution, and not affected by those of Section 99 or any other provision of the Constitution, so that exposition is unnecessary. [More…]
I quoted earlier from various papers delivered by Mr Whitlam ‘in which he dealt with the problems of amendment of the Constitution. [More…]
One finds only as late as 1963 some indication that he sees that as being a real possibility for a Labor government which is being frustrated by the Constitution. [More…]
It was pointed out that the wording of one section of the Bill- a form of words taken almost entirely from section 44 of the Australian Constitution- could be seen as discriminating amongst people involved in the film industry. [More…]
The Constitution of Australia requires that for a referendum to be passed it must be accepted by the majority of people in the majority of States. [More…]
The Constitution never intended that the Senate should automatically face an election when the House of Representatives faced an election. [More…]
However, because of certain circumstances, the pattern has developed of the 2 Houses going to an election together but there is nothing in the Constitution to indicate that the 2 Houses must go to an election together. [More…]
If the House of Representatives is brought to an election in a period shorter than the period of 3 years for which it was elected, of what concern is that to the Senate, the constitutional chamber of this Parliament of Australia? [More…]
In the back of the minds of the writers of the Constitution was the idea that while the membership of the House of Representatives could change at each election, the Senate still carried a reflection of the thought prevailing for 3 years before the election so there would not be a complete change in the outlook of the Senate as there would be in the House of Representatives. [More…]
When the position is considered in that way, it makes it more clear in my mind that it was in the minds of the writers of the Constitution that there should be sufficient period of time between the election of each half of the Senate so that there could be a carry-over of opinion, not for just 12 months but for 3 years. [More…]
The Senate is considering the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1975. [More…]
If this be the case, and there is a landslide to the Left or to the Right, the Senate undoubtedly will become purely and simply a rubber stamp of the government of the day and of no value whatever to the community that it is written into the Constitution to serve in the form of a responsible brake, a guardian. [More…]
No democracy can survive if it has not a responsible and recognisable brake within its constitutional set-up. [More…]
Of course there can be no doubt that both those arguments are valid, but the weakness surely is that they must ultimately lead to the abolition of the Senate and they must ultimately lead to the total uselessness of the Senate in carrying out the function which the founders of this Constitution envisaged for it. [More…]
For example, Senator Wood advanced as an argument against the introduction of this Bill the proposition that there was nothing in the Australian Constitution requiring the holding of elections for the House of Representatives and for the Senate simultaneously. [More…]
It would be rather surprising of the Government to introduce a Bill such as this if that were already in the Constitution. [More…]
The purpose of our introducing this Bill is to change the Constitution because we consider it to be unsatisfactory. [More…]
Under the Constitution, the High Court is the sole voice in deteriming whether matters which affect the relations of the State and the Commonwealth inter se may be taken to the Privy Council and it is generally thought that the High Court, in the reasonings which it has used in recent years, would not grant the certificate which would enable that matter to be taken to the Privy Council. [More…]
This can be altered only by the people acting under section 12S of the Constitution. [More…]
It is important to keep in mind the equality of status under the Commonwealth Constitution of the Commonwealth body and the State bodies. [More…]
But even if the external affairs power were exclusive, and there is nothing in the Commonwealth Constitution to make it- so, relations between the United Kingdom and the States on matters that form pan of the constitutional structure of the States, such as the position of a State Governor or appeals to Her Majesty in Council, are clearly not external affairs. [More…]
It would be to deny history and the very essence of State constitutional institutions to describe constitutional relationships with the United Kingdom as an external affair. [More…]
This constitutional principle was affirmed in 1935 by the Report by the Joint Committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons appointed to consider the Petition of the State of Western Australia. [More…]
The Constitution says that there shall be a parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
This is one illustration of where an attack has been launched upon all the elements that compose the treaty which formed the Constitution of Australia and created the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
The Constitution means a treaty between the 6 States to set up a central government. [More…]
This right to go to the parental authority from which the Constitution derives is one that the States are reluctant to forsake. [More…]
The framers of the Constitution had the question of the ambit of appeals to the Privy Council firmly in their minds. [More…]
The matter arose specifically so far as they were concerned under what became section 74 of the Constitution. [More…]
The framers of the Constitution saw that there should be limitations even in 1900 with respect to appeals to the Privy Council, and so they provided for limitation in 2 respects. [More…]
The first was that there should be no appeal from a decision of the High Court on a matter involving the limits inter se of the constitutional powers of the Commonwealth, and those of any State or States without the certificate of the High Court. [More…]
Having regard to the history of the existence of the right of appeal to the Privy Council, both through the medium of State supreme courts and pursuant to section 74 of the Constitution, today we are faced with a completely different situation from that which existed in 1900. [More…]
The first argument that sincere people should advance is one that is governed by self discipline and one to which, by all the proprieties of lifeconstitutional ones not accepted- and the decencies of citizens’ rights, they feel bound to abide by. [More…]
When one comes into a Federal Parliament one has other parameters, but they are equally definite and they are denned by one’s constitutional rights. [More…]
When one looks to the Constitution, which should be the first talisman for all sincere advocates in the Senate, one notices that it is very cautious to point out as follows: [More…]
The Constitution of each State of the Commonwealth shall, subject to this Constitution, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be, until altered in accordance with the Constitution of the State. [More…]
There are provisions for change, but sincere people would read into that an injunction that we should respect the Constitution of a State until it is altered in accordance with the Constitution of the State. [More…]
Having dealt with the Constitution of the States, 1 turn to the next section of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, which deals with the power of the Parliament of a State. [More…]
Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has become or becomes a State, shall, unless it is by this Constitution exclusively vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the State, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be. [More…]
Sincere people would, 1 think, respect the right of a State to continue that power subject to this Constitution. [More…]
The next section of the Constitutionsection 108- states that every law in force in a State shall continue in operation until it is superseded by this Constitution or inconsistent Commonwealth laws. [More…]
With those guidelines, sincere people desiring to expose but not to expand the true constitutional limits would say: ‘When Federation was established we established a High Court and a federal judiciary’, which in relation to the next Bill to be debated by the Senate I shall try to demonstrate that the Government is seeking to confuse and condemn the country by exploitation ‘but in the State sphere we maintained the Supreme Courts, the State judiciaries, the State Constitutions, the State powers and the State laws’. [More…]
The only question for sincere people to consider on this occasion is whether we have guiding ourselves a sense of self discipline or an expansionist idea, as Dr Cairns had on ‘ Monday Conference ‘ last night, to fly by the seat of the pants on the last impulsive notion that comes to us on the basis that we are a self established constitutional authority. [More…]
Since proportional representation has been the system for electing senators, various State Parliaments have been called upon to make appointment to fill a casual vacancy and in each instance the States have scrupulously observed the principle which the Committee would have liked to be incorporated in the Constitution. [More…]
That the Constitution be amended to provide that in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph 61 a place which becomes vacant should become vacant within the meaning of section 15. [More…]
That is a matter over which the Commonwealth Parliament is given legislative authority by secton 74 of the Constitution. [More…]
It also made impossible the taking of appeals to the Privy Council where the questions at issue were the applicaton or the interpretaton of the Constitution or of Commonwealth or territory legislaton. [More…]
This is a quesion upon which the High Court is given a discretion by the Constitution, and it cannot be removed. [More…]
It is so often forgotten but it is a fact that when the Federation was sought to be established in 1900 the view of the founders of the Constitution was that there ought not be be any appeal to the Privy Council. [More…]
The resolution of those difficulties resulted in the compromise which is now section 74 of the Constitution, and the powers which were conferred upon the Commonwealth Parliament under secion 74 are now fully utilised in the only way in which one can have an exclusive legislative fulfilment. [More…]
It arises out of the fact that in erecting courts, our Constitution copied without sufficient consideration, it is suggested, the system from the American Constitution providing for a dual system of courts, one system the Federal courts and the other the State courts. [More…]
I think it is acknowledged by everyone that the circumstances surrounding the American States in the 18th century when their Constitution had to mould the different courts of the various States together were very different from those in Australia. [More…]
It was insufficiently noticed when the Australian Constitution was erected that we did provide a means of enmeshing the 2 systems of courts in 2 links which do not exist in the American Constitution. [More…]
Secondly, a provision was introduced into our Constitution, which was not in the American Constitution, which enabled this Parliament, when needing jurisdiction to enforce the Federal laws, to invest that jurisdiction in the State courts so that the State courts could amply operate as agencies to administer the Federal law in addition to the State law which was their inherent responsibility. [More…]
His Honour had also made great contribution to this cause in the evidence which he submitted before the Royal Commission on the Constitution in 1929, presided over by Mr Justice Nicholas. [More…]
I refer to the evidence that he gave at page 99 of the report of the Royal Commission where he, referring to sections of the Constitution relevant to this, said: the greatest difficulty and confusion have arisen, and an incredible burden has been placed upon the litigant who has the misfortune to be affected in his litigation by any Federal law or any other matter with which sections 75 and 76 of the Constitution are concerned. [More…]
However effectual such provisions may be for ensuring that the High Court retains an almost exclusive authority to declare the meaning and effect of the Constitution, no one can fail to see that this is done at the expense of rendering almost futile and impossible the practical administration of justice for the purpose of adjusting the real controversies between subject and subject or redressing real grievances which a subject may have against the Crown. [More…]
The text illustrates by various doctrines of finding in the Federal courts a constitutional issue, the doctrine of pre-emption which, as I understand it, means much the same as our occupying the same field for the purpose of a test under section 109 of the Constitution, by the references to constitutional causes and now the underwriting of criminal cases by human rights and, I might say, the undermining of the enforcement of criminal cases by this doctrine, the utter weakness and danger of the system. [More…]
Citing more than half a dozen recent Supreme Court decisions as guidelines, Federal Judge John M. Cannella found that Mr Radich had been deprived of his rights under the First and 1 4th Amendments to the Constitution. [More…]
I endeavoured to have that argument established in the report of the Constitutional Review Committee of which I was a member from 1956 to 1959. [More…]
I wish the Senate to know that I have taken upon myself, with assistance, of course, the task of devising an amendment to the Constitution that will alter completely the judicature section of the Constitution and create one judicial system in Australia so that this intricate, dry, complex and arid division between State and Federal jurisdictions will disappear. [More…]
The Bill provides for the establishment of a Superior Court of Australia, a Superior Court of record beneath the High Court of Australia but exercising with that court the jurisdiction which the Constitution describes as the judicial power of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Let us go back to the position at the time of Federation as we see it delineated in the Constitution, the document which the Opposition embraces and for which it expresses reverence when it suits it and when it does not suit it it damns with faint praise or discards. [More…]
Section 7 1 of the Constitution recognises that Commonwealth judicial power would be exercised in 3 streams of jurisdiction: Firstly, the High Court of Australia; secondly such other Federal courts as the Parliament created; and thirdly such other courts as it invests with Federal jurisdiction. [More…]
Section 75 and 76 of the Constitution went on to provide that the High Court should have or should be capable of being invested by the Parliament with jurisdiction in all the matters which are now set out in clause 19 of the Bill before the Senate as the subject of the original jurisdiction of the Superior Court of Australia. [More…]
With regard to the latter power it is significant that Quick and Garran in their commentaries on the Constitution indicate their judgment as to the comparative temporary basis for the exercise of that jurisdiction. [More…]
So no one can say that this Bill transcends either the letter or the spirit of the Constitution or that its possible desirability was not envisaged at the time of Federation. [More…]
I revert to the Constitution. [More…]
I ask the question: Wherein does this Bill fail to satisfy the situation that was envisaged by the Constitution? [More…]
I have established that it is not in any way inconsistent with the Constitution, and I think that I have established by my recounting of the history of this matter in the Liberal Party that it certainly cannot be said to be philosophically unacceptable to that Party. [More…]
I support the Bill because I believe that it is a manifestation of an inevitable trend, is consistent with the Constitution and will project a national judicial spirit. [More…]
The wisdom of the founding fathers of our Constitution which was challenged so heavily by the Government during the Joint Sitting last year was shown in the fact that they considered the establishment of a federal court and rejected it. [More…]
The result of that growth has been that, unless the number of High Court justices is increased, there is a serious risk that the volume of work in the original jurisdiction of the High Court will inhibit the Court’s capacity to fulfil its principal role as an arbiter of constitutional questions and as the nation’s ultimate appellate court. [More…]
Because of the provisions of the Constitution requiring all judges to have, in effect, life tenure, the Commonwealth, unlike the States, cannot relieve its justices on a temporary basis by the appointment of acting justices to deal with arrears or accumulations of business as they occur from time to time. [More…]
Apart from the creation of two Federal courts of limited specialised jurisdiction, namely the Commonwealth Industrial Court and the Federal Bankruptcy Court, the High Court in its original jurisdiction and the various State courts exercising Federal jurisdiction have dealt with all matters arising under the Constitution and Federal statutes. [More…]
With the full support of the Chief Justice, the Government has decided that it should follow the alternative course, which is available under the Constitution, of investing State Supreme Courts and the Supreme Courts of the mainland Territories with original jurisdiction in certain additional federal matters in respect of which the High Court now exercises original jurisdiction. [More…]
That would have the consequence, it is put, of speeding up the work of the High Court and enabling it to concentrate on its essential function in a growing and increasingly complex society as custodian of the Constitution and as the highest appellate court in the land. [More…]
I believe that, even in 1900, it was envisaged by the founding fathers of the Constitution that there would be the growth of a Federal or national judicial system to deal with matters arising under Commonwealth power. [More…]
It has already been made clear by the telegram, read out by Senator Sheil in his speech, from Simon to Sir Samuel Griffith at the time when the original Constitution Bill was being considered. [More…]
That is why there is in the Constitution the power to vest, in the State courts, Federal jurisdiction, a power which is not found in the American system. [More…]
The reference there is to the Chief Justice of the High Court - the Government has decided that it should follow the alternative course, which is available under the Constitution, of investing State Supreme Courts and the Supreme Courts of the mainland Territories with original jurisdiction in certain additional Federal matters in respect of which the High Court now exercises original jurisdiction. [More…]
Back in the time when the proposition of a Superior Court was dear to the hearts of Liberal lawyers- do not forget that it originated from them- the most obviously persuasive reason which they had was that the High Court was overloaded with the work in its original jurisdiction, that a backlog was developing and that the Court’s reputation for promptness and the Court’s preoccupation with its great task of interpreting the Constitution was in some way downgraded by its concern with what were thought to be lesser matters- taxation matters, matters involving patents and that sort of thing. [More…]
For the life of me I cannot understand why so many people and why so many honourable senators want to go back 74 years to the time when the Constitution was established. [More…]
It has been said that the Constitution was drawn up by a group of frightened conservatives trying to impose upon the future the limitations of their own time. [More…]
It would be intolerable if a Labor Government were to use the alibi of the Constitution to excuse failure to achieve its socialist objective- doubly intolerable because it is just not true that it need do so. [More…]
Under section 122 of the Constitution, the Parliament is given legislative power in relation to territories. [More…]
I then said that if this was the case and one manufacturer was entitled to the bounty and the other 2 manufacturers were not, I believed that the Government was contravening section 5 1 of the Constitution and I thought he should look at this matter. [More…]
The Bill as it was first introduced appeared to infringe the Commonwealth Constitution, as has already been mentioned. [More…]
A power conferred on the Governor-General or the Minister by this Act shall not be exercised in such a manner that bounty under this Act would not be uniform throughout the Commonwealth, within the meaning of paragraph (iii) of section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
Additionally, the amendments seek to ensure absolute compliance with section 51 (iii) of the Constitution about which some doubt was expressed. [More…]
As a matter of fact, the SolicitorGeneral expressed some doubt as to constitutionality for reasons on which I need not elaborate. [More…]
It invokes a procedure under section 58 of the Constitution that has been used only on rare occasions. [More…]
Section 58 of the Constitution provides, amongst other things, that when a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament is presented to the GovernorGeneral for the Queen ‘s assent he may return the proposed law to the House in which it originated and may transmit therewith any amendment which he may recommend and the House may deal with the recommendation. [More…]
In spite of the minor nature of the error the Government considers that, in view of the constitutional significance of the Bill, it is important that it should express exactly the intention of the Government. [More…]
the power of the Governor-General under section 58 of the Constitution to return a Bill with a recommendation for amendments is a power that the Governor-General exercises on the advice of his Ministers. [More…]
I rise only to say that this is a piece of esoteric learning on one of those rare occasions that one of the often unreferred to provisions of the Constitution has been utilised, and I think it is only proper that we should not let the occasion pass without a mention of it. [More…]
do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen of Australia her heirs and successors according to law and that I will loyally as in duty bound uphold the Constitution and the laws of Australia. [More…]
I, … do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen of Australia her heirs and successors according to law and that I will loyally as in duty bound uphold the Constitution and laws of Australia. [More…]
Grants for financial assistance to the States under section 96 of the Constitution (other than the special appropriations authorised by special legislation); [More…]
Grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
Nine Bills are necessary because the sales tax is imposed by nine separate Acts to meet the requirements of section 55 of the Constitution that laws imposing taxation shall deal with one subject of taxation only. [More…]
It is in every constitution that a member of another organisation cannot join the ALP. [More…]
If the Senate can reject a supply Bill … it would mean that the terms of one section of the Constitution were being trampled upon. [More…]
If the Senate can reject a supply Bill … it would mean that the terms of one section of the Constitution were being trampled upon. [More…]
Such a notion was never within the contemplation of the founders of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Beyond this it would mean that the terms of one section (S. 53) of the Constitution were being trampled upon. [More…]
But as long as the Opposition continues to hold a threat over the duly elected Government of the day and so long as one has regard to what Mr Killen and Sir Robert Gordon Menzies said as to the way in which the Opposition has abused and prostituted this establishment and the Constitution- so long as there exists the instability that is presently within our community- then likewise the security of this nation is threatened. [More…]
It will claim, no doubt, that it is doing this under the specific powers that it has in the Constitution. [More…]
In rejection of that reply I make the point that of course there are constitutional limitations in relation to the direct intervention of the Commonwealth Government for those specific purposes. [More…]
But if there are constitutional limitations covering all of the Australian people, why is the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement not ultra vires the Constitution? [More…]
If Senator Carrick knew what is enshrined in the Constitution of Australia, had read it, studied, and understood it, he would not be asking that question. [More…]
As a man trained and experienced in interpreting constitutions and studying regulations he knows as well as I and everybody else in this chamber knows that the reason that the Government could not specifically spell out the inclusion of the State public services is that the Constitution does not. [More…]
Section 51 of the Constitution provides, in paragraph (xxiiiA. [More…]
), that the Parliament shall, subject to the Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to: [More…]
If the people who are interested were to read that section of the Constitution, they would find that what he was saying was completely fictitious. [More…]
It applies incidental powers under the Commonwealth Constitution in a comprehensive and exclusive manner. [More…]
That Papua New Guinea do move to independent nation status as soon as practicable after a constitution has been enacted by this House and that any proposed date for independence is to be endorsed by this House. [More…]
After independence, the Papua New Guinea Act will not apply and elections will be held in accordance with the provisions of the Papua New Guinea Constitution, the terms of which are currently being debated by the House of Assembly. [More…]
Despite a request from an official of the registrar of beneficiary funds in Queensland to put their constitution in order to obtain incorporation, the funds have failed to do so. [More…]
From conversation with Mr O’Grady this morning it appears that obviously the first thing to be done is for the constitution of the organisation to be brought to the stage where the organisation can get registration in Queensland. [More…]
I think the position is that there must be a constitution that complies with the requirements of the Queensland Government, and my Department is working with the organisation now to try to achieve this. [More…]
There are additional matters of great importance which such a committee should consider, namely, the constitutional powers which may justify this Bill. [More…]
Does this Bill in fact exceed the constitutional powers of the Parliament? [More…]
It must never be forgotten that under the Constitution the powers that we are concerned with as a national Parliament are those in relation to foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the power of the Commonwealth. [More…]
For example, one can say that clause 83 of the Bill, which requires financial journalists to do certain things and to make certain disclosures as to their interests, may not be a law in relation to corporations and it may well be that it is not within the power of the Commonwealth under the Constitution. [More…]
What I say in all humility is that, the Senate remains an integral and important part of the Constitution and in exercising its judgment for the paramount purpose for which it was created, namely review, it has in this instance a unique opportunity to fulfil its duty by submitting this immense and immensely complicated Bill to the scrutiny of a committee. [More…]
I have referred to possible constitutional deficiencies. [More…]
I have never heard yet one remark either in the trade practices field or in this field that properly acknowledged that it was the Liberal Party Government that brought before the High Court the review of the old Huddart Parker case and argued for an expansion of the Commonwealth power under the head of the Constitution which deals with foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth. [More…]
The Government will regard any reference by the Senate of this Bill to a select committee or to a standing committee as a failure to pass the Bill pursuant to section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
On Wednesday, 19 March 1975 the Clerk to the Committee received a letter from Peter Charles Brown of Tecoma, Victoria, stating that ‘a Senator, probably unwittingly, had broken Section 44 (v) of the Constitution by contracts with the Crown ‘. [More…]
Those allegations are that I have violated the provisions of section 44 (v) of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 47 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Senator Brown said in Melbourne today that he was alarmed by the public allegations against Senator Webster of having breached the Australian Constitution. [More…]
If after due inquiry it is found Senator Webster has breached the Constitution, then he would expect the appropriate sections of the Constitution to take effect immediately, thus disqualifying Senator Webster from office. [More…]
Section 44 (v) of the Constitution is alleged to apply in the assertion that I was incapable of being chosen, nominated, elected or to sit as a senator. [More…]
At no time have representatives of the Commonwealth ever indicated that the agreement to which the Commonwealth is a party renders me in an way liable for a violation of section 44 or any other provision of the Constitution. [More…]
Honourable senators will appreciate that, notwithstanding the views expressed by the Melbourne newspaper or persons acting on its behalf, there is very little guidance available to members and senators of this Parliament as to the kinds of agreements to which section 44 of the Constitution applies. [More…]
The changed role of government has been recognised in other jurisdictions- notably by the Mother of Parliaments at Westminster where there is now no provision equivalent to section 44 (v) of the Constitution. [More…]
It is only proper, therefore, that senators should be fully informed of any arrangements or any contracts which individual senators or members of the House of Representatives may now have or previously have had and which may conceivably bear on the application of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
Not one member or senator may intend a breach of the Constitution, but the Constitution can be altered only by referendum. [More…]
The Senate should consider the questions I have raised, perhaps by reference to a committee where argument could be heard from those versed in constitutional law. [More…]
As I have said, I do not consider I am in breach of the Constitution. [More…]
As honourable senators are aware, the possible ground for disqualification that arises in this case is the holding of a pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Public Service within the meaning of section 44 (v.) of the Constitution. [More…]
We would be remiss in our own obligations and responsibilities to the Senate and to the Australian public that we serve if we allowed the serious constitutional questions that have been raised to remain the subject of contention and unresolved. [More…]
The evidence given before the Joint Committee by Mr Ben Hills from the staff of the ‘Age’, attached to the letter from the Chairman of the Joint Committee, alleges that Senator Webster has been and is now ‘in blatant breach of the Australian Constitution ‘. [More…]
Mr Hills went on to set forth the facts on which this assertion was based and he referred to section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
Mr Hills also tendered expert legal advice which had been obtained from Mr Gareth Evans, Senior Lecturer in Law at Melbourne University, that Senator Webster had ‘in fact a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in these contracts and they were in fact agreements with the Public Service within the meaning of the Constitution’. [More…]
We believe that there is sufficient evidence from the Committee which has been brought to our attention and which requires action to be taken by the Senate in the manner that is outlined in the motion, and I restate my hope that during the course of the debate on this matter we will keep in mind the very important long-standing traditions of this Senate, that is that we would not be in any way partial in our judgments, that we would consider the rights of individuals in this Senate, and that we would also, and above all, keep in mind the Constitution of this country which we are all obliged to observe. [More…]
During the last few days we have spoken in this place about the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
It is a curious fact that whenever changes are proposed- a number of constitutional amendments have been proposed by the present Government- they always seem to be met with the stiffest opposition from the other side of the chamber. [More…]
So, the laws remain as they were and we are left in many respects with an outdated Constitution. [More…]
I believe that we sit primarily in this place under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia as senators, not senators representing any party, but senators representing the States from which we come. [More…]
They are not elected in the constitutional sense as members of a political party. [More…]
I think it was built into the State’s constitution. [More…]
Senator Hall and all other senators should refer to section 44 of the Constitution, lt has exercised our minds earlier today and will do so again next week. [More…]
Some of them have some basis and there is some reason why we should consider them, but the position is that the meaning of section 44 of the Constitution has never been established properly. [More…]
He was a court reporter in the Commonwealth Reporting Branch of the Attorney-General’s Department and had to relinquish this position almost 7 months before he was sworn in because he had been elected, although he was not then a member of this chamber within the meaning of this section of the Constitution. [More…]
Under Commonwealth law, because of this doubt that exists about section 44 of the Constitution, he is required to resign his position because he holds an office of profit under the Crown. [More…]
We should do this before we put any person at risk of incurring penalties under the Constitution and the Electoral Act. [More…]
There should be a complete clarification of what the Constitution means in these circumstances. [More…]
Whilst we should give some thought to the motives behind the amendments we should not move at this stage to repeal this provision until we know what we are doing in relation to the provisions of the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
1 think a State public servant must resign because he holds an office of profit in accordance with section 44 (iv) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
It may well be a good reference to send to the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee to take evidence in the 6 States concerning the various Constitution and Electoral Acts and perhaps report back to the Senate as to a proper method of overcoming what I think is an injustice to members of State parliaments. [More…]
As Senator Withers said, it would take a very game man to start looking at this section of the Constitution. [More…]
But I quite agree with Senator Poyser that there needs to be a very careful look at this from the legal, constitutional and Electoral Act angles. [More…]
At least he would have been due for pay for his State seat, and that I would think would be ultra vires the Constitution. [More…]
The allegations have resulted in an unprecedented examination of the Constitution. [More…]
I do not believe there is any doubt about the intention of the constitutional provision now being debated. [More…]
Anyone who has read the constitutional debates will have seen what its framers desired. [More…]
What has been suggested is that he may be in breach of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
In Senator Webster’s case the High Court will be able to determine whether the Constitution was breached. [More…]
If someone is accused of breaking the Constitution- the most important law in the land- that should be clarified. [More…]
Should Senator Webster seek leave of the Sen; ite anc should the Senate grant that ‘leave, I would expect the Government to grant him a pair during that period, because the Constitution places heavy emphasis on the importance of maintaining State strengths in the chamber. [More…]
In clarifying the application of this section of the Constitution, Senator Webster could face a massive financial burden. [More…]
The case not only will involve his reputation but also will play an important part in clarifying the Constitution. [More…]
I believe also that the Government should take steps immediately to introduce legislation to abolish the capacity of the common informer to take action under section 46 of the Constitution. [More…]
Some issues particularly relating to him will be clarified, but the 2 important sections of the Constitution, sections 44 and 45, may still be unclear when that hearing has concluded. [More…]
It has even been suggested that the renting of a telephone could constitute a breach of the Constitution. [More…]
We have a duty to ourselves, to our successors and to the public, to immediately examine the meaning and application not only of section 44 but also of section 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
The public is entitled to know exactly what activities senators and members may or may not carry out without breaching the Constitution. [More…]
It has even been suggested that the purchase of a postage stamp which would involve a contract with the Public Service to deliver a letter could be a breach of the Constitution. [More…]
That would certainly not be the intention of the Constitution but it may well be the law. [More…]
For this reason, I will be moving that a judicial inquiry be commissioned to investigate the likely meaning of this section of the Constitution. [More…]
What it should do is to examine the Constitution as it stands and define what would or would not constitute a breach. [More…]
This inquiry could take evidence from legal and constitutional experts. [More…]
It could look itself at the meaning of that section of the Constitution. [More…]
If we find that many of us have transgressed the Constitution and have placed our seats in jeopardy, then the cure is not to ignore the Constitution but to ask the people to amend the Constitution. [More…]
I agree with him that the cure is not to ignore the Constitution. [More…]
Anyone who breaches the Constitution, knowingly or not, should not remain here. [More…]
There is considerable public disquiet about the meaning of the Constitution and about the position of members of Parliament. [More…]
We cannot close our eyes to it, because the Constitution is our basic document. [More…]
Persons cannot be elected to the Parliament and remain here in possible breach of the Constitution. [More…]
the types of circumstances in which the receipt by members of the Parliament of moneys, fees and other benefits might constitute a breach of sections 44 (v) and/or 45 (lii) of the Constitution; [More…]
whether sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution are appropriate provisions in present day circumstances and conditions.’ [More…]
I ask: Is it not a fact that, under the terms of the Constitution, the Australian Government consists of the 6 States, with limited defined powers residing with the Commonwealth Government? [More…]
How then, and under what constitutional warrant, has this Commonwealth Government assumed the title, ‘Australian Government’, and imposed a series of ancillary titles denying the correct constitutional Commonwealth title and status in the Australian federation? [More…]
However, I suggest that it is primarily a matter of preference and not a matter on which any great constitutional matters turn. [More…]
Certainly the word ‘Commonwealth ‘ occurs in the Constitution. [More…]
I am very pleased to know that the Government will support the amendment calling for a judicial inquiry into particular aspects of sections of the Constitution relating to pecuniary interest. [More…]
Senator Webster himself has declared in this chamber that he believes he has not violated the Constitution. [More…]
The question is: What actions amount to breaches of sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution? [More…]
The point is that, as the public sector rapidly expands, the private interests of more and more members of Parliament will be brought into possible conflict with the requirements of the relevant sections of the Constitution. [More…]
Of course doubts exist as to whether the Constitution is being breached by a variety of present agreements between senators and members and the Crown. [More…]
That this House requires the Court of Disputed Returns to hear and determine whether the Honourable Ronald William Walsh is a person capable of being elected a member of the Legislative Council or of continuing to be a member, pursuant to the qualification requirements of section 73 of The Constitution Act Amendment Act 1 958 (No. [More…]
The motion refers to section 73 of The Constitution Act Amendment Act, and 1 think I should start from there. [More…]
We do not oppose that proposition, because we believe exactly the same, namely, if any of our members on the Government side are in default of the Constitution they will have to face the situation. [More…]
Nevertheless, to prove the bona fides of the Government, we accept the proposition of the Opposition, with all its deficiencies, believing that it will indicate to Australia at large that no favouritism is shown to any member of the Australian Government party or to any Opposition member if that member is acting contrary to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The question is whether there has been a breach of the clause of the Constitution that says that any person who: [More…]
That notwithstanding, Mr President, you will notice the absence in sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution of any words such as ‘corruptly’, or dishonestly’, or words implying that the section requires dishonesty. [More…]
the types of circumstances in which the receipt by Members of the Parliament of moneys, fees and other benefits might constitute a breach of section 44 (v) and/or 43 (iii) of the Constitution; [More…]
It would be difficult to distinguish this law from what applies in the parliamentary field as incorporated into the Australian Constitution is language very like the local government language. [More…]
It has been said that if Senator Webster is in breach of the Constitution so are many others. [More…]
For quite some time know I have been aware that an honourable senator on the Opposition side of the chamber, other than Senator Webster, may be in breach of the Constitution, and yet I have never at any time endeavoured to use that information. [More…]
I think that section of the Constitution will be looked at. [More…]
I think the Government has that in hand and will seek to amend the Constitution to prevent such a thing from happening. [More…]
For that reason I think it is not right that any honourable senator should rise and actually name any other person- other than himself if he wants to make an explanation- who he may think is in some way in technical breach of the Constitution. [More…]
Secondly, I should make clear to you that the terms of reference of this Committee do not allow it to become involved in a discussion as to whether any member of this Committee or any member of the Parliament is in breach of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
We are not authorised and we are not competent to consider whether there has been a breach of the Constitution. [More…]
I realise that section 46 of the Constitution comes into this as well. [More…]
He is the unwitting victim of a technical breach of the Constitution, probably not as bad as, and certainly no worse than, those of other members of the Parliament who may also be unwittingly in technical breach of the Constitution. [More…]
I have heard suggestions from time to time that those members- I have been among them- who have occupied government flats in Canberra might be disqualified under the Constitution from holding their seats or being elected. [More…]
It seems to me appropriate that this Government should set up a judicial committee to examine sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution in the light of present day circumstances and conditions with the object of formulating amendments to these sections and render them more fitting for 1975 and thereafter. [More…]
However, this Parliament intends to subject Senator Webster to the test of the present provisions of the Constitution which were conceived in the wild colonial days. [More…]
Following a judicial inquiry other members may follow Senator Webster and it is conceivable that they could be dealt with under the provisions of an altered Constitution. [More…]
I was first made aware personally of possible conflicts of a member of Parliament with the Constitution in the State sphere when I came into Parliament as long ago as 1959. [More…]
The Constitution is rigid about this matter. [More…]
The Constitution states that any member who: [More…]
He is not capable of legally interpreting whether Dr Cairns has broken the directions of the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that if Senator Webster’s case is a prima facie case of breaching the Constitution- as I think Senator Wright said it was- certainly Dr Cairns’ case is in the same category. [More…]
the types of circumstances in which the receipt by members of the Parliament of moneys, fees and other benefits might constitute a breach of sections 44 (v) and/or 45 (iii) of the Constitution . [More…]
As the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (Senator Cavanagh) admitted, he is not capable of assessing whether Dr Cairns is guilty of breaking the Constitution, as I say he is. [More…]
It is not my concern to shield anyone who has breached the Constitution. [More…]
The Minister for Agriculture and the Leader of the Opposition (Senator Withers) have said that the Constitution must be upheld. [More…]
I am concerned to say that it does not seem to me to be our function to investigate a whole series of possible circumstances which might fall within the scope of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
I refer first of all to Quick and Garran ‘s work titled: ‘The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth’. [More…]
Lumb and Ryan in their work titled: ‘The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia Annotated ‘ carry on from that comment in these terms: [More…]
The point I am making is that we are talking about a section of the Constitution which dates from the beginning of this century. [More…]
The only really relevant views on that section of the Constitution that we can take are the views of authorities such as Quick and Garran who presumably knew what was in the minds of the legislators of the time. [More…]
In 1975 we are confronted with a section of the Constitution which is obviously ludicrous in the context of our current situation of government. [More…]
It seems to me to be very sad that the first occasion on which the Opposition in this chamber takes it upon itself suddenly to discover vices in the Constitution and suddenly to discover that it is an antiquated document and not relevant to the contemporary situation is when the pecuniary interests of members of this Parliament are involved. [More…]
Time and time again we have been told that the Constitution is an adequate document and that there is no need for amendment of it. [More…]
Because the pecuniary interests of members of Parliament are involved we are suddenly told that the Constitution, in this respect at least, is an antiquated document. [More…]
Nothing has been done until this moment to point out the inadequacies of this section of the Constitution in contemporary society. [More…]
Every member of this chamber and every member of the House of Representatives must be concerned to know the answers to the questions which are specifically set out as matters of inquiry in the amendment which has been moved by Senator Withers, particularly the matters which are raised in sub-clause 3 of that proposed amendment, which is whether sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution are appropriate provisions in present-day circumstances and conditions. [More…]
I propose to support the motion that has been moved for the referral to the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns of questions relating to the qualifications of Senator Webster, and I also propose to support the amendment which has been moved by Senator Withers and which will have the effect of appointing a judicial committee of inquiry to examine the types of circumstance in which other members of Parliament may have contravened provisions of the Constitution and will enable the Senate and the House of Representatives to be informed of any such instances. [More…]
I do not believe that the law would be upheld or that right would be done if that were the case, because we have before us at present a prima facie case which, in my judgment- and I think that every senator must look at it in terms of how he views those facts- warrants consideration either by this chamber or by the High Court as to whether or not Senator Webster has contravened the Constitution. [More…]
If we were to delay in doing that, particularly when the delay was simply to find out if other persons could be sent at the same time, then we would not be upholding the law as we should give an example of upholding it, and we would not be upholding the institution of Parliament, which must not be seen to be or accused of taking a favoured position with regard to one or some of its members who may have contravened provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
There is nothing in those terms of reference that gave to the Committee any power to inquire into whether or not persons had breached the Constitution or whether persons should have given evidence to that effect. [More…]
I should make clear to you that the terms of reference of this Committee do not allow it to become involved in a discussion as to whether any member of this Committee or any member of the Parliament is in breach of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
We are concerned with an inquiry into the desirability of there being a register containing the declaration of the interests of members of Parliament, what classes of pecuniary interest, or other benefit should be disclosed, whether the register should be controlled and maintained … we are not authorised and we are not competent to consider whether there has been a breach of the Constitution. [More…]
My submission to this Committee is that Senator James Joseph Webster has been and is now in blatant breach of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That would be the clearest case of the inadvertent receipt and possible inadvertent contravention of the Constitution. [More…]
The tone of that degeneration was set by those senators who, despite the fact there is to be a High Court hearing in relation to Senator Webster which must resolve certain general issues regarding the meaning of the provisions in the Constitution, and despite the fact that there is to be a judicial inquiry on the wide range as set out in the amendment, bandied names across the chamber in a manner which must have disgusted those who are truly interested in arriving at a resolution of this difficult matter. [More…]
Regarding the reference to the Deputy Prime Minister, why he should be singled out I do not know, because one would think that in the course of the 75 years of the existence of these provisions in the Constitution there would have been some Liberal Party or Country Party members who also had been in like case. [More…]
It is not for me to be gratuitous in extending good wishes, but I simply say that I will have no personal pleasure and no party political pleasure if the High Court should determine that Senator Webster has- unwittingly I do not doubtbreached the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that that would not have been responsible and would have been open to the interpretation, especially when the scenario had developed to a stage once when it was suggested that 17 members of the Parliament were involved, that it was an attempt to shield members of Parliament from the effects of the provisions of the Constitution, and to have ignored the matter would in my submission have been unthinkable. [More…]
The second alternative for the Government was to invite the Senate to determine the matter itself if the view were taken, as a majority of the Senate took the view about a year ago in relation to Senator Gair, that the Parliament had not, by enacting the Electoral Act, excluded its jurisdiction under section 47 of the Constitution. [More…]
By those words Senator Hall not only asserted to the world that in his judgment Senator Webster had breached the Constitution but also that others, including the Deputy Prime Minister, had done the same. [More…]
Firstly, the public ought to be completely aware that the provisions of the Constitution which are relevant in the context of the issue we are discussing are threequarters of a century old. [More…]
They were enacted at a time when perhaps the only guide to the framers of the Constitution was the concept of the imperial provisions and some State Constitution Acts. [More…]
The second point is that despite what has been said this afternoon, Senator Webster’s case, I understand by resolution of the Senate, is about to be referred to the High Court of Australia, sitting as a Court of Disputed Returns, and the public can be confident that the High Court will interpret the provisions of the Constitution, insofar as such interpretation is appropriate for the determination of Senator Webster’s case, with its normal impartiality. [More…]
The judicial committee of inquiry, which could be one that hopefully will consist of more than one experienced and eminent judge, will be required to examine the types of circumstances in which the receipt by members of the Parliament of moneys, fees and other benefits might constitute a breach and, secondly, any other questions relating to members of the Parliament which could properly be referred to the Court of Disputed Returns and, finally, whether the provisions of the Constitution in the present day circumstances and conditions are appropriate. [More…]
I stress one point and that is that the provisions of the Constitution do not allow for any plea in mitigation. [More…]
How remiss we, individually and collectively, in this place and in another place, as well as those who have gone before, have been, not to have realised long ere now the absolute need for clarification of sections 44 (v) and 45 (iii) of the Constitution. [More…]
I say this in the context of the greatly escalated governmental presence in all aspects of day to day business activities and the hidden and unrealised dangers inherent in this situation so far as members of the Parliament might unwittingly act in breach of these provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
A senator, probably unwittingly, had broken section 44 ( v) of the Constitution by contracts with the Crown. [More…]
The word ‘unwittingly’ was used and I have no doubt that Senator Webster had absolutely no idea that sales made to a government department by his family organisation in the normal and open course of business could be in contravention of the Constitution and place him at risk so far as his position in this Parliament is concerned. [More…]
Allegations having been made of breaches of the Constitution, the matter simply has to be clarified. [More…]
But the Constitution lays down certain requirements and this Parliament cannot change them. [More…]
In the course of the deliberations of this Committee a man named, I think, Brown and a newspaper reporter of the Melbourne ‘Age’ appeared before the Committee and drew to the attention of the Committee certain matters in which it was felt that Senator Webster, who was my Deputy, Mr President, as he is your Deputy, was in breach of the Constitution, under sections 44 and 45 of that document. [More…]
Let me make it clear to the Senate that because of the evidence coming before the Committee from a variety of persons the proposition was put by members of the Committee including, I believe, Senator Webster, that there was no need for a register because the Constitution had certain provisions. [More…]
We kept on hammering the point that there was no need for a register because there was no case of a breach of this sort; there was no conflict; nothing had ever been proven against a federal member; the Constitution provided a sufficient safeguard. [More…]
He sent a letter to the Committee saying that he wished to give evidence before it because he believed not only that a member of the Committee was in breach of the Constitution but also- and this has been overlooked- that every member of the Parliament was in breach of the Constitution because he or she accepted the two-third contribution that the Government paid by way of retiring allowance. [More…]
Mr Hills had already appeared before the Committee at a previous stage and the question was put to him about the Constitution. [More…]
He said that many members of Parliament could be in conflict with the Constitution and disclosure by register would assist. [More…]
Mr Hills said that he believed Senator Webster was unconsciously, unwittingly in breach of the Constitution. [More…]
It was important that proper procedures be followed to establish whether or not he was in breach of the Constitution. [More…]
In clarifying the application of this section of the Constitution, Senator Webster could face a massive financial burden. [More…]
The case not only will involve his reputation but will play an important part in clarifying the Constitution. [More…]
The second point which Senator Withers quite rightly raised concerned the matter of a common informer as provided for under the Constitution. [More…]
I believe also that the Government should take steps immediately to introduce legislation to abolish the capacity of the common informer to take action under section 46 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Government tonight has introduced a Bill into the House of Representatives which proposes to exclude certain undersirable aspects of common informer proceedings under section 46 of the Constitution. [More…]
To abolish proceedings completely would be to deprive members of the public of the opportunity of taking action to enforce the constitutional requirements of pecuniary interests. [More…]
I would expect the Government to grant him a pair … the Constitution places heavy emphasis on the importance of maintaining State strengths in the chamber. [More…]
The Constitution provided that during the period of 10 years after the establishment of the Commonwealth, and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provided, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of customs and excise not more than one-fourth was to be applied annually by the Commonwealth to its expenditure and the balance, in accordance with the Constitution, was to be paid to the several [More…]
The Constitution further provided that the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thought fit. [More…]
This was seen as likely to ensue from the power of the Commonwealth to impose taxation generally and from the provisions of the Constitution which gave Commonwealth legislation supremacy over State laws. [More…]
There are, of course, imperfections in the Constitution which have been revealed from time to time. [More…]
The status of partnership was to involve at least 3 elements: First, giving local government a voice on the Loan Council and in the convention for the revision of the Australian Constitution; secondly, the amendment of the Constitution so that grants of federal funds could be made direct to local government bodies and not through the States; and thirdly, the extension of the functions of the Grants Commission so that it could recommend equalisation and other grants to local government bodies as well as to the States. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention has not yet progressed to a stage of any formal recommendations and the States have not been receptive to the suggestion that local government bodies be represented on the Loan Council and the referendum to amend the Constitution has failed, chiefly I suppose, because its effect was misunderstood. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to modify the provision at present made by section 46 of the Constitution in relation to disqualifications of members and senators by virtue of sections 43, 44 and 45 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 46 provides that, until the Parliament otherwise provides, any person declared by the Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives shall, for every day on which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of f 100 to any person who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction. [More…]
The Government does not believe that a breach of the Constitution should be condoned, no matter how the breach occurred. [More…]
The power to make provision repealing or modifying the common informer provision in section 46 of the Constitution is provided by section 5 1 (xxxvi) of the Constitution in conjunction with the words ‘Until the Parliament otherwise provides’ in section 46 itself. [More…]
But it feels that this procedure should be kept open notwithstanding its disuse during the twentieth century in relation to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
It will be seen that the Bill will thus preserve the common informer procedure provided for by the Constitution, while modifying its application in a way that will be more in keeping with modern times and justice. [More…]
Arising out of all those matters there has come into account the problems of section 46 of the Constitution. [More…]
I think it is fair to say that the penalty which would now attach to a breach of the section is a reasonable solution to what was previously, as the Minister for Manufacturing Industry (Senator James McClelland) said in his second reading speech, a vehicle by which a common informer could unjustly enrich himself at the expense of a previous senator or member who may have unwittingly over a very long period contravened a section of the Constitution. [More…]
I think it would be a disgrace to us if we failed to give some sort of protection to him and if we allowed some common informer to enrich himself to that extent when our colleague may well be found- we trust he will be- to have unwittingly committed a technical breach of the Constitution. [More…]
These subjects broadly refer to the constitution and meetings of the commissions, the staff of the commissions and the basic aspects of commission finances. [More…]
Each council will consist of representatives of both the Commission and the staff organisations; the constitution and charter of each council will be developed in consultation with the unions and expressed in by-laws of each Commission. [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
Honourable senators will note that the Constitution refers to the trade and commerce provisions and laws made thereunder. [More…]
The deliberations which led to the drafting of the Constitution envisaged the role of the Commission as being complementary to Parliament, the Executive and the judiciary and the existence of a body of such stature, with wide powers to deal with the interests of all parties involved in or affected by, transport, has been a persuasive argument in leading the Government to this decision. [More…]
The powers given to the Inter-State Commission included powers of investigation over a very wide range of matters going well beyond matters relating to inter-state trade or commerce and power to determine a great variety of disputes, including disputes as to preferences or disadvantages given or made by any State or by any common carrier in contravention of the Act or the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
Section 73 of the Constitution provides for appeals from decisions of the Inter-State Commission on questions of law. [More…]
The Commission held that the Wheat Acquisition Act 1914 of New South Wales was invalid as contravening section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The High Court, by a majority, held that section 101 of the Constitution did not authorise the establishment of the Inter-State Commission as a court and therefore the provisions of Part V conferring judicial powers upon the Inter-State Commission were invalid. [More…]
I would seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a paper containing the relevant extracts from the Constitution which relate to the Inter-State Commission. [More…]
The Inter-State Commission is referred to in the following sections of the Constitution: [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
Nothing in this Constitution shall render unlawful any rate for the carriage of goods upon a railway, the property of a State, if the rate is deemed by the Inter-State Commission to be necessary for the development of the territory of the State, and if the rate applies equally to goods within the State and to goods passing into the State from other States. [More…]
Honourable senators will see that this Bill ensures that after a lapse of 50 years the InterState Commission will play the key role which is identified for it in the Constitution. [More…]
It is the Government’s view that the Inter-State Commission, because of its unique stature arising from the Constitution, must be supreme. [More…]
The Bill is divided into six parts- Part 1, Preliminary; Part II, Constitution of the Inter-State Commission; Part III, Regulation of, and Powers of Commission in relation to, Trade and Commerce; Part IV, Investigations by Commission; Part V, Administrative Provisions relating to the Commission, and Part VI, Miscellaneous. [More…]
In Part HI, Clause 9 exercises the power conferred on the Parliament by Section 102 of the Constitution. [More…]
The saving provisions of Sections 102 and 104 of the Constitution that regard shall be had to the financial obligations and developmental responsibilities of a State are preserved in Clauses 9 and 12. [More…]
A wide range of subject matter could be investigated, including: any matters relevant to, or affected by, the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce (including matters relating to the operation and effect of laws and practices of the States) wilh a view to considering the necessity for new laws, or changes to existing laws, of Australia under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce; any matters in respect of which an adjudication by the Commission is relevant to the operation of the provisions of this Bill; any matters relevant to the operation of Clause 1 1 ; and any matters in respect of which the Commission is authorised to exercise powers in pursuance of Clause 13. [More…]
Clause 15 gives the Commission a potentially useful power to arbitrate, with the consent of the persons concerned, on any matter relevant to, or affected by, the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
Of course this Government has taken quite energetic steps to see that capital inflow is restricted to exercise as much restraint as is within the powers provided by the Constitution to control the money supply within the community. [More…]
Section 96 of the Constitution empowers the Parliament of the Commonwealth to make grants to the States on such conditions as the Parliament lays down. [More…]
There is a need to comply with section 96 of the Constitution so that moneys go through the States to State commissions and thereby there is regularity of behaviour in accordance with our Constitution. [More…]
-Senator Greenwood would be wise to listen because he is on very bad constitutional ground. [More…]
For instance, he attacked the conditions which the Attorney-General was imposing in handing over the money which had been appropriated to assist the Victorian legal aid scheme on the basis that he was taking too much upon himself because, as Senator Greenwood misapprehended, this was a grant under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The constitutional basis of this grant is section 8 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
These requests are made on the assumption that this Committee will comply with the Constitution and the law in some respects- even in respect of legal aid. [More…]
I should like briefly to put on the record a restatement and perhaps an elaboration of the points which Senator James McClelland made in respect of payments allegedly made under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
It will be seen that the item now in question does not, either in its terms or in its intention, refer to or invoke section 96 of the Constitution, and no grants have been made to the States under section 96 within the meaning of the resolutions referred to. [More…]
There seems to be a very marked failure on the part of the Committee, particularly Government senators, to understand the importance of channelling expenditure of this sort to the States under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 81 of the Constitution provides for us to appropriate money for the purposes of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Under section 5 1 and other sections of the Constitution there is a claim that for migrants, for defence Services and for a few other things incidental to the various powers of the Commonwealth we can supply legal aid, but legal aid generally to the ordinary citizenry for State purposes must be channelled, under the Constitution, by section 96. [More…]
1 draw his specific attention to the requirement that any officer who makes payment of such unauthorised expenditure, unauthorised by the Constitution, should be surcharged and accountable in the same way as recent disqualifications of members of this place involve its sanctions, because we cannot rely upon proper safeguard of the expenditure which we authorise line by line unless the time has come for the Auditor-General to be asked to come here and to explain why he has vouched that expenditure if it is not reasonably in accordance with a provision of the Constitution. [More…]
Tonight with a degree of selfsatisfaction Senator James McClelland stated that this grant was being made under section 8 1 of the Constitution, not section 96. [More…]
This is not the only area of Commonwealth expenditure which is subject to constitutional doubt. [More…]
This Government, in my judgment, is proceeding on the basis that the Constitution does not matter; that if there is a desirable objective upon which money should be spent, then let the money be spent and let someone else worry about the niceties of the Constitution and the law at some later stage. [More…]
It appeared in a handout by Mr Fraser on 1 8 April 1975, after the EZ grants, which of course are a matter of these appropriations and which the Opposition, if it wishes to make a great matter of principle about them, can reject, just as it can reject the grant under section 96 of the Constitution which is proposed in the matter of APPM. [More…]
This is important because section 8 1 of the Constitution provides that none of the public moneys collected for the Treasury is to be dealt with otherwise than by going into Consolidated Revenue to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Section 83 of the Constitution says: [More…]
So the point is that the Government would be able to spend any part of this amount, which I have said is running at the rate of almost $600m, on any objective that the Government chooses, and it would not have to ask the Parliament for its approval or have parliamentary authority for it, nor would it have to have constitutional authority for it. [More…]
For a government which has regarded the law of little consequence, which has contributed as much, I would think, as any group in the community to the erosion of standards and authority and which regards the Constitution of the nation as something to which it does not have to ‘pay even scant attention, as has the present Government, there is no limit to what it might do. [More…]
I have endeavoured to bring to the notice of the correct authorities what I believe to be a contravention of the Constitution by the Deputy Prime Minister of the country, Dr Cairns. [More…]
I will take quite a firm line so that we will not go over the borderline of being very discreet on this controversial, yet very sensitive matter that affects one of our colleagues and the setting of terribly important precedents in the interpretation of the Constitution of this country. [More…]
Yet other members, who I believe are in at least as significant a contravention of the Constitution or, may I personally say, a more significant contravention of the Constitution, are to be sheltered. [More…]
During the inquiry, when the Committee demanded evidence of a nature which would show that certain sections of the Constitution were not sufficient to protect the integrity of members, quite by accident- Senator Hall knows that it was by accident- the Committee was faced with evidence brought before it which involved Senator Webster. [More…]
If he has determined that there are other members of Parliament who are in breach of the Constitution, then he should search out other members as well as Dr Cairns, but it seems that in order to support his case he is now engaged in a vendetta against Dr Cairns. [More…]
When I spoke previously in the Senate I said that I felt there were several other members who were more in breach of the Constitution than the member in the case Senator Hall has presented, but the place for me to put that view, when I so desire, will be before the Judicial Committee, and justly so. [More…]
Only recently a Bill which sought a change to the Constitution went through in about 5 minutes. [More…]
The Commonwealth, in enacting this legislation, is relying primarily if not wholly on section 5 1 placitum 29 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is no express power in the Constitution to make laws with respect to race relations or racial discrimination, or the conduct which may take place which is proscribed by this Bill. [More…]
It would mean that the external affairs power could be invoked to virtually ignore or repudiate the divisions of power which are contained in the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Those who claim that Australia has a power under its Constitution to make laws with respect to external affairs in order to implement the Convention must recognise that difficulties of this character will arise. [More…]
I recognise some of the problems which flow from Senator Wright’s interjection, but is it to be accepted, if you can utilise this external affairs power because there is an international Convention made by the United Nations which is ratified, that you can search out some friendly neighbouring country and, on the pretext that you have made a treaty with that country, override virtually all the provisions of the Constitution simply to give effect to obligations which have been made with a small and relatively insignificant neighbour. [More…]
The United States of America has a Bill of Rights and that country’s Constitution expressly states that no law shall be passed to interfere with those rights. [More…]
It is unbelievable that we should find a former Attorney-General of the previous administration castigating this Government for utilising the external powers under the Constitution to ratify an international document to which his Government put its signature on 13 October 1966, having taken something like 10 months to make up its mind about what it should do in relation to a convention agreed to by the United Nations. [More…]
That, of course, is what the Liberal Party constitution stands for. [More…]
Those members of the Liberal Party and the National Country Party who have some doubts about the basic objectives of this piece of legislation ought to read their constitution. [More…]
I have said that in the countries most concerned and most relevant in constitution the operations are covered by the one corporation. [More…]
This is well within the framework of the Constitution and- this is important- is subject to the same degree of scrutiny by the Auditor-General as any other government expenditure. [More…]
Section 83 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 states: [More…]
It is not written into the Commonwealth Constitution, indeed both practice and convention permit commitments to be made before the Parliament is consulted. [More…]
do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Queen of Australia her heirs and successors according to law and that I will loyally as in duty bound uphold the Constitution and laws of Australia. [More…]
Constitution. [More…]
The Commission has power to do any act or thing that it is authorised to do in pursuance of any law made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce, including but not limited to, a law with respect to the engaging in, or the use of, aircraft, vessels, vehicles or pipelines in, inter-State transport without the licence or consent of the Commission. [More…]
Briefly, the Opposition’s attitude to this Bill is this: we accept the need for an Inter-State Commission as provided for by the Constitution, but we believe that the spirit of the Constitution should be upheld- which this Bill does not do. [More…]
We do not believe that it should be used as a back door way of thwarting the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, I give notice that when the Committee stage of the Bill is called on the Opposition will seek to amend it, to delete its more offensive provisions and to ensure that it operates within the spirit of the Constitution. [More…]
Firstly, when the Constitution was drafted 75 years ago the appropriate clause for establishing an Inter-State Commission was included. [More…]
While Senator Withers may not have been around for the whole of the 75 years, he has been round long enough to know the provisions of that section of the Constitution, its implications and what it may mean when passed into law by legislation. [More…]
The powers given to the Inter-State Commission included powers of investigation over a very wide range of matters going well beyond matters relating to inter-state trade or commerce and power to determine a great variety of disputes, including disputes as to preferences or disadvantages given or made by any State or by any common carrier in contravention of the Act or the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
The object of the bill is to re-establish the Inter-State Commission in accordance with the provisions of section 10 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
I remind those who are now shedding their crocodile tears of opposition- even though they say they do not oppose it, they are opposing itthat the relevant clauses of the Constitution provide: [More…]
Honourable senators will note that the Constitution refers to the trade and commerce provisions and laws made thereunder. [More…]
I have endeavoured to show that, from my interpretation of the Constitution as it stands and as it stood in 1913 when the Commission was first established, there are a whole number of safeguards. [More…]
The present Bill, with the stated objective by the Minister to re-establish the Inter-State Commission in accordance with the provisions of section 101 of the Constitution, is something with which we concur, But the fact is that the Bill has no relationship to the original Commission, which was established and later abolished, nor has it any relationship to the terms of the Minister’s second reading speech. [More…]
In section 101 of the Constitution there is undoubtedly the provision that there shall be an Inter-State Commission with such powers of administration and adjudication as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance within the Commonwealth of the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
Section 102 of the Constitution provides that the Parliament may make laws forbidding undue or unreasonable preference on discrimination by state railway systems. [More…]
In section 103 of the Constitution there is provision for the appointment, tenure, and remuneration of the Commissioners, specifying especially a fixed 7-year term of office. [More…]
That was the way in which the Commission was established, and it will be recalled that, when there was a Royal Commission on the Constitution in 1927, much was written about the activities of the Inter-State Commission. [More…]
If we look at the legislation before us we see that the Government, by bypassing section 92 of the Constitution, could gain control not only of industry but also of trade within the States and, for that matter, of a great deal of the business world, particularly transport. [More…]
A Federal Labor Government will promptly restore the machinery the Constitution intended and vest it with the Commonwealth ‘s full constitutional powers to plan and provide modern means of communications between the States. [More…]
If he has any doubts about it, why was such a Commission provided for in the Constitution? [More…]
Those who know anything about the formulators of the Constitution will appreciate that the State governments which enjoyed the sovereign powers then surrendered only those powers to the Commonwealth which were necessary for the effective functioning of the Commonwealth. [More…]
They placed in the Constitution provision for the Inter-State Commission. [More…]
In establishing an Inter-State Commission, we are completing the structure of the Federal Constitution as contemplated by its framers. [More…]
The theory of our Constitution is, of course, to divide the functions of the Government into three distinct parts- the Legislature to make the laws, the Judiciary to interpret the laws, and the Executive to administer the law. [More…]
The structure of the Bill is necessary for the proper operation of the Federal Constitution. [More…]
It is provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
Why are sections 101, 102, 103 and 104 in the Constitution if it is not essential to have this piece of legislation? [More…]
Surely it would be irresponsible of governments if they did not accept their obligations in these areas as provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
It is provided in the Constitution that there shall be an Inter-State Commission. [More…]
Before I go into that I remind the Senate that the proposal in the Constitution that there should be an Inter-State Commission was adopted from the experience of Great Britain co-ordinating the many private enterprise railways that had been established in the last century in that country, and it is interesting that that organisation had an early experience somewhat comparable with that of our own InterState Commission in Australia. [More…]
More particularly, perhaps, did the founding fathers look to the American institution, the Federal Inter-State Commission, which has operated with expanding authority in the Federation which was our parent so far as constitutional structure is concerned, namely, the United States of America from then to now. [More…]
So, in our Constitution section 102 provided that there shall be an Inter-State Commission with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance of the constitutional provisions and laws of trade and commerce. [More…]
Reference was made to section 5 1 of the Constitution, which invested in the National Parliament a power to legislate for trade and commerce with other countries and among the States. [More…]
In that situation, where it was necessary to weld together 6 separately existing colonies, with their own governments, and a new national government with these powers, surely it was not only sensible from the point of view of history but also on any theory of government to require the establishment of a pseudo-judicial executive body to form an Inter-State Commission with powers of adjudication and administration such as Parliament thought necessary to maintain and execute the federal laws, including the Constitution, relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
Then we had a royal commission into the Constitution in 1929. [More…]
Then the Liberal Government set up the Constitution Review Committee to review the Constitution between 1956 and 1959. [More…]
The others were members who constituted the Committee on a completely equal Party base, and we had no hesitation in recommending the reconstitution of the Inter-State Commission for 2 purposes in particular. [More…]
That brings me to the Bill which is being presented to us- a Bill which clothes the Commission directed to be established by the Constitution with powers that should be confined to adjudication and administration for the maintenance and execution of the trade and commerce laws. [More…]
When I say ‘in all its aspects’ I refer to road transport and obviously I refer to rail transport because it was a specific attachment to the Inter-State Commission by the express terms of sections 99, 100 and 10 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
Since the idea was developed in the Constitution in 1900 the whole aviation industry has grown up. [More…]
It will be a body set up by the Constitution, and if it is clothed with the powers to enable it to maintain and execute the industrial laws affecting trade and commerce, what a boon it will be to this country. [More…]
The Commission has power to do any act or thing that it is authorised to do in pursuance of any law made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
The very basis of the ruling by Chief Justice Dixon, under section 92 of the Constitution that the States were refusing, through that road law, to allow transport to be absolutely free, was the fact that the States endeavoured, by a licensing system, to say, ‘Smith, you can run there: Jones, you shall have no licence. ‘ [More…]
It seems to me that anyone who asserts that they are a constitutional exercise of power pursuant to section 10 1 of the Constitution or pursuant to any other head of power is simply using the vehicle of this Inter-State Commission to pursue a campaign against unions for party political propaganda purposes. [More…]
It seemed to me, as they were read, that they went far beyond any question of execution and maintenance of the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce and of any laws made thereunder. [More…]
The history of the framing of the sections of the Constitution under which this legislation is presented shows that the main concern of those who were engaged in the discussions was the degree of independence of the Commission. [More…]
It is not unuseful in this exercise to consider some of the speeches that were made in the convention debates that preceded the Constitution. [More…]
Mr Kingston, whose amendment,, subject to a later widening of the provisions that he suggested, ultimately was adopted and became the precursor of section 101 of the Constitution. [More…]
He urged that there should be a provision in the Constitution reading as follows: [More…]
On the propriety of the establishment of the Commission itself, let me quote from page 895 of Commentaries on the Constitution’ by Quick and Garran, where the authors say: [More…]
We ought to realise that in Australia we suffer from the grave disability that the central government, the Federal government- call it what you like- has completely inadequate economic powers, so much so that in December of 1973 it went to the people to obtain a constitutional change to give it power with respect to incomes and prices. [More…]
This is not a strong government, so far as law and constitution is concerned in the economic field. [More…]
I have emphasised the point that there was an imperative direction in the Constitution to establish an interstate commission. [More…]
Of course, as we all know, it is a matter of history that the constitution of the Commission originally was ill-fated and that it met its real test in the wheat case of 1915. [More…]
I suggest that the functions of those 2 bodies were far removed from what the founders of the Constitution had in mind and were far removed from what we in Australia need now, and that is a body to remove preferences and discriminations in the field of trade and commerce in general, and in transport particularly. [More…]
I would assert to the Senate that it is perfectly clear that the InterState Commission was intended by the founders to be essential- I emphasise the word ‘essential’ to the constitutional machinery and to the federal structure of the Commonwealth. [More…]
One can draw that inference very simply from the structure of the Constitution- chapter 1 dealing with the Parliament, chapter 2 dealing with the Executive, chapter 3 dealing with the judiciary and a separate chapter 4 dealing with trade and commerce and containing the very provisions which are the basis of this legislation, namely in sections 101 and following sections. [More…]
I do not lapse into legalism, but the point I wish to make is that the purpose of the InterState Commission, as it was envisaged by the framers of the Constitution was that it was designed to deal with problems which arose from discrimination so far as valid laws were concerned. [More…]
Section 102 of the Constitution, which is concerned with railways, does not actually forbid discriminatory rates as being contrary to the Constitution. [More…]
It is not dealing with invalid State legislation; it is dealing with the discriminatory administration of statutes which Parliament may, pursuant to that provision in the Constitution, forbid. [More…]
As the Commission has been, in practice and in effect, a dead body for some 60 years- since 1950 it has been completely legally dead- as the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Review which met from 1957 to 1959 reported that there should be an Inter-State Commission, and after all the references, including the report of the Senate Select Committee on Off-shore Petroleum resources which some years ago contained a similar recommendation, surely the Opposition is able to crystallise its thinking by tonight or tomorrow as to what the powers of the Commission should be. [More…]
The Commission has power to do any act or thing that it is authorised to do in pursuance of any law made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce . [More…]
The crux of this matter is that by establishing the Commission there will be created a body initially to co-ordinate and operate generally in the area of transport, but ultimately a body to execute and maintain all trade and commerce provisions under the Constitution. [More…]
This Parliament is now able to embrace the opportunity for which the way was opened by the Constitution. [More…]
If one looks at the Australian Constitution one finds that it is not long either. [More…]
This applies even to the particular areas of the Constitution that were put in by simple laymen who said that they were not going to have lawyers’ terms in it. [More…]
Section 10 1 of the Constitution states that there shall be an Inter-State Commission. [More…]
It also provides that the Parliament may confer upon the Commission powers of adjudication and administration for the execution and maintenance of the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce and laws made thereunder. [More…]
If by that he means that we are wanting to wait until the people in this community who have an interest in this Bill and who will be affected by it express their views, and if we are waiting for the States who are after all part of the Constitution and part of this country to express their views, then he is right. [More…]
There is to my mind no doubt that the members of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review have a right to be heard in this matter, and they have not been heard so far. [More…]
I concede that there are some grounds for the adoption of a Bill to implement the constitutional provisions. [More…]
It is something which the founding fathers of the Constitution contemplated as a desirable institution. [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
The Opposition believes that the need exists for a body which will have power to regulate transport in Australia within the limitations provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
A commission which has wide investigatory powers to look into questions of malpractice and at ways of making interstate trade more efficient was the original and real intention of the Constitution. [More…]
Trade and commerce is the area which is covered by the powers under the Constitution, and this may well be. [More…]
While the Commission will have to live within the Constitution it can, and probably will, exert such a fundamental influence, in view of its extremely wide powers, on the trade and commerce of this country as to be capable of surpassing the influence of the States and other Federal institutions or bodies. [More…]
Under the Constitution it is the duty of this Parliament to deem what is necessary for the execution and maintenance of these powers and we cannot pass up the consideration or let it be hurried past our eyes. [More…]
Although this is a body which, according to Deakin was to be the eyes and ears of the Constitution and while I see for it some valuable work which should be done, I want to ensure that proper time is given, that proper public consideration is given to it and that people have the opportunity to put before this Parliament all the considerations, whether they be wise or unwise, so that we can look at them and adjudicate on them in the final event. [More…]
The founding fathers, when drawing up the Constitution, did not just recommend that Parliament should set up an Inter-State Commission; they directed that it be done. [More…]
The founding fathers set out certain conditions in the Constitution. [More…]
Everyone has been quoting from section 101 of the Constitution but if we look at section 98 we find that it states: [More…]
Turning now to section 10 1 of the Constitution, it states: [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
Where in this Bill is there any extension of the direction given in the Constitution? [More…]
It does not go beyond the stage that the Constitution says that the Commonwealth could go and implies that it should go. [More…]
We are carrying out the desire of the founding fathers of the Constitution. [More…]
The Commission has power to do any act or thing that it is authorised to do in pursuance of any law made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce . [More…]
The Commission is authorised to do anything in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
They are the powers of the Commission and the Constitution gives wide powers. [More…]
That authorisation is in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
There is no way in which the Commonwealth can step outside the Constitution. [More…]
The powers embraced in this Bill are the powers in the Constitution as set out in the particular section of the Constitution which says that this proposition is to be implemented. [More…]
The Constitution tells us to establish the Commission that we seek to establish tonight for one purpose only and that purpose relates to transport for trade and commerce. [More…]
The Constitution made provision for the establishment of the commission, and it should have been established many years ago. [More…]
What it significantly and helpfully pointed to was the fact that it was possible that in the area of its investigations consideration could be given to the reconstitution of some form of Inter-State Commission as originally required by section 101 of the Constitution. [More…]
This possibly was a curious area for a Senate Select Committee on Water Pollution to concern itself with, but it also pointed out that the nature of the Inter-State Commission provided for in the Constitution might be the type of independent body which could perform many of the functions in regard to the eradication of water pollution with which that Committee was concerned. [More…]
Indeed, it devoted one whole chapter of its report to the reconstitution of the Inter-State Commission. [More…]
I have referred to those matters because I think one of the significant results of an examination of the history of the Inter-State Commission and the various examinations of its future prospects is that it discloses that what is fundamental is to give to it a role which is consistent with the Constitution and which will be operative in the public interest. [More…]
We will revive the Inter-State Commission ordained in the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution states there shall be an Inter-State Commission. [More…]
1 ) The regulations may authorize the Commission, either generally or otherwise as provided by the regulations, to exercise all or any of the powers (other than judicial powers) of any authority or tribunal under any law of Australia made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
Australia made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
It has said that the Commonwealth can justify, as a law made within its powers, any law which can be sustained under any head of the Constitution. [More…]
The Conciliation and Arbitration Commission is established under the section of the Constitution that gives the Commonwealth the power to deal with the settlement of interstate disputes; but if in a particular area that authority does something that can be justified under the trade and commerce power the High Court would regard it as a body established under that power. [More…]
Honourable senators should look at what the High Court has said and in particular at what Sir John Latham said in the Riverina Transport Pty Ltd case, which many will remember as one of the classic judgments in regard to section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The legislation ought to be looked at also in connection with the operation of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The really significant unifying factor in the development of a national Australia was not the Inter-State Commission; it was section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
-Will the Minister representing the Attorney-General say when he expects to be in a position to make an announcement of the appointment of the judicial committee to inquire into the disqualification sections of the Constitution resolved on by the Senate? [More…]
-Do not hide behind the Constitution. [More…]
On the other hand, when one looks at the Commission one may be forgiven for believing that it is supposed to be an executive body, because the Commission is to be given power to make orders for the execution and maintenance of the Constitution and all laws made thereunder relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
However, the Inter-State Commission is provided for in the Constitution, section 101 of which provides: [More…]
It is very interesting to note what the Constitution says because it specifies the Parliament and not the Commission- for the execution and maintenance … of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
It is clear that although the Constitution lays down that there ought to be such an Inter-State Commission, the Commission is to execute and maintain laws made by this Parliament and not laws which are made by the Commission. [More…]
I am prepared to support it because it creates an Inter-State Commission in terms of the Constitution. [More…]
in reply- The Government considers that the real issue in this debate is whether the Senate shall proceed with legislation which is known to be a requirement of the Constitution, not a promise of the Government. [More…]
The issue is whether the Opposition in the Senate will frustrate, once again, the Government’s intention to bring about something which is a requirement of the Constitution. [More…]
I want to repeat what is contained in the Constitution so that all honourable senators will remember it. [More…]
Section 101 of the Constitution states: [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
Section 102 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 103 of the Constitution refers to how the Commission shall be constituted. [More…]
The Parliament is obliged to give effect to the proposal in the Constitution to set up this Commission. [More…]
(Quorum formed) I was referring to the suggestion that there has been a failure to consider this Bill properly and it might be considered to constitute a reason to apply section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 101 of the Constitution requires the appointment of the Commission. [More…]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder. [More…]
The Committee believes that the Commission should be reconstituted in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
The Commission would be capable of performing many useful functions in relation to the provisions of the Constitution relating to interstate trade and commerce. [More…]
In this regard, the Committee has noted the nature of the Inter-State Commission provided for in the Constitution, and believes that consideration might well be given to its re-formation with, if constitutionally possible, effective arbitral power, and in a form suitable for the resolution of these potential conflicts. [More…]
It has been said that if we do this we shall disturb the present State organisations which are advisory bodies, and that there are changed circumstances today as between the time when the Constitutional Review Committee was established or the time when the Constitution was set down. [More…]
That clause must be read in conjunction with clause 9, which states the principle, and I think honourable senators will agree that it is a principle that is consistent with the Constitution. [More…]
This allows the transfer of powers conferred on other bodies insofar as those powers are made under the provisions of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
He should know that the general powers of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rely upon the very special constitutional basis provided for in section 51 (xxxv) of the Constitution, and he will also know that this is not a provision of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce. [More…]
The making of a mandatory provision that State Ministers will give me a panel of names from whom I must chose people to exercise the prerogative of this Parliament under section 96 of the Constitution is not anything that has been required of any previous government in Australia and certainly is not a provision that our predecessors would have accepted from us. [More…]
Once we accede to this Convention without any reservations, under section 5 1 of the Australian Constitution we hand over in its entirety to the United Nations the capacity to interfere in Australia’s internal arrangements without any demurrer on our part. [More…]
I have had to defer consideration of these courses because of the legal problems arising out of the Australian Government’s obligations under section 1 1 6 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is at present a related question under constitutional challenge in the High Court involving the legislation by the Australian Parliament providing for grants to the States for schools conducted by churches and other religious organisations. [More…]
I think that I have to deal briefly with some of the objections that have been raised, especially by Senator Greenwood who, among other things, expressed some doubts as to the constitutionality of the Bill. [More…]
I should like to deal briefly with the legal caveat that Senator Greenwood places on the constitutionality of the Bill. [More…]
He pointed out that it is based on the defence power given under placitum (xxix) of section 5 1 of the Constitution, and he expressed certain reservations. [More…]
Senator Greenwood said that he feared that these conventions could be used to override virtually all the provisions of the Constitution simply to give effect to obligations which have been made with small and relatively insignificant neighbours. [More…]
There is another passage in Senator Greenwood’s speech which suggests that we could enter into some snide arrangement with some unimportant country and in that way override all of the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
I suggest that Senator Greenwood would have sufficient confidence in the good sense of the High Court to know that any abuse of the foreign affairs placitum in the Constitution would be subject to the scrutiny of the judges of the High Court. [More…]
In any event, as suggested in the passage that I have quoted, if there is any doubt about the constitutionality of this Bill we can confidently leave it to the High Court to decide the matter. [More…]
Parts III and IV of the Bill contain the usual machinery provisions concerning the constitution and meetings of the Commission and the Commission’s staff. [More…]
Again, I will be raising a little later the question of the constitution both of the Commission and of the boards. [More…]
A co-ordinated program was to be developed between the 2 governments, as is envisaged by section 96 of the Constitution, which gives power to the Commonwealth to make grants to the States on such terms and conditions as the Federal Parliament thinks fit. [More…]
One should not have to refer to the sheer duplication and waste by the Commonwealth in covering areas of administration already constitutionally the prerogative of the States and the difficulties involved in working under arrangements such as have been outlined in the Bill with which we are dealing at the moment. [More…]
The Bill should be more concisely drawn in relation to the way in which it will operate in order to ensure that the Commission operates only within the Commonwealth’s constitutional powers. [More…]
The style of this Bill places some doubt in the minds of the State Government about its constitutionality. [More…]
The effect of that is that the Government is proposing that funds in respect of the services for children will be paid by the Commonwealth pursuant to section 8 1 of the Constitution direct to receiving bodies, be they local government bodies, private organisations or whatever they may be. [More…]
We believe that in a federation there is an obligation on the part of the Commonwealth Government to follow the course of devolution provided for in the Constitution and to use section 96 grants in this circumstance so that the situation, which has already been adverted to in considerable detail by my colleague Senator Guilfoyle in her speech on the second reading, of the organisation which has been structured in the States and which is already set up for ensuring that the money flows down to the appropriate organisations can be followed. [More…]
We are suggesting that the appropriate mode, consistent with the federal principle, is that section 96 of the Constitution be used for this purpose rather than section 8 1 . [More…]
As the sub-clause stands, it is our view that it means that that consultation and cooperation is with the Departments or authorities established under what is known in the Constitution as Commonwealth law, the laws of Australia being the laws made by that entity which so frequently appears in legislation in the past Vh years, which used to be called the Commonwealth of Australia but which is now called Australia. [More…]
I again take advantage of the opportunity to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Willesee) to let us know the current thinking of the Government- its policy- in relation to the constitution of these boards and the role of these boards. [More…]
-I point out to Senator Wright that the very legislation of this Parliament which stems from his beloved Constitution builds in that adversary factor. [More…]
The first difficulty which comes to mind is that, on a reading of the Australian Constitution, the power to make laws about racial discrimination seems to rest with the States. [More…]
but those decisions, in my humble judgment, or rather- for it is in nearly all the instances only so- these expressions of opinion by the way, have signified not alone an encroachment upon and suppression of private right, but the gradual invasion and undermining of constitutional security. [More…]
This result, which is declared by the courts below to have been legitimately reached under a free constitution, is exactly the same result which would have been achieved under, and have accorded with, the genius and practice of despotism. [More…]
Senator McLaren can invite his Government to use the instrument of price control that it has under the corporation power of the Constitution. [More…]
We realise that the States have obtained grants in the first place from the Federal Government usually under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
In the strict sense, the Commission does not exercise Federal judicial power as that term is used in the Constitution, but neither does the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, the Prices Justification Tribunal, or the Flight Crew Officers’ Tribunal. [More…]
It turned out to be a minor drafting chore related to the judicature provisions in chapter III of the Constitution. [More…]
That part of the Constitution is encrusted with judicial decisions and the amendment would, in effect, have required a senior experienced member of the Parliamentary Counsel staff to desist from his ordinary duties for a period of probably 6 months. [More…]
However, when the matter was considered by the Government, at the time our erstwhile colleague, the then Attorney-General, Senator Murphy, expressed his legal opinion that because the film distribution did not come within the ambit of the Federal Government under the terms of the Constitution that particular recommendation of the then Tariff Board was unconstitutional so far as its implementation by the Australian Government was concerned. [More…]
Amendments to Articles 34 and 55 of the Constitution of the World Health Organisation, adopted by the twentysixth World Health Assembly on 22 May 1973 and accepted for Australia on 1 1 March 1975. [More…]
It is clear that the framers of our Constitution did not regard separate elections in this sense as basic to the Senate’s role as an independent House. [More…]
Indeed, before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Review recommended this particular reform in 1958 and again in 1959- with only one member dissenting- there had been only 3 occasions on which an election had been held to elect members of one House only- those for the House of Representatives in 1929 and 1954 and that for the Senate in 1 953. [More…]
Accordingly, the Government has no hesitation, within the terms of the Constitution, in taking whatever action is needed to ensure that the proposals of the Distribution Commissioners, for each of the 5 States concerned, are given legislative effect at the earliest possible date. [More…]
The provisions of the principal Act relating to the constitution of the managing Board are repealed and the Australian Government Insurance Corporation Board will be charged with the management of the business of the Corporation. [More…]
Quite clearly, the need for a unified railway was in the minds of Australia’s founding fathers in 1897 when they incorporated into the Australian Constitution section 51 (xxxiii), which gave to the Australian Parliament power with respect to: acquisition- acquisition with the consent of a State- of any railways of the State on terms arranged between the Commonwealth and the State. [More…]
I doubt if men of the political character of Barton, Griffith, Kingston and Deakin could be described as socialist or centralist as they gave to Australia a federal Constitution. [More…]
Yet they were practical men who saw the need for the coordinated development of Australia’s transport system and incorporated in the Constitution provisions which would enable the establishment of the Inter-state Commission and a national railway system. [More…]
Regrettably Australia has had to wait for a government with a truly national approach to transport problems before the vision of the framers of the Constitution could commence to be realised. [More…]
What has been carefully overlooked, with the lawyer’s skill of Senator James McClelland, is that there is a constitutional provision- by word, by clause, by specification- in the Republic of Chile making the armed forces responsible for the preservation of the Chilean Constitution. [More…]
The first is that what has been said about the Chilean Constitution is a total misrepresentation of that Constitution. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to seek the approval of the Parliament to pay to Tasmania, in accordance with the provisions of Section 96 of the Australian Constitution, a sum not exceeding $650,000. [More…]
Except as provided by this Act and subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court under paragraph 75 ( v) of the Constitution, a decision of the Tribunal shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question, or be subject to prohibition, mandamus, certiorari or injunction, in any court on any account whatever. [More…]
Secondly, we have the right inalienably vested in the High Court under the Constitution to supervise this Tribunal by the prerogative writs. [More…]
We in our Constitution endeavoured to provide protection of individual rights by creating an entrenched judiciary in the Federal field, lt is well known that we adopted to some degree from America the separation of powers and that that was much influenced by Montesquieu ‘s mistaken interpretation of the English system at the time the American Constitution was penned. [More…]
When a court is established and given jurisdiction, it is not usual to give it jurisdiction only in respect of disputes occurring after the constitution of the court; nor is it usual to give it jurisdiction only in respect of debts or agreements contracted after the constitution of the court, if it is a civil court. [More…]
The Parliamentary Party announced its unconditional surrender to the Premier and its impending return to the coalition on 30 May in flat contradiction of its Joint Council decision and in defiance of the Party’s constitution. [More…]
-The Opposition will have an opportunity, if not today at least later in the week, to indicate its economic rationality by opposing, if it chooses, a Bill which will come before this Parliament to authorise a grant under Section 96 of the Constitution to the firm Associated Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd which is centred in the town of Burnie. [More…]
To meet the requirement of section 57 of the Constitution, the Bill was re-presented in the House of Representatives on 28 May in the form in which it was previously passed by the House. [More…]
The Parliament has no constitutional responsibility for State courts and cannot, under the Constitution, intervene in the organisation of these courts. [More…]
In the strict sense the Commission does not exercise ‘federal judicial power’ as that term is used in the Constitution. [More…]
What we are really talking about here is a proposal by a fairly bad method, by grants under section 96 of the Constitution, to pay to Tasmania a sum of $650,000 to cover the interest on a sum of money for stock accumulation in the Associated Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd enterprise at Burnie in order that that stock can be financed and kept intact until it can be sold, so that the people in that factory in that city in Tasmania can be kept in employment and not be put off. [More…]
It was explained by the Minister when introducing the Bill that $650,000 is to be made available to Tasmania as a financial grant of assistance under section 96 of the Australian Constitution, that in turn this money is to be lent by Tasmania or reimbursed by Tasmania to the company so as to provide for the interest cost of accumulating stocks because the employment predicament of the company is serious and the company continues still to be handicapped. [More…]
For that reason alone the action which the Government has taken to provide the Tasmanian Government through section 96 of the Constitution with an underpinning of the interest on the loan to be raised to see this company through its difficulties is a very wise move. [More…]
It is said that if the Superior Court were established the High Court would be able to concentrate upon its task of interpreting the Constitution and acting as the ultimate court of appeal. [More…]
Chapter III of our Federal Constitution lays down the functions and powers of the High Court and the matters on which the High Court is to have original jurisdiction. [More…]
Section 77 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
We commenced along this road when our Constitution was written and we took the precedent of the American Constitution. [More…]
Everybody who knows the history of the drafting of the judicature section of our Constitution knows that it took place aboard the ‘Lucinda’ on the Brisbane River one weekend and Chief Justice Griffiths, who was chiefly responsible for it, paid too much attention to the American precedent. [More…]
They are all out of date, have never been expounded in reality and are very much out of touch, but anybody who reads the criticism to which they were subjected in the submission of Mr Owen Dixon K. C, as he then was in 1 929, to the Royal Commission on the Constitution will see at once how completely inappropriate and unwise it is to persist with that demarcation of original jurisdiction in the High Court. [More…]
1 am appalled to think that we have such a purblind attorney-generalship as to put into this Bill as the main sub-stratum of the Court’s original jurisdiction a copy of those things that the Australian Constitution of 1900 copied from the American Constitution of 1 776. [More…]
However effectual such provisions may be for ensuring that the High Court retains an almost exclusive authority to declare the meaning and effect of the Constitution, no one can fail to see that this is done at the expense of rendering almost futile and impossible the practical administration of justice for the purpose of adjusting the real controversies between subject and subject, or redressing real grievances which a subject may have against the Crown. [More…]
Those who have put forward this proposal for the establishment of a Superior Court forget that we have had incorporated in our Constitution 2 provisions which make all this surplusage and subversive. [More…]
The 2 provisions that we have had incorporated in our Constitution in contradistinction from the United States are that the High Court has been made a court of general appeal not merely from Federal courts, as is the case in the United States, but from both Federal and State courts. [More…]
The other innovation that was included in our Constitution which makes this proposal complete nonsense and which makes the apeing of the American system most unwise is that it has been provided in our Constitution that this Parliament can invest the State courts with Federal jurisdiction. [More…]
Socialism is the sole objective of the ALP constitution, and every member of the Parliamentary Labor Party has had to sign a pledge that he or she will socialise this place. [More…]
The wisdom of our founding fathers who wrote the Constitution has been challenged heavily lately. [More…]
To meet the requirements of section 57 of the Constitution, the Bill was re-presented in the House of Representatives on 28 May in the form in which it was previously passed by the House. [More…]
That the Senate affirms the decision taken by resolution of the Senate on 31 May 1973 that the Australian Parliament join with the Parliaments of the States in the Constitutional Convention to be convened to review the Australian Constitution in September of that year, and at such subsequent times as the Convention from time to time determined, and agrees: [More…]
Now it is recommended for the approval of His Excellency the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, that, in pursuance of section 61 of the Constitution- [More…]
That the Senate affirms the decision taken by resolution of the Senate on 31 May 1973 that the Australian Parliament join with the Parliaments of the States in the Constitutional Convention to be convened to review the Australian Constitution in September of that year, and at such subsequent times as the Convention from time to time determined, and agrees: [More…]
On 1 August 1974 the House of Representatives affirmed the decision taken by that House on 31 May 1973 that the Australian Parliament join with the parliaments of the States in the Constitutional Convention that has been established to review the Australian Constitution. [More…]
I hope they have not made any changes in South Australia because my colleague and State leader, Mr Robin Millhouse, is recognised as a very keen and able constitutional student and lawyer who applies himself well to matters relating to the Federal Constitution. [More…]
Without in any way arguing this in a personal way, I think it is wrong for Senator Withers to try to use brute force to double his party’s involvement from the Senate at the Constitutional Convention and to exclude all federal non-major party representation at that Convention. [More…]
On appeal from the Commonwealth Industrial Court in a private action relating to resale price maintenance, the Court held that s. 92 of the Constitution was not infringed by the relevant provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1965-1971; also that the resale price maintenance provisions in that Act were not invalid as a result of the decision in the ‘Concrete Pipes’case. [More…]
The High Court held that the Council was not a corporation to which section 5 1 (xx) of the Constitution or section 37 of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1 97 1 applied. [More…]
The basic charge that we make against the Government is that it is the Prime Minister who has ignored constitutional requirements. [More…]
It commences by referring to section 61 of the Constitution. [More…]
CONSTITUTION SECTION 61 [More…]
CONSTITUTION, SECTION 6 1 [More…]
NOW IT IS RECOMMENDED for the approval of His Excellency the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, that, in pursuance of section 61 of the Constitution- [More…]
CONSTITUTION, SECTION 61 [More…]
CONSTITUTION, SECTION 61 [More…]
NOW IT IS RECOMMENDED for the approval of His Excellency the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, that, in pursuance of section 6 1 of the Constitution- [More…]
The point of my mentioning this is but to indicate that I stand in a constitutional relationship to the Crown in which under the Constitution the Executive power of the Commonwealth alone is vested. [More…]
This latter oath is set out in full in Anson ‘s Law and Custom of the Constitution (1935) 4th Ed. [More…]
1 ) That the Senate affirms that it possesses the powers and privileges of the House of Commons as conferred by Section 49 of the Constitution and has the power to summon persons to answer questions and produce documents, files and papers. [More…]
That the Senate affirms that it possesses the powers and privileges of the House ofCommons as conferred by Section 49 of the Constitution and has the power to summon persons to answer questions and produce documents files and papers. [More…]
Do they disagree with the first paragraph, which states that we affirm that we have the powers and privileges of the House of Commons as conferred upon us by section 49 of the Constitution? [More…]
Our Constitution and practice are that, instead of having a complete separation between legislature and executive, we have our inherited system of ‘responsible government’, under which Ministers sit in Parliament after being elected to Parliament, answer questions and engage in debate. [More…]
Under the Constitution the Senate has the powers, immunities and privileges possessed by the House of Commons at the time the Commonwealth was founded. [More…]
There has been an attempt by unlawful means to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass the Parliament and to raise, so that one might govern without Parliament, $4,000m. [More…]
What is happening in Australia at the moment is of far greater significance than what happened to President Nixon in the United States because the enormity of people in government raising billions of dollars without telling the Parliament and indeed without telling their fellow members of Cabinet, and using that as a means of subverting the Constitution and by-passing the Parliament, is criminality in the highest degree. [More…]
That the Senate affirms that it possesses the powers and privileges of the House of Commons as conferred by Section 49 of the Constitution- [More…]
I point out to the honourable gentlemen opposite and especially to the lawyers in their ranks that it is a matter for the Parliament to declare its privileges under section 49 of the Constitution. [More…]
1 ) That the Senate affirms that it possesses the powers and privileges of the House of Commons as conferred by Section 49 of the Constitution and has the power to summon persons to answer questions and produce documents files and papers. [More…]
In relation to the powers and privileges of the Senate as conferred by section 49 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is, of course, written in and imbedded into our Constitution, to a fairly strong extent, the notion of the separation of the powers as between Executive and legislature. [More…]
It seems to me, as I think Senator Greenwood said earlier today, that this raises a central constitutional point, and the point is: May I in conscience answer a question which, in conscience, I believe I should not merely because one of the chambers of the legislature says that in its view the Crown ‘s claim to privilege is unfounded? [More…]
It could, I would have thought, both assert the secrecy which the Constitution confers, in my understanding, and it could remove the obligation by waiver, if it wished. [More…]
There has been an attempt by unlawful means to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass the Parliament and to raise, so that one might govern without Parliament, $4,000m. [More…]
Using that as a means of subverting the Constitution and by-passing Parliament is criminality in the highest degree. [More…]
Unless the States prefect their position under the financial agreement, they are threatened with a repetition of the conspiratorial attempt to evade the Constitution. [More…]
Under section 49 of the Constitution we have in the Senate and in the House of Representatives the privileges as they existed in the House of Commons in 1901. [More…]
I ask that the Minister look carefully at this matter because it is something which is specifically banned under the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The present Bill is reintroduced in accordance with section 57 of the Constitution, the House of Representatives having passed the Bill on 18 February 1975, the Senate having refused it a second reading on 25 February 1975 and the House of Representatives again having passed the Bill on 19 August 1975. [More…]
In accordance with the Constitution the Queen has assented to it. [More…]
The Constitution itself provides by section 74 that no appeal shall be permitted to the Privy Council from a decision of the High Court upon any question, howsoever arising, as to the limits inter se of the constitutional powers of the Commonwealth and those of any State or States or as to the limits inter se of the constitutional powers of any two or more States, unless the High Court shall certify that the question is one which ought to be determined by the Privy Council. [More…]
Nothing could provide a more sincere recognition of the role that the Constitution always intended that the High Court should have. [More…]
The Opposition is not just a nuisance to be tolerated, but a definite and essential part of the Constitution. [More…]
-Oh yes; naturally Government senators are nervous when I hold up a copy of the May 1975 Australian Labor Party Platform, Constitution and Rules as approved by the 31st National Conference at Terrigal. [More…]
Gough Whitlam said quite unashamedly in his Fabian lecture 4 months before he became Prime Minister that his intention was to bring about democratic socialism in Australia and that he would use sections 5 1 and 96 of the Constitution to do so. [More…]
To those who say that they are not intending to nationalise because they cannot under the Constitution, I read the small print in the policies again. [More…]
It would be intolerable if a Labor government were to use the alibi of the Constitution to excuse failure to achieve its socialist objectives- doubly intolerable because it is just not true that it need do so. [More…]
We have the power to do it under section 5 1 of the Constitution’. [More…]
), of the Constitution gives the power to the Commonwealth. [More…]
I had made the point that the Prime Minister had indicated in his speeches that there was nothing in the Constitution to prevent nationalisation in the full sense. [More…]
The High Court of Australia invalidated that Act and said that TAA could carry on in competition, that Australian National Airlines, as it then was, could not be expropriated because of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
The only thing that saved the private trading banks from the depredations of Senator Everett’s predecessors was section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
If the Constitution balks you in attempting to obtain $4,000m from the Arab states, get it anyway and bank it in New York. [More…]
We are indebted to Senator Wriedt for referring to the fact that even the constitution and platform of the Liberal Party subscribe to that theory. [More…]
When the people of Australia voted for the Australian Labor Party in May 1974 this is one of the things for which they were voting, but because of the oddities of our Constitution and our electoral system and because of the behaviour of the Premier of New South Wales we do not have the representation in the Upper House that we have in the Lower House and we are unable to pass the legislation which any government should be entitled to introduce- that is, those matters which are put to the people at an election and are adopted by the people. [More…]
But I noticed that the Minister stated when introducing the Bill that it was being introduced for the purposes of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution is a provision whereby in certain circumstances, if a Bill is introduced in the House of Representatives and rejected by the Senate, and after a lapse of 3 months it is again introduced and rejected by the Senate, the Governor-General may grant a double dissolution. [More…]
As I understand it, there are already 13 Bills stored up under the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution in the lifetime of this Parliament. [More…]
We can only regret that the Government has chosen to depart from the conventions of the Constitution, the practices which have characterised the Westminster system, and to rely upon an interpretation of section 57 and possibly the High Court’s reluctance to intervene in parliamentary matters, in an endeavour to achieve particular ends which otherwise it could not achieve. [More…]
I should also mention that the Chief of Defence Force Staff will have the command of the Defence Force subject to the command in chief vested in the Governor-General by section 68 of the Constitution. [More…]
Further, if the States are being bypassed, is that procedure a contravention of the Australian Constitution? [More…]
The grants that are made on the recommendation of the Grants Commission are paid to the States under section 96 of the Constitution and are earmarked for disbursement by those States to specified local government bodies. [More…]
This appears to be in conflict with section 68 of the constitution which vests the command in chief of the military services in the Governor-General. [More…]
A rather curious situation in relation to the provisions of section 68 of the Constitution was brought to light. [More…]
When the Australian Constitution was adopted we adopted the practices of the British system. [More…]
Of course, at that time the Queen was the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom and we adopted that provision in our own Constitution. [More…]
But, as I understand it, after the adoption of the Australian Constitution, the Queen agreed to the command of the armed Services being placed in the control of the Parliament of the country. [More…]
It is not possible to effect that same change to the Constitution in this country except, as has been suggested to us, by a referendum of the people of Australia agreeing to such a change. [More…]
Section 8 1 of the Constitution is a matter of some importance in regard to this particular matter which we are now considering. [More…]
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution. [More…]
First, it said that the whole question of command was in complete doubt, that there was a grave constitutional question involved, and that it needed to be clarified, perhaps even to the point of a referendum, before the question of command in Australia could be put beyond doubt. [More…]
What they said, in effect, was this: ‘We draw your attention to section 68 of the Commonwealth Constitution’. [More…]
Under section 68 of the Australian Constitution and separately under Letters Patent he is vested with command in chief of the defence force as the Queen’s representative. [More…]
The Committee draws attention to an anomaly which exists in the Australian Constitution in respect of higher command arrangements. [More…]
The proposed new section 8 defines the present constitutional power of the Minister and provides that, as always has been the case, the authority exercised by the senior Service Chiefs will be subject to the directions of the Minister. [More…]
In providing in the proposed new section 9 for command to be exercised by a Chief of Defence Force Staff or by Chiefs of Staff it has been expressly provided that such command is subject to section 68 of the Constitution, which vests command in chief in the GovernorGeneral as the Queen’s representative. [More…]
The Constitution makes provision for that. [More…]
Section 51 (vi) of the Constitution provides that ‘the Parliament shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to the naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and of the several States, and the control of the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the Commonwealth’. [More…]
Section 68 of the Constitution provides that ‘the command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen’s representative’. [More…]
It has been stated by Starke J. in Attorney-General (Vic) v Commonwealth (1935) 52 CLR at p.567 that the command vested in the Governor-General by section 68 of the Constitution is titular. [More…]
The following passage appears in The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth ‘ by Quick and Garran. [More…]
Section 68 of the Constitution has never been regarded as a bar to Parliament, in pursuance of its power under section 51 (VI) of the Constitution, making laws investing officers and other authorities with practical command over the Defence Force, any part thereof or the members of any part of that Force or regulating the manner in which those powers are to be exercised- so long at any rate, as no attempt is made to derogate from the formal supreme command vested in the Governor-General by section 68 of the Constitution. [More…]
I want to say on behalf of the Government that if the Senate refers this Bill to a committee the Minister shall announce that the Government will regard such a reference as failure to pass the Bill under section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
Is the Leader of the Government in the Senate aware that Quick and Garran state that ‘it is a principle of the Constitution that the representation of States in the Senate should be maintained, as far as possible, with unbroken continuity, and that no State should be, for any time longer than absolutely necessary, short in its representation and consequently deficient in its political strength in the Council of States’? [More…]
The Australian Government derives its power for the establishment of the Prices Justification Tribunal under, I think, section 5 1 (v) of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Section 51 (iv) of the Constitution provides that the Parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to ‘borrowing money on the public credit of the Commonwealth’. [More…]
The basic constitutional requirement of Parliamentary authority for the expenditure of the moneys borrowed would be satisfied by clause 4 of the Bill. [More…]
Section 51 (vi) of the Constitution provides that the Parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to the defence of the Commonwealth. [More…]
The provisions are fully consistent with the requirements of sections 81 and 83 of the Constitution relating to public moneys. [More…]
In particular, they are consistent with alternative views of section 81 of the Constitution, namely, (a) that the revenues or moneys’ to which section 81 refers do not include moneys raised by way of loan (see, for example, Quick and Garran, Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth (1901), at page 811); and (b) that the revenues or moneys’ to which section 81 refers do include loan moneys and that the payment of the moneys into the special account known as ‘the Loan Fund’ as required by the Audit Act meets the requirements of section 8 1 . [More…]
I recognise that the choice or a senator to fill a casual vacancy is under the Constitution, the sole responsibility of the Houses of Parliament of the State concerned; or if the Houses of Parliament of the State are not in session, of the Governor of the State acting on the advice of the Executive Council. [More…]
1 ) The Senate is of the opinion that the choice of a Senator to fill a casual vacancy is by section 1 S of the Constitution the sole responsibility of the Houses of Parliament of the State, or if the Houses of Parliament of the State are not in session, of the Governor of the State acting upon the advice of his Executive Council; and [More…]
I think that resolution expressed a recognition of the constitutional position. [More…]
But it ought also be recognised, because we cannot ignore the clear provisions of the Constitution or the rights of State Parliaments if they choose to assert those rights, that the determination of whom that successor is to be is the prerogative of the State Parliament. [More…]
We now have the constitution of the Committee with new procedures. [More…]
The Papua New Guinea Independence Bill is, of course, the major Bill because it formally constitutes the act by Australia under which we acknowledge we no longer possess sovereignty and it is the measure by which the new nation finds itself on its own with a constitution of its own creation. [More…]
It is an interesting Bill legally, but this is not the appropriate occasion to discuss either the intricate meanings of section 122 of the Constitution insofar as questions of divestiture by Australia are concerned or to contemplate the formal origins by which a country gives legitimacy to its Constitution or the other form by which it assumes nationhood. [More…]
-There is no express wording, to answer Senator Sir Magnus Cormack expressly, which would permit this to be done, as I recall the relevant provision of the Constitution. [More…]
I recall that 3 select committees of the House of Assembly contributed towards the process of constitution making in the Territory. [More…]
AND WHEREAS on 16 September 1975 Papua New Guinea is to become an independent sovereign state by the name of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, having a constitution established, adopted and given to themselves by the people of Papua New Guinea acting through their Constituent Assembly: [More…]
-Mr President, I have raised what I consider to be a breach of the Constitution in the appointment of Senator-elect Field. [More…]
It is master of all its other procedures but if the Constitution is breached the situation is different. [More…]
I have raised the question that Senator-elect Field is in breach of the provisions of the Constitution and I feel that for that reason he could not be sworn in. [More…]
They were then taken over the border under section 92 of the Constitution and sold for 10 a bag. [More…]
We have a Prime Minister who sanctions the irresponsible expenditure of the taxpayers’ money on unwanted paintings that have offended most of his mandate, a Prime Minister who sanctions irresponsible expenditure on Aboriginal affairs to the detriment of Aborigines and the disadvantage of others, a Prime Minister who sanctions irresponsible expenditure on sordid films and proposes unhealthy law reform on incest, abortion and homosexuality, a Prime Minister whose every attempt to subvert our Constitution - [More…]
Although the Constitution does not require it, I point out that the new ordinance will provide for the acquisition of land on just terms; [More…]
I was about to say when I was interrupted that apparently the new expert would give the right to a fragment of a party in the lower House, by withdrawing 4 or 5 votes to a junta or a party, to cross the benches today and to establish a new party and so constitutionally cause the Government to go to the people. [More…]
How stupid and nonsensical and completely ignorant it is to accept that situation and to deny to a properly constituted second chamber of the Parliament a right to review, in accordance with the express terms of the Constitution, written as recently as 1900, limiting our powers of amendment so as to give to the lower House primacy in responsibility for financial matters relating to ordinary annual services, appropriation and taxation Bills, and Bills that might increase the charge upon the people, but giving us the right to amend all other financial matters and to reject all Bills. [More…]
It has been suggested that a fragmentation of the government party in the lower House is constitutional justification for destroying a government but that this House is denied the right to reject any measure such as I have described. [More…]
We have a government which has a program and in respect of that program I think 12 or 13 Bills have been denied passage through this chamber twice, each one with an interval complying with the requirements of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
He can take the challenge to go to the country and has been given the opportunity by the Senate to do so a dozen times by proper constitutional means. [More…]
He is never conscious of any fundamental constitutional knowledge. [More…]
I thought that that was inevitable according to the Constitution unless we can get a double dissolution or unless the House of Representatives will go to the people. [More…]
Let me inform Senator Wright in particular and the chamber in general that my appointment was fully in accordance with the Constitution and I took my seat here on that basis. [More…]
The Constitution gives us a right. [More…]
What was written into the Constitution remains as long as that clause or right is in the Constitution. [More…]
No one can claim that a Senate or a Parliament is acting undemocratically if it carries out the rights the Constitution gives it. [More…]
If the Parliament feels that the country is in such a state that the people should again have the right of decision, then constitutionally and democratically I cannot see anything wrong with that. [More…]
I stand here and say that under the Constitution the Senate has the right to do whatever it thinks is best for this country in the acceptance or rejection of any legislation. [More…]
In particular, does the Government regard the Constitution as a weight around its neck or is that merely a personal view of the Minister? [More…]
Which, if any, of the participants at the Constitutional Convention in the 1890s were octogenarians? [More…]
I believe the Australian Constitution is in many respects a weight around the neck of a Labor government and that it was introduced to preserve the property rights which existed in the 1890s. [More…]
Why does not the Opposition use the power that it has under section 53 of the Constitution to request amendments? [More…]
If the honourable senator would like a dissertation on the Constitution some time, perhaps he could put a substantive motion on the notice paper and I would be delighted to oblige him with a debate. [More…]
To me it was sad- because I thought it reeked of hypocrisy- to have to listen earlier today to the abuse and the denigration of a person who has done in less than 3 years- the term for which he was constitutionally electedmore for the coal export industry than every appropriate Minister did in the 23 years of Liberal government. [More…]
If this tax is so evil and if members of the Opposition were not completely hypocritical in their speeches, why do they not either make a request under section 53 of the Constitution or assert the right that they claim they have and vote against the Bills? [More…]
This clause relates to clause 2(2)(c) of the Agreement and overcomes difficulties created by section 52 of the Constitution concerning the application of State laws to Commonwealth Places. [More…]
In the event that a State law purports to have effect in relation to railway land (a Commonwealth Place) after the commencement date but cannot have effect by virtue of section 52 of the Constitution, the law shall have effect pursuant to the Commonwealth Places (Application of Laws) Act 1970 as amended. [More…]
Section 52 of the Constitution gives the Parliament exclusive power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to places acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes. [More…]
Of course, this legislation is in full conformity with the Platform, Constitution and Rules of my Party. [More…]
Because it is a request from a State administration- a State parliament and a State government- to the Commonwealth it carries all the weight that the Constitution can give. [More…]
Dr Colston resigned from his job according to the requirements of the Constitution in order to nominate for the Senate. [More…]
The other reason this Bill ought to be rejected is that at the moment the Government is really abusing the Constitution and the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
I know that the High Court has ruled that a government can have a storehouse of Bills under section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Government, during the past several weeks, as a matter of electoral panic has mounted a campaign in which it has attempted to deride and criticise the Opposition for not staying within what the Government is pleased to call the constitutional conventions and practices. [More…]
Those professors talk about constitutional practice and constitutional convention. [More…]
If it wants to stay totally with the law it cannot attempt to criticise the Senate for exercising its undoubted legal and constitutional right to force an election for the other place. [More…]
As one reads the constitutional debates of the 1890s, section 57 was inserted for quite a simple reason. [More…]
But what a government did not do was just insist upon its legalistic constitutional rights and build up a storehouse. [More…]
If the Government wants to build up a storehouse, I take no exception to that because it is entitled to do so under the Constitution. [More…]
I do not complain about the Prime Minister attempting to gain political advantage by legal means if he wishes to do so, but he cannot complain when somebody else uses the Constitution against him. [More…]
In view of Senator Withers’ concern about the Constitution and the debasing of the parliamentary system, I think one can recall a parallel between the late President Roosevelt and our own illustrious Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam). [More…]
I suppose that is indicative of the moral political climate which has deteriorated so rapidly in Australia over the last few months to the point where two State Premiers are thumbing their noses at the Constitution and disfranchising voters through the appointments they have made to the Senate. [More…]
It would be more concerned with the democratic principle which is at the heart of the Bills, that is, that we have a Constitution which provides that all people should be represented equally. [More…]
Those people do not really need a BjelkePetersen to sneer at the Constitution, to sneer at electors, to put into the Senate people whom he has never seen, to find some miserable way of manipulating the Constitution in order to take it out of the hands of the ordinary people and gain some miserable advantage for himself. [More…]
You have been telling us that the Constitution must work this way and we must behave ourselves that way’. [More…]
Now, for goodness sake, have the moral guts to stand up and live by the Constitution that you have been shoving down our necks for years. [More…]
Have the guts to stand up and say that the Constitution says that all people- not some people but all people- will be represented on an equal basis. ‘ [More…]
It would be a contravention of the Constitution if any action were taken to change the status quo in relation to the number of senators. [More…]
The fact is that Labor, in its Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill, completely disregarded the facts at the time and tried to take advantage of the Constitution. [More…]
This power hungry man, this Premier who remains in power on a small percentage handful of the votes, is in the situation in which he is able to thumb his nose at authority, thumb his nose at convention, thumb his nose at the Constitution and thumb his nose at the law. [More…]
We have heard put forward serious suggestions that the Prime Minister might even go to the Governor-General and suggest that the Constitution is just a document for the convenience of the nation and might very well be overlooked. [More…]
The device of introducing these Bills in the way that they have been introduced is an example of what I would regard as the Government’s total disregard of the Constitution and the Government’s total disregard of the Parliament. [More…]
I deplore the fact that the Government is totally disregarding section 57 of the Constitution, thereby taking away from the people their right, their opportunity and their real privilege as far as their voting rights within the Australian community are concerned. [More…]
It is in line entirely with the Constitution of the United States of America. [More…]
In other words, each area of population would have the same number of persons represented in this Parliament by one member in the case of the House of Representatives and 10 members from each State in the case of the Senate, as provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution of this country and, indeed, of the States should make absolutely sure that we have in this country the type of fair play that exists in the United States of America where the electoral system operates on the basis of population. [More…]
When Senator Poyser talked about depending upon population he conveniently forgot to remind the Senate and the people that the Constitution uses population in order to decide how many seats there shall be in each State. [More…]
What I am trying to say is that the right of a State to appoint a senator is given to that State in the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution is really wrapped around the Senate because of that reason. [More…]
The Bills which are being debated do not have anything to do with preferential voting, optional preferential voting, postal voting, oil drilling or the constitution of the Senate, although most of the argument or substitutes for argument put forward by the members of the Opposition related to those subjects. [More…]
The present Government was elected at the same time as this Senate was elected, yet the Government is always going around saying that the Senate is acting unconstitutionally. [More…]
It is saying that the Senate is operating outside its mandate and its constitution, and I believe that that is rubbish. [More…]
Section 5 1 (iv) of the Constitution provides that the Parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to ‘borrowing money on the public credit of the Commonwealth ‘. [More…]
The basic constitutional requirement of Parliamentary authority for the expenditure of the moneys borrowed would be satisfied by clause 4 of the Bill. [More…]
Section 5 1 ( vi) of the Constitution provides that the Parliament shall have power to make laws with respect to the defence of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Earlier, when the United States of America was involved in ethnic problems with the vast waves of migrants entering the United States of America, it made it quite clear that when a migrant came to the United States of America, applied for citizenship and was granted that citizenship by swearing to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, he had fulfilled the constitutional requirements of the United States of America to become an American citizen. [More…]
They decided cases on legislation which they had earlier voted on and on the Constitution which they had drafted and voted on. [More…]
In those capacities, each of those 3 men necessarily gave advice to their governments on the interpretation and constitutionality of numerous laws and proposed laws. [More…]
The fact is that each of them and the other justices before them were appointed to the Court, acted for numerous persons and bodies and gave advice on aspects of the Constitution and the laws which are constantly coming before the High Court. [More…]
It should be noted that in the case of which Senator Greenwood complains each of the 7 judges held that all the procedures in section 57 of the Constitution for passing the Senate Representation Bill at the Joint Sitting were observed. [More…]
It is absurd to suggest that Justice Murphy should not rule on whether, apart from the method of its passing, the Act was constitutional. [More…]
In that respect, the case was no different from the one concerning the constitutionality of any one of the hundreds of Acts which were passed during the period of each of the former advisers to the government who now sit on the High Court. [More…]
It will be recalled that the Constitution provides that the Inter-State Commission is there ‘to execute and maintain’ the words of the Constitution all the provisions of the Constitution relating to interstate trade and all the federal laws that have been made in exercise of that power ‘to execute and maintain’, whatever that means. [More…]
But it is a constitutional body that is not beholden to either the Commonwealth Government or the State Government and is therefore the only body in the Constitution of an executive nature that has a power to override divisions between a State and the Commonwealth. [More…]
It derives authority from the Constitution and is therefore not bedevilled by the continuing disputation and division of a State and the Commonwealth. [More…]
It is to establish some authority in government and I have chosen the Inter-State Commission as the agency which will owe its authority to neither government if this legislation is passed but will owe its authority and origin to the Constitution and, therefore, will override State and Commonwealth governments. [More…]
Does the Leader of the Government in the Senate not recall that allegations were made that money of the character sought to be borrowed could not be made under the Financial Agreement, that borrowings of that dimension were contrary to the Constitution and that the actions of the Ministers who signed the Executive Council minute of 13 December last year were a massive illegality and a criminal conspiracy? [More…]
Briefly, the newspaper demand that you should dismiss a Premier on the ground that there was some reason for believing that he no longer enjoyed the confidence of the electors always seemed to me to be based upon an absolute misconception of the constitutional position of a modern Governor. [More…]
The constitutional authority of a Premier rests almost entirely upon his success at a general election, and upon his continued authority in the popularly elected House, and not upon irresponsible speculations as to whether he would have lost his majority if the Constitution had provided for annual and not triennial elections. [More…]
In those circumstances there will be other Senate elections, that is if the Opposition proposes to allow the Constitution to operate at all. [More…]
It is a democratically elected House but he seems to be overlooking the compact of federation in its Constitution and in the way in which it represents the people of Australia. [More…]
It must be a House which has the recognition of the present Government because of its eagerness to add to its numbers and to use the Constitution in a way that could add to its numbers members elected from the people of the Territories of Australia. [More…]
There is an important exception to these restrictions of the Financial Agreement which by section 105a (5) of the Constitution have a supra-constitutional force. [More…]
Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill 1974 [More…]
Constitution Alteration (Inter-change of Powers) Bill 1974 Constitution Alteration (Local Government Bodies) Bill 1974 [More…]
Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974 [More…]
Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974 [More…]
2] Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974 [More…]
Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill 1974 [More…]
The Senate is charged by the Constitution at least to slow down the processes by which government conducts itself. [More…]
How could any Opposition, having undergone the traumatic experience of seeing the constitutional processes distorted for one reason or another, approach the problem of the defence Loan Bill? [More…]
Under section 105A of the Constitution it can seek to obtain money without the permission of the Loan Council to finance a deficit. [More…]
This seems to me a most curious device, because as I sat here and listened to some of the florid phrases of the 2 Senators Mcclellands my mind went back first to 1953 when Senator Wright drew the attention of the then Senate to the problems of financing under section 53 of the Constitution and to my own entry into the debate in 1963 in another context but relating to the method by which governments attempt to obtain money. [More…]
B. Castieau, given in 1943 on the question of whether clause 2 of the Income Tax Bill 1943 contravened section 55 of the Constitution: [More…]
The Prime Minister, acting in accordance with the Constitution, says that he has no obligation to resign when supply is stopped. [More…]
Under section 53 of the Constitution if the Senate has the power to reject a money Bill we could justify the exercise of that power if a Budget or an Appropriation Bill were introduced which would give an unequal allocation of funds to one State, to the deprivation of the smaller States. [More…]
Section 7 of the Constitution provides for the House of Representatives to elected for 3 years. [More…]
It somewhat negates section 7 of the Constitution which provides only 2 reasons for dissolution, namely, the effluxion of time or the exercise of the power of the Governor-General. [More…]
It is an affair which involved an attempt to go behind the Constitution and the Loan Council. [More…]
He can defy the Parliament, defy the Constitution and defy the Crown. [More…]
The Prime Minister shows his total arrogance and ignorance of the Constitution by the blatant assumption that he has a right to these appropriations. [More…]
The Constitution makes it clear that money is granted to the Crown and not to the Prime Minister. [More…]
To make such a claim is not only incorrect but also is unconstitutional. [More…]
This was done when the Constitution was framed to ensure that if a government became so morally and intellectually bankrupt, if it became as disastrous as this Government has become there should be the ultimate check, that is, withholding of money until it agrees to let the people express their will. [More…]
The Constitution provides the proper method for resolving the deadlock between the two Houses, that is, a dissolution under section 57 of both Houses of the Parliament and an election for both. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
The only purpose of stating that loan to be a loan for temporary purposes was to give a facade of legality because if a loan is for temporary purposes under our Constitution and the Financial Agreement it is not necessary to have the approval of the Loan Council. [More…]
When this matter was debated on 19 July by Mr R. J. Ellicott, Q.C., the honourable member for Wentworth and formerly SolicitorGeneral, said that that amounted to an unconstitutional act and that it was illegal. [More…]
He said: ‘I believe it was an illegal and unconstitutional act’. [More…]
Senator Greenwood in this place on 16 July referred expressly to the criminality of the transaction and he, a Queen’s Counsel at the Melbourne Bar, pledged his reputation to the view that the transaction represented an illegal conspiracy to evade the Constitution. [More…]
Much play has been made tonight of the fact that the Constitution does not prohibit the refusal of supply or the refusal of a Budget. [More…]
All that the Constitution does is prohibit the Senate from amending moneys Bills. [More…]
The attitude of the Opposition is simply this: We can do anything we like which is not prohibited by the Constitution. [More…]
We are not talking about the fine print of the Constitution in this debate. [More…]
We have had a lot of talk and pious cant about there being no prohibition in the Constitution to their carrying it out; but they are seeking tonight to reject a popularly elected government, and the Senate is not a popularly elected House, whatever they might try to say about that. [More…]
I am quite frankly concerned about the future of the institution of Parliament, I am concerned about the Constitution, which lays down the framework of government in Australia, and I am concerned about the importance of the tradition and function of the Parliament. [More…]
Despite what has been said in this House I was appointed in strict conformity with the Constitution. [More…]
Not only has a constitutional crisis arisen, but the decision plays into the hands of subversive elements. [More…]
The position is- it is simple as can be- that the Constitution is what this Senate is based upon. [More…]
The people who wrote the Constitution spent a long time in working out how they would create the Parliament in the federal sphere. [More…]
I want to say this: The Constitution gives this Senate the right. [More…]
The position is that the Constitution gives us that right. [More…]
Secondly, does Sir Colin Hannah’s publicly expressed partisanship for the Opposition’s cause cast doubt on his ability to exercise impartially his function under section 12 of the Constitution to issue writs for the election of senators in Queensland? [More…]
Thirdly, is this yet another example of constitutional practice being flouted in the interests of the political advantage of one political Party which has twice been rejected by the electors of Australia within less than 3 years? [More…]
Senator Chaney knows, as well as the rest of us know, that the Government is not committed by statute, by convention or by the Constitution to any particular course. [More…]
-I ask the Leader of the Government in the Senate whether or not section 57 of the Constitution, which provides for a solution to deadlocks between the 2 Houses, is unique in exposing the second chamber to the judgment of the people if it maintains a deadlock against the lower House? [More…]
So far as I am concerned, the Constitution gave us the power. [More…]
Despite the nonsense from these woolly-minded or politically-minded professors from various universities, the Constitution gives the Senate the right that it has. [More…]
Because of the smelly factors that are emanating from the loans scandal and also the fact that this Government has brought the country into a very bad position from an economic point of view and from the point of view of future development, I believe that the Senate did the best thing that it could do for the people of Australia when it took advantage yesterday of the opportunity available to it under the Constitution of giving the people of Australia the right to say whether there should be a change of government. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
It seemed to me, and it is expressed in the Estimate Committee’s report, that that proposal is one that is on very shaky legislative grounds because section 83 of the Constitution says: [More…]
deplore in the strongest terms the intended action of the Senate to reject or delay Supply stop We believe Constitution empowers the House of Representatives and only the House of Representatives the right to make or bring down governments stop We urge you not to be a party to any action that would precipitate constitutional chaos and prejudice future constitutional government in Australia stop [More…]
I would like to refer to some aspects of the Constitution which are often quoted but not properly looked at. [More…]
As a preliminary I draw the attention of honourable senators to section 1 of the Constitution, which states: [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution provides that legislation has to be initiated in the House of Representatives for there to be grounds for a double dissolution to permit a joint sitting of the Houses. [More…]
Section 128 permits legislation which is designed to alter the Constitution and which has been twice rejected to be put to the people by way of a referendum. [More…]
Section 5 of the Constitution gives the Governor-General the right to dissolve the House of Representatives but he has no right, other than under section 57, to dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. [More…]
Section 28 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution relates to a double dissolution. [More…]
The framers of the Constitution clearly saw that the defeat of the Government did not rest on the rejection of a money Bill. [More…]
This is understandable when we look at 1901 which is when the Constitution was formed. [More…]
But now we have a contradiction which negates section 28 of the Constitution. [More…]
This is contrary to the intention of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution has limited to very fine grounds those laws which the Senate cannot amend, namely, only laws proposing taxation and those relating to the ordinary annual expenditure of government. [More…]
The Library gave me Howard’s Australian Federal Constitutional Law. [More…]
On page 6 of that volume we find reference to the difference between the interpretation of common law and constitutional interpretation. [More…]
On common law and constitutional interpretation he states: [More…]
Suppose for example that the States complain that the Commonwealth is using its legislative powers in a manner which can be accommodated within the literal words of the Constitution but has the intention and effect of substantially diminishing the legislative powers of the States. [More…]
Strict legalism requires that the issue be decided by reference to the words of the Constitution, but on the facts given this approach begs the question, for it is common ground that the Commonwealth is acting with literal propriety. [More…]
These include: whether it was originally intended that the Commonwealth should be able by unilateral action to bring about such a change otherwise than by formal amendment of the Constitution; if not, whether there is any such ground for departing from the original intention as factual changes in the relative responsibilities of the Commonwealth and the States, or in the place of Australia in the international community, or in economic and social developments since federation; and whether as a general principle legislative powers can be used to attain ends unrelated to the purpose of the power. [More…]
In 1964 in Lansell v. Lansell Menzies J. expressed an identical point of view in relation to the matrimonial causes power of Constitution s. SI (22): ‘It is right, in construing a grant of power, to ascertain as a starting point at least what the words used in the Constitution meant in 1901 when the Constitution was enacted - [More…]
In Fishwick v. Cleland in 1960 the whole court summed the matter up with brevity in a reference to ‘a constitution intended to endure and apply to changing conditions’. [More…]
What he suggests negates section 28 of the Constitution. [More…]
I would question why he says that the Constitution was interpreted properly in 1 90 1 when changing conditions did not result in the dismissal of the Government and why in 1975, because of our convention of presenting appropriation Bills in this place, the changing conditions should result in the dismissal of the Government. [More…]
Would the right of dismissal negate section 28 of the Constitution? [More…]
It is said that we are in a constitutional crisis. [More…]
If there is a constitutional crisis, it is one which the Prime Minister is making. [More…]
Our Constitution provides for the resolution of deadlocks. [More…]
The founders of the Constitution laid down a procedure under which deadlocks could be overcome. [More…]
That provision is contained in section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
I simply say that the Constitution provides a remedy, and the Government is concealing from the people the fact that that remedy exists, and is thwarting the people’s judgment when it does not exercise that remedy. [More…]
It is being exposed for a murky record of attempts to subvert the Constitution and the laws of the land and for its destruction of the fabric of our democratic society. [More…]
Those learned authors of the annotated notes to our Constitution, Sir John Quick and Sir Robert Garran, have said that the Senate has coordinate power with the House of Representatives to pass all Bills or to reject all Bills. [More…]
That was what Mr Fraser has always said and those who know him know that it is a view which he holds fervently as a sound and important principle of our constitutional practice, a principle which he declared as one on which he places very great weight. [More…]
Until a constitutional amendment like the Parliament Act is enacted in some form in Australia the English analogy just is not applicable. [More…]
Section 49 of the Constitution gives to this Senate the powers, privileges and immunities not of the House of Lords but of the House of Commons. [More…]
There are few governments in our history which have lasted the full 3 years that the Constitution says is the absolute limit upon their existence. [More…]
We seek to use the power vested in us by the Constitution to delay the passage of the Government’s money Bills through the Senate until the Parliament goes to the people. [More…]
I do not propose to engaged in debate about the legalities of the Constitution. [More…]
It is that because of the letter of the Constitution the people of Australia should not be entitled to have the Government which they have twice elected within 3 years. [More…]
I shall not take the time of the Committee unduly, but I want to remind those honourable senators who have indicated their interest by being present that the purpose of the amendment is to take advantage of the Inter-State Commission, which is one authority provided for by the Constitution itself. [More…]
I wonder how constitutional it is that these 3 bureaucrats should have the power to fix prices when government price fixing is not included in the Constitution and was rejected at the last referendum. [More…]
If I may say this without getting into the substance of the debate, the message does call into question whether or not the Senate has the powers within the Constitution to do as it did. [More…]
The House of Representatives claims that what the Senate did is not contemplated within the terms of the Constitution and was contrary to established constitutional convention. [More…]
In response to that which has been advanced by Senator Everett through the document that we gave him leave to incorporate in Hansard, it betrays on the part of the Premier of Tasmania a complete misunderstanding of the constitutional processes that should govern the methods and procedures of this Government. [More…]
For a Prime Minister to assert arrogantly and ignorantly that he will recognise responsibility only to one chamber of this Parliament means that he is determined to crush the Constitution of this country by retaining office over a period when he knows that there are no authorised funds to enable him to implement his Executive Government. [More…]
The poor little Premier of Tasmania thinks there are senators from Tasmania who so misunderstand the Constitution that they would yield to this suggestion that he will put out to the newspapers. [More…]
There would be those on the other side- the Cavanaghs- who would prevent my delivering the response here now because of this pusillanimous, contemptible channelling by Senator Everett into the records of this chamber to cow the senators of Tasmania to a complete acceptance of the unconstitutional arrogance - [More…]
It is well recognised by the Constitution that the Government in this country when in deadlock with this chamber has one duty, and that is to consult the people. [More…]
In other constitutions there is a legitimate complaint when the Upper House says: ‘No money’. [More…]
-Does the Leader of the Government in the Senate support the belated acceptance by the Prime Minister that the Senate is acting within its rights under the Constitution in delaying Supply in order to force the House of Representatives to the people? [More…]
2) 1975-76 for the reasons given in the Senate resolution is not contemplated within the terms of the Constitution and is contrary to established constitutional convention, and therefore requests the Senate to re-consider and pass the Bills without delay. [More…]
276 is a lawful and proper exercise within the terms of the Constitution of the powers of the Senate. [More…]
That the Senate affirms that it has the constitutional right to act as it did and now that there is a disagreement between the Houses of the Parliament and a position may arise where the normal operations of Government cannot continue, a remedy is presently available to the Government under section 57 of the Constitution to resolve the deadlock. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
The Prime Minister is currently trying to establish an atmosphere of great constitutional crisis because of the deadlock between the 2 Houses. [More…]
It is threatened by the actions of the Prime Minister, because he and he alone has attempted to thwart the wishes of the people, and he and he alone is attempting to distort and defy the constitution. [More…]
It has adopted the proper democratic constitutional form which will allow this to be achieved. [More…]
The Senate will not retreat before this onslaught on the powers of the Parliament because the Senate is fighting for democracy and for the Constitution. [More…]
The Senate is fighting for the right- the right which the Constitution provides- of Parliament to call governments to account. [More…]
The Prime Minister is now again deceiving the public- this time about the meaning of the Constitution. [More…]
If I might help him, I think the Prime Minister ought to be given a lesson on the Constitution. [More…]
He would find that section 1 of the Constitution states: [More…]
It is doing what the Constitution says it may do. [More…]
We believe that this deadlock must be resolved in the proper legal constitutional manner- the holding of a general election. [More…]
They will come to a halt because of the action of a group of senators in this place who are not properly representative of the States and who have a distorted view of the Australian Constitution and of the position of the Senate as set out in the Constitution. [More…]
If honourable senators opposite were responsible, if they were a party of moralists, if they agreed with the Constitution and if they wanted to preserve parliamentary democracy they would have regard for that situation to which I have referred and denounce it. [More…]
How can members of the Opposition justify using nondemocratic means and distorting State representation, while looking to the Constitution to hold up a government? [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government may be removed from office and made to account for itself to the people at the ballot box. [More…]
The founding fathers recognised that there could well come a time when such a circumstance might occur, and the Senate’s power and responsibility were written deliberately into the Constitution. [More…]
The power exists, and because this Government is the worst government since Federation, because it is dishonest, because it is disastrously inefficient, because it has brought this country to the edge of economic chaos, the Senate Opposition, in company with the Opposition in the House of Representatives, is using the means and the responsibility provided for it in the Constitution to do one thing and one thing alone, that is, to ask the people of Australia to judge whether this is a good or a bad government- who shall deny it the right to do this in a democracy? [More…]
I want to raise some 5 claims that are being peddled around the community and being misunderstood by the community I want to examine those claims, because we recognise that this is a great constitutional issue and the people of Australia deserve a full understanding of those 5 points. [More…]
The first assertion- it is a wrong one, because each of the 5 claims is wrong- is that a government elected to office constitutionally should be permitted to remain in office for the whole of its term. [More…]
It is wrong not only in terms of the Australian Constitution, but also in terms of the [More…]
All that the Commonwealth Constitution does is to provide a maximum time for the Government to remain in office. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution makes provision for this either to allow choice or to compel. [More…]
To argue that a short term of government will create instability or chaos is not only to deny the Constitution but also to deny both Australian history and British history. [More…]
It is strange that a government which would be quite willing, as was the Dunstan Government, to run short term, to pick the most popular time, short term, to go to the people to dodge the bad unpopularity of the Whitlam Governmentwhen the cock crowed 3 times it was disowned by Mr Dunstan- a government which said that it was good and that it could do so, now denies that the Constitution might compel it to run short term. [More…]
If it is constitutionally wrong, to prevent a government from running its 3 years, how is it that if 2 people cross the floor in the House of Representatives- there are at this moment at least 2 people with consciences who know in their hearts that the Government has misled the people- the Constitution provides that the Government will fall? [More…]
But if section 57 of the Constitution is to be used, apparently instability will occur. [More…]
I repeat that it is built into the Constitution that a government shall survive for a maximum of 3 years but that a government, by compulsion or otherwise, may be brought to the people in a shorter term. [More…]
The second allegation that needs to be analysed runs something like this: The money power in a democracy ought not to lie in an upper House; that if it does, the evolution of the Westminster system suggests that it ought not to and the only reason it still lies in our Constitution is that we have not got around to amending the power. [More…]
Those who as lawyers look to constitutional matters should go back to the Constitutional debates and they will understand that the constitutional fathers deliberately pondered upon upper houses overseas and their limited powers and constructed an upper House here with powers specifically given to it, including this power which is now being used. [More…]
Of course, it is quite clear that, with the exception of the lack of power to amend a money Bill, section 53 of the Constitution specifically provides in part: [More…]
The simple situation is this: The Commonwealth Constitution gives the power to the Parliament to bring about a cessation of Supply specifically for the purpose of bringing a government to the people. [More…]
If the Government allows any one person in Australia not to be paid, not to get any money- the Government has now retreated, as it had to do, in relation to pensions and repatriation- it is the Government’s responsibility and nobody else’s responsibility because the Constitution compels it under these circumstances to go to the people. [More…]
Not only is the power there in the Commonwealth Constitution but also there is the concomitant responsibility for an Opposition to use that power if the Opposition fels that the government is so bad that the continuation of that Government in office would be disastrous for the people of Australia. [More…]
This is no question of a seizure of power; this is an understanding of one important thing in the Constitution, that is, that if there is a power in the Constitution that gives a responsibility to an alternative government and that if an alternative government sat here and did nothing in the face of that power it would have abdicated its responsibility. [More…]
Ought not the people of Australia to say one simple thing to us, and that is: ‘You knew all this in November and December; you knew it was going to happen; you knew that there was going to be disaster; you knew ways of stopping or mitigating this and you did nothing in the knowledge that the Constitution has written into it the responsibility as well as the power to do something’. [More…]
I am delighted to hear of the interest of the Government- a newfound interest- in the parliamentary institution and in the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
It has been referred to as a constitutional crisis. [More…]
It is the action of a responsible government to be able to have appropriation for government purposes and it is the action of a responsible government in terms of our Constitution to have supply dealt with by both House of Parliament and approved by both Houses of Parliament. [More…]
We have heard a whole lot of words from the Prime Minister about the constitutionality of the present situation. [More…]
He seems again to be overlooking that it is the Australian people who will alter the Australian Constitution and not an action from the Prime Minister who decides that he will change the powers and curb the powers of the Australian Senate as they exist. [More…]
We also remind him that he would need to gain a majority of the votes in a majority of the States of this country to change the Australian Constitution. [More…]
He has been singularly unable to do that by amendments to the Australian Constitution, which he repeatedly is placing before the Australian people. [More…]
How is it that a government can take decisions of such magnitude and then change them because it was uncovered that their purpose was an act of conspiracy and that act was illegal in terms of the Australian Constitution? [More…]
It is a situation for which the Constitution of Australia has already provided in that it provides a means of dealing with a deadlock between the 2 Houses of Parliament. [More…]
There is no danger to true democracy when the people have a right to use the processes that are in their own Constitution to deal with this very situation. [More…]
It is a situation which, in constitutional terms, has already been foreseen. [More…]
There is a clear duty on the Prime Minister not to create a crisis but to use the constitutional process and to advise the Governor-General that the Prime Minister no longer can govern this country and that he must take his Government to the people for their verdict. [More…]
The Prime Minister has said that the Constitution did not envisage the Senate to have this power. [More…]
Sir John Quick and Sir Robert Garran in interpreting the Constitution, of which they were draftsmen, put forward this view: [More…]
Under our Constitution, Parliament is made up of the Queen- in Australia, her Governor-General- the Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Constitution was drafted to provide a balancing of power. [More…]
The Constitution was drafted to make it so. [More…]
The Constitution was drafted to give the Senate equal powers, with one small exception, to those of the House of Representatives. [More…]
During the great National Australasian Convention Debates of the 1 890s when the Constitution was so laboriously but splendidly drafted and agreed upon, great attention was given to the question of the Senate’s powers in relation to money Bills and the possibilities and the consequences of deadlocks. [More…]
The Premier of New South Wales stated most explicitly that he would not consent to this Constitution unless the will of the people were eventually to rule; and unless some machinery be provided which will let the will of the people eventually rule there is no prospect of the Constitution being accepted by the people of Australia as a whole. [More…]
They indicate the views which were accepted as the very basis upon which the Constitution was prepared and the powers given to the Senate. [More…]
I suggest, not merely as a matter affecting the privileges of the Senate at all, but as one affecting a new system of parliamentary government, under the Constitution of the Commonwealth, that the position had better be reconsidered, because this will be a precedent that will govern us as long as we last as a Parliament. [More…]
He is now misrepresenting our Constitution and with the aid of some people, who may or may not have an adequate academic status to express a view, is attempting to mislead Australians and to create fear and confusion. [More…]
It can end the moment the Government says: ‘We will do what the Constitution requires us to do in a deadlock situation. [More…]
If honourable senators on the other side of the chamber are serious in not wishing to see fear and confusion reign supreme in this country they will do that which is honourable and that which is required according to constitutional practice. [More…]
The real constitutional crisis arises from the Prime Minister’s determination to follow the lead of Mrs Ghandi in India- a country which had a Constitution to protect it from absolute power. [More…]
Its Constitution was not at all dissimilar from Australia’s. [More…]
That constitution has now, by the act of someone who can only be classified as a dictator, been torn up and thrown out. [More…]
I suggest it is nonsense even to contemplate for a moment that a power given by way of the Constitution, admittedly one to be used, as was obviously contemplated, on but very rare occasions, should be able to atrophy. [More…]
Sir Robert Menzies is well known as a leading constitutional lawyer in Australia. [More…]
The Constitution deliberately gave the [More…]
Ours is the finest and most democratic Constitution in the world. [More…]
It is a matter of saving the principle upon which the Constitution was founded. [More…]
If we desire to know what are the powers of the Senate over money bills, we find them expressly set out in the Constitution. [More…]
The draftsmen of the Constitution included these provisions because they knew (and this is a matter of historical fact) that the smaller States i.e. [More…]
It would be absurd to suppose that the draftsmen of the Constitution conferred these powers on the Senate with a mental reservation that they should never be exercised. [More…]
But this does not settle the arguments of constitutionality. [More…]
The Constitution’s meaning does not change according to the direction from which Mr Whitlam and his Ministers look at it. [More…]
It was clearly and unblushingly designed to escape the obligation in the Constitution to go to the Loan Council under the finan cial agreement for approval. [More…]
All these things are so simple to anybody who (like myself) has been both legally and politically familiar with the Constitution and its workings that I have been astonished to discover that the Opposition is now being treated, not as a body authorised to check malpractice by the Government but, as itself, guilty of violating and defying the Constitution! [More…]
The constitutional authority of a Premier rests almost entirely upon his success at a general election, and upon his continued authority in the popularly elected House, and not upon irresponsible speculations as to whether he would have lost his majority if the Constitution had provided for annual and not triennial elections. [More…]
The motion that was moved and passed in the House of Representatives yesterday expressed the sentiment that the reasons given in the Senate resolution- that was our resolution of last week- first, were not contemplated within the terms of the Constitution and, second, were contrary to established constitutional convention. [More…]
If we desire to know what are the powers of the Senate over money Bills, we find them expressly set out in the constitution. [More…]
The draftsmen of the constitution included these provisions because they knew (and this is a matter of historical fact) that the smaller states Le. [More…]
It would be absurd to suppose that the draftsmen of the constitution conferred these powers on the Senate with a mental reservation that they should never be exercised. [More…]
It was clearly and unblushingly designed to escape the obligation in the constitution to go to the loan council under the financial agreement for approval. [More…]
All these things are so simple to anybody who (like myself) has been both legally and politically familiar with the constitution and its workings that I have been astonished to discover that the Opposition is now being treated, not as a body authorised to check malpractice by the Government but, as itself, guilty of violating and defying the constitution! [More…]
In fact, of course, this great debate is really not a constitutional one because it was conceded long ago, and it was conceded specifically today in the Senate by the Leader of the Government in the Senate that the real debate is on a political situation. [More…]
It was the intention of those who drew up our Constitution and who agreed to it that the Senate should have the power to reject money Bills. [More…]
He and he alone is attempting to distort and defy the Constitution. [More…]
I do not believe that anyone imagined that the power put into the Constitution at the time- Senator Jessop called it the wild colonial days- would be used now that the Senate is a party House. [More…]
276 is a lawful and proper exercise within the terms of the Constitution of the powers of the Senate. [More…]
That the Senate affirms that it has the constitutional right to act as it did and now that there is a disagreement between the Houses of the Parliament and a position may arise where the normal operations of Government cannot continue, a remedy is presently available to the Government under section 57 of the Constitution to resolve the deadlock. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution is quite clear on the Prime Minister’s present position. [More…]
If we desire to know what are the powers of the Senate over money Bills, we find them expressly set out in the Constitution. [More…]
The draftsmen of the Constitution included these provisions because they knew (and this is a matter of historical fact) that the smaller States, i.e. [More…]
It would be absurd to suppose that the draftsmen of the Constitution conferred these powers on the Senate with a mental reservation that they should never be exercised. [More…]
It was clearly and unblushingly designed to escape the obligation in the Constitution to go to the Loan Council under the financial agreement for approval. [More…]
The constitutional authority of a Premier rests almost entirely upon his success at a general election, and upon his continued authority in the popularly elected House, and not upon irresponsible speculations as to whether he would have lost his majority if the Constitution had provided for annual and not triennial elections. [More…]
The terms of the Commonwealth Constitution reflect this principle. [More…]
When the Constitution was being framed, I was not slow in endeavouring to see that the other Chamber should, in some effective sense, represent the States in their position as contracting parties to this union. [More…]
It was clearly and unblushingly designed to escape the obligation in the Constitution to go to the Loan Council under the Financial Agreement for approval. [More…]
I will, concede the legal aspect, as contained in paragraph (a) of the amendment- that the action is lawful and a proper exercise within the terms of the Constitution of the powers of the Senate- but I would also like to say that there is an implied obligation within that that there should be a just consideration if it is desired that the matter be brought before the Senate. [More…]
It states in part: the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
A member of the Opposition in the other House, Mr D. J. Killen, writing in the CourierMail on 10 April 1974, which was the morning on which the Senate acted, argued that it was the nature of the Supply Bills and the wording of section 53 of the Constitution which prevented the Senate from rejecting Supply. [More…]
He pointed out that in a normal case, where the conditions required by section 57 of the Constitution for a double dissolution did not exist, the Senate would not face dissolution. [More…]
Accordingly, he argued, not only was the situation one which the majority of Australians would regard as absurd but if the Senate were to adopt this course it would mean that the terms of section 53 of the Constitution were being trampled on because the Senate would not have equal power with the House of Representatives but greater power. [More…]
The argument of Mr Killen was based, as was that of Sir Robert Menzies, on the principles of democracy underlying the Constitution. [More…]
We have heard quotes from many eminent authorities on the Constitution. [More…]
It is necessary that before action which would unduly affect the Constitution is taken great care be exercised to see that the wrong thing is not done. [More…]
I have mentioned eminent authorities on the Constitution. [More…]
But the matters that we are discussing tonight and which have been the subject of this long and sometimes tedious debate are matters which are quite basic to our Constitution, to our parliamentary system and to the rights of the Australian people. [More…]
I suppose legal men could argue at length on the matter of the interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council: [More…]
If one examines the Constitution, the whole background to the Senate and what was the thinking of the founders of our Constitution surely it must be remembered that the role of the Senate was to be that of a House of review and to protect the interests of the States. [More…]
We find, for example, that conventions are the basis upon which Parliament functions- conventions which are not readily identifiable or found in the Constitution or in any decision of the High Court, but conventions upon which the Parliament itself could not operate without some degree of understanding and some degree of common sense, bearing in mind that many of these conventions are related to the Westminster system of government. [More…]
That the Prime Minister’s office itself is not identified in the Constitution; that the Governor-General himself is not obliged to ask the majority leader to form a government; nor does the Constitution or any legal decision recognise any rights so far as the Leader of the Opposition is concerned; nor does it recognise the facility known as Cabinet; nor is there any reference to the fact that the High Court has power over and above the Constitution. [More…]
There is nothing in the Constitution that suggests that the High Court has any particular powers in these respects. [More…]
There was nothing in the Constitution or in the statutes of this country that would have prevented him from occupying the position of Prime Minister in this chamber. [More…]
Of course, there is certainly nothing in the Constitution itself. [More…]
1 think it is in the Constitution that Her Majesty has certain rights to disallow a Bill within a year of its passing both Houses of the Parliament. [More…]
Section 17 of the Constitution gives the Senate the right to withdraw the President of the Senate by a simple vote. [More…]
Leaders in other countries in their lust for power have raped the constitutions of those countries and it has been to the detriment of those countries and of the people in those countries. [More…]
The Constitution quite specifically provides the safety valve which Opposition senators have been talking about both in this place and in other places in recent times. [More…]
It is in the interests of stability and well being that that provision is in the Constitution. [More…]
The terms of the Commonwealth Constitution reflect this principle. [More…]
Of course it can be argued that the Constitution has 2 attitudes on this matter. [More…]
The fourth, a most fundamental reason, frequently overlooked by those who concentrate on the similarities of the two constitutions, is one to which I made a brief reference in an earlier article. [More…]
Indeed, it has been judicially declared that it is emobodied in our Constitution by necessary implication. [More…]
So attached were the founders of the American Constitution to the principal of the ‘separation of powers’ between legislature and executive that section 6 of that Constitution expressly provides that ‘no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in Office. [More…]
The draftsmen and founders of the Australian Federation, familiar as they were with colonial ( to become State) patriotisms and sometimes sharp differences of policy, devised a Constitution which provided for a Senate made up of an equal number of senators from each State, and a House of Representatives elected by individual constituencies and therefore representative, not of States but of people. [More…]
Under the Commonwealth Constitution, the President of the Senate has a deliberative vote, but no casting vote. [More…]
275 is a lawful and proper exercise within the terms of the Constitution of the powers of the Senate. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
denounces the blatant attempt by the Senate to violate section 28 of the Constitution for political purposes by itself endeavouring to force an early election for the House of Representatives; [More…]
The Constitution: Power of the Senate over Money Bills [More…]
Your petitioners, impelled by this fact, humbly pray that honourable members, in Parliament assembled, will take the most urgent steps to initiate amendment of the Australian Constitution to ensure: [More…]
We are getting ourselves into a situation in which a lot of people are making comments on the Constitution and making claims about their understanding of it. [More…]
The Senate, in which the Opposition has a majority, has now failed to pass the Supply Bills as a means of forcing a general election, a power conferred upon the Senate by the Constitution for that very purpose. [More…]
The Australian Constitution is written. [More…]
The British Constitution is unwritten. [More…]
Subject to the Constitution the Queen in Parliament has supreme power. [More…]
The Queen in Parliament means that the Queen (through her representative, the Governor-General) together with both Houses of Parliament have, subject to the Constitution, supreme power and this power is expressed by passing Acts of Parliament through both houses which are then signed by theG-G. [More…]
This supreme power can only be exercised with the concurrence of the three parties and subject to the Constitution. [More…]
The High Court of course rules on a question of whether specific legislation is permitted by the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Constitution all the money received by the Government has to be paid into a special fund and, as Section 83 of the Constitution says: ‘no money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law’. [More…]
That seems to be a better constitutional position than that which has been given to us by the Government. [More…]
The Government has made some reference to section 28 of the Constitution, and if one reads that one finds that in reality the Government has had 3 years and therefore its time is up. [More…]
But the Government does not talk about something else in the Constitution, which can be found under the heading ‘The Parliament’ where it is stated: [More…]
The longer that this constitutional crisis persists the deeper and more permanent will be the wounds that it inflicts on the fragile system of parliamentary democracy. [More…]
No matter how Senator Cotton or the lawyers whom he quotes may try to twist the words of the Constitution there is no doubt that it was not contemplated that a government in a moment of unpopularity could be thrown out by an unrepresentative Senate. [More…]
I can only assume that Senator Cotton thinks that the man one would hire to defend one on a murder charge is the man who is best qualified to construe the Constitution. [More…]
As any lawyer will tell the honourable senator, Mr Gruzman is noted more as counsel for the financial desperado Alexander Barton than for any performance in the field of constitutional law. [More…]
He took it upon himself to issue gratuitous advice to the Governor-General which was out of tune with anything I have read from any constitutional lawyer and which does not stand up to examination in the light of the sections of the Constitution which he was attempting to construe. [More…]
The Executive Council minute purporting to authorise the borrowing of a huge sum for 20 years for grandiose schemes of long term mineral developments as being a borrowing ‘ for temporary purposes ‘ was a flagrant breach of the Financial Agreement which is part of the Constitution. [More…]
After examining in a calm and dispassionate way the provisions of the Constitution and the possibilities now open to the Parliament, Sir Norman said: [More…]
I doubt whether today any one of those individuals would echo those words, that the action of the Senate was unconstitutional. [More…]
Indeed, one or two of those earlier named gentlemen have been diverting a little from that proposition and saying that whilst the Senate may have acted constitutionally there was an impropriety; but that was a political decision. [More…]
The Prime Minister misled the people, and in the first flush of his statement there was a reaction by the public that the Senate may not have acted constitutionally. [More…]
I do not think that anyone today would say that the Senate had acted unconstitutionally. [More…]
One is able to gain from reading section 53 of the Constitution the understanding thai: quite clearly the Senate in actual fact has the right to defer or reject a money Bill. [More…]
For example, Quick and Garran in their work on the Constitution state that the Senate has co-ordinate power with the House of Representatives to pass all Bills or to reject all Bills. [More…]
That is the basic fact of what the Constitution says, and nobody would say otherwise. [More…]
I indicated that this was a matter supported completely by the Constitution and that those who had suggested that it was unconstitutional- I draw the distinction between that and political wisdomcould not gainsay that the action of the Senate is unconstitutional. [More…]
When the Senate uses its executive powers to dictate to a democratically elected government, then we can say that the principles embodied in a free constitution are irrevocably lost. [More…]
The people who wrote the Constitution around the turn of the century put these provisions in for very good reasons and for very clear purposes because they knew, and this needs to be restated all these years later, that the smaller States- that is, those smaller in populationwould not be in the Federation and would not have voted for Federation unless they had some protection given to them in the Senate. [More…]
All members of the Senate are well aware of the words in the Constitution. [More…]
These provisions within the Constitution plainly establish, and it needs to be repeated again and again that while the Senate of itself may not amend what we understand as money Bills it can pass them, reject them or defer them and it has this right because it is equal in powers with the House of Representatives in respect of such measures. [More…]
It needs to be said again also that the people who put the Constitution together in those early years did not confer these powers, these authorities and rights upon the Senate for nothing. [More…]
We are creating a state of affairs which strikes at the very heart of the Constitution, about which we have heard so much, and which strikes at the very heart of the people who have elected folk to Parliament. [More…]
1 have no doubt that, in accordance with the Constitution, the Senate can block Supply. [More…]
That the Senate affirms that it has the constitutional right to act as it did and now that there is a disagreement between the Houses of the Parliament and a position may arise where the normal operations of government cannot continue, a remedy is presently available to the Government under section 57 of the Constitution to resolve the deadlock. [More…]
It is because the Constitution requires a government to be elected every 3 years and because the expressed will of the electors should be observed in a democratic society. [More…]
The Constitution does not give the Senate the right to demand an election each year. [More…]
By refusing Supply the Opposition is abusing a privilege bequeathed by the Constitution. [More…]
There is, and has been, much said and much written concerning a constitutional crisis. [More…]
Allow me to raise my voice alongside that of my Leader, Malcolm Fraser, when I state categorically that there is no constitutional crisis. [More…]
It is quite clear and quite plain in the Constitution that the Senate has the right- it is given to it under that Constitution- to reject any Supply Bill, any money Bill or any Bill whatsoever. [More…]
So let us have done with that humbug and hypocrisy that we are having a constitutional crisis at the moment; we are not. [More…]
By the Constitution the Opposition in the House of Representatives and in this place are provided with rights. [More…]
In the loans affair we can go back to the Executive Council meeting of 13 December which clearly showed that this Government was prepared to break all conventions and to bypass completely the Constitution. [More…]
It did this by coming up with the devious and unconstitutional act of saying that it was going to borrow short-term loans from overseas. [More…]
Today we have heard Ministers in this place stand up and say that we do not have the powers under the Constitution to take the stance which we are taking. [More…]
Let us have none of this poppycock about our actions being unconstitutional. [More…]
The Labor Party leader of that time, its appointee to the High Court, gave a ruling on the Constitution and the Senate ‘s powers. [More…]
That divine right, as Senator Wriedt, my friend, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, mentioned, is in essence the concept that the only person entitled to proffer advice to His Excellency the Governor-General, despite all the matters that are embedded in the Constitution, is the Prime Minister. [More…]
In essence, what the Prime Minister is advancing is that the single decisionmaking element in the Constitution is the Prime Minister of the day. [More…]
This decision-making element in the Constitution, outside the prerogative power, is the Parliament. [More…]
In other words, the people made a decision inside the terms of the Constitution and awarded to the Senate a supervisory power from the time of that election to the present day. [More…]
Eventually that culminated in an attempt by the Senate to bring before the Bar of the Senate some public servants in order to throw some light, through them, upon this murky constitutional process that had taken place. [More…]
It is this: The prerogative power does not extend to any area that is barred by the Constitution or is barred by statute. [More…]
It is clear and demonstrable that the issue of such a minute from the Executive Council directly contravenes section 105a of the Constitution. [More…]
So we had the curious situation of the Prime Minister directing public servants appearing before this chamber to refuse to answer questions on the basis that to do so would be a breach of Crown privilege, whereas in fact the Prime Minister himself was in breach of the Constitution as he was claiming privilege for an area in which there existed no privilege because an illegal act had occurred. [More…]
Jealous guardianship of unwritten constitutional conventions, based on precedent, is the firmest guarantee of liberty and order in any country. [More…]
The mother of parliaments at Westminster, as Senators doubtless know, has no written constitution at all. [More…]
That this is an unwritten part of our Constitution only makes it the more important. [More…]
Convention and constitution can be disregarded so far as he is concerned. [More…]
If there has been one surprise in this whole affair it has been that ordinary people have understood this constitutional crisis- no matter how much the Opposition tells us it is not a constitutional crisis, it is- and have taken the matter to heart. [More…]
Leading constitutional lawyers in Australia have come out and said that the conventions that go with the Constitution should be observed. [More…]
It is extraordinary that Government senators who are elected under the Commonwealth Constitution should set about denying the very powers under which they are elected and from which their responsibilities operate. [More…]
To rebut the Prime Minister’s statements of the last 2 days, I quote from the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution recognises that fundamentally the Senate is an integral part of the legislative power. [More…]
The House of Representatives is forced by the Constitution to exact uniform rates of taxation, on the one hand, but it could, on the other hand, spend all or the great part of its revenue in the 2 great States. [More…]
Having made that point, let me say that the Constitution which we are sworn to uphold here– [More…]
The only people who are breaking the Constitution at this moment are those who are breaking the clear constitutional practice that when Supply cannot be established a government resigns. [More…]
I ask through you, Mr Deputy President: Is that the constitutional practice? [More…]
I call as witness the Prime Minister of Australia and the documents relating to the double dissolution which were tabled in the Senate yesterday Honourable senators will find by persuasive reading that it is said repeatedly that because the Senate has declined to grant Supply the constitutional practice is that the Prime Minister must go to the Governor-General and seek a double dissolution. [More…]
The Prime Minister is on written record, by letters to the GovernorGeneral, saying that it is the constitutional duty of a government denied Supply to go to the Governor-General and get an election. [More…]
The fundamental situation is that section 53 of the Constitution gives to the Senate the one responsibility and the one power which enables a government, which is a wrecking government, which is a destructive government, which is a government doing permanent damage to the people, to be brought to the people. [More…]
I come back to section 53 of the Constitution. [More…]
Where is the provision in this Constitution that says that it does not matter who dies, the Government is to see out its full course? [More…]
Prime Minister went cap in hand to the Governor-General and said: ‘Section 57 of the Constitution is the only relief when Supply is denied; that a government, when Supply is denied, must go to the people’. [More…]
I sum up this way: It is beyond doubt that this Constitution contains not only the power but also the responsibility for the Senate to act as we have done. [More…]
He sees the abolition of the Senate, the abolition of the 6 State parliaments, the abolition of municipalities and shires, and all international and national power, to use his words, concentrated in the House of Representatives without the restraint of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
It now becomes an attack on the fundamental Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
Let me move on to the constitutional question. [More…]
A number of lawyers, academics and ordinary members of the public have expressed their views on the constitutional legality and/or propriety of what the Opposition is doing. [More…]
The view that I want to put to the Senate- it is a view that I expressed publicly in Queensland recently- is that the constitutional fabric which clothes Australian society does not consist solely of the written Constitution. [More…]
It consists also of the body of rules, precedents and practices which have been built up over a period of three-quarters of a century and which, in line with the development of the constitutions of other countries where those constitutions are not written, comprise just as important a part of our constitutional fabric as does the written Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, I am prepared to concede for the purposes of this debate, because I have conceded it publicly that the Senate does have, according to the written Constitution, the strict legal power to reject- but, I will suggest later, not to continue to defer- a money Bill. [More…]
That is only half of the constitutional position that has to be met by an Opposition which will be judged in history as to whether it is acting with constitutional propriety. [More…]
I repeat that side by side with that written Constitution there lies that body of practice, convention and rules without which this country could not have survived over a period of three-quarters of a century including 2 world wars. [More…]
If that view is correct, then there can be no doubt whatsoever that the Opposition is behaving unconstitutionally in this situation. [More…]
I do not say ‘illegally’ in the sense that court action could be taken against the Opposition or that in some way a judgment of a court could be obtained to the effect that what it is doing is constitutionally illegal. [More…]
But if 50 per cent of our constitutional fabric is the written Constitution and the other 50 per cent is that body of rules, practice and conventions that I assert it is, then the Opposition, on its own stance, stands convicted of having acted unconstitutionally in this matter and of persisting in acting unconstitutionally in this matter. [More…]
The second constitutional matter to which I wish to refer is the assertion that was made by Senator Rae last week and repeated, although without detailed argument, by Senator Carrick this afternoon. [More…]
It is that the situation which now confronts the Senate could be solved quite simply because the Constitution, so they said, had written into it the means whereby this very problem could be solved, namely, section 57 and a double dissolution. [More…]
The suggestion of Senator Rae that section 57 of the Constitution was intended to provide the safeguard for the solution of the type of problem that now confronts the Senate indicates, I suggest, a situation that is either impracticable or at times impossible. [More…]
Yet we have heard Senator Rae, Senator Carrick and, I believe, another senator- I shall not name her because I am not certain in her case- saying that the simple solution to this was put into the Constitution deliberately. [More…]
We have sat in the middle of what has been described as a constitutional crisis. [More…]
I reject the concept of a constitutional crisis. [More…]
I believe we are simply acting out the proper constitutional processes under our Constitution. [More…]
But that crisis is not constitutional. [More…]
A favourite precedent cited by those who believe that electoral boundaries should be on a strict one vote one value basis is the American Constitution. [More…]
The United States Senate has great constitutional powers, as does this Senate. [More…]
The Constitution specifically states that the Senate does not have the power to amend a money Bill. [More…]
The joint sitting determined the new electoral laws based on the principle upon which the Liberal Party, the Labor Party, the American Constitution and the Australian Constitution are supposed to be based, and that is the principle of one vote one value. [More…]
In furtherance of this policy we would request that any legislation introduced into the Federal Parliament proposing to make changes in the constitution of the Northern Territory Police Force, which is a body created by Ordinance as part of the Northern Territory Public Service, be referred to this Assembly in the same manner as was the Stabilization of Land Prices Bill 1975. [More…]
When a government, as in this case, exceeds its powers and its authority then these powers of the Senate are and were meant by the constitutional fathers to be a safeguard. [More…]
If one reads the reports of the constitutional convention one sees that 20 per cent or so of the time of the proceedings of the convention was taken up with a discussion of the powers of the Senate. [More…]
The Senate is exercising its powers properly and constitutionally. [More…]
By way of interjection he said that the Senate was breaking the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Gietzelt, by way of interjection last week, said that the Senate was breaching the Constitution. [More…]
What utter nonsense it is for the Government and Senator Gietzelt to talk about breaking the Constitution when the High Court- the highest constitutional authority in the land- has upheld the Senate’s powers. [More…]
I do not need to refer to other constitutional authorities such as Professor Lane and others who have upheld the powers of the Senate. [More…]
We believe that when we have an election we determine and elect a government for 3 years- but this is not provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
No one who believes in Parliament and the rights of Parliament can but deplore the Prime Minister’s arrogant attempt to defy the Parliament and to defy the Constitution. [More…]
The Prime Minster is defying that- the Constitution to which he himself has adhered and which he has laid down as being correct. [More…]
His attempt in this loans affair to subvert the Constitution shows the Prime Minister to be a man without principle. [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution merely refers to the amendment of Bills and to those Bills which cannot be amended by the Senate. [More…]
I wonder whether constitutional lawyers and some of our constitutional experts opposite could put their minds to this proposition: If it is not possible for the Senate to amend money Bills, if it is not possible for the Senate to amend 99 per cent of a money Bill and to leave one per cent unamended- I take it that that is not possiblethen surely it must be accepted that it is not possible to reject the Bill in toto. [More…]
Perhaps one ought to do some investigation in order to find some means whereby the Parliament can refer sections of the Constitution for interpretation by the High Court without the legislation having to be passed through the House. [More…]
Parliament should be able to ask whether a matter is constitutional before the legislation is passed. [More…]
Besides the views of Mr Justice Murphy, Sir Robert Menzies and Mr Whitlam, we have the view of Quick and Garran, the interpreters of the Constitution, the view of Mr Odgers in his book Australian Senate Practice, and the views of a number of professors of law, of prominent Queen’s counsel and of many other people interested in the constitutional circumstances of this country. [More…]
it would mean that the terms of one section of the Constitution were being trampled upon. [More…]
Such a notion was never within the contemplation of the founders of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
I say here and now that the Constitution of this country is wrapped around the Senate. [More…]
The first thing we should remember is that those who framed our Constitution intended to create a Chamber far more powerful than the House of Lords and, indeed, far more powerful than any other second Chamber in the world. [More…]
The second thing that we should remember is that, even if the framers of our Constitution had intended to limit the powers of the Senate to reject Supply to be co-extensive with the powers enjoyed by the House of Lords, they would have been thinking of the powers enjoyed by the House of Lords in 190 1 and not thinking of the limited powers which the Lords were left with after the events of 1 9 10 and 1911 and the passage of the Parliament Act. [More…]
On the first point- the point that the fathers of our Constitution wished to create a Senate far more powerful than any other second House- I would simply refer to a statement by the Right Honourable Sir Edmund Barton, the Leader of the Australasian Federal Convention 1897-98, the first Prime Minister and a justice of the High Court of Australia. [More…]
I think that indicates very clearly what was behind the minds of the people who framed the Constitution at that time. [More…]
I stand on the right which the Constitution gives us. [More…]
We have in the Constitution what is known as the financial agreement provisions. [More…]
In authorising the Executive Council minute to raise the money in the manner in which it did the Government, I understand from the experts, breached section 105 A of the financial agreement provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
It is only a little while ago that the Prime Minister put to the people of this country a constitution alteration proposal by which he wanted the terms of the Senate and the House of Representatives to coincide. [More…]
It is absolute nonsense and a misreading of history, the law and the Constitution to say that a government must last for 3 years. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution in clause 28 states: [More…]
That provision in the Constitution is a safeguard and a guarantee that no government, no Parliament, can perpetuate itself in office for a period longer than 3 years. [More…]
If one examines the Constitution, one finds that there are certain courses which must be opposed by t he Prime Minister if he is to adhere to the statements which he made last Friday evening and which he has since confirmed in answers to questions. [More…]
Section 81 of the Constitution makes it clear. [More…]
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution. [More…]
That is the clear section in the Constitution which states that where moneys are raised or revenues are received by a government, they go into the Consolidated. [More…]
Money can be drawn from that Fund only in accordance with the Constitution. [More…]
What does the Constitution say on that point? [More…]
The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Fraser, had said that the former Minister for Minerals and Energy appeared to have been a leading member of an illegal conspiracy to evade the Constitution. [More…]
There was an attempt by unlawful means to subvert the Constitution, to bypass Parliament and to raise, so that one might govern without Parliament, $4,000m. [More…]
It was clearly and unblushingly designed to escape the obligation in the Constitution to go to the Loan Council under the Financial Agreement for approval. [More…]
It will not subvert the law, the Constitution or the Parliament. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
Enforcement of Constitution on Money Bills; [More…]
Only the government can initiate money Bills because of the requirement in Section 56 of the Constitution that appropriations be recommended by the Governor-General. [More…]
Enforcement of Constitution on Money Bills [More…]
The High Court has decided that the provisions of the Constitution framed in terms of ‘proposed laws’ are directions to the Parliament about the conduct of its business: they are not provisions which the courts can police. [More…]
The Constitution says nothing about the consequences of a failure to observe the direction contained in section 54. [More…]
The difficulties which arise from sections 53 and 54 of the Constitution stem from the High Court’s refusal to enforce those sections and the lack of a definition in the Constitution itself and the absence of an interpretation from the High Court of the meaning of the phrase ‘the ordinary annual services of the Government’. [More…]
appropriate money from the Treasury to spend (s.83 of Constitution) or [More…]
Suffice it to say at this stage that the Opposition is using the mechanism of the Constitution to force the Government to an election by the people of Australia. [More…]
It is doing this not by dealing individually with Bills at this stage but by using the Budget Bills as the means for endeavouring to ensure that the people of Australia are given the opportunity to vote on the continuation of this Government which has acted in an unconstitutional manner in a variety of ways. [More…]
That is the thing that distresses me in a senator who, in the first speech he made after my coming here, described himself as a bulwark of the Constitution. [More…]
2) 1975-76 for the reasons given in the Senate resolutions is not contemplated within the terms of the Constitution and is contrary to established constitutional convention; [More…]
denounces again the blatant attempt by the Senate to violate section 28 of the Constitution for political purposes by itself endeavouring to force an early election for the House of Representatives; [More…]
declares that the Constitution and the conventions of the Constitution vest in the House of Representatives the control of the supply of moneys to the elected Government and that the action of the Senate constitutes a gross violation of the roles of the respective Houses of the Parliament in relation to the appropriation of moneys: [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
It has a remedy in its own hands, under section 57 of the Constitution, to do something about the matter. [More…]
We definitely have a constitutional crisis on our hands, and we also have a political crisis on our hands. [More…]
I am inclined to the opinion that the action which has been taken by the Oppositionthe present Government when in Opposition in 1970 by endeavouring to prevent supply- was contrary to the Constitution. [More…]
Section S3 of the Constitution lays down the Senate’s powers as regards money Bills. [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution, it will be noted, does not expressly say that the Senate can reject money Bills. [More…]
Actually the Constitution goes further than that. [More…]
But section 53 of the Constitution is very explicit with respect to money Bills. [More…]
There is no doubting the fact that it was never intended by the framers of the Constitution that that should be the case. [More…]
I agree wholeheartedly with the opinion expressed by the Prime Minister in resting on section 53 of the Constitution in the stand that he has taken on this matter. [More…]
It is rather touching that he should rest his interpretation of the Constitution on the opinion of the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) who, in my view, can scarcely be regarded as a non-partisan figure in this debate. [More…]
I suggest that each of these judges is a rather better authority on what section 53 of the Constitution means than the Prime Minister. [More…]
I think it is a great pity that this Senate is treated to the opinions of the Prime Minister, which are essentially political opinions, and that they are put forward as a basis of interpretation of a section of the Constitution on which this Senate is basing its action. [More…]
I do so because I believe the intention of those who framed the Constitution was that the Upper House, the Senate, should not reject money Bills. [More…]
As I understand it, further evidence will be forthcoming soon to back up the view that significant authorities associated with the drawing up of the Constitution certainly never envisaged that it should be used in this way. [More…]
I have listened to Senator Bunton and Senator Hall, with their references to interpretation of the Constitution and the historical documents which surrounded its origin. [More…]
As to Quick and Garran, in their writings on the Constitution at that time they completely and absolutely support the legal power of the Senate to reject money Bills, that is, to reject a Bill for the appropriation of money for the ordinary annual services of the Parliament. [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution states: [More…]
Under our Constitution, the Governor-General is an executive officer. [More…]
This morning Senator Wright took umbrage, in a most flamboyant fashion, at Senator Bunton ‘s advocacy that section 53 of the Constitution meant that the Senate was acting, at least in the spirit if not in the law, against the provisions of that section. [More…]
I promised then to make available to him some additional matter which might help him to make up his mind in regard to the Constitution and the propriety or otherwise of the Senate ‘s action. [More…]
Under the Australian Constitution the Senate and House of Representatives have equal authority, except as to one matter of procedure. [More…]
But a working rule has for the present been adopted, based upon what is called the theory of Constitutional Government, which lays down that the continued life of an Administration is practically dependent solely upon its enjoying the confidence of a majority of the House of Representatives, and that it is sufficient if it enjoys that confidence without regard to the views of the Senate. [More…]
Sir Samuel then went on to deal at some length with section 57 of the Constitution which deals with disagreement between the Houses which leads to a double dissolution, with a period of 3 months between the presentation of the relevant Bills and the double dissolution. [More…]
His wide acquaintance with constitutional practice, his broad grasp of the principles, and his keen powers of analysis were invaluable in laying down the lines of the interpretation of the Federal Constitution. [More…]
His name will go down in history as that of a great constitutional lawyer, who founded on an enduring basis the traditions of the great Court over which he presided with such distinction for more than 1 6 years. [More…]
Upon it Sir Samuel stamped the impress of his constitutional mind- in itself sufficient to give him enduring fame- and first draft though it was, the Bill of 1891 in its main outlines was accepted as the framework and basis of the Constitution drafted by the National Convention of 1 897-8, and finally approved by the people as the charter of Federal Union. [More…]
That person who had so much to do with the formation of the Constitution just before he resigned set out his views clearly as Chief Justice in a memorandum which I have read to the Senate. [More…]
Chief Justice Griffith, as Senator Steele Hall said, was the chief architect of the Commonwealth Constitution, ably assisted by Sir Edmund Barton and Mr Justice Andrew Inglis Clark of Tasmania, those 3 persons being the chief draftsmen of the first draft of the Constitution. [More…]
It will be noticed that the Chief Justice is not on record here as interpreting section 53 as denying to the Senate the constitutional right to reject a money Bill, whether it be one which is amendable or one which is not amendable. [More…]
It will be noticed also that the Chief Justice refers with very grea t care to the working rule in a practical way that has for the present been adopted, no doubt with a full knowledge that Sir Robert Garran, writing in his text both before and after the Constitution, referred to the rule that on confidence in the House of Representatives, then referred to as the popular House, under the theory of responsible government, depended the life of a government. [More…]
But Sir Robert Garran said that, having regard to the money powers that had been incorporated in the Constitution, that very well might change with experience, and responsibility would have to be recognised by the [More…]
All I add, after noting the meaning of that part of the memorandum, is that it then goes on- and Senator Hall read every syllable of it without apparently understanding its relevance- to section 57 of the Constitution solely in repect of the nature of the discretion and judgment that the Constitution implies in the Governor-General. [More…]
It does not refer to the Constitutional powers between the 2 Houses but simply lays down Sir Samuel Griffith’s views as to the principles by which the Governor-General should guide himself in a double dissolution situation. [More…]
I trust that Senator Hall will pursue his constitutional ruminations over the weekend. [More…]
Senator DrakeBrockman has been a member of the Senate since 1958 when he was appointed under section 15 of the Constitution by the Western Australia Parliament. [More…]
Possibly I am free to say that Malcolm Fraser and Sir Garfield Barwick were part of a plot and that His Excellency the Governor-General was the instrument by which the plot they conceived was put into operation and that he unconstitutionally dismissed a government which had been elected by the people of Australia and which had the full confidence of the people’s House. [More…]
Contrary to the whole Constitution a government that was given a mandate to operate for 3 years was dismissed by an individual who came into this House today expecting us to pay homage to him. [More…]
For the information of honourable senators I present the statistical returns in respect of each of the States showing the voting within each subdivision in relation to the submission to the electors of proposed laws for the alteration to the Constitution held in 1974. [More…]
That, in pursuance of section 13 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Senators chosen for each State shall be divided into two classes, as follows: [More…]
One of the greatest disappointments of his life was his need to suspend for a short time the Constitution of Malaysia, as he himself was one of the architects of that Constitution. [More…]
Honourable senators opposite were outraged and said that democracy had been raped and that the Constitution had been torn up. [More…]
I think we saw the Constitution working for the people of Australia. [More…]
One would expect that there should be some justification for the manner in which a government which was elected for 3 years was subjected to re-election after serving 18 months in office and, after getting a second mandate from the people found that after another short period it again had to face the people as a result of an action which I have described as being contrary to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
It can be anticipated that the Government will now run its 3-year term of office, but precedents have been established that make it essential that we look seriously at the Constitution and consider whether the State-elected House should have the right to have supremacy over the people-elected House to such an extent that it can in effect dismiss the people-elected Government. [More…]
There are, analogous to this, constitutional problems which cannot be ignored by this Parliament or by the people of Australia. [More…]
I say ‘unresolved’ because I believe, as I think all honourable senators on this side of the chamber maintained throughout the election, that the election was not some type of referendum on the future of the Constitution or of the rights of the Senate. [More…]
Therefore, I say that there should not be in our minds any idea that the various constitutional issues which have received attention and attracted importance in the last few months will just go away. [More…]
The election not only provided an endorsement for my Leader, the new Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Fraser, my colleagues who formed the caretaker ministry and who now form the Cabinet and Government of this country, and the policies of the coalition parties, but also asserted once again that the Senate has a role, rights and a place in our bicameral system, that the legitimacy of our Constitution overrides the wishes of any Prime Minister and that the Governor-General has and can use the reserve powers which are given to him in the Constitution. [More…]
He asserted the absolute supremacy of the House of Representatives in a way never envisaged or intended in our Constitution. [More…]
Of course, it is a victory also for our belief in section 1 of the Constitution which provides that the place of the Governor-General should be recognised and upheld. [More…]
I believe that the attacks upon him have been cowardly, unfair and inaccurate and that they represent the kind of complaining which is merely an explanation for the previous Government’s own errors, for its massive failure to understand what was happening and to understand what was inevitable if it refused to obey the Constitution. [More…]
If any man had dared to stand up and tell the smaller States that the Senate had only such a power, the Constitution would never have been accepted. [More…]
Similarly, if any man had dared to stand up and tell the Constitutional Convention of 1897-98 that the Senate could not reject or defer Supply the Constitution would never have been accepted. [More…]
I believe that the power of the Senate was written into the Constitution only after long argument and much thought. [More…]
I find it most extraordinary that we should be concerning ourselves today and over this last week with Opposition efforts in this chamber to assert that the action of the Senate was a threat to democracy and the action of the GovernorGeneral, as the ultimate force in the constitutional set-up of this country, was in some measure a threat to democracy. [More…]
If the Senate had been irresponsible and if the Constitution had proved insufficient to the challenge the results that followed 13 December would have been totally and absolutely different. [More…]
What could there be sinister for democracy in a circumstance in the operation of a constitution, which saw the Australian people given the opportunity to go thoughtfully, responsibly and quietly to cast their vote in secret ballot. [More…]
I must go back to the matters that confronted this Parliament on the occasion when His Excellency the Governor-General came to this place to open Parliament, which he is bound to do under the terms of the Constitution under which we all live wherever we are. [More…]
The significant character and quality of a one party State is that the Prime Minister of the day usurps the constitutional functions which should be carried out either by a Governor-General, in the case of Australia, or in the case of a republic- which Senator James McClelland so earnestly advocates for Australia and which Mr Whitlam prophesied would be established here in his own liftime- by a President, who would be turned into a cipher. [More…]
What is further developing is that the Governor-General of Australia, who is charged with responsibilities under the Constitution, and it is not an accidental Constitution, is being vilified. [More…]
He is being vilified for taking an action which he was compelled to take by the Constitution under which we live. [More…]
This problem was foreseen when the Constitution of Australia was drawn up. [More…]
The relevant sections of the Constitution are section 61, section 57 and section 1, of which I think I should remind honourable senators, who very rarely get back to it. [More…]
The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exerciseable by the Governor-General as the Queen’s representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth. [More…]
Going back to section 57, it lays down certain things that may happen if the Governor-General of the day is not satisfied that the Constitution is being obeyed and that the laws and statutes of the Commonwealth are being acknowledged. [More…]
The terrible facts are that in the months preceding the double dissolution of 1 1 November the Governor-General of Australia had witnessed time after time a defiance of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia and of the statutes, laws and customs for the good order and government of this country. [More…]
Of course the Clerk must uphold the power and independence of the Senate because the Constitution upholds the power and independence of the Senate. [More…]
They not only overwhelmingly supported the candidates of the Liberal and National Country Parties in the House of Representatives election but also returned to the Senate under various labels those people who stood before them as upholders of the Constitution and the proprieties of the Senate. [More…]
All of a sudden we find not only honourable senators but even those who write books on the Constitution trying to establish the supremacy of the Senate as being more important than the House of Representatives which, under the whole Westminster system and under the American system, is the popular House in which governments are made or broken. [More…]
On 13 December 1974 the Honourable Edward Gough Whitlam QC, then Prime Minister and Minister for Environment, the Honourable Reginald Francis Xavier Connor, the then Minister for Minerals and Energy, The Honourable James Ford Cairns, the then Treasurer, and the Honourable Lionel Keith Murphy Q.C., then Senator and Attorney-General of this Commonwealth, purporting to act as and in a meeting of the Commonwealth Executive Council signed and/or caused to be signed a certain Minute Paper headed ‘Department of Minerals and Energy’ recommending for the approval of His Excellency the GovernorGeneral, inter aiia, that in pursuance of Section 61 of the Constitution the Minister for Minerals and Energy be authorised to borrow for temporary purposes a sum in the currency of the United States of America not exceeding the equivalent of $4000m and to determine on behalf of Australia the terms and conditions of the borrowing. [More…]
Senator Missen said that as a result of all the events of last year he thought that the Constitution ought to be considered to see whether or not some changes ought to be made so that those sorts of events could be prevented in the future. [More…]
We are concerned to ensure that steps are taken in this Parliament to see that we have a better electoral system in this country and that we have a Constitution which is not a completely outmoded document, totally inappropriate to the management of a contemporary society. [More…]
I heard about the constitutional crisis- as it was called by the then Government, the present Opposition. [More…]
We were allegedly going through a constitutional crisis. [More…]
The Constitution gives the lie to that. [More…]
There was no constitutional crisis. [More…]
The Constitution is quite plain and simple for all those who wish to look at it and understand it. [More…]
The powers of the Senate are embodied in the Constitution. [More…]
There was no constitutional crisis. [More…]
The Constitution envisages that there should be two Houses of Parliament. [More…]
The truth, of course, is that the Opposition does not believe in a bicameral system of government and would be much happier to see as a permanent feature of our Constitution the Senate combined into a joint House. [More…]
Anybody who has seen the working of the Constitution, the recent opportunity which Australian democracy had to give expression to its purpose, the people round the country - [More…]
The uniform taxation system is not something which the Constitution imposes on this Parliament. [More…]
It is something which the Constitution enables this Parliament to impose on the States if it wishes to do so. [More…]
In making these comments I am doing so not because I have any expert knowledge of the legalities of the Constitution but because, like hundreds of thousands of people in Australia, I am still completely confused and perturbed about the events that occurred last year and that so far are unresolved. [More…]
It was a crisis concerning the very legal and constitutional fabric of our system of government. [More…]
I believe that urgent reform is needed, as previous speakers on this side of the chamber have pointed out, in respect to various sections of the Constitution in order to sort out the anomalies that led to the dismissal of the Labor Government last year. [More…]
No specific power has been written into the Constitution providing for the delaying or rejection of money Bills. [More…]
As I am a layman I would not like to enter the arena and try to dispute what are the constitutional legalities, what they should be and whether the situation should be remedied. [More…]
I believe that section 53 of the Constitution should be carefully examined and that if there are powers permitting the refusal or passing of Supply those powers should be curtailed and clearly defined. [More…]
There are, analogous to this, constitutional problems which cannot be ignored by this Parliament or by the people of Australia. [More…]
I say ‘unresolved ‘ because I believe, as I think all honourable senators on this side of the chamber maintained throughout the election, that the election was not some type of referendum on the future of the Constitution or of the rights of the Senate. [More…]
There are 4 questions in regard to the Constitution to which I want to refer briefly. [More…]
I will not elaborate on these points because other honourable senators on this side of the Senate have fully covered all aspects of the Constitution. [More…]
This was done under section 53 of the Constitution. [More…]
Presumably, it can be accomplished by a referendum and a qualification of the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that we ought to set down a principle in the Constitution which declares that in the event of a senator resigning or dying his place must be filled by a member of the same political party. [More…]
The final question that I believe needs some clarification and perhaps change in the Constitution concerns the length of time to be served by senators. [More…]
I believe that matter should be looked at and that the practice followed in the past 3 double dissolutions could quite easily be written into the Constitution so that for all time the people of Australia would know, in the event of any elections, how senators would be placed and whether they were being elected for a long term or a short term. [More…]
The people of Tasmania are now looking to the Liberal Government for the equality that our constitution affords us. [More…]
In conclusion, I have been somewhat surprised to hear honourable senators on the other side of the chamber berate the GovernorGeneral their own appointee- for applying the country’s Constitution, an action which was endorsed subsequently by the democratic vote of the people. [More…]
One of my colleagues in an earlier stage in this debate said- I think it was Senator Rae- that if the Labor Opposition believes there is a real political or constitutional issue raised, let it bring forth a proposed amendment to the Constitution or let it raise the matter as an amendment to the motion which we have before us. [More…]
We would then be filling the role of members of the States House as envisaged by the framers of our Constitution. [More…]
The Governor-General’s basic role is the execution and maintenance of the Constitution and of the laws of the Commonwealth. [More…]
This is a matter on which my own mind is quite clear and I am acting in accordance with my own clear view of the principles laid down by the Constitution and of the nature, powers and responsibility of my office. [More…]
The advice, prepared by Mr Byers, told Sir John he would contravene the Constitution if he sacked Mr Whitlam. [More…]
If such be the section’s purpose and intended operation, how is it possible consistently with the Constitution that a reserve power of uncertain existence and unknowable constituents must be exercised in a way necessarily denying effect to the one constitutional provision expressly directed to the solution of deadlock between the Houses? [More…]
On this occasion the Parliament assembles after a very severe testing of the Constitution and the democratic processes which underline the Constitution. [More…]
Despite that express, clear statement we have such stupid, stubborn obstinate adherence to the mania that possessed Mr Whitlam when he tried to defy the Constitution. [More…]
Section 53 of the Constitution has been canvassed so often, and since that ignorant, impulsive conclusion of the then Prime Minister only one opinion that I know of which usually would be worth respect has emerged to deny the Senate the legal power to reject or defer supply. [More…]
Within a few days we had an express confirmation of the power from no less a jurist than the Governor-General himself supported, as it was, by a plain, succinct and clear opinion without qualification by one of the most eminent constitutional lawyers who has ever practised or presided over a Bench in this country, Sir Garfield Barwick. [More…]
It would be absurd to suppose that the draftsmen of the Constitution conferred these powers on the Senate with a mental reservation that they should never be exercised. [More…]
In that situation, who is there now in this place who expects this Senate to be persuaded that under section 53 of the Constitution this chamber has not the power to reject or defer an appropriation or Supply Bill? [More…]
It is all neatly summarised for us in the document which the Clerk of the Senate, through the President, laid on the table at the opening of this session when he succinctly put forward a view of the striking steps made in constitutional development during the 3 years of Labor challenge. [More…]
If any man had dared to stand up and tell the smaller States that the Senate had only such a power, the Constitution would never have been accepted. [More…]
Similarly, if any man had dared to stand up and tell the Constitutional Convention of 1 897-98 that the Senate could not reject or defer Supply the Constitution would never have been accepted. [More…]
It is expressly written into the Constitution. [More…]
Section 5 of the Constitution says: [More…]
I continue my remarks in this unique AddressinReply debate by pointing out that the GovernorGeneral has express power under the Constitution to dissolve parliament. [More…]
Against that danger the reserve power of the Crown, and especially the power to force or refuse dissolution, is in some instances the only constitutional safeguard. [More…]
In certain circumstances, the Crown alone can preserve the Constitution, or ensure that if it is to be changed it shall be only by the deliberate will of the people. [More…]
The Constitution of Australia is a federal Constitution which embodies the principle of ministerial responsibility. [More…]
There is no analogy in respect of a Prime Minister’s duty between the situation of the Parliament under the federal Constitution of Australia and the relationship between the House of Commons, a popularly elected body, and the House of Lords, a non-elected body in the unitary form of government functioning in the United Kingdon. [More…]
But it is otherwise under our federal Constitution. [More…]
-The Chief Justice, to summarise the position, made it quite clear that in a federal constitution the refusal of this chamber to join in the grant of appropriation could not be ignored and the Executive could not legally carry on government without parliamentary appropriation. [More…]
Although no doubt uncomfortable and irritating to those principally concerned, the present constitutional crisis in Australia is a marvellous example of the Constitution working well in a crisis. [More…]
That was before the demonstration of the vote on 13 December; but it could be perceived by a distant objective reviewer that these procedures were a marvellous example of the Constitution working well in a crisis. [More…]
His literal powers under the constitution are nothing to the point. [More…]
It is perfectly clear from our classic commentary on the constitution by Quick and Garran (see for example pages 406 and 685), published in 1901, that those powers were from the outset intended to be exercised only on the advice of his ministers. [More…]
-From those letters it appears, on the authority of no less a person that Professor O ‘Connell, that the Constitution was ably administered by the Governor-General through this crisis, and so the ultimate verdict was sought from the people. [More…]
In the circumstances- the exceptional inflation in which the country was being drowned, the high interest rates, the record unemployment, the depressed rural industries, a tariff decision still operating to an overall cut of 25 per cent, a deficit in the Budget that is now approaching $5 billion, and the wake of the loans scandal, in which there had been an attempt to raise from external sources, by unconventional means, no less than $4,000m- it is a matter of great satisfaction that the public of Australia could be relied upon to solve a constitutional crisis, to give confirmation to the GovernorGeneral, and also to solve a political crisis. [More…]
The constitutional authority of a Premier rests almost entirely upon his success at a general election and upon his continued authority in the popularly elected House, and not upon irresponsible speculations as to whether he would have lost his majority if the Constitution had provided for annual and not triennial elections. [More…]
The terms of the Commonwealth Constitution reflect this principle. [More…]
I do acknowledge that Senator Button, who now reposes confident in the fact that the Commonwealth has been restored and that the federation is now secure, recognises that the Constitution from which we derived this Parliament stems from the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act and that this is the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
So this is no new trend and no turning back of the clock but it is a simple recitation of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and of the Federation. [More…]
It seems to me that the future of this chamber as a House of review or as any other useful constitutional measure is in serious doubt. [More…]
The fact that the majority of voters endorsed the amazing and unprecedented act of the Governor-General does not undo the damage that was done to our Constitution and to the conventions that have preserved democracy in Australia to date. [More…]
Despite the totally disruptive and disorienting events of December 1975, we have made no progress towards solving this dangerous ambiguity in our Constitution. [More…]
The Commonwealth Government is raising money without any reference to the Loan Council by using the relevant section of the Constitution which enables raising loans to meet future obligations for the defence of Australia. [More…]
and the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loans scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution. [More…]
Section 105A of the Constitution provides that the Commonwealth may make agreements with the States with respect to public debt of the States, and further provides that any such agreement may be varied by the initiating parties. [More…]
the amounts shown below against the name of each local governing body he paid to the States under Section 96 of the Constitution for payment to the respective local governing bodies as grants of financial assistance in accordance with applications referred to the Commission in 1974-75 under the terms of Section 18 of the Grants Commission Act 1973-1975; and [More…]
I am well aware that we were the creature of the Federal compromise, that there would never have been a Commonwealth of Australia without the creation of the Senate and its powers and responsibilities as they are embodied in the Constitution. [More…]
It affected section 92 of the Constitution and led to the referendum on that section. [More…]
Section 44 of the Constitution, as all honourable senators would be aware, in part states: [More…]
I know that it would probably mean a change to the Constitution, but it is rather awkward for a number of public servants who want to offer themselves for political office when they find out that they have to resign. [More…]
Some people have told me that perhaps this part of the Constitution which mentions the holder of any office of profit under the Crown might not necessarily apply to State public servants. [More…]
There are special provisions of that Act relating to the constitution and procedures of the Court of Disputed Returns. [More…]
I think when that phrase was used in other places, such as in the Constitution, everyone accepted that the legal meaning would be the same as either the dictionary meaning or the normally accepted meaning. [More…]
The Senate thought that that was in breach of the Constitution because Senator Webster had a pecuniary interest. [More…]
Constitution. [More…]
If the honourable senator likes to go to section 44 (v.) of the Constitution he will see quite different wording as that section states: [More…]
He will see that the Chief Justice, drawing on historical precedent, gave an interpretation to that section of the Constitution. [More…]
One is the disqualification provision of section 44 of the Constitution which has been judicially interpreted by the Chief Justice of the High Court. [More…]
We now have a judicial interpretation, on the facts as presented, of section 44, subsection 5, of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
I fail to see the analogy between clause 16 of this Bill and section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
The penalty in the Constitution is ineligibility to sit but the penalty in this Bill is in 2 parts. [More…]
Therefore, His Honour’s decision in that particular case was that the interest was such that it could not be counted as a pecuniary interest as intended by the founders of the Constitution and as written into the Constitution. [More…]
If so, what conflict will there be between the Federal Government imposing such a surcharge and section 5 1 (ii) of the Australian Constitution? [More…]
I for one hold that the Senate is a House directed by the Constitution to carry out certain functions. [More…]
Under section 105a of the Constitution it was necessary to enter an agreement with the States to provide for the takeover of the debt by the Commonwealth. [More…]
We know that under section 53 of the Constitution we have no power to increase the expenditures which are required to make further payments. [More…]
Under our Constitution and having regard to the development of the procedures for the settlement of industrial disputes, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission has placed itself in a position of some influence. [More…]
Mr Whitlam, in his book Labor and the Constitution, gives this advice to Mr Wran and other State leaders: [More…]
It is clearly set out in the Australian Labor Party Platform Constitution and Rules that we believe in constitutional action through the State and Australian Parliaments, municipal and other statutory authorities. [More…]
He put his signature to a document in 1959 relating to constitutional rights. [More…]
He supported the idea that the Commonwealth government had, under various provisions of the Constitution, legislative powers which could be exercised so as to affect the state of the national economy but that the powers collectively which the Parliament possessed did not permit the development of an integrated economic policy. [More…]
The legal problems emanating from the Constitution give rise to legal loopholes in overcoming in certain instances and giving favourable conditions to the wheat industry in the operation of any stabilisation plan. [More…]
I refer to the operation of section 92 of the Constitution which has been judicially invoked to confirm that trade between States must be absolutely free. [More…]
Because of the provisions of section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution, State authorities are powerless to prevent growers on one side of the border from selling their grain direct to mills on the other. [More…]
One, of course, also could discuss the decision of the Austraiian High Court last December when it held that the manner in which the present Federal electoral boundaries are drawn was not in breach of section 24 of the Constitution, but held at the same time that sections 3, 4 and 12 (a) of the Representation Act were invalid. [More…]
My insistence on a royal commission into this matter met with no approval from the Western Australian Government until I decided that there was some constitutional doubt whether the Commonwealth, while it had power to look after Aborigines and investigate what happened to Aborigines, could inquire into the activities or action of State police. [More…]
In order to operate within the Constitution we decided to set up a royal commission to inquire into Aborigines in the desert area, which included Alice Springs and those areas such as Warburton, Kalgoorlie and Skull Creek, particularly into police relations with Aborigines. [More…]
In that case the provisions of section 20 of the Constitution were invoked. [More…]
Consistent with the notion that the Senate was to be a States house, the writers of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution vested the responsibility for filling casual Senate vacancies in the State Parliaments. [More…]
Section 15 of the Constitution requires: the Houses of Parliament of the State for which he - [More…]
Both the Select Committee on the Constitution Alteration (Avoidance of Double Dissolution Deadlocks) Bill 1950 and the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review referred to casual vacancies and made that suggestion. [More…]
The Joint Committee on Constitutional Review pointed out the difficulties in framing a suitable amendment. [More…]
The Committee could not, however, find suitable language which would have covered all possible contingencies and, at the same time, avoided reference to political parties in the Constitution. [More…]
By way of illustration of the difficulties confronting the Committee, it would have been necessary, in any constitutional alteration, to deal with possible cases of a vacating senator who joined another party after election, became a member of another party because that party succeeded the party in existence at the date of election or who, for that matter, was not a member of any party. [More…]
As you are aware Section 15 of the Commonwealth Constitution provides that when the State Parliament is not in Session the Governor in Council of the State concerned may appoint a person to hold the Senate place until the expiry of fourteen days from the beginning of the next Session of the said Parliament. [More…]
In view of the provisions of Section 15 of the Constitution and the imminent commencement of the Second Session of the Forty-First Parliament of Queensland, it would be appropriate if the constitutional action involved for the filling of the casual Senate vacancy were undertaken by the Parliament following the commencement of the Second Session. [More…]
His Excellency the Governor was formally advised by His Excellency the Governor-General on 25 May 1971, that, on 24 May 1971, Senator the Honourable Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin, D.B.E., a Senator for the State of Queensland, resigned her place in the Senate, in accordance with the provisions of Section 19 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, and that place thereupon became vacant. [More…]
The principal reason for the rejection of the nomination was that a panel of 3 names had not been submitted so that, in accordance with section 1 5 of the Constitution, a choice could not be made. [More…]
It was argued that with one name only before the Parliament it was not possible for the Parliament, in the terms of the Constitution, ‘to choose a person to hold the place until the expiration of the term, or until the election of a successor . [More…]
The next move was in 1967 when a referendum was held to test the views of the Australian electorate on counting Aboriginals in the census and on removing words from section 51 of the Constitution which were discriminatory against Aborigines. [More…]
There is no way on earth in which, under the Constitution as regards sovereign States and the Federation, a government in Canberra ought to enter into a compact whereby it can make decisions about the allocation of money without having regard to the State governments. [More…]
If honourable senators want support for that interpretation of Labor’s approach to local government, I would commend to all honourable senators, indeed to local government and to all electors of Australia, a reading of the various formal speeches of the now Leader of the Opposition, Mr E. G. Whitlam, who, in a series of lectures starting, I think, in the 1950s and proceeding through the 1960s, sketched Labor’s approach to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
being matters relating to the making of a grant of assistance to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes; or [More…]
being matters relating to a grant of assistance made to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes, [More…]
Since I am on my feet and since the question has been asked, I make this comment: The honourable senator will know that the Constitution does not permit of any discrimination in taxation as between the States. [More…]
being matters relating to the making of a grant of assistance to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes; or [More…]
being matters relating to a grant of assistance made to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes, that are referred to the Commission by the Minister. [More…]
The Federal Government has no intention of abdicating its right and responsibility to use section 96 of the Constitution for the specific purpose for which it was written, that is, to make specific purpose grants, particularly in terms of disasters where extreme situations arise and there is a need to reinstate and rehabilitate. [More…]
a ) being matters relating to the making of a grant of assistance to a State, under section % of the Constitution, for local government purposes; or [More…]
being matters relating to a grant of assistance made to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes, that are referred to the Commission by the Minister. [More…]
being matters relating to the making of a grant of assistance to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes; [More…]
being matters relating to the making of a grant of assistance to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes; or [More…]
Do I take it that a happening of that nature would be a matter relating to a grant of assistance made to a State, under section 96 of the Constitution, for local government purposes, and that such a matter would be referred to the Commission by the Minister under proposed new section 17(1) (b)? [More…]
Mr E. G. Whitlam, who, in a series of lectures starting, I think, in the 1950s and proceeding through the 1960s, sketched Labor’s approach to the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That report having been tabled and provided to both this Parliament and the Tasmanian Parliament the initiative, of course, passed to the Premier of Tasmania to make the primary decisions as to its adoption or otherwise because, under the Constitution, tertiary, secondary and post-secondary institutions are matters for the Tasmanian Government. [More…]
Of course, the Federal Government has a considerable interest- if not a constitutional one, then a very strong financial one- in the consequences of this matter. [More…]
The constitution of the Court in any particular case is a matter for the Court itself to determine. [More…]
The Labor Government not only used but also abused section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
But he, as the Minister supposed to be upholding the Constitution through the Executive, is only too happy to reflect on a member of the Bench of the High Court if that member of the High Court Bench was once a member of the Australian Labor Party. [More…]
Whether the Constitution should be amended to provide that judges of Commonwealth Courts should be required to vacate their office upon the attainment of a fixed age. [More…]
I repeat: There will be a single tax’, will the Minister inform the Senate whether or not the Government has received legal advice as to whether such a tax is consistent with the prohibition against discrimination between States contained in section 51 (ii) of the Constitution? [More…]
It is true that the Commonwealth Constitution imposes upon the Commonwealth the responsibility to ensure that there shall be no discrimination in taxation as between the States. [More…]
That the Senate agrees that the Commonwealth Parliament participate with the Parliaments of the States in the continuing work of the Constitutional Convention established to review the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution and accordingly resolves: [More…]
I ask the Minister whether he will put to study by the Attorney-General the question whether our Constitution permits secret courts, whether the 2 terms are not diametrically inconsistent having regard to the British Constitution and whether secret courts are completely prohibited; and will he let the Senate know the Attorney-General’s advisings on that constitutional matter? [More…]
While this report is relatively short, it concerns a matter of great importance to the Senate, that is, the powers our appropriation Bills conferred on the Senate by the Constitution. [More…]
There were apparent variations from these policies in 1973 and 1974 which led to the matter being referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. [More…]
Whether the Constitution should be amended to provide that judges of Commonwealth Courts should be required to vacate their office upon the attainment of a fixed age. [More…]
I desire to make some brief remarks in support of that motion which I move as a member of the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. [More…]
As honourable senators will know, section 72 of the Constitution provides that Commonwealth judges will be removed only on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. [More…]
It applies to judges appointed to the Family Court because they have to be appointed for life under the Constitution. [More…]
Judges in the courts of the Territories are not subject to that restriction because they are appointed under Section 122 of the Constitution relating to Territories. [More…]
I am pleased that Senator Wright is in the chamber because he is a man with a long and distinguished interest in matters constitutional and I raise this next matter as a senator from Western Australia. [More…]
When it did join it was on the distinct understanding- not just an understanding but something that is explicitly spelt out in the Constitution- that section 51 placitum (xxix) of the Constitution would provide that the Parliament of the Commonwealth would have power to make laws pertaining to external affairs and, under placitum (xxx).to relations of the Commonwealth with the islands of the Pacific. [More…]
Twice in a little over a year this same Premier intruded into an area which is unquestionably the constitutional responsibility of the national government. [More…]
We have heard a great deal from Mr Bjelke-Petersen over the last two or three years about alleged State rights as guaranteed by the Constitution- or Mr Bjelke-Petersen asserts that they are guaranteed by the Constitution. [More…]
It is more than time that we heard something from his colleagues about Federal Government rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. [More…]
This occurs not through any fault in this legislation but because of the constitutional constraints placed on any Australian government by the Federal Constitution. [More…]
The tax is levied by 5 different Bills because of the interpretation of the Federal Constitution. [More…]
In the present year, the year in which Whitlam was kicked out constitutionally, to the great credit of the Constitution of this country, the bounty has almost disappeared at $1.3m. [More…]
As was explained by the Minister for Administrative Services (Senator Withers) when he introduced the Bill, the amending legislation is aimed at writing down the Act in accordance with the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Although it is competent for State parliaments or the English Parliament to subtract that quality from one of their courts, in the judicature provisions of our Constitution we say that the judicial power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in the High Court and such other courts as Parliament provides. [More…]
I admit the embarrassment produced to the learned judge of first instance and to the majority of the Court of Appeal by the state of the decisions; but those decisions, in my humble judgment, or rather- for it is in nearly all the instances only so- these expressions of opinion by the way, have signified not alone an encroachment upon and suppression of private right, but the gradual invasion and undermining of constitutional security. [More…]
This result, which is declared by the Courts below to have been legitimately reached under a free Constitution, is exactly the same result which would have been achieved under, and have accorded with, the genius and practice of despotism. [More…]
The right of the citizen and the working of the Constitution in the sense which I have described have upon the whole since the fall of the Stuart dynasty received from the j judiciary-and they appear to me still to demand of it- a constant and most watchful respect. [More…]
This, Article 126 of the Constitution requires that the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R. comprise ‘a leading nucleus of all working organisations, both government and social’. [More…]
According to the above mentioned article of the Constitution, neither workers, nor farmers, nor even scientific workers are allowed to form any professional organizations (political organizations are not even mentioned) for the protection of their interests, apart from the Government Professional Unions which are directed by the Communist Party. [More…]
When I was at the Federal Anniversary Seminar on the Constitution held at the University of Melbourne I stated these things when Mr Whitlam and his colleagues were present. [More…]
Section 5 1 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia lays down quite clearly that the Parliament shall, subject to the Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to certain matters. [More…]
There has been a High Court ruling on this matter and that is that that constitutional provision does not protect people in the Australian Territories. [More…]
Therefore there is a constitutional gap in that should the Commonwealth acquire property in the Territories there is no obligation upon it to pay just terms. [More…]
Constitution which provides that the Commonwealth has the power to make treaties with a foreign power, in this case the United Nations. [More…]
The Government proceeded to go outside that power and invoke placitum (xxix) of section 5 1 of the Constitution and give itself the power to proceed against the Clunies Ross estate on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. [More…]
In this way at least the man who was entitled to justice of one sort or another could get access to technical and legal advice to enable him to protect himself against the action of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia acting under the foreign power of section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
The second ground is that it is the first time in my knowledge acquired during the 20 years I have been around the Parliament of Australia that the foreign power contained in placitum (xxix) of section 5 1 of the Constitution has been used in a domestic matter for the acquisition of property. [More…]
Of these 2 grounds the one that interests me the most is the attempt by a government to go circuitously around the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Perhaps it is fortunate, given that this man is currently the major economic strategist, if one could dignify his pontifications with that term, or the person who imposes economic policy upon this Government, that section 92 of the Constitution would almost certainly spike his plan in any case. [More…]
There has never been a violent action which more justified demonstration than when the Liberal-Country Party Government had 500 of our kids shot in Vietnam or when a GovernorGeneral tore up the Constitution and threw the people’s elected government out of office. [More…]
The same action would be justified if organised labour found it necessary to paralyse industry in order to crush an uprising of the armed forces or an attempt by any other group to overthrow the Constitution by unlawful means. [More…]
There is no constitutional problem about the fixation of a wages policy or about profits in New Zealand. [More…]
But the Government parties have assiduously over the years sought to evade those responsibilities in relation to the Constitution of this country. [More…]
The ABC cannot be measured by the constitution of other semi-governmental boards or agencies which do not impinge on the tender and dangerous realm of moral, religious, aesthetic and political values. [More…]
Under the Constitution, if this Government were to give Statehood to the Northern Territory it would be entitled to send 10 Senators to this place. [More…]
The simple fact is that he now shares a platform to try to use a device of the Constitution to explain away the overwhelming defeat of the Labor Party on 13 December. [More…]
-Of course I will not admit it, but the question gives me the opportunity to remind the Senate and the people of Australia of what did happen on 1 1 November as the expression by the Governor-General of his clear responsibility to uphold the Commonwealth Constitution, which indeed every honourable senator in this chamber has sworn to uphold. [More…]
I remind honourable senators that the Governor-General took his action fully within the terms, conditions, spirit and responsibility of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
I also remind honourable senators that the Governor-General was appointed by the Labor Government of the day and he was described by the Labor Government of the day as a man eminently equipped in the law, and in constitutional law, to uphold the Constitution of Australia, which he did. [More…]
Although Mr Bowen made a personal explanation about this matter, claiming to have been misreported, I note that he is recorded in Hansard as having said that section 53 of the Constitution did not give the Senate power of rejection and that there was no need to receive the Senate’s approval to a Supply Bill. [More…]
Chief Justice of Australia and one of the founders of the Constitution. [More…]
I come finally to probably the greatest authority on the Constitution and one for whom I should have thought the Australian Labor Party would have had the highest respect, namely Alfred Deakin. [More…]
Under this Constitution that right is given without qualification; and the special circumstances and certain special occasions are left to the senators themselves to determine. [More…]
I did say that section S3 of Constitution did not give Senate power of rejection and that it certainly did not give it the power of amendment . [More…]
Governor-General need not intervene even if Section 53 of Constitution was justiciable because High Court had the power, but claims that case of Osborne V Commonwealth indicated that Section 53 was justiciable, i.e. [More…]
QUOTES ON CONSTITUTION [More…]
Section 53 of Constitution states that Senate may not amend laws “appropriating revenues or monies or imposing taxation” although it has equal power with House of Representatives in respect of all proposed laws. ‘ [More…]
Section 49 of the Constitution says “that the powers, privileges and immunities of the Senate are those of the House of Commons.’ [More…]
The Australian Constitution is a statute and it defines the Senate ‘s powers. ‘ [More…]
Against this convention has little weight as “You cannot have a convention which says that the Constitution means the reverse of what it says, for you cannot have with a written constitution, a convention which is itself unconstitutional, unless you can cite a series of judicial decisions which so interpret it. [More…]
The Australian Constitution spells out, in so many words, certain British political customs and conventions which thereby become written rules. [More…]
Theory of constitutional convention on Subject of Supply in Australia is not readily sustainable. [More…]
To alter the intendment of the written text of Constitution there would have to be: [More…]
There is no such practice but Constitution has been interpreted to mean that by never using its ‘theoretical’ powers the Senate in practice had always accepted the paramountcy of the House of Representatives. [More…]
But this is a political, not judicial interpretation since it asserts that the Constitution means other than what it says. [More…]
This we can do because we have proudly preserved the monarchy as the apex of our constitutional system. [More…]
(Government under the Constitution).’ [More…]
With respect to the relationship between the two Houses on money bills, it was decided that the Constitution should make express provision and not leave it to practice to be derived from other countries. [More…]
The framers of the Constitution did not leave the relationship between the two Houses to convention but expressly defined it in Section 53. [More…]
Under this Constitution that right* is given without qualification; and the special circumstances and certain special occasions are left to the Senators themselves to determine. [More…]
Section 53 of Constitution says: [More…]
This view also overlooks Sections 1 and 58 of Constitution. [More…]
The true position is that the relationship between the two Houses in relation to money bills has been committed to law in the Constitution. [More…]
His commitment to the report on the Constitution of 1959 which expressly acknowledges that the provision of finance by the Parliament is essential for the maintenance of responsible Government and accepts the existence of the Senate’s power of rejection or deferral. [More…]
It is apparent from a reading of the Constitution that some powers are given to: [More…]
I believe the framers of the Constitution clearly had the question of reserve power well in mind. [More…]
Believing that the Constitution appeared to give the Senate this power (even though you might have thought its actions wrong), knowing that a half-Senate election would in all probability not solve the problem, knowing that you were after all choosing a course which in the circumstances and the Constitution permitted of sending the whole Parliament to the people and confronted with a choice- would you have thought it unreasonable to take this course?’ [More…]
There was the Chief Justice of the High Court, there were the Premiers of the States and there was this chamber which had to go to ultimate lengths not only in the interpretation of the Constitution but also in the prostitution of the conventions of this place. [More…]
A Bill is now before the Parliament to amend the Constitution of India. [More…]
The first, but perhaps the least important although very important indeed, is that the right will be taken away from the Supreme Court of India to adjudicate on matters relating to amendments to the Indian Constitution. [More…]
There will be no judicial authority to supervise the validity of consti.tutional amendments insofar as they deal with the basic human rights which have been guaranteed in the past within the Indian Constitution. [More…]
Another proposal is to the effect that the President of India- another constitutional amendment makes it clear that the President of India can act only on the advice of the Government of India- can amend the Constitution for a period of 2 years; that is to say, for all intents and purposes the executive government has the right to amend the Constitution. [More…]
Another very important provision is that in the event of a state of emergency being imposed- either any future state of emergency or the current state of emergencythere will be no recourse to the courts with regard to the preservation of the basic human rights which in the past have been guaranteed within the Indian Constitution, which have been one of the bulwarks of the Indian Constitution and which, I would suggest, has been one of the reasons why in India in the past there has been such tolerance and such harmony, when we consider the difficulties between the various communal groups within that country. [More…]
Therefore they want to prevent that happening by imposing an emergency, by delaying the elections and by amending the Constitution. [More…]
As has been seen in other countries, once you start off on the road of taking away the constitutional rights of people by whittling down democracy it is usually an unending process. [More…]
Committee for Review of the Constitution, a group of members of the various opposition parries in India. [More…]
It is well known that the emergency provisions of the Wiemar Constitution were misused in Germany by Hitler to establish his personal dictatorship. [More…]
When the Constitution of India was drafted, it was perhaps never envisaged that emergency would become a constant feature of the national life and the safeguard against the abuse of emergency powers would be nullified by a systematic erosion of checks and balances provided in the Constitution such as a free press, judicial review and fundamental rights. [More…]
At one stage in Queensland if one was a member of Parliament and owned a garage and serviced a government motor car one was finished, being in breach of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution provides for the InterState Commission which, if operating, would be a further forum for consultation between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
It seems to me that it would be difficult to expect that if the Constitution was being framed nowadays there would still be no reference to local government in that Constitution. [More…]
I suspect that because there has been no mention of local government in the Constitution it has become a very poor relation in Australian government. [More…]
The duties which are given to our various forms of government in Australia under the Constitution are their responsibility. [More…]
The Federal Government, in its federalism policy, is attempting to make the responsibilities of the Constitution match the means of the different levels of government to meet those responsibilities. [More…]
It is not always that I agree with Sir Eric Willis, the Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales, but I think he acknowledged the proper role of local government when speaking at a meeting of the Liberal Club at the University of New South Wales on 22 September 1976 when he said in essence that the role of local government should be defined by constitutional amendment. [More…]
He said the Constitution should define Federal, State and local government areas of responsibility. [More…]
The Australian Government used its powers under the Constitution to make direct grants to local government. [More…]
Of course the Inter-State Commission is provided for in the Constitution. [More…]
We in this country live, and I hope will continue to live, under a Federal system of government and under a Constitution which provides for a proper and a fair distribution of powers between the Commonwealth Parliament and Government and the State parliaments and governments. [More…]
They are areas in which the Commonwealth Parliament and the Commonwealth Government have no power and no responsibility under the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore, no matter how concerned we may be about certain matters that occur from time to time, no matter how much we may believe that a question of civil liberties is at stake, there is nothing that we can do unless those matters come within the constitutional power of the Commonwealth Parliament and the Commonwealth Government. [More…]
His love of God and family, the Crown and the Constitution, his concern for the people of Queensland and Australia- [More…]
It refers to the concern which the Queensland Premier has for the Constitution. [More…]
Under our Constitution there are certain responsibilities for Commonwealth and State governments. [More…]
I doubt whether any Minister, including the Minister for Education (Senator Carrick), could give the Committee a definition of the composition or the constitution of the Australian Council of Local Government Associations. [More…]
Despite the tremendous all-round ability of the Minister, I doubt very much whether he in his wisdom could offer the Committee a definition of the composition or the constitution of that body. [More…]
In considering the reference the Committee had to consider, firstly, whether it was necessary to amend the Constitution in order to introduce a retiring age for Commonwealth judges and, secondly, whether it was appropriate to fix a retiring age. [More…]
While one member of the Committee felt that the Parliament might be able to legislate successfully to impose a retiring age for Commonwealth judges, the majority of the Committee was of the opinion that it was essential to amend the Constitution to achieve this purpose. [More…]
The Committee was unanimous in its recommendations that the Constitution should be amended to fix a retiring age of 70 for judges of the High Court and that Parliament should be empowered to prescribe a retiring age forjudges of the other Federal courts. [More…]
The Committee recommended that these changes should not affect existing judges but should apply to all judges appointed after the amendment to the Constitution was made. [More…]
The Committee noted that it was not necessary for the Constitution to be amended in order to prescribe the retiring age for judges of the Territory courts and recommended that the provisions for the appointment and retirement of Territory judges be made uniform. [More…]
This Bill seeks appropriations of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1 976-77 for expenditure on: (a) the construction of public works and buildings; (b) the acquisition of sites and buildings; (c) advances and loans; (d) plant and equipment; (e) grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and (0 new policies not authorised by special legislation. [More…]
We have power expressly under section 53 of the Constitution as follows: [More…]
What I am suggesting here is that we should take a few minutes to remind ourselves that that is our constitutional authority and our constitutional duty on some occasions. [More…]
Those people did not heed the American Constitution which we borrowed from largely in the formulation of the Federal Constitution for the Australian States. [More…]
We do not have the power to amend an Appropriation Bill of the type we are discussing but, as is stated in the section of the Constitution from which I read, we have express power to request the amendment by way of reduction or omission of any item within it. [More…]
He said- it was proper he should say it- that when this country was brought into being as a national entity in a federal structure it was granted to the Parliament of this country under the Constitution the means by which money could be provided for the conduct of government- that is, through taxation. [More…]
It was laid down in the Constitution how that money should be obtained. [More…]
If Senator Gietzelt looks at section 53 of the Constitution he will find out how it is to be obtained. [More…]
The Constitution grants to this chamber an equal right with the House of Representatives with respect to money. [More…]
It has the right to do so under the Constitution. [More…]
This Parliament, in the enactment of the Nauru Independence Act 1967, made provision for the final moves of the Nauruan people to the adoption of their own constitution. [More…]
Nauruan leaders expressed a wish that provision be made for appeals to the High Court from certain judgments of the Supreme Court of Nauru that was to be established under that constitution. [More…]
We have had, of course, to consider the source of constitutional power to enable the Parliament to enact the legislation and to confer the jurisdiction on the High Court. [More…]
The source of power to provide for appeals from Territory courts is to be found in section 122 of the Constitution. [More…]
75 and 76 of the Constitution by reason of the exercise of legislative power outside Ch. [More…]
71, 72 and 73 of the Constitution, and not being State courts. [More…]
It is stated in section S3 of the Constitution. [More…]
I am grateful that the honourable senator has come that far in his reading of the Constitution. [More…]
I know of no constitutional authority, either in the Constitution or in the decisions handed down by the High Court, which says that the Senate can only make a request and that if it is ignored that is the end of the matter. [More…]
I am delighted to see that Senator Cavanagh at last has picked up some part of the Constitution and now recognises that the Senate has the same power as the-House of Representatives over money Bills, except in a couple of little areas. [More…]
Mr Chairman, I apologise to you for trespassing by moving off what was before you because, after all, we are supposed in the Committee stages to be discussing the Estimates and not having a wide-ranging debate over the powers of the Senate vis-a-vis the Constitution. [More…]
There should be added to that the simple reflection of comfort that I get from Senator Cavanagh and Senator Georges to the effect that they stand squarely behind the undoubted right of the Senate under section 53 of the Constitution to put requests to the House of Representatives. [More…]
I remind the Minister handling this matter- it is now Senator Carrick, the Minister for Education- that when the Labor Government was being challenged by the High Court’s decision as to the validity of certain arrangements for another statutory authority- in that case, the Pipeline Authority which the High Court invalidated under the Constitution- the Minister of the day boastfully bragged publicly that in anticipation of an adverse decision a company had been incorporated in Canberra to carry on the Government’s proposals. [More…]
I bring this to the attention of the Minister to show what was thought to be possible as manoeuvring on the part of a commercial company at the instigation of departmental officers and the Minister to sidetrack the Constitution. [More…]
We demand instant release of all illegally imprisoned and exiled orthodox people and clergy and the return of their citizenship rights as stated in the U.S.S.R. Constitution including the right to follow and practice a religious belief and the freedom for leaving the U.S.S.R. travel overseas. [More…]
He referred particularly to section 53 of the Constitution in that respect. [More…]
He went on to say that the Senate should consider ‘its undoubted constitutional power of request for amendment to be exercised on the appropriate occasion’. [More…]
On page 3 of the Minister’s second reading speech reference is made to the constitution of the electoral college which will elect officers of an organisation. [More…]
I might mention for the benefit of honourable senators that the Liberal Party in South Australia adopted this principle some 3 years ago when amending its constitution, for the very purpose that we are providing it in this legislation today- to provide a more democratic means to let people get on with the job in their organisation without continually having to watch their backs. [More…]
Can he advise whether His Excellency, the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, drew up the rules and constitution of the Federated Ironworkers Association? [More…]
The interesting thing is that both books draw evidence from the conventions at the end of the last century which drew up the Constitution. [More…]
The Senate would also be aware of the very great constitutional problems that are presented to a national government in achieving its purposewhether it be a purpose of covering the whole field in the way in which the Labor Government attempted to do it or whether a national government decided to achieve a more limited purpose such as, for argument’s sake, the regulation of the securities industry alone without a full national Companies Act. [More…]
Whichever way a national government wished to move in this area there would be very great constitutional difficulties. [More…]
The whole object that my colleague the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs has had in mind has been to endeavour to reach an agreement between the Commonwealth Government and the State governments to overcome in that way the very great problems arising under the Constitution and to achieve a co-operative regime in this area. [More…]
The Judges are, in accordance with the Constitution, to be appointed by the GovernorGeneral. [More…]
The constitutional requirement, that a Judge may be removed from office only by the Governor-General on an address from both Houses of Parliament in the same session praying for his removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity, is contained in clause 6 of the Bill. [More…]
Jurisdiction in other federal matters will remain with or be vested exclusively in State courts so far as the Constitution permits. [More…]
For example, common law actions in contract or in tort by or against the Commonwealth and its authorities wil continue to be a matter for State and Territory Courts, except to the extent to which the High Court has and exercises original jurisdiction, which cannot be taken from it under the Constitution. [More…]
Clause 32 of the Bill would confer on the new Court, so far as the Constitution permits, jurisdiction in matters that are associated with matters of federal jurisdiction before the Court. [More…]
The High Court occupies a position of special importance under our constitutional framework. [More…]
Not only is it the final interpreter of the Constitution, but it has a significant role as the Court of Appeal from State Supreme Courts and other federal courts. [More…]
It is vital to the working of the High Court that it should be left free to concentrate on constitutional issues and on the fundamental issues of law that come before it in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. [More…]
One is directly from section 75 of the Constitution, the other from the power given to the Parliament by section 76 of the Constitution to confer original jurisdiction on the High Court. [More…]
The High Court has an appellate jurisdiction, conferred by section 73 of the Constitution. [More…]
The existing provisions forbidding State courts from dealings with inter se questions have operated to prevent State courts from making a substantial contribution to the interpretation of the Constitution, since most constitutional issues involve inter se questions. [More…]
The High Court will no longer have original jurisdiction in patents and trade marks matters, except to the extent that an action may be brought in the original jurisdiction of the High Court under section 75 of the Constitution. [More…]
Nevertheless, over the years the legality situation has been strengthened by a broadening of the interpretation of the States grants position in section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
By looking at the constitution of the insects which are attracted to such plants, the CSIRO is able at least to decide what type of attack may be made on plants which are responsible for the deaths of many sheep in rural areas. [More…]
The most common excuse one hears for not introducing a national compensation scheme is that it is another scheme which has foundered on the rock of the unyielding Constitution that this Government has. [More…]
At one stage in his speech Senator Grimes referred to the unyielding Constitution which this Government has. [More…]
I felt rather that it was the Australian people who had the Constitution. [More…]
Whilst it may have been glossed across by Senator Wheeldon that there were constitutional difficulties in the national compensation scheme which was introduced, this in no way is an established fact to the degree that may have been pretended, that the scheme that was introduced could have been implemented in all its facets. [More…]
As the maintenance of the Senate is something that I would expect all members of this chamber to defend strenuously, can the Minister advise what effect there would be, particularly on Tasmania, if the Senate were abolished as is proposed by the so-called Bowen constitution? [More…]
I seek from the Minister information as to the constitution of this body with a particular assurance that in the selection of the 10 people who I believe will comprise this authority he will consider the claims of the growing number of people who have the very difficult job of translating industrial agreements and awards into various languages for certain sections of the trade union movement. [More…]
After all, Nauru, was a trust territory administered by Australia for many years until 1968 when it gained its independence and this Parliament was involved by the Nauru Independence Act 1967 which made provision for the Nauruan people to adopt their own constitution. [More…]
In adopting their own constitution they established their own courts of law and their own legal and judicial procedures. [More…]
Within the constitution of Nauru there is provision for a Supreme Court and in the section of the constitution relating to the judiciary there are references to the relationship between the Legislative Assembly of Nauru and the Supreme Court of that Republic. [More…]
At end of motion, add-‘, but the Senate is of opinion that the Federal Court of Australia Bill 1976 should provide a Federal court with original jurisdiction in all matters refereed to in section 75 of the Constitution and laws made by the Parliament’. [More…]
Acceptance of Senator James McClelland ‘s amendment, which proposes that the jurisdiction of this Court should be extended to cover all original jurisdiction arising under the Constitution or under the laws made by this Parliament, would in fact completely alter the concept of this Bill. [More…]
In essence it concerns the use of section 96 of the Constitution, in collaboration with the States, to fund the acquisition of additional wildlife habitat. [More…]
Commonwealth authority in this area is limited by the Constitution and monitoring of the efficacy of the code of practice is the responsibility of and undertaken by the health authorities in the States where manufacturing plants are located. [More…]
We do not find much in the constitution of the Agency that would give us hope that that Agency could control the movement of nuclear materials. [More…]
In the meantime, a subcommittee of the Association is due to meet in London in January to draft a new Constitution. [More…]
Because the recent change in superannuation arrangements for Commonwealth officers has led to the constitution of a new fund, it is necessary to bring up to date the references in the definition to people who are contributors to the Superannuation Fund. [More…]
Senator Cavanagh has raised a useful point, but my advice is that the Government is satisfied that there is a constitutional head of power to do this. [More…]
The Government is not simply leaning on the Constitution and relying on no one testing it. [More…]
We should join that with the thread that came out of the referendum of 1967, which was an overwhelming expression by the people of Australia to remove the discriminatory provisions from our own Constitution. [More…]
Will the Minister, in view of the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Referendum having been agreed to in 1967, take appropriate action to protect the rights and property, including the reserves of Aborigines and Islanders in Queensland if the Queensland Government proceeds in this matter. [More…]
1 ) Following the Forum Meeting held in Nauru during July, a meeting of the South Pacific Regional Shipping Advisory Board was held in Apia from 27-28 September 1976 to consider the draft constitution for the Pacific Forum Line and other matters associated with the setting up of the Line. [More…]
The draft constitution will now be the subject of further consultation prior to its ratification by countries wishing to join the Line. [More…]
Nevertheless, as I have said, a fundamental problem facing the Commonwealth Government is the fact that it does not have the powers under the Constitution to carry out, by any means fully, the principles contained in this covenant. [More…]
I remind honourable senators that under section 58 of the Commonwealth Constitution of Australia Act there are 2 things which the Governor-General must do before he assents to an Act. [More…]
That is a constitutional power which the Governor-General has. [More…]
Quite obviously under section 58 of the Constitution he certainly has power to recommend amendments. [More…]
Attorneys-General since Federation have felt an obligation upon them to advise the Governor-General as to the 2 matters within section 58 of the Constitution. [More…]
and I am also of opinion that the Constitution does not require Your Excellency to reserve the Bill for Her Majesty’s pleasure to be made known. [More…]
At the time of this occurrence there was an attack on the AttorneyGeneral, Mr Ellicott, which was ill founded, and anybody who still believes that the AttorneyGeneral himself had any sort of personal responsibility in this matter neither understands the Constitution nor the parliamentary procedures and practices of this place. [More…]
It includes a Head of State and any member of a collegial body performing the functions of a Head of State under the Constitution of the State concerned, a Head of Government or a Minister for Foreign Affairs whenever any such person is in a foreign State, as well as members of his family who accompany him. [More…]
Its only semblance of a wages policy is to mount a continuing attack on wage indexation and attempt to intimidate the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission which, as anybody who understands the Constitution knows, is not an organ for fixing wages, is not an institution for getting an inept government off the hook, but is an institution charged with settling disputes extending beyond the limits of one State. [More…]
The High Court held invalid and of no effect the 1964 amendment which introduced the ‘any remainder’ formula as it did not comply with the requirements of section 24 of the Constitution relating to the nexus between the House of Representatives and the Senate and the proportional representation of the several States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Court held that the pre- 1964 provisions which reflected the constitutional position were the operative ones. [More…]
Clause 1 1 ensures that State courts shall have jurisdiction with respect to these offences in accordance with the Judiciary Act 1903 but, except in the case of trials on indictment for offences committed in a State which by section 80 of the Constitution must be heard in the State where the offence is committed, this clause permits the State courts to exercise jurisdiction without regard to the limitations imposed by the Judiciary Act as to locality of the offence. [More…]
In this development of parliamentary law we were most advantaged by the fact that in the United States of America, that great federal democracy, the constitution of whose Senate might be looked for more than this item of current events, the Senate of the United States and the courts of the United States have had to deal with the problem of transcendent invasion of the integrity of government in that state. [More…]
I resume the debate on this motion which relates to a report presented unanimously, by the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. [More…]
It arose then out of complaints which had been made by certain Senate Estimates Committees as to the operations of government financial legislation and the extent to which it was then alleged, as was the case in the previous year, that there were certain deviations from the compact which had been entered into in 1965 and which had been the basis upon which there was a distinction between those Bills which related to the ordinary annual services of the Commonwealth, which under the Constitution the Senate cannot amend, and those which related to other items. [More…]
The Constitution of this country makes reference to the words ‘the ordinary annual services of the Government’. [More…]
I shall read a small sentence from section 53 of the Constitution which states: [More…]
A further reference to this same expression is contained in section 54 of the Constitution. [More…]
grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
grants to the States under Section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
grants to the States under Section 96 of the Constitution; and [More…]
The Government proposes to introduce four Bills to alter the Constitution. [More…]
The first proposes an amendment to the Constitution to provide for simultaneous elections of the Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
The second is designed to write into the Constitution the principle that a casual Senate vacancy should be filled by a member of the same political party as the one the former Senator belonged to and for the balance of the term of that Senator. [More…]
The third proposes to amend the Constitution so as to provide for a maximum retirement age for Justices of the High Court and of other Federal Courts. [More…]
The purpose of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill is to alter the Constitution to provide for simultaneous elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
This Bill accordingly provides for the Constitution to be amended so as to ensure that the elections for the two Houses will be brought together. [More…]
This will, of course, be subject to any earlier double dissolution of both Houses that may take place under section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
An incidental matter to which I draw attention is that it is proposed that section 9 of the Constitution be amended to empower this Parliament, rather than the State Parliaments, to make laws determining the times and places of electing of Senators. [More…]
This doubt will be removed by the present proposal because under the new provisions a Senator’s term of service will commence on the day of his election, rather than on the first day of July after the election as is at present provided in section 13 of the Constitution. [More…]
The present Bill contains a provision rendering ineffective provisions in its relating to casual vacancies if the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vavancies) Bill is passed. [More…]
This Bill provides for the omission of section IS of the Constitution and for the substitution of a new section, comprising 8 paragraphs. [More…]
The last paragraph will operate if the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977 is passed. [More…]
That this Convention affirms the principle that a casual vacancy in the Senate which occurs by reason of the death of a senator or the disqualification or resignation of a senator caused by bona fide illness or incapacity should, in order to maintain the principle of proportional representation and the wishes of the people of the State at the relevant Senate election, be filled by a member of the same political party as the senator whose vacancy is to be filled but in reaffirming this principle the Convention recommends that the Constitution be amended to provide that the person elected by the Houses of Parliament of the State should hold office for the balance of the term of the senator whose place he is taking. ‘ [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Constitution so as to provide for a maximum retirement age for Justices of the High Court and of other Federal Courts. [More…]
Section 72 of the Constitution provides for Justices of the High Court and of other courts created by the Parliament to be appointed by the Governor-General in Council and it provides that they are not to be removed except by the Governor-General in Council, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session, praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour on incapacity. [More…]
The Committee considered that the Constitution itself should provide that High Court Justices be required to retire on reaching the age of seventy years and that Parliament should be empowered to fix the maximum retirement ages of other Federal Judges subject to a constitutional limit of seventy years. [More…]
In observing this distinction the amendment contained in this Bill recognises the special position of the High Court as the Federal Supreme Court created by the Constitution and vested with the power to interpret the Constitution. [More…]
The third safeguard is that the existing provision in the Constitution that Federal Judges cannot be removed from office except on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity will be preserved subject only to the provisions relating to retirement. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to give electors in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory the right to vote in referendums for the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
At present a proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution must be submitted in each State for the approval of the electors qualified to vote for the House of Representatives. [More…]
The amendment provided for in the Bill will require a proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution to be submitted to all electors qualified to vote for the House of Representatives. [More…]
The proposed amendment will not, however, affect the second majority requirement I have mentioned, that is the requirement that a proposal for amendment of the Constitution must be passed by a majority vote in a majority of States. [More…]
It may come as a surprise to many Australians that electors who are resident in the Territories are not at present entitled to vote in constitutional referendums. [More…]
The reason for this is to be found in the fact that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory did not exist when the Constitution was framed. [More…]
But now that these Territories are rapidly growing communities with representation in both Houses of the Federal Parliament there is no sound reason to exclude them from participating in the process of constitutional reform. [More…]
They, like other Australians, are affected by changes to the Constitution and it is anomalous that they do not, at present, have the right to participatein referendums. [More…]
Honourable senators will recall that a proposal to give Territory electors referendum voting rights was included in the Constitution Alteration (Mode of Altering the Constitution) Bill that failed at a referendum in 1974. [More…]
It was then, however, linked with a proposal that section 128 of the Constitution should be amended to allow changes to the Constitution if a majority of voters in only 3 States agreed to the alteration instead of a majority of voters in a majority of States, as the Constitution now provides. [More…]
What consideration has the Government given to the question of the status of Norfolk Island vis-a-vis the Australian Constitution? [More…]
As the Senate standing order indicates, these Bills dealing with the Constitution concern provisions that are at the basis of our government and are likely to be of some permanence inasmuch as any alterations to the Constitution adopted by the people can be altered later only by a referendum of the people and not by Act of Parliament. [More…]
After full debate at the second reading stage and the Committee stage, the third reading of a Bill to alter the Constitution is not a mere perfunctory matter. [More…]
Therefore, the Senate in its wisdom, foreseeing that it had special responsibilities in regard to amending the Constitution generally and uniquely special responsibilities in regard to any provisions of the Constitution that deal with the jurisdiction and status of the Senate, provided in its Standing Orders that before the third reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a call of the Senate. [More…]
He requires the suspension of standing order 242 to enable the Constitution Alteration Bills to be passed without a call of the Senate. [More…]
Before the Third Reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a Call of the Senate. [More…]
Senator Sir MAGNUS CORMACK (Victoria) (8.14)- I suppose it is no mystery to honourable senators that I hold strong views about the Bills to amend the Constitution which are before the Senate. [More…]
The Convention debates spent a great deal of time considering first of all what the Constitution should provide and, secondly, how we should go about amending it. [More…]
We are debating a motion by Senator Durack, on behalf of the Ministers of the Government I presume, for the suspension of standing order 242 to enable the Constitution Alteration Bills to be passed without a call of the Senate. [More…]
Before the Third Reading of any Bill by which an alteration of the Constitution is proposed there shall be a Call of the Senate. [More…]
What must always be remembered about alterations to the Constitution is that they deal with transfers of power. [More…]
It was for all those reasons that the Senate in its original wisdom said that in this chamber, following the second reading of a constitutional alteration Bill that honourable senators perhaps supported and voted for, there would be a 3-week delay before the third reading was taken. [More…]
Surely the Government is not the repository of all wisdom in regard to the Constitution- or is it? [More…]
It seems to me that matters of such moment, involving radical changes in the Constitution, should be subject to very serious debate in this place. [More…]
How much more important is it to take this kind of action when Bills are brought in to change the Constitution and to change radically the nature of this House than it is with something such as the Trade Practices Bill? [More…]
The Senate will be deciding whether certain issues or recommendations regarding alteration of the Australian Constitution will go to the people. [More…]
Having reached that decision, the people then will have time to debate the issues and make up their minds as to whether they want any changes or alterations to be made to the Constitution before a poll is held. [More…]
Secondly, we will have to decide in this chamber, following the decision of the House of Representatives, whether certain issues will be presented to the public regarding changes or alterations to the Constitution. [More…]
That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the order of business being rearranged to provide that the Constitution Alteration Bills be considered only while the proceedings of the Senate are being broadcast, and it be so ordered. [More…]
That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the order of business being rearranged to provide that the Constitution Alteration Bills be considered only while the proceedings of the Senate are being broadcast, and it be so ordered. [More…]
I think that the electoral Bills are far more important than these Constitution alteration Bills. [More…]
It was stated in 1974 that the referendum question on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974 was remarkable for its deceit. [More…]
One is called the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977 and the other is called the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill 1977. [More…]
The innocent abroad, the elector who is expected to cast an intelligent vote in relation to these matters and to differentiate between what he wants and what he does not want by way of constitutional change, would expect to find any provision in relation to casual vacancies in the Senate in a Bill entitled Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill 1977. [More…]
But whilst that Bill does deal with some aspects of casual vacancies in the Senate, in fact that poor observer would have to look to the Bill entitled Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill to find out what happens to Senator Lewis, wherever he may be, or to anybody who finds himself in a similar position. [More…]
I understand from the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (Senator Durack) that these Constitution alteration Bills are not being taken cognately. [More…]
-The Bill before the Senate is the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977. [More…]
The same honourable senators always invoke the views of the founding fathers who, in all their contemplations about the meaning of the Constitution, did not contemplate that debates of the Senate would have to be broadcast on radio. [More…]
So far as we on the Opposition side are concerned, we have supported the proposals contained in this Bill consistently in the 3 Constitutional Conventions which have been held in the last 4 years. [More…]
The first immediate political effect of which this Government no doubt is well aware is that the life of the Senate will be extended artificially for a period of approximately 6 months by this alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution, the law, and parliamentary practice allow each Prime Minister to have a House of Representatives election on the same day as any Senate election. [More…]
Both are established under the Constitution as equal, independent Houses of Parliament with differing roles. [More…]
Some of them will obviously be free from the burden of explaining their inconsistencies because they have at least been consistent in their opposition to any proposals to alter the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Amongst them are those who described themselves on one occasion, I recall, as the ‘bulwark of the Australian Constitution’. [More…]
In the whole of Australia the percentage voting in favour of the Constitutional Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill was 48.3. [More…]
Nevertheless, in that political situation in 1974, 48.3 per cent of the Australian people voted in favour of the proposal to alter the Constitution in relation to simultaneous elections. [More…]
It is in relation to constitutional reform. [More…]
1 predict that the prospect of this proposal being carried is better than it was in most cases where alterations to the Constitution have been sought by a government of either persuasion. [More…]
I rise to support the second reading of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
I am confident that its forces will carry through the Senate and that it will carry with other constitutional referendums through the poll which will take place on 21 May. [More…]
We may well be seeing a new era where constitutional alterations that have gone through the vetting of a constitutional convention, come to the Parliament and then gone to the people will be treated by the people in a new way- not the way to be found in previous dealings with constitutional amendment when fog, fears and so forth have overwhelmed them. [More…]
In this debate I must speak only to the general matter in the simultaneous elections Bill and not to the other Constitutional Alteration Bills which I also support enthusiastically. [More…]
I hope his attitude will hold throughout all the Constitution Alteration Bills. [More…]
The honourable senator will be aware that the Constitution gives the Commonwealth Parliament the power to legislate for the prevention and settlement of interstate industrial disputes by conciliation and arbitration. [More…]
But there is nothing in the Constitution to say how the States shall elect their members. [More…]
Under the Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act the writ has to be returned within 90 days. [More…]
The High Court held invalid and of no effect the 1964 amendment which introduced the ‘any remainder’ formula as it did not comply with the requirements of section 24 of the Constitution relating to the nexus between the House of Representatives and the Senate and the proportional representation of the several States in the House of Representatives. [More…]
I think it is worth while to get on the record that section 24 of the Constitution states: [More…]
The Constitution lays down the formula for deciding how many members of the House of Representatives there shall be from each State. [More…]
In my view the principle applies to the Australian Constitution and it is the duty of the Commissioners to give effect to the Commonwealth Electoral Act. [More…]
He was making a case concerning the difference between section 24 of the Australian Constitution and Article 1 of the United States of America Constitution. [More…]
It is significant that, when the new Germany emerged after World War II, certainly rivetted into its constitution was the principle that these minority groups were not going to call the tune. [More…]
The plain fact is that the Liberal and Country Parties proved in 1975 that they are not to be trusted with any discretionary exercise of power or with any sort of loosely, ill-defined power in any electoral Act or in the Constitution. [More…]
I am sorry that I am resuming my speech quite as quickly as I am because of the incident which has just occurred, but I am glad of the opportunity to be able to speak on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
For many years I have felt that this amendment to the Constitution was highly desirable. [More…]
We are not determining, and we have no right to determine, what shall be the changes in the Constitution. [More…]
In fact they have had the endorsement in all essence of a Constitutional Convention and were considered there in recent times. [More…]
If in these circumstances we as a nation again prove ourselves incapable of saying ‘yes’, the prospect of our ever removing other, graver anomalies from our Constitution must be meagre indeed. [More…]
Then the chances of doing a reasonable and rational amendment of the Constitution in this century may have failed. [More…]
We discovered last year what could happen under the present provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
Will the Government oppose territorial representation in the Senate as it did when in opposition or will it, to use Senator Wood ‘s expression, be as hypocritical as it is now being in respect of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill? [More…]
Firstly, we can have simultaneous elections at any time that the Prime Minister ( Mr Whitlam) likes to go and see the Governor-General because in section 37 of the Constitution there is provision for a double dissolution if there is a disagreement between the 2 Houses. [More…]
I find it incredible that the present Government should introduce this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill which radically weakens and undermines the powers of the Senate. [More…]
The next thing foreseen by those who gave so much thought to this Constitution which some people would dismantle almost with the levity with which they would smoke a pipe, was that we had to have a powerful Senate- a Senate which Quick and Garran writing at the time said was unquestionably the most important and one of the most conspicuous of all of the Federal features of the Constitution- because if the House of Representatives were elected with numbers proportionate to the people, the great metropolitan States of Victoria and New South Wales would have a commanding domination of the Parliament unless the Senate showed an independence in its spirit to protect the States. [More…]
The provision that was hammered out on the anvil of the convention was debated for the longest time of any single section in the Constitutionso important was it to the House of Representatives proponents on the one hand and the small State representatives on the other. [More…]
If it is rejected a second time, in that case only under the Constitution at present is the Government of the day entitled to get from the Governor-General a dissolution of the Senate and then only if it is simultaneous with the dissolution of the House of Representatives. [More…]
We know that under the Constitution at present each State has the authority to make laws for determining the times and places of elections to the Senate for that State. [More…]
Section 9 of the Constitution is altered by omitting the second paragraph and substituting the following paragraph- the Parliament - [More…]
Subject to this Constitution, the term of service of a senator expires upon the expiry or dissolution of the second House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved after he was chosen or, if there is an earlier dissolution of the Senate, upon that dissolution. [More…]
When a senator is elected to this chamber, according to the provisions of the Constitution as at present the term of that senator is 6 years. [More…]
If a dissolution occurs under section 57 of the Constitution, we refer to the ‘dissolution of the House’. [More…]
That was recognised in the Constitution; it provides that the term of a House of Representatives member is 3 years unless the House is sooner dissolved. [More…]
I stated so in the 195 8 report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Constitutional Review, saying that - [More…]
But the provision contained in clause 4 of the Bill, which relates to the proposed new section 13 of the Constitution, says that, on the occasion of the dissolution of the House of Representatives or when the House of Representatives goes its full term and expires, the term of service of half the senators shall expire automatically; in other words, there shall be a half dissolution. [More…]
Referring to the rejection by the Senate in 1974 of this and other proposals to alter the Constitution, he said: [More…]
In 1974 my Party believed in principle that it was right to alter the Constitution in the way that is proposed by the Bills now before the Senate. [More…]
On one occasion at the monthly meeting of the State Council of the Labor Party in South Australia I moved that the State of South Australia should surrender its territory to the Commonwealth under section 1 1 1 of the Constitution, just as it had surrendered the Northern Territory to the Commonwealth. [More…]
When the Labor senators returned from Canberra, led by Senator Jack Daly, an eminent lawyer in South Australia, he demolished the whole argument behind the resolution and said it would not be possible constitutionally, that it would be political suicide and that it would not be desirable in public reality. [More…]
I come to the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill which we are discussing and I shall make some comments about it. [More…]
What did Senator Withers say on 10 June 1 975 in the second reading debate on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1975? [More…]
The Opposition will oppose the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1975. [More…]
The Bill before the Senate and the related Bills, I believe, indicate that the Government is attempting to trick the people into approving the greatest plunder of the Australian Constitution ever attempted. [More…]
We are being asked to write into the Constitution a power which would, in future, prevent any kind of mid-term elections. [More…]
I have quoted from the debate on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974 as set out at pages 253 to 277 of the Senate Hansard of 13 March 1974. [More…]
Why is there not a genuine realisation on the part of the Government that if it wants to change the Constitution let it do so and bring in matters of graver importance to the community such as inflation and unemployment if it reckons that the Commonwealth has not the power to deal with these matters. [More…]
As I said, it is all about the need to get out of the road the matter of whether the Constitution is changed. [More…]
If the Constitution is to be amended it should be done prospectively for future members of the Parliament. [More…]
-We have heard several speakers in this debate on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977 is one of the 4 Bills that are to be debated in the next 2 days to enable the electors of this country to vote on sensible changes to the Constitution of Australia. [More…]
As occurs with all attempts in this and other countries to bring in sensible reform, whether it is legal, constitutional or social reform, there is always opposition. [More…]
We should remember that the introduction of pensions, workmen’s compensation, universal franchise and democracy itself were all opposed by the sorts of people who are opposing this sensible and proper amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
Constitution is not being introduced for altruistic reasons. [More…]
But no matter what devious means the Prime Minister and his desperate colleagues have for proposing this and the other amendments to the Constitution now, the Labor Party has always believed- it has been in our platform and we stated this in 1974- that the long term results of this and the other proposals will be a more stable political democracy in this country. [More…]
-We will come to the Constitution very quickly. [More…]
The second result of the carrying of this amendment to the Constitution will be that we will cease to have elections as frequently as we have had them since the early 1960s. [More…]
We have always held this belief, but we have never proposed that the Constitution should be amended to extend the term of office. [More…]
We heard from Senator Wright and other honourable senators on his side that the Senate is essential to democracy in this country, that the written constitution is essential to democracy in this country and that the States are essential to our democracy also. [More…]
A few thousand miles away there is a country which has no written constitution, no upper House and no States. [More…]
They thought seriously and deeply about the Constitution and they came up with a document that, I will agree with him, is a good document. [More…]
But the founding fathers never suggested- and no one should suggest now as Senator Wright consistently advocates- that the Constitution is immutable and should not be changed. [More…]
Usually when his sacred Australian Constitution is threatened with reform or someone threatens to change it. [More…]
Constitutional reform in this country is always difficult because of the methods that we must use to seek to change the Constitution and because people like those gentlemen who opposed the nexus referendum a few years ago can confuse the public with simplistic and dishonest arguments as were used then. [More…]
I believe that Australia needs protection not from sensible constitutional reform but from the unthinking conservatism which opposes every form of constitutional reform, social reform or other type of reform that is ever put up in this country. [More…]
The Constitution is not the document of the Senate; it is not the document of the House of Representatives; it is not the document of any parliament in Australia: It is the document of the people of Australia. [More…]
The founding fathers set down the rules under which the Constitution could be altered and from time to time it has been the prerogative of parliaments to submit questions to the people of Australia in that day. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention of 1975 will be a hallmark in the history of Australia. [More…]
There is great need for constitutional reform in a number of areas and hopefully this will be one of the first instalments. [More…]
I hope that in the future we will see co-operation on both sides of the political fence to achieve amendments to the Constitution which the passage of time since Federation has made not only desirable but necessary. [More…]
-A great deal has been said about the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill and I expect that a great deal more will be said. [More…]
I make it clear that ever since I have been considering this type of legislation to amend the Constitution I have been consistent in my approach. [More…]
I support this legislation to amend the Constitution, so that if it is passed by the people, we will have simultaneous elections for the House of Representatives and for the Senate. [More…]
It is unfortunate that the Government has now introduced a Bill to provide for a referendum to alter the Constitution so that the House of Representatives and the Senate can be elected on the same date, not because of the principle involved but because of political expediency. [More…]
In the booklet which was sent to every elector at that time there were comments about the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1 974. [More…]
The Constitution, the law and Parliamentary practice allows each Prime Minister to have a House of Representatives election on the same day as any Senate election. [More…]
Why is Mr Fraser now saying’ that we should have a referendum to alter the Constitution, following the will of the people, so that we will have simultaneous elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate? [More…]
I look forward to the proposal being passed by the people so that the Constitution can be altered and so that we can have the House of Representatives election and the Senate election on the same date. [More…]
However, he could not call the Senate out early because the Constitution quite clearly states that senators shall be chosen for a term of 6 years. [More…]
We have the case again where the two will be out of line unless something is done because the Senate election must be held by the last Saturday in June 1978 or, more correctly according to the Constitution, on the last day of June 1978. [More…]
I am opposed to this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill because I believe that it is the first downward step in a move by which Parliament will become a mere adjunct of the executive of the day. [More…]
However tainted the Government’s motives might be in introducing this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill- terms such as political expediency, deceit, cynicism and hypocrisy, among others, have been thrown around by members of the Liberal Party of Australia and in my view the motive is quite clearly and incontestably the desire of the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) to protect half of his senators from the wrath of the electorate 12 months hence- the Bill provides an opportunity for significant constitutional reform. [More…]
Senator Wright, in opposing this Bill, far from upholding the rights of the people, seeks to deny the people their most fundamental right, namely the right to vote in a referendum on a proposal to amend the Constitution. [More…]
Several speakers who preceded me in this debate quoted quite extensively from this particularly deceitful document on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974 and the referendum document, the Case/or No. [More…]
That is, the Senate and the House of Representatives- are established under the Constitution as equal . [More…]
Our founding fathers intended that in the Constitution. [More…]
I support the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
So far there have been 12 or more speakers in the debate on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
Under the existing constitutional provisions it is possible theoretically for elections for both Houses of Parliament to be synchronised by holding elections for the House of Representatives whenever half Senate elections are due. [More…]
If the Constitution is not altered and the status quo continues, there can be as many as 4 elections over the next 4 years and that would mean that 14 elections all told would have been held between 1961 and 1981. [More…]
In view of this, the Bill aims at altering the Constitution by an amendment to ensure that the elections for both Houses are brought together. [More…]
If the Bill eventually becomes law, senators will hold office for 2 terms of the House of Representatives instead of 6 years as at present under the Constitution. [More…]
The opposing cases, as I see it, are that on one hand this Bill is being presented as a convenient adjustment of the mechanics of the election provisions of the Constitution; on the other, it is being opposed in my case on the grounds that enactment of this legislation would result in a substantial and radical change in the nature of the Senate and in the distribution of political power in Australia in a way which I believe would be to the long term detriment of this country. [More…]
Some people argue that the Constitution should be changed for the sake of change, simply because it has been in a certain form since 1 90 1 , and that the reasons which obtained in the 1890s are no longer necessarily relevant. [More…]
Constitution. [More…]
He has been trained to behave in accordance with the conventions of the constitution . [More…]
Some might say that in suggesting that no Prime Minister would conduct himself in such an unconstitutional manner as to flout the liberty of the citizen an immodest claim is being made for the superiority of the British politician; yet this is not necessarily an egoistic attitude. [More…]
The Constitution is based on the unwritten principle that all those concerned with working it will honour its spirit. [More…]
That is why it remains technically an unwritten Constitution. [More…]
The tyranny of the majority, which was one of the very real practical fears of the founding fathers, was something which our founding fathers attempted to avoid in the Constitution. [More…]
Opposition senators who have said that they want to see the situation cleared upsimply in terms of avoiding any inconvenience in the present Constitution- will be put to the test when they vote on these amendments. [More…]
The real threat to democracy is when Australians become subject to emotion and not reason, and I hope that in the months that precede the vote on these referendums there will be an unemotional and reasonable approach to the problems which confront the people over their most important constitution. [More…]
After all, the legislation we support here today merely proposes that the Australian people be given an opportunity to decide at a poll on certain proposed changes to the Constitution. [More…]
Thank God for the Constitution and the wisdom of the fathers of Federation’. [More…]
This is the main reason why we have Opposition senators voting so gleefully for the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill today. [More…]
They need the Constitution. [More…]
May I explain that the context in which I was using the word ‘Queen’ was in relation to Chapter 1-The Parliament, Part I-General, of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
-According to that part of the Constitution, the Parliament is made up of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
These are fundamental changes which, if made, would sabotage the foundations of our Constitution, which nas withstood the ravages of time, including what I would call the holocaust of the 3 years of Labor, ending in that cataclysm which occurred on Remembrance Day in 1975. [More…]
This view is taken in the light of the decisions of the last Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
The Constitution; the law and parliamentary practice allows each Prime Minister to have a House of Representatives election on the same day as any Senate election. [More…]
Both are established under the Constitution as equal, independent Houses of Parliament with differing roles. [More…]
I recall that when we were discussing this proposal in 1975 the suggestion was that we would have fewer elections as a result of a change to the Constitution. [More…]
I believe that the best answer to this matter would be to adopt a provision similar to that which prevails in South Australia There the Constitution Act provides that the Upper House, the Legislative Council, is guaranteed a full term of 6 years and that the Premier in that State cannot take the Upper House out at an election at intervals of less than 3 years. [More…]
If we look at the history of this Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill we will see that our first knowledge of it was gained early last week when it was mentioned in the Australian that it was being likely to be introduced. [More…]
I believe that had a provision for simultaneous elections been in the Constitution in 1972 we would have had an extra election, not one less. [More…]
Canberra asks you to approve a law to alter the Constitution ‘so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections ‘. [More…]
Both are established under the Constitution as equal, independent Houses of Parliament with differing roles. [More…]
The simple situation is that the Australian Constitution was formed on the basis that the less populous States- Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia in particular, and Queensland- would only come into a Commonwealth if there were a Senate and if the Constitution of that Senate were as provided in the Australian Constitution. [More…]
There is a problem in debating this important matter, the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
I believe that its importance to the Constitution, to the democracy of Australia, is very great. [More…]
It means that necessary constitutional change, real reform, in this country is being put in jeopardy as a result of the action being taken apparently by a majority in this chamber today. [More…]
There are important questions of constitutional reform. [More…]
There are important questions of necessary change to bring our Constitution up to date with the needs of the latter part of this century and into the next century. [More…]
If we all are to be men of absolute consistency it seems to me that we will never make progress with constitutional change and reform. [More…]
In the past constitutional change has been a politically devisive issue in Australia. [More…]
The whole concept of the Constitutional Convention has been to try to bring the warring parties together around the conference table so that they can agree on desirable changes to the Constitution. [More…]
In the report of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review which is now quite an old document I found a good explanation of why too many elections should not be held. [More…]
In paragraph 245 of the section of the report which recommended this particular change in the Constitution the following statement appears: [More…]
I remind honourable senators that in 1974 this referendum was put forward before there was any talk of a Constitutional Convention and before the States and the Commonwealth came together to try to devise solutions. [More…]
Not only did it put forward this referendum; it also put forward a referendum on how to alter the Constitution more easily, called the mode of altering the constitution. [More…]
It put forward one called democratic elections, which would have meant that the central government through the Constitution overrode the States’ rights to establish their own electoral systems, and it put forward something which would have created a section 96 situation for local government. [More…]
We put this forward as something which has come not just from this Government but from the Constitutional Convention which, I understand, has the support of every parliament in the Commonwealth and which has met seeking to bring us together to update the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Tehan made the point that the Constitution belongs to the people. [More…]
-Senator Jessop said rather satirically that perhaps the Constitution should be altered to provide for a 4-year term. [More…]
This proposal for a referendum concerning amendment of the Constitution arises out of the Australian Constitutional Convention and the deliberations of that Convention at the end of October of last year. [More…]
A number of speakers in the debate have emphasised the need for constitutional review and reform. [More…]
The Constitution cannot be accepted as a document which is to be there forever unchanged. [More…]
No constitution has that degree of sanctity; nor should it. [More…]
It has been remarkably difficult to amend or reform the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Indeed, the only real measures of constitutional reform that hitherto have been feasible have stemmed largely from the interpretations of the High Court of Australia, which, of course, is not subject to the will of the people. [More…]
It is not a satisfactory way of doing things for governments, parliaments or the people of Australia to have to rely upon High Court decisions and changes that may occur from time to time in the composition of the High Court to obtain changes in their own Constitution. [More…]
Therefore the movement for constitutional reform has been a most important one. [More…]
It is the only agency under our Constitution- I stress that point, and this [More…]
The only consideration is whether such a proposal will weaken the Senate in some way, as has been claimed by many speakers in this debate, and whether it will make profound changes- I think that was the way Senator Martin described it- in our Constitution. [More…]
Mr President, if I believed that such a measure would weaken the Senate in any way, much less make a profound change in our Constitution at the expense of the fundamental consensus it represents, I certainly would not be supporting it, much less be prepared to promote it in the Senate on behalf of the Government. [More…]
It does not depend upon the Constitution. [More…]
If a Prime Minister were so hell bent on achieving that result he could do so under our present Constitution. [More…]
Having regard to an analysis, as best I have been able to make one, of the arguments made against this proposal, namely, that it will weaken the Senate and so on, having regard to the existing provisions of the Constitution, having regard to the most recent history which I have mentioned, I cannot really accept the argument- I certainly have no fears about thisthat this proposal will have the effect of weakening the Senate. [More…]
Certainly, it could not make profound changes to our Constitution because, as Senator Chaney has said, the major power of the Senate resides in its equal representation from the States and the influence which the less populous States have in the Parliament by reason of that representation. [More…]
That is the fundamental fact about the constitutional structure of the Senate. [More…]
In my view and in the view of the Government which I was expressing, the power of the Senate to which I am utterly devoted and which I will always support will reside, firstly, in that constitutional guarantee of equal representation. [More…]
It certainly will not reside or be maintained if the Senate takes the view that the Constitution or any power to alter it can never be entertained, that there is something absolutely sacrosanct in every word of the present Constitution. [More…]
To alter the Constitution so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections. [More…]
I suggest that that could be achieved by making a simple amendment to the Constitution as expressed in clause 3, giving this Parliament instead of the State parliaments power to make laws for determining the times of elections of honourable senators, if the Constitution goes on and includes a condition which provides that elections of senators in all States and Territories shall be held on the same day and at the same time as general elections for the House of Representatives. [More…]
He said that there was no difference between a proposition that elections for the 2 Houses should be held at the same time and the proposition which we find in this Bill which gives to the Federal Parliament an untrammelled power to appoint the time of elections as distinct from the present Constitution which gives the State parliaments that power. [More…]
The point, Mr Minister, is that when we bring in those shortened terms for honourable senators which coincide entirely with the terms of honourable members of the House of Representatives, when we remember one ‘s experience here from 1975 or such a brief period as that or remember the whimsical reaction of Mr Whitlam, when we rely upon constitutional experience throughout the democratic world in the last 25 years and when we remember the quotations which were given by Senator Martin and myself - [More…]
The Joint Committee on Constitutional Review reported in 1958 and 1959. [More…]
There has been a great change in the interpretation of the Constitution by the High Court during that period. [More…]
There has been a fundamental change by the High Court in the interpretation of the provision of the Constitution in relation to the corporations power, which is the matter raised by Senator Wright, in a case known as the concrete pipes case with which I am sure Senator Wright is more familiar than I and certainly more familiar than most people would be. [More…]
I ask the Minister for Administrative Services: Is it not a fact that under the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act the official Yes and No cases on a referendum proposal have to be authorised by members of Parliament who vote for or against the referendum Bill or Bills in the national Parliament? [More…]
I assume he means the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act. [More…]
I remind the Committee that the title of this Bill is the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill and it purports to be a Bill to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections. [More…]
With regard to clause 3, the only provision that the Bill makes concerning elections is to state that this Parliament may make laws for determining the times of elections of senators, whereas the Constitution, presently unamended, states that the State Parliaments may make laws for determining the times of elections of senators. [More…]
The terms of senators would remain fixed, as provided already in the Constitution. [More…]
Certainly if those fixed terms remain in the Constitution, the only way to give effect to this amendment would be for a House of Representatives election to be held every 3 years at the same time as an election for half the Senate. [More…]
That amendment would be an absolutely fundamental change in the Constitution. [More…]
Honourable senators have been talking about profound changes and so on being made to the Constitution by this Bill but if House of Representatives elections must be held at the same time as Senate elections, that is, virtually at fixed times, then we are facing a fundamental change in the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore any tying of elections for the House of Representatives with fixed terms with Senate elections, which is the effect of Senator Wright’s amendment, would be a fundamental change in the Constitution and it is not one which this Government certainly is proposing or would propose. [More…]
If I may comment on this amendment, I understood that the intention of this amendment is to ensure that elections for both Houses be held at the same time and to write this provision into the Constitution. [More…]
The Committee had before it a recommendation that the Constitution be amended to provide for the synchronisation of elections of members of the House of Representatives and Senators. [More…]
The committee had resolved to defer consideration of these recommendations in light of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1974, which related directly to this matter and for which a referendum was held on 18 May 1974. [More…]
That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be amended, in terms of the Constitution Aleration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill that was submitted to referendum in May 1 974 so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections. [More…]
In 1974, words similar to what Senator Wright has just said moved senior members of the then Opposition, who are now members of the Government, to say that the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill should be opposed because it was a direct attack on the powers of this chamber and would substantially transfer power from the States and from the States’ Houses to the Executive Government. [More…]
-This clause proposes to introduce into the Constitution 10 paragraphs, only one of which, fortunately, I consider to be material for my purpose. [More…]
Subject to this Constitution, the term of service of a senator expires upon the expiration or dissolution of the second House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved after he was chosen or, if there is an earlier dissolution of the Senate, upon that dissolution. [More…]
The present provision in the Constitution is that the term of a senator is for 6 years and that can be abbreviated only by the provisions of section 57, namely a double dissolution. [More…]
That indicates a fundamental lack of appreciation of the constitutional safeguard of section 57 which provides that if the House of Representatives sends to the Senate a Bill which fails to pass and after an interval of 3 months the Bill comes again from the House of Representatives and we again fail to pass it, then, and then only, there may be a dissolution of the Senate, accompanied by a simultaneous dissolution of the House of Representatives. [More…]
In attempting to amend the Constitution to provide for simultaneous elections, why has the Government, either deliberately or unwittingly, got out of kilter the writs for those elections? [More…]
The Committee is dealing with clause 4, which seeks to alter section 12 of the Constitution to provide inter aiia that the writs shall be issued within 14 days from the date on which the places to be filled become vacant. [More…]
In the current provisions of the Constitution the period is 10 days, and I do not know if the Minister has any explanation for that. [More…]
The reason for the new provision is that the Constitution has always provided that the writs are to be issued by the Governors of the States rather than by the Governor-General. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention debated this matter and, as I have said, took the view that the writs should be issued by the Governors of the States. [More…]
I want to comment on the matters raised in the recent debate by saying that, if one looks at some examples of what might possibly occur, bearing in mind what has happened in Australian politics in the past, and at the sorts of things which might precipitate a House of Representatives election, one would have to agree that to have this absolute provision in the Constitution is undesirable. [More…]
All members of the Liberal Party of Australia, including Senator Durack, said to a man 2 years ago that this alteration to the Constitution was unnecessary to achieve simultaneous elections. [More…]
It only requires the House of Representatives to have a premature dissolution to synchronise its elections with the Senate at a time stipulated by the Constitution. [More…]
That is entirely inconsistent with the previous Constitution and should not be altered without a deliberate understanding. [More…]
At the present time section 32 of the Constitution provides that the writs for the House of Representatives must be issued within 10 days from the expiry of the House of Representatives or from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof. [More…]
Currently under the Constitution also, the writs for the Senate must be issued within 10 days. [More…]
In short, the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill is not simply unnecessary but also is cunningly deceptive in its intent. [More…]
The amendment I propose is based on the Constitution Act of South Australia, although modified in the hope that the Government would be prepared to compromise and accept my amendment as a reasonable proposition. [More…]
Where, since the election of senators for a State following a dissolution of the Senate but before the division of the senators for that State into classes in pursuance of this section, the place of a senator chosen at that election has become vacant, the division of senators shall be made as if the place of that senator had not so become vacant and, for the purposes of section fifteen of this Constitution, the term of service of that senator shall be deemed to be, and to have been, the period for which he would have held his place, in accordance with this section, if his place had not so become vacant. [More…]
The situation of confrontation or deadlock is provided for already in section 57 of the Constitution, relating to double dissolution. [More…]
What it can do is to get into a deadlock situation which has to be resolved in compliance with certain procedures set out in the Constitution. [More…]
Only a person infantile in the constitutional interpretation of this Federation could put it forward. [More…]
It would be absurd- it amazes me that the proposition can be put forward- that Senator Jessop ‘s amendment should remove from the Constitution that provision. [More…]
No such case could be advanced by any honest mind with even a preparatory knowledge of the interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
We know that at the Constitutional Convention considerable time was available to consider this matter and a definite recommendation was put. [More…]
Therefore, as a recent amendment of the Constitution, surely it will cut across the ability to have a double dissolution. [More…]
This amendment of Senator Jessop ‘s is highly dangerous and possibly interferes with the existing provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
I would like to reply to Senator Missen and Senator Hall and suggest that apart from completely ignoring the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution, Senator Missen forgot to read my amendment in full. [More…]
Realising that the Constitution gives the Senate the power to reject them as well as any other Bill but to amend only such money Bills as impose taxation or appropriate moneys for ordinary annual services as distinct from Apopropriation Bills that appropriate money for capital works, that brings to the attention of the Senate the significance of these money Bills. [More…]
Frankly I do not know which, but if he will turn to the Constitution, a copy of which he has in his desk before him, and will read clause 57 he will see that it states: [More…]
It is quite obvious that Senator Walters deliberately tried to confuse the issue and to misrepresent me when she quoted section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is no good quoting the Constitution in part and trying to fool the people outside. [More…]
Senator Walters obviously was not certain because she was talking about the double dissolution provisions of section 57 of the Constitution. [More…]
This situation is particularly likely to arise under our Constitution, as we discovered with the provisions relating to a double dissolution. [More…]
After a double dissolution, because of the peculiarities of the Constitution as to when the terms of senators start, the 2 Houses get out of kilter. [More…]
Leave out all words after ‘Constitution’, insert ‘to provide that upon each occasion when the House of Representatives expires or is dissolved one half of the Senate shall be dissolved’ [More…]
It states that the title is to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives. [More…]
We are having a special sitting today solely devoted to it and the other Constitution alteration Bills. [More…]
Senator Withers had this to say about the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1973: [More…]
The Bill has very long term implications for the Senate and for the Constitution as such because it does not deal with something which will be temporary; it deals with something which will be written into the Constitution. [More…]
There are other worthy constitutionalawyers outside the Senate who also have not had the opportunity to participate in the formulation of proposals designed to amend the Constitution. [More…]
-The Senate is debating the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill. [More…]
The procedure for filling vacancies in the Senate is laid down in section 15 of the Constitution which provides that the Parliaments of the various States shall fill vacancies as they arise. [More…]
There is no provision in the Constitution for an honourable senator who had died or retired, or in some other way left this place to be replaced by a person from the same political party. [More…]
In choosing the person to replace Senator Murphy the New South Wales Parliament quite clearly acted within the strict terms of the Constitution. [More…]
The fact of the matter is that it is in substance the provision which was approved of by the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
It is in substance the proposal which was approved of by the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review of 1959, although that Committee did not see the way in which it could be carried out. [More…]
It is a necessary amendment to the Constitution and one which we believe will receive the approval of the Australian people, having regard to the conduct of State governments in recent years. [More…]
There is no reason in the world why political parties should not be referred to in our Constitution. [More…]
A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution so as to ensure so Tar as practicable that a Casual Vacancy in the Senate is rilled by a Person of the same Political Party as the Senator chosen by the People . [More…]
It so reported to the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention discussed it briefly to see whether it was possible to put into the Constitution something which would enshrine the concept that it should be the function of those people responsible for filling casual vacancies to be obedient to the principle; but it confessed that it was totally beyond legal expression in any form. [More…]
This was agreed to by all the Government representatives who were at that Constitutional Convention and on Committee D. In Committee D it had the support of that eminent legal luminary who now sits in the High Court and once sat in the Senate; it was not possible to find an appropriate form of words. [More…]
The situation clearly is that the Government cannot look to the Constitutional Convention and say that it recommended that there be a referendum on this matter. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention simply stated a principle and expected that those people present, including those in State governments, would take that principle back and implement it. [More…]
This is an attempt to take away from Independents a right which the Government is now trying to enshrine in the Constitution for a group of people on an executive of a party. [More…]
Committee D, to which Senator Sir Magnus Cormack referred, could not say; nor has anybody suggested a definition of ‘party’ for the purpose of this amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
After all, it is the first time that an attempt has been made to incorporate the word ‘party’ into the Constitution. [More…]
It cannot be said that we should have known about it because the Constitutional Convention recommended that there should be an amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
It did not, and I remind the members of the National Country Party that not only did it not do that but Mr Bjelke-Petersen firmly opposed an amendment to the Constitution thereby. [More…]
It is important to ensure that it is a principle and is taken forward, but it cannot be imported into the Constitution for reasons too long to go into during this truncated debate, which is only for 35 minutes. [More…]
With the will of the people the Constitution may be altered so that persons of the same political party as those who have left can be appointed to the Senate in their place. [More…]
I am sorry that, once again, we are dealing with legislation- in this case the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill- brought in by this Government. [More…]
In my opinion, it is even more dishonest than the previous legislation, the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
The States are a very important part of the composition of this Constitution of Australia. [More…]
I was a member of the Constitutional Review Committee which considered this subject in 1959 and reported unanimously that no formulation of words could be devised by draftsmen in the 3 years of the Committee’s consulations to give effect to this principle without invading fundamental principles which we have always held. [More…]
The first is that proportional representation is not part of the Constitution. [More…]
That leave be given to introduce a Bill for an Act to modify the application of seciton 16 of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906. [More…]
by leave- On 25 February 1977 the Senate passed by absolute majorities the Bills in respect of the proposed laws to alter the Constitution: [More…]
To allow electors in Territories, as well as electors in the States, to vote at referendums on proposed laws to alter the Constitution. [More…]
In order to comply with the requirements of section 128 of the Constitution these Bills must be submitted to the electors in each State not less than 2 nor more than 6 months after their passage through both Houses. [More…]
I now inform honourable senators that the Government has decided that the referendums for these proposed alterations to the Constitution will be held on 21 May 1977. [More…]
The conduct of the referendums is governed by the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act 1906. [More…]
The Government believes that it is desirable that all electors should be able to indicate their wishes as to which of these tunes should be adopted for our national song and the holding of the referendums to alter the Constitution on 2 1 May will provide an ideal opportunity for this purpose. [More…]
The electors of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory will be able to participate in this poll for the national song, although it is not possible to provide for them, at this point of time, to participate in the referendums to alter the Constitution. [More…]
Therefore I noted with a certain amount of irony the statement in Her Majesty’s Speech yesterday afternoon that other referenda will be held at the same time to make necessary amendments to the Constitution. [More…]
The closest statement I have seen to that definition- a definition which the Australian Labor Party considered to be correct- came from the mouth of none other than the Liberal Party Whip, Senator Chaney, when he spoke recently on the Constitution alteration legislation. [More…]
The basic reason why theological students are denied allowances under the tertiary education assistance scheme is that section 116 of the Constitution states: [More…]
The lawyers advise me that whereas it is quite justifiable for a theological student to be at an ordinary university studying a range of subjects as a student for the improvement of that students’ education and to be eligible for TEAS allowance, to attempt to provide TEAS allowance at a theological college where section 116 of the Constitution might apply would, in the lawyers’ view, be in breach of the Constitution. [More…]
On 9 March the Minister representing the Attorney-General informed the Senate that, concurrent with the referenda to be held on 2 1 May 1 977 in respect of the four proposed laws to alter the Constitution which were passed by the Senate on 25 February 1977, the Government intends that a poll be conducted to assist it in choosing the tune for a national song. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill, which is a simple machinery measure, is to ensure that there is no legal objection to using for this poll the same ballot-boxes and polling booths as will be used for the Constitutional referenda. [More…]
It is true that Britain has an unwritten Constitution but I think it could be said that the authorities in Buckingham Palace do not offer any impediment to Labor government. [More…]
Whatever inhibitions we have had about the Crown, wittingly or unwittingly, being used to prop up outmoded ideas, even the impending referendums on the Constitution are indicative of the fact that the better elements of the Government realise that a little cheating went on at a State level with regard to the filling of vacancies in the Senate. [More…]
In the report of the Commonwealth Grants Commission in 1976 provision was made for Queensland to receive by way of special grant under section 96 of the Constitution an amount of about $27m. [More…]
I hope those people realise that change happens in any case and that we cannot stand immobile against the necessity to change our Constitution to meet the modern needs of government. [More…]
If we cannot pass what has been approved by both sides of politics, by the major part of the 2 political parties in Australia, we are not likely in this century to have a sensible change of the Australian Constitution by referenda. [More…]
I refer to the Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill 1977. [More…]
The constitutional requirement that majorities of voters in four States must agree to any proposed constitutional change will not be affected by a ‘yes ‘ vote onMay21.TheStateswill still have the protection the Constitution guarantees them. [More…]
The Constitution, the law, and parliamentary practice allow each Prime Minister to have a House of Representatives election on the same day as any Senate election. [More…]
Both are established under the Constitution as equal, independent Houses of Parliament with differing roles. [More…]
I think the Government is doing a very serious injustice to itself, to the Constitution and to our democracy by trotting out such somersaulting statements on these questions. [More…]
The problem is, it’s not just a matter of giving the Territory the administrative machinery to govern itself, actually declaring it a State may not be possible under the Constitution as it stands. [More…]
Explaining this during his weekly press conference this morning Dr Letts said that the ‘dispute’ might resolve around Section 121 of the Constitution which is not entirely clear on whether or not it is sufficient for the creation of a new State. [More…]
It can declare us a State and then sit back to see whether anyone challenges it, or it can use Section 122 of the Constitution to conduct a referendum throughout Australia on the question of Statehood for the Territory. ‘ [More…]
It is rather interesting to note as a sidelight the personal attacks that were made on me because I dared to say that the Constitution was not clear on the fact that the Northern Territory could have statehood. [More…]
The difference was highlighted by the referendum proposals which were put before the people in 1974, when the then Labor Government sought to add to the Constitution section 96A which would have given the Commonwealth the power to make direct conditional grants to local government in the same way as section 96 permits it to make direct conditional grants to the States. [More…]
I doubt that we are in a situation in Australia in which, by some revolutionary means, we will produce a new Constitution. [More…]
I think that the concept of producing a new national convention that totally rewrites the Constitution is unrealistic. [More…]
I would say that if we find that constitutional change is impossible, perhaps the one thing we ought to do is to examine what other means are available to us. [More…]
The one referendum question that may be worth putting over and over again until it achieves success is that for a new means of changing the Constitution. [More…]
I would hope that those of us who believe in constitutional change can move together with maximum amiability, at least until 2 1 May 1977. [More…]
It is illogical that our Constitution, in the absence of double dissolution Bills being available, would permit that to happen. [More…]
I would say that with the smallest amount of goodwill it would be possible to agree around the Senate chamber with very few exceptions and it would be possible to obtain agreement out in the community that that very minimal change ought to be made in our constitutional structure so that the Senate is not insulated from the results of its actions. [More…]
Then, on 2 November, he received an acknowledgement of the receipt of the submission and constitution and on 2 1 January this year he received a reply from the Minister, Mr Viner, in which he expressed his concern and said that he would make sure there was an inquiry to see which Department should be involved. [More…]
-The Senate is debating a Bill designed to modify the application of section 16 of the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Act of 1 906. [More…]
A song is to be determined at the same time as a high matter of constitutional import relating to casual vacancies. [More…]
Against all the opinion to which I have referred this proposal is to be imported into the Constitution. [More…]
That matter is entirely discordant with the Constitution. [More…]
It makes a harsh impact on the Constitution and shows how inappropriate it is to introduce this fifth question of a national song or tune on which people are to vote at the same time as they vote on the Constitution questions. [More…]
The Senate is debating the Referendum (Constitution Alteration) Modification Bill 1977. [More…]
The Government believes that it is desirable that all electors should be able to indicate their wishes as to which of these tunes should be adopted for our national song and the holding of the referendums to alter the Constitution on 2 1 May will provide an ideal opportunity for this purpose. [More…]
It states further that electors in the Territories will have the opportunity to vote on the issue of the choice of a national song but on nothing else, which is a strange irony of the Australian Constitution as it stands at present. [More…]
I took the trouble today to obtain a copy of the Constitution Act Amendment Act (No. [More…]
A subsequent passage sets out the responsibilities and the constitution of the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission. [More…]
All 3 members of the Boundaries Commission are appointed by a provision of the State Constitution. [More…]
within three months after the commencement of the Constitution Act Amendment Act ( No. [More…]
In fact it has been entrenched in the Constitution and cannot be altered in any matter of substance except by a referendum of the people to approve that alteration. [More…]
It was apparent to the Committee from the evidence given that both Mr Bryant and Mr Dexter had similar views on their powers and responsibilities under section 64 of the Constitution and section 25 (2) of the Public Service Act respectively, but that in the exercising of those powers and responsibilities there were significant differences. [More…]
The Commonwealth Government assumed control of income taxation in 1943 and gained powers to cover ‘benefits to students’ as a result of an amendment to the Constitution in 1946, one of the few proposals to amend the Constitution which have been accepted. [More…]
Is the Attorney-General aware of constitutional difficulties in the State of Queensland in determining replacements for retired senators under section 15 of the Constitution. [More…]
214, at p. 248-9, that section 15 of the Constitution does not deprive a State legislature of the power to abolish one of its Houses, supports the view that a unicameral legislature can effectively comply with the requirements of section 15. [More…]
I also mention that the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill, if passed at the forthcoming referendum, would confirm that this is the position in relation to filling casual vacancies. [More…]
Does the Government intend doing an about-face as it is now doing in respect of the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill. [More…]
Is the Minister aware that delegates at the Hobart meeting agreed that it was impossible to find a form of words that would provide for all contingencies when filling a casual Senate vacancy, as did the 1958-59 Joint Committee on Constitutional Review? [More…]
Why did the Government not write into the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Bill reference to a casual vacancy caused by the death or bona fide illness of a senator? [More…]
Why did the Government proceed with this Bill in the knowledge that it did not conform with the spirit of the Constitutional Convention in Hobart? [More…]
I think a provision concerning bona fide illness is impossible to write into the Constitution but casual vacancies occurring otherwise are not impossible to provide for. [More…]
The fact that the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review 1958-59 was unable to find a set of words sufficient to write into the Constitution is not a sufficient excuse to say that the present Government and the Parliament have not found a way. [More…]
I thought we all knew that the position of an independent would remain as it is under the present Constitution. [More…]
That is why one has provisions within the Commonwealth Electoral Act, certainly within the Constitution and within our own Standing Orders, as to disputed returns on election of senators, no matter how chosen. [More…]
I must say that I am somewhat suspicious of people who say they subscribe to the principle but are not prepared to write it into the Constitution. [More…]
Did the Minister not, in debate on the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill in February, clearly dispose of this misleading and pettifogging assertion? [More…]
The matter was canvassed in the debate on the Constitutional Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977 in this chamber. [More…]
The proposal seeks to alter the Constitution to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections. [More…]
My question to the Leader is this: In regard to the proposal for casual vacancies, did the subcommittee of the Hobart Constitutional Convention report that it was inappropriate to introduce into the Constitution as an amendment the principle of replacement from same parties? [More…]
It said- I hope I am not taking the words out of context- that the principle was not capable of being drafted into legislative form to put into the Constitution. [More…]
I think it is also fair to say that at the Constitutional Convention, when my colleague Senator Durack was speaking to the motion, he indicated that the Commonwealth Government believed that it was possible to draft an amendment to be submitted to the people to put the principle in constitutional form. [More…]
But I point out that at that Convention it was flagged that the Government believed that the principle was capable of being drafted and put into constitutional form. [More…]
I ask the Minister: Can an alteration to the Constitution have retrospective effect? [More…]
I am concerned about the position of Senator Lewis from Victoria who was appointed for a period up to the next Federal election in accordance with the Constitution as it then was. [More…]
As there has been a change to the Constitution, will that alter the period of the appointment of Senator Lewis to the Senate? [More…]
If that change to the Constitution can be made retrospective in relation to the appointment of a senator, why cannot a constitutional alteration have retrospectivity in relation to the present judges of the High Court of Australia? [More…]
When it drew a cheque for the purchase against an appropriation that had not been approved by the Parliament for that purpose, the Department knowingly contravened a very important principle embodied in section 83 of the Constitution which states that: [More…]
I take just these few minutes to pay tribute to the constitution of this chamber which provides as it does for protection of the representation here of the small States and which provides as it does for its defence in case of need for matters to be referred to the people where the small States have the decisive right of defeating any such assault. [More…]
Section 22 of the Constitution provides: [More…]
There is a provision in the Constitution which discriminates severely between those Appropriation Bills which we may amend and those which we may not. [More…]
Outside the processes are continuing, with formidable challenge to the very constitution of parliamentary government and, much more importantly, to the effective exercise of any power of parliamentary government. [More…]
In parenthesis let me cite as an eternal example the recent provision amending section 1 5 of the Constitution on casual Senate vacancies, a piece of draftsmanship which will go down in history as the most ridiculous and short-sighted piece of draftsmanship in the Constitution. [More…]
But this chamber is of an entirely different constitution. [More…]
The Constitution gives the 2 Houses their appropriately defined right of appropriation. [More…]
Of course, in the last futile fortnight we heard no reference to section 57 of the Constitution, which is the most famous section of the Constitution and which requires a rejection twice repeated after an interval of 3 months. [More…]
Whilst I realise that he holds very strong views in relation to the referendum questions that were put last Saturday, I think all of us should remember that an overwhelmingly percentage of the Australian people voted as a nation to change the Constitution in relation to all issues and not just the 3 issues that were carried. [More…]
Some attention should be given to the process by which the Australian Constitution can be changed. [More…]
Section 128 of the Constitution provides for proposed laws for the alteration of the Constitution to be submitted for approval in each State to the electors of each State qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Referendums) 1977 to be submitted to the electors of the States on 2 1 May 1977 will, if approved, entitle the residents of the Northern Territory, and also of the Australian Capital Territory, to once again vote in referendums on proposed laws for the alteration of the Constitution. [More…]
The decision of that 38 per cent of the Australian voting population coupled with the absurdities of the Australian Constitution has prevailed. [More…]
If or when that happens it will be made perfectly clear to the people that the simultaneous election provision in the Constitution can no longer be tolerated. [More…]
In his speech he rejected- and some of his colleagues have rejoiced- the apparent sanctity of our 1900 vintage Constitution, which has a high degree off immunity from change. [More…]
That applies particularly to Prime Ministers in Australia, with the Constitution about which Senator Wright spoke at length. [More…]
In 1959 he was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Review. [More…]
In 1959 Senator Wright saw that it was necessary in the interests of the good government of this country if it was to develop as a viable political democracy, if its economy was to develop, to have changes to the industrial powers of the Commonwealth; he saw that there would have to be changes to the broadcasting powers, to the corporations powers, to the marketing powers of the Commonwealth Government; he saw that the Commonwealth Government should have power over interest rates; he saw that there should be alterations to the provisions of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
In particular, I record the satisfaction of the constituents of the Australian Capital Territory with the decision of the rest of the Australian electorate to accord to us, the citizens of the Territories, the right to participate in future referendums affecting the Constitution. [More…]
The very basis of the Constitution and the only reason that we have an Australian Parliament is that it was agreed that each State should have equal representation in this chamber. [More…]
He knows the Constitution and knows the rights of this House. [More…]
I, as the president of the third largest union in Tasmania, would dearly love to go to my membership when it is electorally advantageous to me, but I am governed by my constitution and rules which determine when I go to my members. [More…]
The Senate goes to the people as determined by the Constitution, not by the Prime Minister. [More…]
If it is good enough for me as president of a union to go to my members when my constitution says I shall, it is good enough for me as a senator to go to the people when the Constitution says I shall, not when the Prime Minister says I shall. [More…]
On Tuesday I asked him whether an alteration to the Constitution could have retrospective effect and how it might affect the position in the Senate. [More…]
Senator Cavanagh asked me a question the other day about what he called the retrospective effect of changes made to the Constitution and, in particular, the effect of the proposed law relating to casual vacancies which, of course, was overwhelmingly supported by the Australian people last Saturday. [More…]
I have had an opportunity to look at the Constitution alteration proposal in relation to casual vacancies with regard to the question Senator Cavanagh has raised. [More…]
One of the provisions in the proposed law relating to casual vacancies is: a senator holding office at the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977 who was chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen to hold office until the expiration of the term of service of the senator elected by the people of the State. [More…]
But what Senator Wood does not go on to tell the people and what none of his colleagues in the No campaign told the people is that, whilst they are not prepared to sacrifice any of their term of office for which they were elected under the present Constitution, they are quite happy to have members in another place sacrifice some part of their term of office of 3 years to bring about a simultaneous election. [More…]
With the powers this Senate has at present under the Constitution there is nothing to stop it from again forcing a government to the people. [More…]
They duck the issue and hide behind the Constitution. [More…]
In my view the Constitution needs altering. [More…]
They decided that the government should face the electors every 6 months while they, under the present Constitution, were able to sit in this chamber with no disadvantage accruing to themselves. [More…]
Advisory Opinions by the High Court- whether the Constitution should be amended to enable the High Court to give advisory opinions on important questions of law or fact arising out of legislation or other matters; [More…]
The President may, after taking the submissions into account, if he considers that the matters to which the proceeding relates are of such public importance as to justify him in so doing, give a direction varying the constitution of the Tribunal for the purposes of that proceeding so that- [More…]
I shall be referring to the Advisory Committee and its constitution at a later stage. [More…]
Regretfully and reluctantly, the Government is unable to include ACSPA officially in the constitution of the National Labour Consultative Council. [More…]
The second part was the constitution of the Industrial Relations Bureau. [More…]
Perhaps, it has received advice that some of its original proposals were unconstitutional. [More…]
I was all prepared to come into this place and to show that under the Constitution the Parliament does not have the power to legislate as was intended by way of the original Bill. [More…]
Section 5 1 (xxxv) of the Constitution does not clothe the Parliament with that power. [More…]
As the honourable senator is quite well aware, section 51 (xxxv) of the Constitution entitles the Parliament to make laws with respect to conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State. [More…]
In the meantime, I intend to demonstrate, by reference to proposed sub-sections (5) and (6), that the Bill has travelled completely beyond any power that can possibly be considered to be contained within the corporations power of the Constitution upon which this Bill depends. [More…]
This is in accordance with Section 5 1 (iii) of the Constitution which requires that bounty be paid on production or export. [More…]
Despite all the euphemisms in the second reading speech about orderly marketing, let us be very clear that the purpose of this Bill is to defeat, if necessary, the intention of section 92 of the Constitution which guarantees free trade between the States. [More…]
In clause 5 the constitution of the Commission is set out. [More…]
Many workers have been dismissed from their jobs, arrested and sentenced by military courts for engaging in union activities and exercising rights conferred upon them by the Constitution, the law and the Conventions of the International Labour Office. [More…]
Honourable senators will be well aware that one of the alterations to the Constitution that was recently approved by the referendum in May, and has since become law, introduced a maximum retiring age for judges of the High Court and other federal courts. [More…]
The effect of this Constitution alteration is that any future appointee to the High Court or any other federal court will have to retire by the age of 70 years. [More…]
In the case of federal courts other than the High Court, the Constitution alteration also enables the Parliament to prescribe by law a maximum retiring age forjudges that is less than 70 years. [More…]
This BUI seeks to exercise that newly acquired constitutional authority to prescribe a maximum retiring age for judges of the Family Court of Australia of 65 years. [More…]
Honourable senators will recognise that this requirement, having been approved by both Houses of the Parliament, provides a compelling reason for prescribing an identical retiring age forjudges of the Family Court of Australia, now that the Constitution alteration has made this possible. [More…]
Further, the report of the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs on a retiring age for federal judges, which led to the Constitution alteration, specifically recommended 65 as an appropriate age for judges of the Family Court. [More…]
After the proposal to amend the Constitution to provide for the retirement of Federal judges was raised, and before the referendum on the Constitution alteration in May, the Attorney-General (Mr Ellicott) made known his preference for a retirement age of 65 years forjudges of the Family Court of Australia. [More…]
The vote in the referendum on the Constitution alteration should therefore be seen against the background of the Attorney-General’s publicly stated preference for a retirement age of 65 years forjudges of this particular Federal court. [More…]
It is true that the Constitution alteration prescribes 70 years as the maximum retiring age for judges of the High Court, and forjudges of other Federal courts unless and until the Parliament otherwise provides. [More…]
The Constitution alteration relating to judges’ retiring ages provides that the maximum retiring age applies only to judges appointed after the alteration became law. [More…]
One is a formal amendment consequential on the passing of the Constitution alteration. [More…]
Remember what happened when the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill was introduced in 1973. [More…]
No one has yet explained- I hope that the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (Senator Durack) will do so in the Committee stage or in replying to the second reading debate- where the constitutional power to control employees in relation to industrial matters is to be found. [More…]
Section 5 1 of the Constitution gives the Commonwealth the power to set up conciliation machinery to prevent or settle industrial disputes which extend beyond the borders of a State. [More…]
If he is such a great expert on the Constitution, I invite him to advise the Senate where the power would lie. [More…]
It is the opportunity which the Parliament now has under the Constitution to fix a retiring age of 65 years for Family Court judges. [More…]
This was recommended by the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs three years ago, and it was applied and put into force with respect to the establishment of State family courts. [More…]
It must be a matter of pride and great satisfaction to those honourable senators who served on the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs that one of the important recommendations of that Committee resulted not only in legislation being passed through the Senate and hopefully through the Parliament but also in an amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
I would be interested to know of what other union he is a member, how its constitution covers him, and whether his being a member of that union unconstitutionally raises the question of the validity of that particular organisation. [More…]
The Lands Acquisition Act provides that all acquisitions carried out by the Commonwealth shall be on just terms, in line with the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
I was quoting from a speech relating to a constitutional matter. [More…]
Those quotations were fairly extensive because they related to debates on the Australian Constitution in the latter part of the last century and the early part of this century. [More…]
That is a power which is inherent and entrenched inside the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Although King George V annexed Rhodesia by Order-in-Council in July 1923, the constitution conferring responsible self-government was put into effect by letters patent in September 1923. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government may be removed from office . [More…]
The whole case put by the supporters of that action rested on a literal interpretation of the words that are written in the Constitution, and they are the same words with respect to these sections today that were applicable in 1904, 1905 and 1909. [More…]
After all is said and done, Tasmania is the State which is particularly covered by section 24 of the Constitution which provides that a minimum of five members of the House of Representatives should be elected to represent any State. [More…]
1 ) In view of the judgment of McTiernan, J., that, in the context of the Constitution, ‘marriage’ referred only to monogamous marriages (Attorney-General of Victoria v. The Commonwealth, 1961-62, 107 CL R., page 549) is section 6 of the Family La w Act 1 975 a valid enactment. [More…]
I have had an interesting time looking at the statistics of the seat of Hawker which, as I have said, is a typical area in South Australia- I suppose it could be termed an inner metropolitan district in a sense- to assess its constitution, to see the type of people who live there and the way in which they are affected. [More…]
Students who are brave enough and concerned enough to stand up for their rights in this matter regard several of the activities which the AUS undertakes as being ultra vires its own constitution. [More…]
Irrespective of one’s political viewpoint and one’s sympathies one way or another, if an organisation is formed for the purposes which are stated in its constitution it ought to adhere to them especially where there is compulsory membership- the condition under which students become members of the AUS. [More…]
In speaking to the Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill, Senator Hall is reported at page 2409 of the Senate Hansard of 10 June 1975 assaying: [More…]
In 1927 a royal commission was established to review the Constitution and in 1929 it presented its report. [More…]
One of this recommendations was that the Constitution should be amended to enable the High Court to give advisory opinions. [More…]
The matter is presently on the agenda of the Constitutional Convention which has not, to date, come to any conclusion in relation to it. [More…]
Is it necessary to amend the constitution in order to extend the jurisdiction of the High Court to enable it to give advisory opinions? [More…]
That the Constitution should be amended so that the Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth and the States or a person authorised by the fiat of an Attorney-General may seek the advice of the High Court: [More…]
I would hope that honourable senators would consider the report closely, because it is no light matter to go to the country and seek by referendum the authority of the people to change the Constitution in order to permit a particular function, which Parliament believes is appropriate, to be put into effect. [More…]
Under the second paragraph of section 13 of the Constitution an election to fill vacant Senate places may be held within one year before the places become vacant. [More…]
However, section 28 of the Constitution enables the House of Representatives to be dissolved before then. [More…]
But taking into account the population changes and the formula laid down in section 24 of the Constitution, the Chief Australian Electoral Officer, Mr Pearson, determined that there would be two fewer divisions in New South Wales, reducing the number from 45 to 43. [More…]
I will be one of those who will have contempt for the Constitution if we face the situation where we are denied the electorate of Lawson because of the sudden switch to it of the 900 people in Mulgoa. [More…]
This Bill seeks appropriations of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1977-78 for expenditure on the construction of public works and buildings, the acquisition of sites and buildings, advances and loans, plant and equipment, grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution, and new policies not authorised by special legislation. [More…]
Because the Constitution provides that the salary of the Governor-General will not be altered during his continuance in office, the increased salary becomes payable to the next Governor-General, after he is sworn in December. [More…]
2 See Anson: Law and Custom of the Constitution Oxford, 1892, Part 1, p. 253. [More…]
The American Senate determines alterations in presidential proposals for expenditure of the utmost magnitude without disturbing the stability of the Government which is, of course, guaranteed by the Constitution to have a fixed term. [More…]
Senator Wright referred to section 57 of the Constitution dealing with the power of the Senate to reject or to request an alteration in money Bills. [More…]
Anyone who has the concern of the Senate at heart must advocate an alteration to that section of the Constitution so that when deciding what figure we shall appropriate we cannot again use the power which the Senate assumed and operated under before. [More…]
The honourable senator said that perhaps the Constitution needs to be amended. [More…]
I am one of those people who believe in the form of amendment which was put before the Constitutional Convention in Hobart in October last year. [More…]
I refer to a complaint that I received by telegram from the Farmers Union of Western Australia, that the constitution and rules of the Waterside Workers Federation expressly exclude Asiatics from membership of that union. [More…]
Will the Minister investigate that matter and ascertain, firstly, whether the constitution and rules do so provide; secondly, whether such a provision is in accordance with industrial law in this country; and, thirdly, if it is, will he refer the matter to the Commissioner for Community Relations? [More…]
I refer now to page 2409 of the Senate Hansard of 10 June 1975, which refers to a debate on the Constitution Alteration (Elections) Bill 1975. [More…]
I refer to a complaint that I received by telegram from the Farmers Union of western Australia, that the constitution and rules of the Waterside Workers Federation expressly exclude Asiatics from membership of that union. [More…]
Will the Minister investigate that matter and ascertain, firstly, whether the Constitution and rules do so provide; secondly, whether such a provision is in accordance with industrial law in this country; and, thirdly, if it is - [More…]
And by ‘ if it is ‘ I meant, and I think it is clear, if it is in the constitution- [More…]
I welcome the fact that in 1954, according to this telex, that particular rule, which until that time apparently was part of the constitution and rules of the Waterside Workers Federation - [More…]
The three subjects referred to were the increase in the size of the Public Service, election issues, and the Constitution and the granting of appropriations contained in money Bills. [More…]
The only other question I wish to raise is in respect of the Constitution and money Bills. [More…]
I disagree that such a power should be retained in the Constitution. [More…]
However, the requirements of section 64 of the Constitution and of the Public Service Act are such that it was necessary to formally create a Department of the Special Trade Negotiator and a position of Secretary to that Department. [More…]
He drew the attention of the Parliament to the fact that the Constitution provides that the incumbent of the office of Governor-General can intervene and can suggest amendments to any Bill. [More…]
We witnessed an upheaval in respect of the Constitution; as a matter of fact, we witnessed the breaking of the Constitution. [More…]
I then went on to say how he breached the constitution by not carrying out the wishes of the other place. [More…]
I used the word ‘conventions’ instead of the word ‘Constitution’. [More…]
I think the remark that the Governor-General had breached the Constitution was made some time earlier. [More…]
A previous objection was taken in respect of Senator McLaren’s remark that the Governor-General had broken the Constitution. [More…]
I then went on to say how he breached the Constitution by not carrying out the wishes of the other place. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government . [More…]
There is no term in the Constitution. [More…]
All that it proves is that there is an ongoing political debate in which some legal people are involved as to the actual exercise of certain powers which are apparently, under the Constitution, available to the Governor-General. [More…]
We are accustomed in debates in this place on the powers under the Constitution, and the actions of the Governor-General whoever he or she may be, in the exercise of that power, but it is another thing to suggest as Senator McLaren has suggested, that the Governor-General has not done his duty. [More…]
It seems to me that the Crown never abandons its attempts to circumvent the processes of the Constitution and the legislative processes. [More…]
Once the financial powers of the Parliament are abdicated by the refusal of the constituents of the Parliament to know and understand what is happening, the Parliament becomes reduced to an enigma and a cypher in the constitutional functions of government and the power of the Executive becomes overwhelming. [More…]
Establishment and constitution of the special broadcasting service; and [More…]
The Grants Commission Act of 1973, which was introduced by the then Senator Willesee when he was Special Minister of State, provided for approved regional organisations of local government bodies to apply under section 96 of the Constitution to the Grants Commission for financial assistance on a needs basis. [More…]
That is section 96 of the Constitution- should be exercised on definite and sound principles. [More…]
Establishment and constitution of the special broadcasting service; and [More…]
Pursuant to the provisions of section 2 1 of the Constitution, I notified the Governor of the State of South Australia of a vacancy in the representation of that State caused by the resignation of Senator Hall. [More…]
The contention of the Liberal Party was that the party to which Senator Steele Hall had belonged at the time of election had now merged with the Liberal Party and that, in accordance with the constitutional alteration, a Liberal Party member should receive the endorsement. [More…]
The Labor Government took the attitude that in accordance with the wish expressed in the change to the Constitution it should appoint someone close to the feeling of the electors at the time they elected the senator who had retired. [More…]
We must be careful in our interpretation of the wish of the people expressed in the constitutional referendum that we keep the numbers of the party for which the electorate originally voted so as not to give an advantage to another party which was not elected by the people of Australia. [More…]
It could have elected a Labor Party member but to give the Premier his due his justification for the appointment was that he thought he was better expressing the wish of the electors at the time and the referendum decision to change the Constitution by putting someone from the Australian Democrats into the Senate. [More…]
Senator Cavanagh, who spoke after Senator Haines, proceeded with a somewhat turgid defence of the decision to appoint Senator Haines and in somewhat of a shame-faced way spoke of Mr Millhouse ‘s views on the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Cavanagh seemed to think his thoughts were quite irrevelant- that somehow the election of a successor to Senator Hall was related to the constitutional amendment which this Parliament and the people, adopted last year. [More…]
Therefore, as provided for in the Constitution, unaltered by the amendment, the State from which the senator was elected had the unfettered right to choose a senator. [More…]
In the three years ahead of us we have important things to consider so far as the Constitution of this country is concerned. [More…]
In the last few years we have found some weaknesses and obscurities in our constitutional situation. [More…]
I want to talk a little further about the constitutional contract. [More…]
So too must this chamber remember at all times that one of its most important functions is the preservation of the Constitution. [More…]
The problems of Parliament also arise from its inherent division; not only is it divided by the Federal Constitution into two nominally powerful, and often conflicting Houses: Each constituent House accommodates competing factions- each of which is usually divided between the leaders and led. [More…]
I believe, without going into the pros and cons of what happened in 1975, that the GovernorGeneral of the day acted within the law and the Constitution of this country, despite the fact that there are some learned people in this country who say differently. [More…]
We should be looking at means of updating and improving our constitution. [More…]
We need to establish a commission to review the functions and nature of the Constitution, which was framed before many of the developments of the 20th century- such as industrialisation, the need for increased Government participation in the economy, guaranteed employment, the rights of trade unionists, basic human rights, civil liberties and the role of political parties within the governmental systembecame as important as they are today. [More…]
No doubt she will find this place a most fascinating one and one that will bring her a great deal of experience even though her term in this place will be short lived because under the Constitution her term will expire on 30 June this year. [More…]
At least my experience was part of the catalyst which led to the constitutional change in relation to casual vacancies in 1977. [More…]
That constitutional change affected the length of tenure of office of Senator Lewis who was in the chamber at the time of the 1977 referendum. [More…]
In that respect, therefore, Senator Lewis was the first person to be directly affected by the 1977 constitutional change. [More…]
On the other hand, Senator Haines is the first person to fill a casual vacancy under the new law which resulted from the Constitution being altered in 1977. [More…]
We know what section 92 of the Constitution says. [More…]
Under section 96 of the Constitution the smaller States such as Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia are able to receive extra money because of their large undeveloped areas and the fact that the population in those States is small. [More…]
Sir John protected the Australian people and Parliament according to the law, according to the Constitution and according to his duty as Governor-General. [More…]
Our major representative institution under the Constitution- the House of Representativessuffers from three-quarters of a century of neglect. [More…]
It has been necessary for me to find a democratic and constitutional solution to the current crisis which will permit the people of Australia to decide as soon as possible what should be the outcome of the deadlock which developed over the supply between the two Houses of Parliament and between the Government and the Opposition parties. [More…]
The only solution consistent with the Constitution and with my oath of office and my responsibilities, authority and duty as Governor-General is to terminate the commission as Prime Minister of Mr Whitlam and to arrange for a caretaker government able to secure supply and willing to let the issue go to the people. [More…]
Because of the federal nature of our Constitution and because of its provisions the Senate undoubtedly has constitutional power to refuse or defer supply to the Government. [More…]
If he refuses to do this I have the authority and indeed the duty under the Constitution to withdraw his Commission as Prime Minister. [More…]
The Constitution combines the two elements of responsible government and federalism. [More…]
The Constitution must prevail over any conventions because in determining the question how far the conventions of responsible government have been grafted on to the federal compact, the Constitution itself must in the end control the situation. [More…]
Section 57 of the Constitution provides a means, perhaps the usual means, of resolving a disagreement between the Houses with respect to a proposed law. [More…]
Its presence in the Constitution does not cut down the reserve powers of the Governor-General. [More…]
This is a matter on which my own mind is quite clear and I am acting in accordance with my own clear view of the principles laid down by the Constitution and of the nature, powers and responsibility of my office. [More…]
In accordance with section 64 of the Constitution I hereby determine your appointment as my Chief Adviser and Head of the Government. [More…]
I mention in passing that I have a personal view that the life of the Parliament should be extended to four years and that it ought to be a mandatory term, although I recognise that for it to be made mandatory there are many very substantial constitutional problems to be overcome. [More…]
It is obviously a matter which, although it is now under examination by a government committee, ought to go to the Constitutional Convention to be examined by it. [More…]
This is an appropriate time for Australia to be looking to further constitutional reforms. [More…]
More than three-quarters of a century have elapsed since the establishment of the Federation and we must look at the relevance of our Constitution and the relevance of this Parliament and re-examine them. [More…]
I remind honourable senators that section 1 of the Constitution- I remember quoting it with great glee in the dark days of Labor, without being overprovocativestates that the legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Federal Parliament which shall consist of the Queen- the Executivethe Senate and the House of Representatives. [More…]
The person who stood at the House of Representatives election- Bill Woodhad to resign because of the requirements of the Constitution. [More…]
Section 44 of the Constitution obliged him to resign. [More…]
In essence, what he is saying, without actually saying it, is that under the foreign powers placitum of section 5 1 of the Constitution, simply because the Executive Government of the day has accepted or subscribed to a convention, an agreement, a consensus or an opinion of the Security Council of the United Nations, for example, calling upon Australia to provide armed forces for certain objects which the United Nations might have in view, the Minister of the day could enable that force to be raised in Australia without acknowledgement by or the understanding of Parliament, except in the context of financial powers which might exist in the Parliament and temporarily reside in the Senate, because it would not be an ordinary annual service of the Government. [More…]
He referred firstly to reformers of the Constitution. [More…]
Persons who advocate fundamental changes to the present Australian Constitution are not security risks, because they do not use or advocate violence and because they have no past history of violence when seeking to attain their ends. [More…]
If I might modestly say so I fall into the first basket, which was about reformers of the Constitution. [More…]
If the Queensland Government proceeds with its plan to take overthe administration of Aurukun and Mornington Island against the wishes of the Aboriginal people in those areas, will the Government be willing to use the powers of the Parliament under section 5 1 of the Constitution to pass special laws to protect the people in those areas from the efforts of the Queensland Government, and will it be willing to tell the Queensland Government of its willingness to do so? [More…]
It is true to say that the Commonwealth has full rights to water resources within its mainland Territories, namely the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, but under the Constitution it has no rights in respect of the water resources of the various States. [More…]
I believe that is the expressed will of the Australian people in recent terms, having regard to the history of our Constitution. [More…]
In the first year of the constitutional history of this country Sir Edmund Barton, the Prime Minister of Australia, wrote to the Queensland Premier. [More…]
Such an inference this Government cannot admit without disloyalty both to the Federal Constitution and to the Parliament which was elected under it. [More…]
In 1978, if necessary, this Parliament should not shirk from its legislative responsibilities under the Constitution from taking similar action. [More…]
We are asking the Government to use this Parliament’s powers to protect these rights- powers given to it in the Constitution; powers that even a Statesrighter such as Senator Chaney admits are there. [More…]
As has been quoted, section 51 of the Constitution reads: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to . [More…]
In 1967 this Parliament was given the constitutional power to protect those people and to allow them to make their own decisions. [More…]
The Parliament is honour bound to use its constitutional power to make laws for the protection, peace, order and good government of the Aboriginal people in that area. [More…]
It is about time that the Parliament asserted its power, given to it in the Constitution, to protect these people. [More…]
It is true that I cannot claim to have the expertise of a constitutional lawyer, although I did spend many years on the bench as a cabinet maker. [More…]
Section 51 (iii) of Part V of the Constitution refers to: [More…]
I find it difficult to believe that the Bounty (Polyester-Cotton Yarn) Bill accords with the intention and the principles contained in that section of the Constitution. [More…]
He referred to the constitutional power to confine the payment of bounty to bountiable yarn spun in registered premises and the Minister’s power to register premises and in that way to select who is entitled to the bounty. [More…]
I noted the section of the Constitution to which Senator Brown referred. [More…]
Our legal opinion is that it comes within the provisions of the Constitution. [More…]
The scheme will operate by means of grants made by the Commonwealth to the States pursuant to section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
The purposes of these proposed amendments to the Commonwealth Constitution are to remove any ground for the belief that, as at present worded, the Constitution discriminates in some ways against people of the Aboriginal race, and at the same time, to make it possible for the Commonwealth Parliament to make special laws for the people of the Aboriginal race, wherever they may live, if the Commonwealth Parliament considers this desirable or necessary. [More…]
The Constitution provides that if the Commonwealth should acquire this land in one form or another it must do so from the party concerned in accordance with just terms and must pay just compensation. [More…]
Having disclaimed that, he then allowed himself to give us his view that this measure would operate under section 109 of the Constitution and, being a Federal measure and being inconsistent with the State measure, would override to the extent of the inconsistencies the State law. [More…]
I do not stand here to expound constitutional law. [More…]
What I am saying is that this Bill states that it is a Bill whose purpose is to use Commonwealth authority accorded to it by an amendment to the Constitution in 1967, which we all supported. [More…]
The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bill Hayden, and the shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs, Dr Doug Everingham, called for urgent and early legislation, and if necessary, for the Parliament to meet before 1 April so that urgent legislation could be drawn up and passed, under the powers provided in the Constitution by the 1967 referendum, to try to prevent this precipitate, unpopular and unjust action of the Queensland Government. [More…]
The scheme will be carried out by means of grants to the States pursuant to section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is some argument, I understand, about whether a select committee ought to be set up to look at the Bill or whether it would be better to send the Bill to a standing committee such as the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. [More…]
There is no ideal standing committee to which this matter could go except the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee which does have some natural advantages in that it has a secretariat and members who are used to looking at constitutional matters and examining them. [More…]
We should expect and hope that this committee would be the one with the experience, the background and knowledge of the Constitution at least to feel confident in that area. [More…]
So anybody from the Senate who is not a member of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee but who does have a keen interest in the subject can of course go along and participate in the proceedings of the Committee. [More…]
The reference of this matter to a committee will in no way limit the rights of and opportunities for people to put submissions to the Committee and to say whatever they believe is relevant, particularly under paragraph (c) of the motion in respect of the constitutionality, comprehensiveness, consistency and effectiveness of the legislation. [More…]
Indeed, it is even open to the Queensland Government, if it sees fit, and to any department under that Government, to put in submissions relating to the legislation and to say what they think about the constitutionality and so on of the legislation. [More…]
It will be interesting to see whether they treat the Senate committee with that son of interest and respect and choose to put to the Parliament and to the Government via the Senate Committee their views on whether or not that legislation is really constitutional and properly consistent with the responsibilities of the Commonwealth. [More…]
I would hope that they would do so because if their genuine concern is a matter of State rights and if they really believe that the Constitution does not confer on the Commonwealth the power which the Commonwealth has assumed in passing this legislation they really ought to put it publicly and not wait until the next move in this rather unsavory game of chess, or whatever it is that we seem to be engaged in at the moment, in which of course the Aboriginal people are the pawns. [More…]
The growers who employ the most labourers in the industry in Tasmania produce the best fruit in the greatest quantity, and they will not willingly be regimented into a blindfold, one-eyed government scheme which is being manipulated through ransom politics by that petty Tasmanian Labor Party Government which is rigging the whole constitution of the fruit marketing authority in the interests of petty little Ministers of agriculture who have no idea whether the pips of the apple grow on the stalk or in the core. [More…]
I ask the Attorney-General and Minister representing the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs: In view of the difficulties which have recently been experienced in maintaining export contracts, the importance of export trade to our economy, and the damage to our international trading reputation due to our failure to maintain delivery schedules because of industrial troubles on the waterfront, will the Government give consideration to introducing legislation under section 51(1) of the Constitution which gives the Government power to enact laws with respect to trade and commerce with other countries, thus enabling exporters to fulfil their international commitments? [More…]
Certainly there does seem to be under section 51 ( 1 ) of the Constitution, as suggested by Senator Tehan, ample constitutional power for the Parliament to pass legislation in regard to conciliation procedures in this area. [More…]
The Act made provision for Commonwealth assistance to the States under Section 96 of the Constitution for purposes of plantation establishment by the State Government forest services. [More…]
Perhaps I should remind Senator McAuliffe that in fact in Australia we live under a federal constitution. [More…]
Indeed, under that constitution the Senate represents the States. [More…]
There is a constitution for the Federal Parliament and Government and a constitution for each State. [More…]
The question he raises fairly and squarely falls within the ambit of the Constitution of Queensland and the legislation of the Queensland Parliament and is actually none of my business. [More…]
Is the Minister also aware that no appeals, as provided under the constitution of the Yarra Bay Sailing Club, have been allowed? [More…]
If, under its constitution, there is a right of appeal for persons who have any action taken against them, I suggest that that is a first avenue. [More…]
The referendum of 1967 changed section 51 (xxvi) of the Constitution. [More…]
of the principal Act- I think this is something like the relevant clause in the Constitution- which states: [More…]
I think that is the same wording as a section of the Constitution but presumably, since it was repeated in this Act, the Government of the day wished to make it perfectly clear that this preempted virtually all States ‘ rights over mining. [More…]
This amending legislation, if passed, will extend the power of the Act to cover under the Constitution many other purposes in the Commonwealth. [More…]
bearing in mind that the call for deferment and consultation comes from Premiers of manyStates and of both political persuasions, they would all do well to support the amendment and in fact to put their mouths where the Constitution is. [More…]
At the age of 72, when most professional scholars have put down their pens, he made a distinguished contribution as scholarinresidence at the University of Virginia, where he lectured on the Australian Constitution with all the authority, clarity and wit we knew so well. [More…]
To dispel any idea of there being anything other than grateful co-operation on a friendship and political basis, I remind the Senate that when we were confronted last year by what was thought by a few of us to be an unfortunate effort to change the Constitution to weaken the Senate, Sir Robert sent me a telegram immediately after my speech in this chamber in which he said: [More…]
We are told that Section 51 of the Australian Constitution gives the Commonwealth power to acquire: property on just terms for any State or person for any purpose in respect of which the Parliament has power to make laws’. [More…]
3) 1976, the then Attorney-General foreshadowed the Government’s desire to modify the provision for the constitution of the Industrial Division of the Federal Court, and in relation to appeals, and indicated that such changes would be made subject to consultations with the peak employer and employee councils. [More…]
The Government believes that the present requirements relating to the constitution of benches under the Act are in need of revision in relation to their adequacy in providing for the most efficient use of judicial resources and their influence on the cost of judicial administration. [More…]
This would also bring the constitution of the Federal Court in its Industrial Division generally into line with that of the General Division of the Court. [More…]
He referred to his doubt as to the constitutional power on which the whole of this legislation is based and said that there had been failure to obtain by agreement with the States a very firm constitutional basis for it. [More…]
Senator Wright pointed out the results of the Joint Committee on Constitution Review, which reported in 1959. [More…]
One of the important recommendations of that Committee was that the Commonwealth Parliament should be empowered by constitutional amendment to make laws with respect, firstly, to the manufacture of nuclear fuels and the generation and use of nuclear energy and, secondly, to ionising radiation. [More…]
Under the Constitution the Commonwealth has direct responsibility for Aborigines. [More…]
As to what would happen in any arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States, in particular in regard to the Territory after it gains self-government, in relation to the money supplied, I would imagine that this would be by way of an arrangement under section 96 of the Constitution in the ordinary way in which one would make such an arrangement. [More…]
Nothing that a State could do or a self-governing Territory could do could in any way over-ride the powers of the Commonwealth which derive either from its own Constitution or through treaties under that Constitution. [More…]
However, I recall reports such as the 1958 report of the Committee on Constitutional Review. [More…]
If I may say so with respect to the authors of that report, that report 20 years later in 1978 is still a modern document because a lot of the recommendations which it made in 1958 are still equally applicable, still equally in need of being debated in this chamber and still equally in need of implementation in our Constitution. [More…]
That the Senate agrees that the Commonwealth Parliament participate with the Parliaments of the States in the continuing work of the Constitutional Convention established to review the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution and accordingly resolves: [More…]
The next plenary session of the Australian Constitutional Convention is scheduled to be held at Parliament House in Perth over the three-day period 26 to 28 July 1978. [More…]
The Government’s view is that it is desirable that at least one more plenary session of the Constitutional Convention is held so that the continuing work of the Convention in reviewing the operation of the Australian Constitution may proceed further. [More…]
Honourable senators will recall that the original impetus for the Constitutional Convention came from Sir Henry Bolte ‘s Liberal Government in Victoria and, particularly at the [More…]
I should like to remind the Senate that the Federal Constitution is the system of basic principles according to which this nation is governed. [More…]
The Convention with which we are concerned here is designed to allow the people’s representatives in both Houses of Parliament and from both Federal and State parliaments to discuss and reach some consensus on amendments to the Constitution. [More…]
With regard to the composition of the Commonwealth delegation to the Constitutional Conventions in those years, the relevant Journals of the Senate reveal that a much more democratic attitude was adopted than the one adopted in the present Government’s motion, which I gather has the tacit approval of the present Opposition. [More…]
But from what she said I gained the impression that she interpreted the results of the past general election as indicating to the Senate and to the people of Australia that the Australian Democrats had something significant to say about the Australian Constitution. [More…]
As I recall the Press discussion on the policies of the Australian Democrats at the last election, it was to the effect that the Australian Democrats had no policy, particularly in relation to matters such as constitutional reform. [More…]
One could scarcely say that Australian Democrats come here with a mandate- if one can use that expression- on the basis that they have shown an interest in constitutional reform, because that is not so. [More…]
First of all, we have not yet seen an agenda for the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
Earlier today in the Senate I referred to the report of the Fifty-eighth Constitutional Review Committee. [More…]
I repeat that in those days the members of that Committee saw grave defects in the Constitution and made recommendations about those defects in relation to matters which I think are of increasingly fundamental concern to the economic efficiency of this country and, if we are to be a viable democracy in the 1980s, issues which are of the utmost importance. [More…]
Then in July they will be able to do what I indicated in relation to the reform of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
We hope that because it is a meaningful convention it will not be the last convention and that the subject of desirable constitutional reforms will continually be brought forward and debated in this country as an issue of national importance. [More…]
More importantly, if the Law Reform Commission is to advise the Government as to the people who have a right of action in the realm of the environment, I put forward the enormous weakness in the Constitution of Australia whereby the right to object to unconstitutional expenditure of money is denied to anybody but the State Attorney-General. [More…]
If the Law Reform Commission is to be entrusted with the function of defining appropriate plaintiffs in the environment sphere, I hope that its members will read in Hansard my expressions with regard to a deficiency of a much more important character whereby private individuals are not entitled to approach any court to declare unconstitutional appropriations which in fact are unconstitutional. [More…]
Of course, he was right, but the Government, in pursuit of a bizarre notion of federalism, is hiding behind a Constitution devised in 1900, when the horse and buggy were just attaining relative sophistication. [More…]
Because of certain provisions of section 44 of the Commonwealth Constitution, Mr Wood was obliged to resign his position in the State Public Service prior to nominating for the seat of Leichhardt last year. [More…]
I intended to outline to him that Mr Wood resigned only because he was compelled to do so because of the provisions of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
Yet, because of the Commonwealth Constitution, one group of people in particular are severely restricted if they wish to stand for Parliament. [More…]
His attitude towards public servants who stand for the Labor Party is assisted by section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is worth while that we look at those actual provisions of the Constitution which affect public servants who wish to stand for Federal Parliament. [More…]
Section 44 of the Constitution provides, amongst other things, that any person who ‘holds any office or place of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of the revenues of the Commonwealth shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives’. [More…]
It must be remembered that the public servant is obliged to resign because of the provisions of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
My study of this matter leads me to conclude that it may not be possible to frame legislation to guarantee re-appointment while section 44 of the Constitution remains unchanged. [More…]
Before the suspension of the sitting for dinner I was discussing section 44 of the Constitution and how it relates to public servants who are standing for election to the Federal Parliament. [More…]
Australia it is section 44 of the Public Service Act 1967; and in Victoria it is section 49 of the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1958. [More…]
Despite the fact that this regulation is expressed to cover elections to State or Federal Parliament, I am advised that it is considered unlikely that it could in fact be applicable to Federal elections because of section 44 of the Commonwealth Constitution. [More…]
Most States have legislation, usually the Constitution Act, which disqualifies a person holding an office or place of profit under the Crown from seeking election to State Parliament. [More…]
The Public Service Board in South Australia advises public servants who wish to nominate to resign in order to avoid the possibility of breaching section 49 of the South Australian Constitution Act 1934. [More…]
There seems to me to be only one course of action to take- to ask the Australian people to alter the Constitution to remove the requirement which obliges public servants to resign to contest a Federal election. [More…]
Removal of this constitutional requirement would allow public servants the same basic freedom to nominate for political office as is enjoyed by other Australian adults. [More…]
If a constitutional change is made, it may still be necessary to alter some existing legislation or regulations which unnecessarily fetter the rights of public servants to stand for election. [More…]
These changes may be outlined when a Bill to alter the Constitution is brought before the Parliament. [More…]
I am hopeful that senators and members who are interested in this question will provide me with their comments on my suggestion of a constitutional alteration. [More…]
This Senate concerns itself altogether too much in its own constitution and its emoluments. [More…]
Honourable senators will recall the formidable proposition concerning the subverting of the Constitution. [More…]
They were asked to submit a major subversion of the Constitution to a judicial inquiry but they preferred to try to push Supply through and retain government. [More…]
It has a peculiar constitution whereby the Cabinet is based proportionately on the representation of the parties in the parliament but it has certainly never been dominated by the fraternal party of the Australian Labor Party- the Swiss Socialist Party. [More…]
Within the total federal compact which was arrived at as a result of the numerous constitutional conventions of the 1880s and 1890s which led to federation, this chamber was created as an equal House. [More…]
The troubles we have, which are fundamental, with our Constitution in practice are because executive power has been permitted to override constitutional arrangement. [More…]
The constitutional arrangement was that we had two equal Houses. [More…]
But when we come to a constitutional convention we find that this House has six representatives and the House of Representatives has 10 representatives. [More…]
I believe that if we have delegates to a constitutional convention representing the executive governments of the houses of parliament of the various States of Australia, what we will have is discussion which takes place on the basis of what is most convenient for an executive government rather than what is in the best interests of democracy and federalism in Australia. [More…]
I believe that our real concern ought to be what are the interests of our federal compact; what are the interests of federalism in Australia; where are the defects in the Constitution which time has revealed; and how best can we overcome those defects. [More…]
I think that the fiasco of the referendum last year- it was a most unfortunate fiasco- is the best demonstration I can produce of why we ought to be cautious about how we approach the next Constitutional Convention and any which are held thereafter. [More…]
Thank God for Section 128 of the Constitution. [More…]
We can look at our Federation and our Constitution and say, ‘Thank God for futureology’. [More…]
Thank God for the futureology which was displayed by those people who attended the constitutional conventions of the 1880s and the 1890s’. [More…]
For that sort of reason and for a host of other reasons about which I would like to speak but about which time does not permit me to speak, I would like to stress to the Senate the importance of ensuring that our Constitution is not monkeyed with on a basis which panders to popularity and not to principle. [More…]
I would like to suggest, for instance, that honourable senators ensure that this chamber receives a better and more adequate representation at the Constitutional Convention. [More…]
I wonder whether a Constitutional Convention which is a meeting of the executive nominees of the various government of Australia, a Constitutional Convention which virtually disregards one of the equal Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth is a Constitutional Convention which we should support. [More…]
I think there is a necessity for a little consideration to be given, even to some of the principles for an elected Constitutional Convention. [More…]
I know that Bills have been introduced as far back as 1921 to give consideration to an elected convention to consider the Constitution. [More…]
Why should the people of Australia not have some say directly about those people who are to discuss the future amendments to their Constitution, as opposed to the executives which are so far removed by processes of election from the people that, whilst we can say that democracy prevails, we cannot say that for this purpose democracy prevails. [More…]
The executives were elected, not for the purpose of considering the Constitution, but to run the day-to-day government of their States or the country. [More…]
That does not mean that they have an absolute right to nominate who shall go to a Constitutional Convention, who shall participate in it and who shall express views. [More…]
Over a period of years people who took an interest in politics, people who took an interest in their Constitution and people who took an interest in the future of their country were led to believe that a situation existed whereby if they were to agree to a proposal for so-called simultaneous elections, that that would destroy the power of the Senate. [More…]
I believe that the arguments in relation to constitutional reform have tended to be negative. [More…]
Some people have said that there is no point in putting up proposals for constitutional reform because people will not vote for them. [More…]
It makes us believe that it is worthwhile looking to a constitutional convention which represents the people from all the States and from the various Houses of the Parliaments of Australia. [More…]
That makes the continuation of the attempt to consider the reform of the Constitution worthwhile. [More…]
I hope that when we further consider the reform of the Australian Constitution the Senate will be adequately represented. [More…]
I look forward to the day when we can reform some of the areas of the Constitution. [More…]
When we are talking about constitutional conventions, about a States house having inadequate representation out of the total Commonwealth parliamentary representation, and about what changes we ought to be making to the Constitution, I ask people to bear in mind that it is not unreal to suggest that many parts of Australia would be better off to go it alone than they would be to succumb to being ridden over by a feather-bedded majority. [More…]
I might even say: Look at the record on constitutional change. [More…]
I feel that that is not a wonderful record in regard to constitutional change. [More…]
I hope that in the future we will see a lot more support for constitutional change. [More…]
I agree with Senator Rae that last year three out of four of the referendum proposals were reasonably understood by the people and were voted upon, carried and became part of our Constitution. [More…]
I think the ideas of change and the important changes to the Constitution that ought to be looked at are matters that have to appeal not just to our side or to the Australian Labor Party but must have a fairly broad acceptance across the chasm of politics if they are actually to have a chance of acceptance by the people. [More…]
That has too much of a constitutional flavour. [More…]
We have a lot of things to do in relation to the Constitution. [More…]
It is clear from reading the papers of the current Convention that it has not found yet a solution to the major or most serious problems that have divided the Australian people on the Constitution. [More…]
While supporting this motion, nonetheless we ought to recognise the thin nature of the popular support for constitutional change at present. [More…]
There is a need for us in a period of relative calm in this country to face up to the problems of our Constitution- the outdated nature of some of its terms; the fact that there are unresolved issues that have caused a great deal of crisis in Australia in recent years- and regard those matters as urgent matters that should be calling on people of goodwill to find solutions. [More…]
The making or amending of constitutions is not easy. [More…]
As honourable senators will recall, our own Constitution has had a very checkered career, especially in the last 10 years. [More…]
-The honourable senator somehow seems to imagine that the Constitution belongs to a government. [More…]
Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia was accepted by popular vote in all the six colonies in 1900. [More…]
The Constitution was brought into being as a result of a popular vote. [More…]
I make that point because occasionally the view is put that the Constitution belongs to the Commonwealth Government or the State governments, to the Commonwealth Parliament or the State parliaments or to a particular House of this Parliament. [More…]
It happens to be the people’s Constitution and can be amended only by the people. [More…]
That is what I think the Constitution is all about and ought to remain all about. [More…]
Most constitutions throughout the world which are imposed from the top tend to fall into disrepair and fail, but constitutions which have the support and goodwill of the overwhelming majority of the electorate survive and the governments which operate under them carry the respect of the electorate. [More…]
It shows that there is more goodwill about for constitutional reform than some people imagine. [More…]
The Constitutional Convention is a method of getting the Commonwealth Parliament, which is the lone initiator of referendum proposals, to put certain things to the people. [More…]
It is ultimately the people who judge whether the Constitution ought to be altered. [More…]
It provides for a number of entrenched clauses in the new constitution in such key areas as the judiciary, public service and police and defence forces. [More…]
It would not be proper for me to comment in detail on what is occurring there, but our information is that recent developments have taken place following the Peruvian Government’s preparations for elections in June this year for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution to prepare the country for a return to parliamentary democracy. [More…]
I draw the attention of the Committee to the fact that the expression ordinary annual services of government’ is employed in section 53 of the Constitution to classify the expenditure in respect of which the Senate’s powers of amendment are restricted to requesting the House of Representatives to make amendments and in section 54 to protect the Senate against the tacking of extraneous matters to an Appropriation Bill for the ordinary annual services of the Government, which, in accordance with section 53, the Senate may not amend but may request amendments. [More…]
Following the remarks made by Senator Douglas McClelland I think that it is worth recalling that in the Constitution of this nation it is the Parliament that comes first; it is the Parliament that has precedence. [More…]
As I have already mentioned, the Parliament has clear precedence in the Constitution of this nation. [More…]
The Constitution provides that if a senator or member of the House of Representatives directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth or for services rendered in the Parliament to any person or State his place shall thereupon become vacant. [More…]
In other words, by their agreement for services rendered in the Parliament, if they agree to a certain course within a period after they have ceased to be in Parliament, they appear to me to come within the principle of the prohibition in the Constitution that applies to them while they are members of Parliament. [More…]
I rise only to draw the attention of the Minister for Social Security (Senator Guilfoyle) to that situation, which I submit directly points up the fact that we are providing for recompense for service after retirement in a manner which, if provided during service, would be completely unconstitutional and prohibited. [More…]
There are peculiar circumstances with regard to the exercise of judicial duties by Mr Justice Joske over the last two years since the establishment of the Federal Court- a new Federal Court- to which he was not appointed, but I do not go into the merits of the payment; I go into the constitutionality of it. [More…]
It is contrary to an undertaking given to Parliament and contrary to the fundamental conception of the Constitution. [More…]
Senator Sir REGINALD WRIGHTHonourable senators believe they can come into and go out of this chamber as they like but this Parliament will sit for the rest of this week according to the Constitution. [More…]
Because of the requirements of the Constitution, those political rights were removed in 1910 when the Territory was transferred from South Australia and accorded the status of a Commonwealth Territory. [More…]
In a very real sense, the constitutional history of the Northern Territory since that date reflects the endeavours of the people of the Territory to regain the rights which they lost in 1 9 10. [More…]
Because of the limitations imposed under section 51 (iii) of the Constitution any adjustments to a factory’s pro rata allocation must be made on a uniform basis and the Bill includes a special uniformity clause to cover this aspect. [More…]
The purpose of that Act was to provide for the constitution of Aboriginal councils and the incorporation of an association of Aboriginals in a form acceptable to Aboriginals and to allow the Aboriginal communities and groups to incorporate themselves for various purposes in a manner more acceptable to them. [More…]
Do we recognise that a State has the right to extend or propose the establishment of a local government area or do we retain the notion, by virtue of the Commonwealth’s Aboriginal powers under the Constitution, as amended in 1967, that the Commonwealth has a superior jurisdiction and that this amendment in the Bill is simply a direction to consult? [More…]
I believe that the principal Act places with the registrar the constitution of Aboriginal council areas on the satisfaction of the registrar. [More…]
I notice that section 16 of the principal Act relates to the constitution of Aboriginal council areas on satisfaction of the registrar. [More…]
I believe that our Constitution should be altered so that such retrospectivity becomes illegal here. [More…]
Amendment of the American Constitution, it comes from those who are considered by their contemporaries to be the ultimate in cantankerousness. [More…]
The Constitution calls for a referendum to be held before a new State is created. [More…]
Whilst honourable senators will understand that section 124 of the Constitution does not exactly mention a referendum, it is generally agreed by Quick and Garran and other commentators that it implies that a referendum would be held before a new State were created. [More…]
In fact I believe that the Minister for the Northern Territory (Mr Adermann) when introducing the Bill in the other place referred to it as perhaps a constitution for the Northern Territory. [More…]
I think that the pan of the Constitution dealing with this subject is a little hazy and is difficult for a layman to understand. [More…]
It will look at the constitution of the Northern Territory. [More…]
Of course, one of the first matters the Committee will consider is the constitution as it stands and it will endeavour to bring down a recommendation to this Parliament that it should give the people of the Northern Territory a fully elected Legislative Council at the next election. [More…]
I would hope that the Senate, particularly Territory representatives, would consider whether there should be reference to a Senate committee of the question of further constitutional development- with a view to ensuring a public avenue of debate and consultation that can be used in the Northern Territory by the Opposition, by the majority party, by the public and by all interested parties. [More…]
Also, there has been insufficient acknowledgement in the debate of what I see as very constructive provisions of the Bill, when considered as representing the embryo constitution of a new State. [More…]
I would hope that the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly would maintain a 10 per cent variation from quota, but I ask all honourable senators, including Senator Robertson, to bear in mind that for the first time we are to have in what will be effectively a State constitution a requirement to ensure that electoral boundaries will be fair. [More…]
I see the provisions of clause 1 3 as representing a considerable step forward in terms of the constitution of a State. [More…]
They incorporate provisions which are properly part of any modern constitution. [More…]
Clause 49 is very familiar and guarantees that the lawyers of the Territory will enjoy the fruits of endless litigation, just as the lawyers of Australia have enjoyed the fruits of litigation under section 92 of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
That provision is not, to my knowledge, found in any State constitution, but is very properly included as an essential safeguard within this embryo constitution. [More…]
However, I now think that if we followed that course the Commonwealth would have to indicate what are all its powers under section 6 1 of the Constitution and would have to be extremely careful to cover all areas of Federal authority. [More…]
It has stood the test of time, and it would be unfortunate if it were not included in this Bill when we have the opportunity to lay down a new constitution, as one of the speakers called it. [More…]
He can point out constitutional weaknesses, but in the final analysis, it is my contention and the thrust of our argument, he must take the advice of the elected representatives of the Legislative Assembly. [More…]
No matter what legislation is passed by the House of Representatives and then by the Senate it does not become law until the effect of the Constitution is carried out. [More…]
What we are trying to do is establish principles so that the Northern Territory will have the best constitution we can achieve for it, and in our amendment to this is what we are attempting to do. [More…]
Honourable senators will be aware that, pursuant to Section 66 of the Constitution, provision for the annual sum payable out of Consolidated Revenue for the salaries of Ministers of State is made in the Ministers of State Act 1952-73. [More…]
The Ministers of State Amendment Bill 1978 seeks to increase the annual sum provided for the payment of Ministers under section 66 of the Constitution. [More…]
We have reached the stage where the compression to five Ministers in this chamber ought, I think, to excite this chamber to take into serious consideration the principle whereby the business of the Senate would be advantaged if all the Ministers who are responsible for Executive government were in the House of Representatives and the managers, who would be of equal status to the Ministers and would have the responsibility of managing the business of the Senate, were in a confidential relationship with the Ministry, but occupied that degree of independence which the Constitution requires all senators to occupy. [More…]
The fact that at least one State government has quite vociferously and publicly stated that it will not co-operate with this legislation and the intention behind it appears to us to put the legislation immediately into grave doubt because section 5 1 placitum (iii) of the Constitution states that the [More…]
Sub-clause (7) of clause 5 of the Bill states that the powers conferred on the Minister by that section shall not be exercised in such a manner that stabilisation payments under this Act will not be uniform throughout the Commonwealth within the meaning of placitum (iii) of section 5 1 of the Constitution. [More…]
The problems created by section 92 of the Constitution, which have been referred to, raise very great difficulties in the implementation of the proposal. [More…]
It also requires the Minister to administer the product quotas to factories on a uniform basis in accordance with the meaning of section 51 (3) of the Constitution. [More…]
If the Government is confident that it has the constitutional power, through its taxing powers and so on, to make this legislation operative or to achieve the purposes sought by this legislation, why did the Minister go on to talk about the Commonwealth having recourse to section 96 grants if any State really wanted to play it tough? [More…]
If the Commonwealth is so confident that the objective sought is within its legal power or can be achieved legally under this legislation, why does the Minister speculate about completely different legislation being introduced using section 96 of the Constitution? [More…]
I have done what I can for constitutional development. [More…]
It is nice to remember that having been on the Constitutional Review Committee with a dissenting report in favour of maintenance of the Senate powers, in the only three referenda that have been put forward on this matter either by my side or by the Opposition, the majority of the Australian people, according to the Constitution, have not accepted the view that was put that the Senate power should be eroded. [More…]
Coming here as I did less than three years ago, I thought I knew a bit about constitutional history and the set-up of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Perhaps in the long term and in the mechanism of the Australian Constitution, it may well be a vital factor because a bipartisan approach is involved whereby both sides come together to discuss what are very important matters of reference from the chamber. [More…]
Pursuant to section 2 1 of the Constitution, the Governor of the State of New South Wales was notified of the vacancies. [More…]
the establishment of a timetable leading up to a national referendum seeking an amendment of the Constitution to permit citizen initiative; [More…]
The immediate need for the Commonwealth Government to implement the provisions of Section 51 sub-section 26 as amended by the 1967 Referendum and sub-section 3 1 of the Australian Constitution to meet the wishes of the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal communities.’ [More…]
The only solution to the continuing dispute involving the Aboriginal communities at Aurukun and Mornington Island is for the Federal Government to implement the provisions of the Constitution and to take into account the view of the people as expressed in the 1967 referendum, as we have said so many times previously. [More…]
Senate to tell the Government that it should implement immediately the provisions of placitum (xxvi) of section 51 of the Constitution as amended in the 1966-67 referendum and placitum (xxxi) to meet the wishes of the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal settlements. [More…]
How much longer must the national Government of this country wait to use the powers which it undoubtedly has under the Constitution to ensure that the citizens of Queensland in these areas are treated with some justice and dignity? [More…]
Surely the only answer to the problem is that the Parliament should use the powers available to it under the Constitution, given to it by an overwhelming majority of the people of this country, to take over these areas, to look after the welfare of these people, to allow them to develop in their own way without the paternalistic nonsense which we know goes on in Queensland and to allow them to have a proper say in the future development of the mineral and other resources in their area. [More…]
The immediate need for the Commonwealth Government to implement the provisions of Section SI sub-section 26 as amended by the 1967 Referendum and sub-section 31 of the Australian Constitution to meet the wishes of the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal communities. [More…]
Under our Constitution this Parliament has certain powers. [More…]
The immediate need for the Commonwealth Government to implement the provisions of section SI sub-section 26 as amended by the 1967 referendum and sub-section 31 of the Australian Constitution to meet the wishes of the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal communities. [More…]
Let us examine the Australian Constitution in a little more detail. [More…]
Section SI of the Constitution states: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: [More…]
If this Government does not take action in accordance with the provisions of its own legislation and in accordance with the provisions of the Australian Constitution there will be very great problems. [More…]
In the House of Commons there is in relation to the constitution of the legislation committees a committee of selection which considers the Bills which are proposed. [More…]
Concern is also expressed over Article 44 of the Constitution - [More…]
That is our Constitution- [More…]
probably more importantly, that the Commonwealth will not come in above them and pass laws which would as a result of section 109 of the Constitution over-ride the exercise of State laws. [More…]
the establishment of a timetable leading up to a national referendum seeking an amendment of the Constitution to permit citizen initiative; [More…]
The meaning of the word free’ has worried the High Court of Australia over the years when it has dealt with the interpretation of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
Certainly the dull and technical language of our Constitution conveys no sense of national purpose. [More…]
Under the Australian constitution the responsibility for water matters rests with the States. [More…]
The Commonwealth’s role during this time has expanded in co-operation with the States particularly as a funding agent based primarily upon the financial assistance provisions of Section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
I want to attract your attention to a section of the Constitution. [More…]
Of course I am no constitutional expert but recently something occurred to me in Queensland and my attention was attracted to this section by the counsel whom I engaged to defend me on the charge that was brought against me by the Queensland Police. [More…]
The section of the Constitution to which my attention was drawn is section 44 which reads: [More…]
The Constitution merely says that anyone who is convicted of an offence for which the penalty is . [More…]
Then, under this section of the Constitution, I would have been incapable of continuing to sit in this place. [More…]
If I had been convicted of that offence, under the Constitution I would have forfeited my seat even though the penalty I received may have been just 24 hours gaol or some other penalty. [More…]
It is not a matter which is reserved for the Federal Government of this country under the Constitution. [More…]
With our too-rigid Constitution, we are in danger of embalming this dynamic concept in the state that it was in the 1890s. [More…]
The tragedy of the Constitutional Conventions is the chance that is being missed. [More…]
Madison, the principal author of the United States Constitution, campaigned for a strong Senate ‘as a check on the democracy: It cannot therefore be made too strong’. [More…]
It is not very rewarding to examine what the authors of our Constitution meant to achieve. [More…]
The principal author of the Constitution, Griffith, was clearly of the opinion that the logical inconsistency would work itself out in practice, presumably through constitutional amendments. [More…]
The Chief Justice recently gave his theory of the Constitution by which the Government is responsible to both Houses of Parliament. [More…]
If the Constitution means what the Chief Justice says it means, then, as one of Dickens’ characters said: ‘The law is an ass ‘. [More…]
For what it is worth, that interpretation was not considered seriously by the authors of the Constitution. [More…]
Our Federal Constitution is outdated and failing. [More…]
Recently there was a conference to discuss constitutional matters at which only certain interests had representation. [More…]
The whole of the Australian population should be concerned and involved in the planning of the Constitution. [More…]
Under the Australian Constitution the Senate has very important responsibilities as a part of the Commonwealth Parliament. [More…]
Whilst the Constitution says that we have the power to make special laws for people of a particular race- much of the legislation that I would have presented would have dealt with part Aboriginals- it was not thought by the legal profession that a part Aboriginal would be classified as a person of any particular race. [More…]
I came back with the question of whether constitutional law could be declared to be unconstitutional because of a change in date. [More…]
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, under section 51 (xxvi) they gave the Commonwealth the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws. [More…]
Until 1967 that was the constitutional position. [More…]
Quick and Garran state that this was similar to the American Constitution. [More…]
The American Government wanted to make special laws for a migrant group but an American court found that it did not have the power to make separate laws; everyone was covered by the Constitution and the law had to apply to all. [More…]
So that that did not happen in Australia, section 51 (xxvi) was included in the Constitution. [More…]
Section 51 (xxvi) of the Constitution gives us power to make laws with respect to immigration and emigration. [More…]
It was claimed that this constitutional provision discriminated against Aborigines insofar as the same laws could not apply to them as applied to other people. [More…]
The intention of the Constitution is to restrict the power of the Commonwealth to make a uniform law for its citizens- that is, for Australians if that term can be denned- and another law, a separate law, for people of a particular race. [More…]
If the court upheld that view, all that the 1 967 referendum did was to take out of the Constitution surplus words; the position now is as it was before the referendum. [More…]
I use as my authority Quick and Garran who, it has been hammered home to me since I have been in this Parliament, are the authorities on the interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
In the latest edition of their publication, The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth, Quick and Garran, in dealing with people of a particular race, say: [More…]
The legal personnel in the Australian Labor Party were generally of the belief after considering the replies I got that the matter would have to be covered by a Federal law because there was some contradiction between Federal law and State law and under sections of the Constitution Federal law would be supreme. [More…]
It also has the power to acquire property, as the Constitution provides very definitely. [More…]
We must remember that there are no particular powers written into the Constitution to acquire property for Aboriginals. [More…]
Whilst 1 do not think that the Australian publicwould give the Commonwealth Parliament power to acquire land for all people of a particular race, I am certain that if all parties supported an appeal to the Australian public to allow it to alter the Constitution sufficiently to let the Government legislate to give land to Aboriginal people there would be a successful result. [More…]
There are two ways to legislate when there is constitutional doubt. [More…]
A government can either go to the people for an alteration of the Constitution or it can pass a law which would be effective until it was challenged and upset by the court and then go to the people. [More…]
In this debate on the first reading of the Bill I appeal to the Government to take action to try to test the powers it has under the Constitution. [More…]
These he does not derive from your pleasure- no, nor from the law and the constitution. [More…]
Despite what might be my lamentable idealism, I look forward to the days when we have public funding of political parties, disclosure of donations, some register of pecuniary interests, fair redistributions, one vote one value, a revised Federal Constitution and real popular participation in government. [More…]
I was reminded of the time when Edmund Burke, replying in the House of Commons to an attack upon him by Mr Fox, said: ‘I sincerely hope that no member of this House will ever barter the Constitution of his country, that eternal jewel of his soul, for a wild and visionary system which can only lead to confusion and disorder’. [More…]
I would like to see our Constitution changed to enable Ministers to be selected from outside the Parliament. [More…]
It is not at present considered possible under the Constitution to extend such legislation to the whole of Australia, although persons (particularly women) who live in States which do not have such legislation will not have legal guarantees against discrimination on these grounds. [More…]
The Australian Constitution provides the Commonwealth with powers to make laws with respect to weights and measures under section 51. [More…]
Clauses 6 to 8 provide a revised structure for the Commission, update its constitution and methods of operation and specify procedural matters not presently covered by the Act. [More…]
Under section 92 of the Constitution, which permits free trade between States, there was an anomaly whereby the people who controlled wheat quotas were powerless to prevent the movement of wheat across borders. [More…]
We should be doing something effective about our outmoded Constitution and political system so that members of this Parliament are elected on a basis of representing all Australians, not just half of them, and so that the Australian people are consulted more adequately and more honestly about their own affairs. [More…]
In removing the original statutory jurisdiction of the High Court, the Bill does not, of course, purport to limit the jurisdiction conferred directly on the High Court by the Constitution. [More…]
Thus in some cases where a statute now confers a right to proceed against the Commonwealth in the High Court, repeal of the statutory provision would still leave intact the constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court in matters in which the Commonwealth is suing or being sued. [More…]
Where the statutory right to proceed against the Commonwealth is moved to State or Territory courts, those courts would have a jurisdiction in those matters concurrent with the jurisidiction vested in the High Court by the Constitution. [More…]
Until recently, it has been generally accepted that the Commonwealth constitutional power to legislate in respect of trade marks did not extend to marks used in relation to services. [More…]
The Government, however, has recently been informed by its legal advisers that that conclusion is not consistent with interpretations of the Constitution by the High [More…]
Court subsequent to the Union Label case and that the trade marks provision of section 5 1 (xviii) of the Constitution does, in fact, empower the Commonwealth to legislate in respect of marks used to identify and distinguish services. [More…]
It is time we had incorporated in the Constitution clauses that stop such legislation and I believe a referendum along those lines, especially in view of some of the things contained in this Budget, would be passed quite easily by the Australian people. [More…]
That is the question of whether a referendum proposal should be put to the people of Australia to amend the Constitution to provide, as happens in the United States of America, that there shall be no retrospectivity in any law which imposes a penalty. [More…]
I hope at some appropriate time that we can give further consideration to the question of a constitutional amendment. [More…]
Finally, I would like to take up what Senator Rae said when he suggested that perhaps it was time that we amended the Constitution with respect to retrospective taxation. [More…]
I would like to let the Minister know that I have in my hand a draft of a Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution to prohibit the retrospective imposition of tax. [More…]
Honourable senators so far have no referred to our Constitution. [More…]
One of the very few freedoms guaranteed under our Constitution is in section 1 1 6, which states among other things: [More…]
We are not talking about offices or public trusts, but it is interesting that in our Constitution - [More…]
It was seen fit to lay down in our Constitution, in relation to some Commonwealth matters, that no religious test shall be required as a qualification, and we are talking about an Australian airline which is prepared to impose a religious test as a qualification for the right to travel on its aeroplanes. [More…]
If one reads The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth by Quick and Garran one finds the reason that this section was put in. [More…]
Other commentators on the Australian Constitution have dealt with this matter in their work. [More…]
When the Australian Constitution was written, we took steps to try to extend religious freedom here and to exclude tests based on one’s religious beliefs forever from the way in which the Government proceeded and, I would hope, from the way in which its instrumentalities and agencies proceeded. [More…]
It appears that Qantas is prepared to agree, for commercial security, to place these conditions on access to its services; conditions which are not in keeping with the spirit of our Constitution nor in keeping with the sentiments of this country. [More…]
In the end, there is no price I would not pay to uphold the kind of religious toleration set out in our Constitution and practised in this democratic society. [More…]
However, as Senator Baume has mentioned, the one fundamental human right that is mentioned in our Constitution- we do not have a Bill of Rights- is the right to religious freedom and the unacceptability of discrimination on grounds of religion or faith. [More…]
It is important that we ought to note that that is mentioned in our Constitution. [More…]
Dasmascus to London and thereby, I believe, contravening what is seen in our Constitution and in our society through our adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example, as a fundamental right. [More…]
If a person anywhere in the world tries to book on Qantas and indicates that he or she wants to fly via Damascus the question will have to be asked and that can only reflect poorly on this country whose Constitution mentions the right to religious freedom. [More…]
As I said last week, maybe it is time that we altered the Constitution, this time to insert a clause that would force politicians to stick to what they say. [More…]
Perhaps the central unhappy feature of the regime to which I have referred is the anti-radical decree of 1972 which led to the establishment of the office for the protection of the Constitution, the development by that office of the concept of enemy of the Constitution and the associated development of the system of Berufsverbote which translates as professional disbarment or a ban on following one’s chosen profession. [More…]
Although those developments did not originally have the force of law, the decree of 1972 to which I have referred was in fact adopted very briskly thereafter as guidelines by the respective State and Federal bureaucracies in West Germany and received the imprimatur of the West German Supreme Constitutional Court in 1975. [More…]
The principle behind the system to which I am adverting is the familiar McCarthyist one that if one is not committed to the Constitution, or works against it- as we will see, the way in which these assessments are arrived at leaves something to be desired- one has no right to work for any of the public services to which I have referred. [More…]
One example was that of a mature aged trainee teacher, not a member of the Communist Party or any of its multifarious offshoots, in West Germany whose offences apparently were twofold: First, to organise his fellow trainee teachers when they were threatened with a salary deduction, to threaten a strike- not actually to carry it out- against the authorities; and, secondly, to sign in company with a number of other people who were communists- I repeat that apparently he was not- an open letter protesting against the violation of the Constitution in Chile. [More…]
The system, as it operates in West Germany, is apparently built around a highly elaborate surveillance and information network which extends right across the central and state governments and links police agencies at those respective levels of government with the Central Office for the Protection of the Constitution. [More…]
Which, I interpolate, are primarily compiled from records of people attending demonstrations, distributing leaflets, signing petitions or attending controversial court hearings- are prepared and sent to the state offices of criminal investigation and to the State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution. [More…]
Meanwhile the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution may also have forwarded the reports to its federal office in Colgne where details are fed into the computer known as NARDIS. [More…]
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution can also tap the computers of the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Intelligence Service and the Military Intelligence Service. [More…]
I refer just in passing to an article which appeared in the Guardian Weekly of 16 July 1978, which refers to the emergence of information about the Office for the Protection of the Constitution seeking and obtaining from public libraries around Germany records of the borrowings of politically suspect persons to elicit what sort of literature they are in fact reading. [More…]
A large number of applications from within Australia and overseas were received, and soon after I became Attorney-General I approved the constitution of an expert panel headed by the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia to interview applicants. [More…]
This Bill seeks appropriations of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1978-79 for expenditure on the construction of public works and buildings, the acquisition of sites and buildings, advances and loans, plant and equipment, grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution, and new policies not authorised by special legislation. [More…]
Indeed, under the Constitution it is the arbiter. [More…]
The Constitution and the law state that this Government is responsible now for law in the Territory now if we persist in forcing this issue we will really be imposing selfgovernment to the Territory. [More…]
The question of self-government or constitutional development in the Capital Territory is to be decided by the people of the Capital Territory by the most democratic possible means- a referendum- on 25 November. [More…]
If the community does not accept option A the Legislative Assembly will not have executive power over health matters immediately after the referendum or subsequently as a result of that decision, and one must assume that under the Constitution the Parliament will retain this traditional role. [More…]
Further, can the Minister assure the Senate that denying underwriting to any 4,000 tonnes will not breach section 5 1 (iii) of the Constitution? [More…]
We all have our differences with the Constitution, but it contains a provision that senators may not take up their positions until the end of the June following their election. [More…]
Will steps be taken to amend the Constitution to enable the Court to give advisory opinions, as was strongly suggested at the recent Constitutional Convention held in Perth. [More…]
We know that the Constitution makes provision to ensure that one group will not be disadvantaged in respect of taxpaying when compared with the rest of Australia. [More…]
Since Viktoras Petkus, and the group he is a member of, conducted their activities openly, believing that the Soviet constitution granted them some rights not only in word but also in fact, this severe punishment is a blatant denial of human rights recognised even by the Soviet constitution. [More…]
In the 1 920s this funding provided one of the early test cases on the use of section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Secondly, the Commonwealth should determine the minimum acceptable national expenditure on roads other than national roads, and should control such minimum expenditure by making grants under section 96 of the Constitution to the States for such purpose, and by requiring appropriate matching expenditures from the State governments; there being no objection to the State governments, from their own resources, spending amounts on roads in excess of their matching requirements. [More…]
Thirdly, the Commonwealth should make no attempt to control, supervise or direct the way in which the State governments or local governments spend available funds on roads other than national roads, other than to be satisfied by State Auditors-General that the necessary funds have been properly expended so as to qualify for the appropriate road grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
It is an option which is permitted under the Constitution but I would say that it is permitted as a matter of law rather than, in a sense, as a matter of practice I felt that the making of an affirmation was somehow regarded as culturally deficient. [More…]
As members of this Parliament we are members of a living, growing body, guided by tradition on one side and responding to demands from society on the other- all within the law of the Constitution. [More…]
This Bill originated in this place on the initiative of Senator Chaney in his capacity as the Minister for Administrative Services and it seeks to make some minor changes to the constitution of the Remuneration Tribunal. [More…]
In an endeavour to untangle and clarify what has become a very muddled situation, the Committee ‘s report does four things: First of all, it gives a detailed analysis, for really the first time in the legal literature, of the nature, scope and extent of section 51 (xxvi) of the Constitution, which of course empowers the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to the people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws. [More…]
That power was conferred upon the Commonwealth in those terms in the 1967 constitutional referendum. [More…]
The second thing that the report does is to give a full account of the relevance and application of section 5 1 (xxxi) of the Constitution, which sets out the power of the Commonwealth to acquire property on just terms. [More…]
Fourthly, what we do in the report is to list a series of alternative courses of legislative action in which the Commonwealth could constitutionally engage so as to secure effective self-management rights for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland. [More…]
I rise not to speak on any policy issue underlying this Bill but on a matter which I submit is equally appropriate for a house of review to contemplate- the question of the constitutional validity of this Bill if it is enacted in its present form. [More…]
The question arises under section 55 of the Constitution which states, in part: [More…]
In other words it is to appear in an Act which, in the language of section 55 of the Constitution, cannot be said on any view to be an Act which imposes taxation and does nothing else. [More…]
When early in 1977 the Minister for Primary Industry (Mr Sinclair) announced the membership of the Board for its ensuing three-year term he foreshadowed a review of the Board’s constitution and functions, to be undertaken in consultation with the national industry organisation, the Australian Dried Fruits Association. [More…]
In respect of its constitution, the Corporation is to have fewer members than the Board it replaces, namely, eight as against eleven. [More…]
This assistance is intended to be provided by means of a repayable grant to New South Wales under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Freedom of Trade Union activity in Peru is ensured under the ‘Social Guarantees’ provisions of the 1933 Constitution (Article 62) together with the right of collective bargaining (Article 43 ) and the prohibition of labour contracts which restrict the rights of workers (Article 44). [More…]
Article 70, however, authorises the suspension of certain Constitutional guarantees by the executive power “when the security of the State demands it”. [More…]
We suggest the constitution of a Government computer standards committee consisting of for example representatives from among major user departments, the Public Service Board, Telecom, the CSIRO Division of Computing Research, and major computer industry associations. [More…]
A whole new set of constitutional powers is being wheeled in to sustain the legislation, not just the previous power in section 51 (20) of the Constitution relating to corporations. [More…]
Now section 51(1), the trade and commerce power, and section 122, the Territories power, of the Constitution are being employed. [More…]
It is to the federal court that the union itself ultimately has recourse to ensure the protection of its eligibility rule, its constitution rule. [More…]
The purpose of this Bill is to make an alteration to section 44 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. [More…]
Before discussion the purpose of this Bill, it is pertinent to examine the provisions of section 44 of the Constitution. [More…]
The Constitution Alteration (Holders of Offices of Profit) Bill 1978 relates to sub-section (iv) of section 44. [More…]
I am convinced that this Parliament is all the poorer because many highly capable public servants do not, due to the restrictions of section 44 of the Constitution, even consider the prospect of standing for Federal Parliament. [More…]
It appears that sections 20 and 38 of the Constitution would cover such a situation. [More…]
The alteration to the Constitution as outlined by this Bill would require amendments to some existing Commonwealth and State legislation. [More…]
No further constitutional changes are required to allow the necessary complementary legislative amendments to be made. [More…]
In 1975, South Africa officially recognised the international status of the territory and decided to initiate its own discussions in Namibia towards a constitutional settlement. [More…]
The five Western members of the Security Council (the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, West Germany, Canada) in 1977 advised South Africa that its constitutional proposals arising out of these consultations would not gain international approval. [More…]
The plan envisaged, in essence, free elections for Namibia, under United Nations supervision and control for the purpose of electing a constituent assembly to draw up and adopt a constitution for an independent Namibia. [More…]
The other important point to be made- I do appreciate that honourable senators who have spoken recognised this- is that this measure is the first in what I hope will be a series of Bills to be considered and passed by this Parliament over the next 12 months or more to give effect to the constitutional settlement reached at the last two Premiers conferences regarding the control of the offshore areas of Australia as a result of the decision of the High Court in the Seas and Submerged Lands Case. [More…]
The fact is that the basis of that constitutional settlement is that the Commonwealth is recognising the traditional exercise of jurisdiction by the States in the territorial sea adjacent to their coasts. [More…]
Under the terms of the High Court decision, the Commonwealth could always come in and, by virtue of section 109 of the Constitution, pass its own laws and thereby override State laws. [More…]
However, because Senator Tate raised the matter I wanted to emphasise that this is the first of a series of measures to give effect to that constitutional settlement. [More…]
Initiate necessary action for a referendum to be held to amend the Constitution to provide for Citizen’s Initiative, on the following conditions: [More…]
Birds could not be transferred across the border every day when they wanted to lay an egg in order to evade section 92 of the Constitution relating to free trade between States. [More…]
The Opposition also believes that there should always be an appeal to the High Court as a right in matters involving the interpretation of the Constitution. [More…]
The courts administering the law should all derive an independent existence and authority from the Constitution. [More…]
Some practical difficulties would occur in carrying such principle beyond the superior courts, but it is not easy to see why the entire system of superior courts should not have been organised and directed under the Constitution to administer the total content of the law. [More…]
There has, in recent years, been growing support for the establishment under our Constitution of one set of courts for Australia. [More…]
There is no basic inconsistency between that idea and the federal nature of our Constitution. [More…]
In West Germany political parties are recognised by the Constitution, which of course is not the case in Australia although I personally feel that there is a strong case that they should be. [More…]
What progress is being made towards a constitution and independence for the New Hebrides? [More…]
Dijoud, also announced that British and French experts would soon arrive in the New Hebrides to assist with the drafting of a constitution which is to embody principles such as proportional representation, protection of minority rights and bilingualism. [More…]
The constitution is to be drawn up by May when Dijoud and Lord Goronwy-Roberts, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, will visit the New Hebrides to study it. [More…]
It is planned that the constitution be put to a referendum and, if approved, it will form the basis for elections. [More…]
It was a referendum to see if those peoples would agree to a constitution. [More…]
What we are also seeing at the present time, despite the United Nations Charter and despite the constitution of the United Nations, is an acceptance of the doctrine that other countries are entitled to intervene in the internal affairs of countries whose policies they do not like. [More…]
In the Australian Labor Party booklet Platform Constitution and Rules, in the constitutional and legal section under the heading ‘A Constitutional Reform’, clause 9 states: [More…]
-What I have said should be clear enough from the lessons of our own history and from the record of the Australian people in constitutional referendums. [More…]
It is well known, of course, that only eight out of the 40 referendums that have been held to change the Australian Constitution have been agreed to. [More…]
However, sometimes the King’s representative or the Queen’s representative in this country can fudge in their actions based on the constitution. [More…]
Acceptance of the Agreement on an International Energy Program and decisions of the Governing Board of the IEA is to the extent that these are compatible with Australia’s Federal constitution and our policies on foreign investment, the development, export and marketing of uranium, including our policies with regard to nuclear nonproliferation and our policies with regard to the export of other energy resources. [More…]
He said the conference had adopted a new constitution and decided to sever its affiliations with the National Country Party and enter into ‘an association’ with both the NCP and the Liberal Party. [More…]
As far as the second question is concerned, at the Association’s meeting with me on 22 November 1978, the subjects discussed included the possible constitution of the Force, including the creation of a protective service component. [More…]
Above all, there must be a progressive, logical improvement which can be made within the laws of the Constitution. [More…]
Furthermore, it is the only avenue by which change of importance and magnitude can be effected in the Federal Parliament without altering the Constitution or making some other extreme move. [More…]
Section 6 1 of the Constitution vests the executive power of the Commonwealth in the monarch, exercisable by the Government-General as the Queen ‘s representative. [More…]
Quick and Garran, in their annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth, defined the fundamental precept of Cabinet government. [More…]
I repeat, Quick and Garran in their Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth said: [More…]
The powers of the Senate are defined in the Constitution and can be altered only by a referendum. [More…]
Mr Fife is now on record- I assume that he would be because this Press release is attributed to Senator Jessop and is reported in the Adelaide Advertiser- &s using the excuse that the Government cannot honour its promise because under the Constitution in peacetime it has not the power to control prices. [More…]
Yet here we have Mr Fife using the excuse that the Government has not power under the Constitution to honour its election promise to equalise fuel prices. [More…]
Mr Fife now has the audacity to write to Senator Jessop- no doubt in an endeavour to get him off the hook because the Government had not honoured its promises on fuel equalisationstating that the Government has not the power under the Constitution to invoke price control. [More…]
depriving persons of their civil rights under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States; or [More…]
I believe that Australia has good reason to be grateful to those who have fought in the past, and in particular during the period of the constitutional debates of the 1890s, to ensure that the Senate would be able to exist as a separate and distinct House. [More…]
Some 35 per cent of the total debates during the constitutional conventions of the 1890s was devoted to the question of what ought to be the Senate’s role and its powers. [More…]
The net result has been that the Constitution has been designed on such a basis that we have the most powerful, the most independent, elected upper House, probably, in the world. [More…]
The first thing the report does is make a quite detailed analysis of section 5 1 (xxvi) of the Constitution, the Commonwealth’s power to make laws with respect to people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws, a provision which assumed that form as a result of the 1 967 Aboriginal powers referendum. [More…]
The Committee concludes on this particular subject matter that the doubts which have been thrown up from time to time about the scope and effect of that Constitutional power are, by and large, without any real substance at all. [More…]
The second thing that the report does is to make a detailed analysis of the scope and operation of section 5 1 (xxxi) of the Constitution, the guarantee of just terms for compulsory acquisitions of property. [More…]
In reaching its conclusions, the Committee used what legal opinion and case law were available to it but there has been no previous judgment on section 5 1 (xxvi) of the Constitution. [More…]
The Committee questions whether the Constitution gives the Parliament power to make special laws but implies that in the absence of a power given to anyone else it must be accepted that Parliament has the power. [More…]
The Commonwealth has no authority to interfere with the constitution of an industry body and, as a matter of policy, would not wish to do so. [More…]
Concern is also expressed over Article 44 of the Constitution which lends itself to discrimination against those citizens who involuntarily bear dual citizenship. [More…]
There are special safeguards within the Constitution to protect the rights of the individual. [More…]
Mr Justice Hope, in relation to the Communist Party, stated at page 47 of Volume I of the fourth report that the revolutionary objective of that party, as most recently reaffirmed in 1972 in the 23rd National Congress, had been expressed in its constitution the following terms: [More…]
There is currently no rational evidence to suggest that the SPA is in any position to violently overthrow the constitution or that any of its members seriously advocate that violent overthrow. [More…]
Obviously, I carry no brief for the SPA, as a political party, but I believe that that is a realistic assessment of its revolutionary capabilities, notwithstanding the rather more extravagant rhetoric that is quoted in respect of its constitution by Mr Justice Hope. [More…]
It is the alteration to the Constitution way back in about 1 966. [More…]
Prior to the alteration of the constitution in 1967, section 51 read as follows: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to . [More…]
What conclusions did it lead to in respect of what is considered in this legislation as being an ultimate position- the challenge to constitutional authority? [More…]
In fact if one examined the Labor movement in more detail one would find that further to the Left of those three communist organisations there are sects and groups which may well be more militant and more determined to destroy constitutional government than those three political bodies. [More…]
It does not necessarily follow from the way these groups pursue their political activities from day to day that they are going to be participants ultimately in the overthrow of constitutional government. [More…]
This applies even if the constitution of a particular group says so. [More…]
The constitution of that organisation seeks the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange. [More…]
The Government is saying in this legislation that because the constitution of the Austraiian Council of Trade Unions involves a change of society, every member who is associated with that organisation, whether at the level of the executive or any of its affiliate bodies, at any time- it may be today- can be placed under surveillance by ASIO. [More…]
Therefore the Government is saying that any person who is a trade unionist may be held under surveillance because in the opinion of the ASIO officer the person may ultimately be involved in a challenge to the constitutional or elected government or may be involved in an unlawful act. [More…]
The provisions and rules of the ACTU constitution, of course, are historical but their application is in accordance with the International Labor Organisation objective for the establishment of an economic and social order in which persons can live with freedom and dignity, and pursue both their spiritual development and material well-being in conditions of economic security and equal opportunity. [More…]
That is the actual application of the constitution at the present moment. [More…]
That is certainly not the application of the ACTU constitution at the present moment. [More…]
We are talking about violent activities for the purpose of overthrowing or destroying the constitutional government of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory. [More…]
The clause refers to a government which is in existence under the constitution of a Commonwealth, State or Territory. [More…]
But in respect of that kind of argument I remind the Attorney-General that the expression peace, order and good government’ is one that appears in the Constitution; it is a familiar expression and has no particular substantive content at all. [More…]
The first thing it did was to make a detailed analysis of section 5 1 (xxvi) of the Constitution, which relates to the Commonwealth’s powers to make laws in respect of people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws. [More…]
The second thing which the Committee did was to make a detailed analysis of the scope and operation of section 51 (xxxi) of the Constitution and, in particular, the guaranteeing of just terms for the compulsory acquisition of property. [More…]
The Committee notes that, since the amendment of the Constitution in 1967 to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to Aboriginals, most attempts have failed to achieve any co-operative arrangement with the Queensland Government regarding management and control of the affairs . [More…]
I challenged the Federal Government to live up to its constitutional responsibilities by acquiring the two communities under the powers granted in the 1967 referendum which changed the Constitution. [More…]
First of all, it gives a detailed analysis, Tor really the first time in the legal literature, of the nature, scope and extent of section 5 1 (xxvi) of the Constitution, which of course empowers the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to the people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws . [More…]
The second thing that the report does is to give a full account of the relevance and application of section S 1 (xxxi) of the Constitution, which sets out the power of the Commonwealth to acquire property on just terms. [More…]
Fourthly what we do in the report is to list a series of alternative courses of legislative action in which the Commonwealth could constitutionally engage so as to secure effective self-management rights for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland. [More…]
However, whilst there is now to be a black Rhodesian Prime Minister and many more black Rhodesians in the political arena than previously, under the new Constitution white Rhodesians will almost certainly retain a disproportionate level of influence in the Parliament, the Cabinet, the Army, the Police and the Public Service. [More…]
As we took evidence throughout the country, and as we talked to constitutional authorities, we were very firmly of the view that the evidence established clearly that the Commonwealth had what we called a coalescence of power in a number of fields, including taxation, defence, foreign affairs, fisheries and quarantine, which gave it sufficient legislative competence to lay down and enforce a national approach through legislation alone. [More…]
Notwithstanding that, the Committee believed quite firmly that it should bear in mind the federal concept of the Constitution, that it was preferable to achieve a national approach through a system of concurrent, parallel, or complementary Federal and State legislation. [More…]
Finally, I think Senator Colston will remember his private member’s Bill, the Constitution Alteration (Holders of Offices of Profit) Bill 1978, of which notice was given on 14 November. [More…]
On that occasion objection was taken to the appointment of the Chairman of the Tribunal, and objection was also raised in a more tentative way by certain other members to the constitution of the Tribunal. [More…]
I will look at them again to refresh my recollection, but I do not believe it would be feasible to put forward referendum proposals arising out of the Constitutional Convention unless there were a very strong consensus at the Convention itself. [More…]
We know there is always a great deal of controversy about the most seemingly simple type of amendment to the Constitution. [More…]
It is appropriate, however, that the provisions for justices of the High Court be made in a separate Bill because of the special position occupied by that Court which is the court established under the Constitution whereas other federal courts are created by the Commonwealth Parliament. [More…]
The five were: the use of section 123 of the Constitution, the use of section 128 of the Constitution, the use of section 5 1 (xxxviii) of the Constitution, by inviting the United Kingdom to pass legislation and by using the United Kingdom Act, the Colonial Boundaries Act of 1 895. [More…]
Ultimately, it was suggested that section 5 1 (xxxviii) of the Australian Constitution be the vehicle for achieving these objectives. [More…]
Section 5 1 (xxxviii) of the Constitution reads as follows: [More…]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: (xxxviii) the exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or with the concurrence of the parliaments of all of the States directly concerned, of any power which can at the establishment of this Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of Australasia: [More…]
The matter admittedly is not free from doubt because it is an untested power of the Constitution. [More…]
What the Senate will do in certain matters especially affecting the Constitution is not entirely predictable. [More…]
All we are saying is that the constitution of any one tribunal is limited to three people. [More…]
That offence would disqualify me under the Constitution. [More…]
Even if I were merely convicted of that offence and the fine were only $5 and the gaol penalty only 14 days, under the Constitution I would forfeit my place in this Parliament. [More…]
I do not know that any piece of statute law other than perhaps the Constitution itself recognises a particular position for people who are members of the Executive Council. [More…]
The whole notion of a power of disallowance remaining in the hands of the Governor-General is an archaic one and one which was justified by the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Ellicott) in his reply to the debate in the other place, in terms of its mirroring section 59 of the Australian Constitution which provides that any law passed by the Australian Parliament is subject to disallowance by the Queen. [More…]
It may well be said, of course, that these are merely literal statutory powers and that they will not be misused; and that the conventions appropriate to a Westminster system will apply, just as was said in the run-up to the events of 1975 about the literal powers vested in the Governor-General under the literal terms of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The Committee will note that in sub-clause (3) we have been fortunate in being able to extend to Norfolk Island a better provision in relation to the capacity of a commissioner of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to go there and deal with a broader range of industrial matters than would be applicable in most areas of Australia because of the nature of the Federal Constitution and the Federal compact. [More…]
Will the Government be seeking a referendum to amend the Constitution? [More…]
I preface it by referring to section 92 of the Constitution, which provides that commerce between the States of the Australian Federation ‘shall be absolutely free,’ and draw the Minister’s attention to the fact that in section 92 no reference is made to Territories. [More…]
I ask: Is the Minister aware that judges such as Sir Owen Dixon and Mr Justice Else-Mitchell have drawn attention to the fact that section 92 of the Constitution is defective in not referring to Territories such as the Australian Capital Territory, and that this matter has been raised at the Constitutional Convention? [More…]
Does this not represent a serious anomaly in our constitutional arrangements and a source of discrimination, real and potential, against the Australian Capital Territory? [More…]
The question is one that has been considered at the Australian Constitutional Convention. [More…]
The operative words of section 92 of the Australian Constitution are that ‘trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States . [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government may be removed from office and made to account for itself to the people at the ballot box. [More…]
The Commonwealth Constitution specifically and deliberately provides the means whereby a dishonest, corrupt and disastrously inefficient government . [More…]
3) 1 978-79 for the ordinary annual services of the Government, a Bill which, under the Constitution, the Senate cannot amend. [More…]
4) which the Senate, under the Constitution, is able to amend. [More…]
The Government has the Constitutional right to introduce any proposed law appropriating revenue or moneys- it is only the Government through whom the Governor-General’s recommendation under section 56 of the Constitution can be submitted. [More…]
Under the Constitution the Commonwealth has no powers to fix and to enforce price controls. [More…]
Mr President, the High Court of Australia occupies a supremely strategic place, not only in our legal system but also, by virtue of its constitutional adjudication, in our political, our social and our economic system as well. [More…]
In those circumstances, it is important that the High Court should not only be a body in whose individual membership the community has the utmost confidence but also it should be an institution which operates with maximum effectiveness in carrying out the role which the Constitution and the law assign to it. [More…]
The Australian Labor Party, in its own platform, constitution and rules as approved at the Perth 1977 conference, under the heading: Machinery of Government’ stated at item 37, that it is the Labor Party’s policy to: [More…]
The latest edition of the platform, constitution and rules of the Australian Labor Party under the heading of ‘law reform and civil rights’ says that the Australian Labor Party is committed to: [More…]
It places into the State Constitution certain provisions in an Electoral Act providing for the redistribution of electorates and for enshrining in the State Constitution the discredited principle of optional preferential voting. [More…]
But the Premier and the Government determined that no referendum would be held to put the legislation into the Constitution, because they knew the nature of the Bill. [More…]
Since it is the ultimate authority in matters of the interpretation of our Constitution, and its appellate jursidiction so far as the courts are concerned, it is a matter of real concern when we find it moving in one area, namely that of tax avoidance, to adopt a philosophy which appears to be contrary to that which is put forward by the executive and legislative branches, in other words, this Parliament, and also one that I believe is contrary to the general philosophy which prevails throughout the Australian community. [More…]
Constitution: A Group resulting from the merger of Pechiney (established 1855) and Ugine Kuhlmann (established 1 889 ). [More…]
People such as Kim Beazley recognised that they had to work within the Constitution, because it clearly gives certain educational responsibility to the States. [More…]
The Senate must be familar with the fact that, under the Constitution, in most cases there are concurrent powers between the Commonwealth and the States. [More…]
But once the Commonwealth Parliament exercises a power, even though a State may have a power in the same area, by virtue of section 109 of the Constitution the Commonwealth’s power prevails. [More…]
Anyone who can stay conscious in this place after 20 hours- some honourable senators caught aeroplanes at 6 o’clock in the morning and were still batting on at 2 o’clock the following morning- would need to have a cast iron constitution. [More…]
conducted their activities openly, believing that the Soviet constitution granted them some rights not only in word but also in fact, this severe punishment is a blatant denial of human rights recognised even by the Soviet constitution. [More…]
If I may use the honourable senator’s words, the constitution of my Department is such that I am certain that progress will be able to be made in these areas even though Professor Ovington is away. [More…]
I told the Senate, chapter and verse, how Parkwood Eggs Pty Ltd was selling eggs over the border into Victoria under section 92 of the Constitution and so white anting the Victorian Egg and Egg Pulp Marketing Board. [More…]
The basic good sense of the central recommendations of the report, those recommendations which I have already mentioned in favour of an amalgamation, are rather marred however by the total indifference Sir Robert Mark demonstrates towards those constraints which I would readily concede are regrettable constraints which are imposed by the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Being senators we accept and obey the Constitution. [More…]
“Sub- Division 4- Constitution and Powers of Tribunal “ 122. [More…]
Leaving aside his Mussolinic hallucination, Lord Hailsham is asserting that the Whitlam Government breached the Constitution. [More…]
It has never been specified by these constitutional literalists what sections of the Constitution were alleged to have been breached. [More…]
In the next brazen demonstration of political bias the Chief Justice went beyond emasculating those sections of the Constitution which do not suit his purpose. [More…]
There has been some disquiet about the constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia which entitled electors to vote. [More…]
For the information of honourable senators, a copy of that constitution was placed in the Parliamentary Library by the honourable member for Wills (Mr Bryant) yesterday. [More…]
If honourable senators peruse the constitution they will see that it is quite flexible. [More…]
In this connection I mention that a working party of senior representatives of the industry- private and co-operative winemakers and grapegrowers under the chairmanship of the Department of Primary Industry is currently engaged in a review of the constitution and functions of the Board, the method of financing its operations and the range of products which might be covered by its charter. [More…]
I expect that legislation will come forward in the Budget session covering proposals for the Board’s reconstitution. [More…]
The Court, like the Parliament, has its origins in an Imperial statute and the Queen is part of the Constitution and is the Fountain of Justice. [More…]
Initiate necessary action for a referendum to be held to amend the Constitution to provide for Citizen’s initiative, on the following conditions: [More…]
Lest anybody has any doubt at all, Senator Wriedt belongs to a party whose exPrime Minister, in a printed document and address entitled ‘Labor and the Constitution’ advocated: [More…]
The uniform taxation system is not something which the Constitution enables this Parliament to impose on the States if it wishes to do. [More…]
He quoted what Mr Dunstan said in 1974 and what Mr Whitlam said in ‘Labor and the Constitution’, which was published in 1957. [More…]
12.73- Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1974 (1973) referred to the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs at the second reading stage . [More…]
16.8.74- Family Law Bill 1974 referred to the Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs at the second reading stage . [More…]
31.10.74- National Compensation Bill 1974 referred to the Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs at the second reading stage . [More…]
31.3.77- Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Bill 1977 referred to the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs at the second reading stage . [More…]
Much more importantly, in her speech of 3 August, she recognised the validity of the criticisms made of the present constitution, of the blocking powers enjoyed by the white minority, and of the power vested in the various Service Commissions, which together make it impossible for the Government of Bishop Muzorewa to have adequate control over the country’s affairs. [More…]
So long as these criticisms could be made of the Constitution one could not assert that genuine black majority rule exists in Rhodesia. [More…]
Such powers, which have not been included in any constitution resulting from a legal transference of power by Britain, deny Government powers which are fundamental to a democracy- or indeed to any responsible Government. [More…]
While rejecting the validity of existing constitutional arrangements which allow a white minority to control the levers of power, he accepted that a democratic constitution was not incompatible with special provisions for the white minority in the form of reserved seats ‘even out of proportion to the numbers involved’. [More…]
The communique made nine points: The Heads of Government: confirmed that they were wholly committed to genuine black majority rule for the people of Zimbabwe; recognised, in this context, that the internal settlement constitution is defective in certain important aspects; fully accepted that it is the Constitutional responsibility of the British Government to grant legal independence to Zimbabwe on the basis of majority rule; recognised that the search for a lasting settlement must involve all parties to the conflict; were deeply conscious of the urgent need to achieve such a settlement and bring peace to the people of Zimbabwe and their neighbours; accepted that independence on the basis of majority rule requires the adoption of a democratic constitution including appropriate safeguards for minorities; acknowledged that the government formed under such an independence constitution must be chosen through free and fair elections, properly supervised under British Government authority, and with Commonwealth observers; welcomed the British Government’s indication that an appropriate procedure for advancing towards these objectives would be for them to call a Constitutional conference to which all parties would be invited; and consequently, accepted that it must be a major objective to bring about a cessation of hostilities, and an end to sanctions as part of the process of implementation of a lasting settlement. [More…]
The Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, who for many years had been a conspicuous leader of the African nationalist movement, and Bishop Muzorewa, who had performed a similar role, agreed with Mr Smith and his Government to establish a new constitution under which elections were held. [More…]
As I said earlier, I do not intend to labour all the details of that constitution or all the details of the events which followed that constitution. [More…]
I am in favour of the reservation of powers to a minority, not because I believe that if we were starting off in 1896 and constructing a new nation in Zimbabwe we would send out 200,000 Englishmen and say that they were to have some sort of veto right, however limited, within a constitution, but because I believe that if we have a situation in which there is a substantial number of people- although it is a small number it is a substantial number of people- who have all sorts of fears about their future, it is only fair and reasonable to expect that certain powers and certain guarantees will be given to them. [More…]
The only reason that Bishop Muzorewa was able to become the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was that there was an agreement whereby the white population of Rhodesia- a group with which I have never had any identification; nor have I expressed any great admiration for it; nor indeed have I spoken of it in the past in this place, I would have thought, in other than condemnatory terms- agreed, for the sake of peace, to enter into a constitutional arrangement whereby it forfeited majority rule to the black population but retained certain powers for the time being under a constitution which was subject to amendment. [More…]
I think it is quite hypocritical of the British Governmentthis so-called ‘Iron Lady’, Mrs Thatcher, who now emerges as a corrugated iron lady- to call on Muzorewa to breach a solemn undertaking which was given at the time when he and Sithole and Smith and the others entered into the internal settlement which led to the present constitution. [More…]
I would defy any honourable senator- that includes Senator Evans- to produce the constitution of any country in the whole of Africa which is more democratic than the constitution of Zimbabwe. [More…]
If they had been looking not only at Czechoslovakia, if they had not been looking only at the question of the Sudeten Germans and the imperfections of the Czechoslovak Constitution, but had also been looking at the whole situation of Europe and what would be the consequence of the destruction of Czechoslovakia, they would not have created for themselves the problems which subsequently followed. [More…]
To suggest that this was some sort of legal conference, the friends of the constitution or something or other, with the greatest respect to Senator Evans, is palpable nonsense. [More…]
The policy of the Progressive Federal Party does not provide even for voting rights for all black adult citizens, lt provides for a restricted franchise; it provides for a situation whereby, under its plans for the proposed South African Senate, all the racial groups within South Africa- the blacks, the whites, the coloureds and the Asians- have a power of veto which is much greater than the limited powers that the white minority in Zimbabwe has preserved in the Constitution under which its is now functioning. [More…]
In passing I make one further point about the offence and penalty provisions in this Bill, and that is to draw the Government’s attention- if it is not already aware of it- to an article by Mr John Willis in the Australian Law Journal for September 1978, volume 52, page 502, entitled: To What Extent is s. 235 of the Customs Act 1901-1975 (Cth) Invalid as Contravening s. 80 of the Constitution’, It seems to me that Mr Willis has made a very interesting argument to the effect that to the extent that section 235 vests not in the jury but in the judge the power of determining to its satisfaction that particular factual conditions have been made out, this provision may well be in breach of section 80 of the Constitution which demands on its face that there be a jury trial for all aspects of the court determination of an indictable offence. [More…]
We well know that under the present constitution in South Australia members of the lower House are elected for a maximum term of three years but that those of the upper House, under legislation that was drawn up by the old bluebirds of many years ago, serve for a minimum of six years. [More…]
My question is directed to the Leader of the Government in the Senate and relates to the decision that was taken at the conference of the Australian Labor Party in Adelaide that Labor would seek an amendment to the Constitution to provide for its alteration by a simple majority of the whole of the Australian population without regard to the different views of the States. [More…]
Two Private Members’ Bills are presently before the Senate: the Aborigines and Islanders (Admissibility of Confessions) Bill 1978 and the Constitution Alteration (Holders of Office of Profit) Bill 1 978, the latter of which has been referred to this Committee for enquiry and report. [More…]
Will she study the matter to ascertain whether this is a breach of section 1 1 7 of the Constitution? [More…]
It was designed merely to explain the rights of the people under the Czechoslovakian constitution and is the subject of some fury from the Government in Czechoslovakia. [More…]
Their offence had been to distribute leaflets reminding people of their constitutional rights not to vote or to vote by secret ballot. [More…]
Under the Constitution court proceedings are public but in practice attendance is by invitation only. [More…]
Wc know of no humane state in which the publicity declared intention to abide by its constitution is a priori held as an intention to overthrow the system. [More…]
Objection was taken to this ruling on the ground that it restricted the right of free speech during parliamentary proceedings which every senator enjoys under section 49 of the Constitution. [More…]
Upon the enactment of the Constitution, any rights or powers which the former colonies might have had in the territorial sca, sea bed and air space or in the Continental Shelf and incline became vested in the Commonwealth. [More…]
the continuing incompetence, evasion, deceit and duplicity of the Prime Minister and his Ministers as exemplified in the overseas loan scandal which was an attempt by the Government to subvert the Constitution, to by-pass Parliament and to evade its responsibilities to the States and the Loan Council; [More…]
The Committee examined the Advance in order to answer the following questions: Does the current use of the Advance give too much latitude to the Government of the day to evade the principle of Parliamentary appropriation of expenditure which is required by section 83 of the Constitution? [More…]
I think that a national government does have certain responsibilities for roads, and I suggest the following principles: firstly, that the Commonwealth should determine the requirements of national roads and should, through the States, fully fund their construction and maintenance; secondly, that the Commonwealth should determine the minimum acceptable national expenditure on roads other than national roads and should control such minimum expenditure by making grants to the States for such purposes’ under section 96 of the Constitution, and by requiring matching expenditure from State governments, there being no objection to State governments spending amounts on roads in excess of their matching requirements from their own resources; thirdly, that the Commonwealth should not attempt to control, supervise or direct the way in which the State governments or local governments spend available funds on roads other than national roads, other than to be satisfied by State Auditors-General that the necessary funds have been properly expended so as to qualify for the appropriate road grants under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
There is no doubt that local governments like receiving road grants from the Commonwealth under section 96 of the Constitution. [More…]
Grants under section 96 of the Constitution are normally offered by the Commonwealth on a take it or leave it basis, and the States have no real option but to take it. [More…]
That’s the way the Constitution requires it and that’s the way it’s always worked. [More…]
That Act has been in operation for many years and is in accordance with the Australian Constitution. [More…]
The Opposition asks the Senate not to proceed with the debate until it has received the views- may be the recommendations- of those persons who have been appointed by governments past and present for the purpose of carrying into effect the industrial relations aspects of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
It is destructive of the internal machinery of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and an attack on the integrity of the Commission as established by the Constitution. [More…]
Firstly, it is very probably unconstitutional. [More…]
It places the Government in the situation of setting the parameters and the modus operandi for the settlement of industrial disputes whereas the Constitution places the settlement of industrial disputes in the hands of an independent conciliation and arbitration commission. [More…]
According to our Constitution it is not for the government of the day to say what shall be the limits or methods by which the Arbitration Commission shall conciliate, settle and determine the resolution of industrial disputes. [More…]
What is more, the legislation should be rejected because, as I have said, it strikes at the very heart of the Constitution which guarantees the integrity of our conciliation and arbitration system. [More…]
They were not exactly infringing the law, but working under the umbrella of section 92 of the Constitution. [More…]
I think it must be remembered -and I acknowledge the fact- that the Commission is constitutionally independent of government matters. [More…]
The Minister must apply section 5 1 of the Constitution which provides for reference of matters to the independent Full Bench for a declaration. [More…]
-The Constitution provides for the independence of the judiciary and its function is to decide the legal matters. [More…]
It is the interpretation of the Constitution to provide it, and this Parliament to legislate it. [More…]
Having criticised the umpires and got nowhere, the Government is now about to put the umpires in a straightjacket and to interfere and intervene in the whole process of conciliation and arbitration that has been with this country since the Constitution was adopted at the beginning of the century. [More…]
S 1 (xxxv) of the Constitution. [More…]
A law which enables a body of persons to settle a dispute by issuing a decree arrived at by discussion amongst themselves without any hearing or determination between the disputants is, in our opinion, not a law with respect to conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes and is not authorised by section 51 (xxxv) of the Constitution. [More…]
We must remember in regard to this whole area that we have very limited powers insofar as the Constitution is concerned. [More…]
Quite obviously, therefore, the superior power must reside in the Parliament itself which, as has been pointed out, derives its power from the Constitution. [More…]
I was making the point that the power of the Arbitration Commission derives from the Constitution and, of course, from the Parliament itself. [More…]
During the constitutional conventions of the 1890s there was much discussion of the way in which power should vest in the Federal Parliament. [More…]
However, we now have set out in section 51, subsection (xxxv) of the Constitution the power of the Commonwealth to legislate in this area so that industrial disputes which affect more than one State may be handled through the Arbitration Commission. [More…]
Since those first days of the Constitution the evolution of the Commission has proceeded apace. [More…]
Its power stems, as I have demonstrated, from the Federal Parliament, which stems from the Constitution itself. [More…]
The Constitution, the Governor-General, the Senate, the courts, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, the States, the trade unions and the people of the Commonwealth are all means to an end as far as this Government is concerned. [More…]
Constitution. [More…]
During the debate a number of questions were raised about whether the provisions in this legislation are constitutional. [More…]
I would simply like to repeat that these legal and constitutional questions have been the subject of attention and advice by my Department and by me during the period in which this legislation has been developed. [More…]
It is in my view, and certainly the view of my advisers, that they are within the powers of the Constitution. [More…]
But let me say that the question of whether a particular Act passed by this Parliament is within the Constitution is not decided by the Attorney-General, by his Department, by the Opposition or by legally qualified members of parliament. [More…]
The question is decided by the High Court of Australia, which is the only body that can determine in the end whether something is constitutional. [More…]
Naturally, we do not propose to the Parliament legislation which is obviously unconstitutional or about which there are grave doubts or concern as to its constitutional validity. [More…]
I ask him whether it is in accordance with the Constitution, with all the democratic and legal traditions underlying the Australian community, for it to be provided in a Bill presented to this Parliament that an organisation might be deregistered or be done away with; that the Government might suspend benefits flowing to its members, including wages; that the Government can take control of the funds of an organisation within the Australian community simply be taking a decision in Cabinet. [More…]
It might be remembered that the language of section 30C of the old Crimes Act, the section which related to persons who by speech or writing advocated or encouraged the overthrow of the Constitution, and the rest of the things that went with thatthis is very similar to section 14 of the Migration Act which I read out- provided for a person on conviction to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding two years. [More…]
Section 53 of the Australian Constitution states: [More…]
That is the very Bill that I want to amend- the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives (Mr Calwell) contended that the Bill was a Money Bill under the Constitution and therefore was a Bill which could not properly be amended or altered in any way by the Senate. [More…]
His explanation for having said that the Democrats, whom he expects will hold the balance of power after 1980, will introduce private member’s Bills to do three things appears to be that, from the Bills that he proposes to introduce, the sections that actually appropriate the money will be omitted and therefore the Bills will not be disqualified by virtue of section 53 of the Constitution. [More…]
Does the Minister not see any significance in the fact that there has been a considerable time lapse and that the GovernorGeneral has not made the declaration in accordance with section 58 of the Constitution? [More…]
The purpose of the present Bill is to make some changes to the constitution of the Council and improvements to the functioning of the Tribunal. [More…]
They deal with the constitution of the Council itself, the powers of the Tribunal and the Federal Court of Australia in relation to stay orders, and machinery matters relating to time limits and staff of the Tribunal. [More…]
These cover an amendment to sub-section 21 (1a) relating to the Tribunal’s constitution when hearing certain preliminary matters, an extension to a maximum of 28 days of the times within which a decision-maker must provide findings of fact and reasons for decisions, and a provision to cover staffing arrangements following Northern Territory selfgovernment. [More…]
Honourable senators will be aware that under the Australian Constitution, all Australian vessels are free to fish anywhere in Australian waters, except those in which restrictions are imposed for managed fisheries. [More…]
the procedures adopted by the Commission and the councils to require the appropriate authorities to account for the expenditure of funds appropriated by the Australian Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the appropriate State grants legislation, and the Audit Act, and to determine whether the conditions attached to grants are adequate; [More…]
I refer honourable senators to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, sections 107 and 108. [More…]
We have therefore invited the public accounts committees of State parliaments to consider holding complementary inquiries as State authorities have a constitutional responsibility for the administration of tertiary institutions, including accountability for the distribution of funds to those institutions. [More…]
The Bill provides for proposed expenditure on the construction of public works and buildings, the acquisition of sites and buildings, advances and loans, items of plant and equipment which are clearly definable as capital expenditure, grants to the States under section 96 of the Constitution and new policy initiatives not previously authorised by special legislation. [More…]
This Bill provides for an increase in the sum payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the salaries of Ministers of State, pursuant to Section 66 of the Constitution. [More…]
For example, one only has to read the Soviet Constitution to learn that although there purport to be within it guarantees, for example, of full employment, unlike other documents which are described as constitutions there is in it no remedy available to anybody who says that he is denied that employment which is guaranteed. [More…]
There is no provision anywhere within the Soviet Constitution for any steps that can be taken by any citizen or any resident for the redress of grievances- none whatsoever. [More…]
If someone believes that he has been falsely or improperly unemployed, there is no court to which he can go to direct some functionary to find him employment or to secure any of the other human rights which purport to be guaranteed by the Constitution. [More…]
I take the view and the Opposition takes the view that here, as elsewhere in this whole human rights area, the Commonwealth should gather up its courage and legislate under the external affairs power- section 5 1 (xxix) of the Constitution- in such a way as to extend its jurisdiction in human rights matters over the States. [More…]
Yet, while on the one hand the Government derives the benefit of the looseness of the Covenant’s definitions, it does not rely on the Covenant as a basis for extending, as I suggested it should under the external affairs power of the Constitution, legislative reach of the Bill into the States. [More…]
At the national level a Bill of rights could take the form of something that was incorporated in the Constitution itself. [More…]
The Founding Fathers, when they settled the Australian Constitution, agreed by a small majority not to include a Bill of Rights, after the American model. [More…]
Such ‘rights’ as were mentioned in the Constitution (section 92 apart) have received scant attention and circumscribed interpretation. [More…]
Either a Bill of Rights incorporated in the Constitution or as simple legislation would be difficult to achieve. [More…]
Sure, it has not been tested; neither has the 1967 amendment to the Constitution been tested in a court of law. [More…]
But I think that the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs said quite early in its recommendations in its report on legislation associated with Mornington Island and Aurukun that the Constituion would stand up to a constitutional challenge. [More…]
One looks at the American Constitution and the variety of interpretation. [More…]
Who would have thought that Article 1 of the United States Constitution, which makes the statement that it is necessary to have a well regulated militia should be used as the basis for striking down all gun control legislation in the United States or indeed that the provisions of Article 1 which relate to free speech should be used in the case of Buckley v. Valeo as the basis for saying that there can be no limit on election campaign expenditure. [More…]
Who would have thought that Article 14 of the American Constitution, which is the equal protection clause, in terms of education could be interpreted in 1 896 in Plessy v. Ferguson as saying that separate educational facilities could be equal and then be overturned in Brown v. Topeka in 1 954 which said that separate facilities are inherently unequal. [More…]
Yet recent decisions even this year, by the American Supreme Court in cases such as Hutchinson v. Proxmire or the Progressive Case have made it clear that the courts are now prepared to erect barriers to investigative journalism or that the right of public trial specified in Article 6 should have been in July of this year defined by the American Supreme Court in a case involving De Pasquale to say that the public has no constitution right to attend criminal trials; or that the American Constitution should have been found so deficient in its legal interpretation to require it to be altered on no less than four separate occasions- in 1 870, 1920, 1964 and 1971- to try to secure voting rights for all adult Americans over the age of 1 8. [More…]
We know that in Australia the debate whether Australia should have a Bill of rights is one that preoccupied the Founding Fathers of the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Professor La Nauze in his book The Making of the Australian Constitution indicates quite clearly: [More…]
It has been said that there were three fundamental rights written into the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Those three rights have turned out to be fairly illusory protections in the Australian Constitution. [More…]
Lumb and Ryan writing in the book Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia make it quite clear. [More…]
I quote from a book of which Mr Evans, as he then was- now Senator Evans- turned out to be the editor, entitled Labor and the Constitution, a chapter of which I am sure Mr Crommelin had more hand in writing that did Senator Evans. [More…]
We were at a convention at Parliament House in Sydney concerned with the Constitution. [More…]
By virtue of section 109 of the Australian Constitution, anything in State legislation inconsistent with the provisions of the Bill would have been inoperative to the extent of the inconsistency. [More…]
I think we should have a Bill of Rights, provided it is adequately entrenched in the Constitution so that the rights cannot be taken away at the whim of a single parliament. [More…]
The constitutional justification of this was the external affairs power; the doctrine that if we enter into a valid external treaty that obliges us to do certain things, the existence of the treaty gives the Commonwealth Parliament the powers necessary to give effect to the treaty, even to the extent of powers which would otherwise be beyond Commonwealth competence. [More…]
Any government which can alter its constitution unilaterally is a government of tyranny, and I think human rights are justifiable if they are confined to the agreed amenities which the government is to provide for the people. [More…]
There was the United States Declaration of Independence, and then its Constitution, and then the ten amendments which was actually the United States Bill of Rights. [More…]
They were embodied in the Constitution as the ten amendments. [More…]
Ninth was that the rights conferred by the Constitution were not to inhibit the rights of other people. [More…]
Tenth and lastly, the powers that are not delegated nor by the Constitution prohibited to individual States are reserved either to those States or to the people themselves. [More…]
Recently created states are using the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their constitutions. [More…]
The people who are including this Declaration in their constitutions are arguing that by some miraculous process they are somehow going to preserve world peace by legal means when actually the best method of destroying the human right is to declare its existence in a constitution. [More…]
On the other hand, the United States of America entrenched a Bill of Rights into its Constitution. [More…]
The High Court of Australia Bill and the associated amendments to the Judiciary Act and the evidence Act together represent a legislative scheme for effecting the transfer to the seat of Government of the third arm of Government established under the Constitution. [More…]
Chapter III of the Constitution which deals with the judicature commences with section 7 1 , which vests the judicial power of the Commonwealth in: a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia and in such other federal courts as Parliament creates and, such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. [More…]
Passage of this legislation will enable them to be joined by the High Court and so complete the plan envisaged by the framers of our Constitution. [More…]
The occasion for the transfer has been taken to accord to the High Court a measure of independence from departmental control that reflects the special position accorded the Court by the Constitution. [More…]
The Bill contains an important provision relating to the constitution of the Court that embodies an undertaking I gave last year. [More…]
By requiring the process to be undertaken whenever a vacancy on the High Court occurs, this provision should do much to ensure that the Court continues to be truly national in character and fully equipped to discharge its constitutional functions as a Federal Supreme Court. [More…]
Incorporated in this Bill are all the provisions dealing with the constitution and seat of the Court and administrative matters relating to the Court now to be found in the Judiciary Act and the High Court Procedure Act. [More…]
As indicated in the observations I made in connection with the High Court of Australia Bill, the primary purpose of this Bill is to transfer from the Judiciary Act the existing provisions dealing with the constitution and seat of the Court, its registries, places of sitting and the like and to incorporate the procedural provisions formerly found in the High Court Procedure Act. [More…]
Will the Government be seeking a referendum to amend the Constitution? [More…]
Uebergang’s case (Uebergang and Others v. Australian Wheat Board) involves (amongst other issues) a challenge, on the basis of section 92 of the Constitution, to the application of the Wheat Industry Stabilization Act, 1974 of the New South Wales to inter-State transactions. [More…]
That raises the issue, which I want to mention briefly in the Senate, of the meaning and application of section 80 of the Constitution which is the provision in the Constitution which purports, on the face of it, to guarantee jury trial in Federal criminal matters. [More…]
This phenomenon has led generations of law students to puzzle why the Constitution should go to the trouble of stating that there shall be trial by jury in those cases where it is provided that there shall be trial by jury. [More…]
I am not suggesting for a moment that we should use the occasion of the passage of these Bills to resolve this long-standing situation; but I hope that one day either the Constitution can be changed to give genuine meat and content to section 80 or, alternatively, that Commonwealth legislation, of which this is a central part, can be amended to provide for a genuine right of trial by jury in all serious cases. [More…]
This represents a major concession to what the States have been trying to achieve ever since Federation, or at least since about 1920, when in the engineers case for the first time the Court started behaving as a truly national institution, concerned to interpret and to apply the Constitution, where there was ambiguity in its terms, in such a way that national interests and concerns took precedence over parochial ones, and in such a way that there would be a possibility for genuine national-sized solutions to national-sized problems. [More…]
However, we believe that in order to achieve this the critical consideration is not a question of geographical balance sustained over time, or at any given point of time, in the composition of the Court, but rather the certainty that the best men and women in the nation are appointed to the Court,, the best both in terms of their scholarly ability and technical expertise across the range of law with which they have to deal- especially constitutional law- and in terms of the kind of vision and breadth of understanding and approach that they bring to their job. [More…]
There are some major amendments to the existing Judiciary Act, which now provides for the constitution of the High Court. [More…]
The purpose of this legislation is to enable the constitution of the High Court, and matters relating generally to it, to be the subject of a specific Act of Parliament which will be known as the High Court of Australia Act. [More…]
The High Court itself is created by the Constitution, so there is no question of creating any new independent statutory authority. [More…]
The new approach the Rae Committee recommended was built very much around the concept of national legislation and national machinery established by that national legislation in pursuit of the Commonwealth’s constitutional powers. [More…]
The Labor Government, when introducing its own corporations and securities industry legislation in 1 974 and when foreshadowing the further introduction of substantive companies legislation which was to be introduced in that illfated week in November 1975, was certainly satisfied that the corporation’s power in section 51(xx) of the Constitution in itself, provided sufficiently ample constitutional foundation for this kind of legislation. [More…]
In addition, it is possible to rely constitutionally on the trade and commerce power on a number of individual heads of power like the postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications power, and incidental power. [More…]
The banking power and insurance power; I will not stop and endeavour to lecture the Senate on the constitutional possiblities. [More…]
That depends on a rather pedantic argument about the grammatical meaning of the word ‘ formed as it appears in section 5 1 (xx) of the Constitution, in the context of the following phrase: [More…]
Certainly I have noticed no great constitutional timidity on the part of the present Government when it has been enacting new sweeping draconic amendments to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act in fairly obviously blithe indifference to the possible constraints imposed by section 5 1 (xxxv.) [More…]
of the Constitution. [More…]
It is odd and interesting that an attack of the constitutional jitters seems to overcome it whenever the matter of corporations law and securities industry regulation comes in issue. [More…]
It is clear from the powers given in the Constitution, that this government was created to meet national needs relating to foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations . [More…]
Standing orders, established practice, the Constitution and the media provide the Executive with the means to maintain a stranglehold over the legislature, especially if Members are prepared to be bound by party solidarity. [More…]
The Constitution which binds us more- than any Act of Parliament states: [More…]
It may well be that we are outside the constitutional power in including in Appropriation Bill (No. [More…]
When we are dealing with the points which Senator Rae has made, I think we should look at the constitutional position and at the expenditure of the Government. [More…]
In accordance with the Constitution, it should not be dealt with in this appropriation. [More…]
When we consider Senator Rae’s proposal, the constitutional position and the agreement reached with the Prime Minister and the Senate in 1965 on what we should deal with we see that this matter is something that will have to be tested at some time. [More…]
I repeat that I think the Senate is entitled to an answer, and I ask whether the Minister can tell me under what part of the Constitution can the Parliament or the Government refuse to divulge expenditure incurred by ex-office holders? [More…]
I should like the Minister to tell me under what section of the Constitution can the Parliament be refused an answer to a question in relation to expenditure by a Government. [More…]
I want him to tell me under what part of the Constitution he can refuse giving an answer to the Parliament about the expenses incurred by this man in the use of his telephone. [More…]
Whether that is covered by the Constitution is not the point; it is part of the Westminster system. [More…]
Senator Walsh, I refer you to the recent words of Lord Hailsham, who said that no constitution could work unless there be a determined and desirous attitude in the background to make it work. [More…]
The Minister for Administrative Services (Mr John McLeay) was asked some questions about the redistribution which flowed from the decision which was made by the High Court involving an interpretation of the Constitution which required the Government, at a certain time, to create an additional electorate in Western Australia. [More…]
He was a person who was associated with the Constitutional Convention almost 90 years ago. [More…]
We certainly would not object to a seat being named after Mr O’Connor, who played a significant part in the development of the constitution, even though we might say that in an historical sense he was probably partly responsible for the many defects that we have in our Constitution which need change to bring it into the latter part of the thinking process of the 20th century. [More…]
Will it take the view that he is personally responsible for this behaviour and take appropriate punitive action accordingly; or will it take the view that, under our Constitution and the Westminster conventions, the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs is himself responsible for such serious departmental administration, and that he will accept that responsibility and resign; or will it rather take the view that senior public servants are a law unto themselves, and do absolutely nothing? [More…]
I do not believe that I have read the constitution of any country which does not have written into it some passages about human rights in that country. [More…]
Our Constitution also has certain rights built into it for citizens. [More…]
a reference of power by the States to the Commonwealth pursuant to section 5 1 (xxxvii) of the Constitution, uniform legislation being enacted by the States and the Commonwealth, or a Commonwealth Act using all available powers with supporting State legislation to fill any gaps in the Commonwealth Act. [More…]
As I recall it, the debate on the Constitution Alteration (Incomes) Bill, was a very short debate. [More…]
Since the amendment of the Constitution in 1967 to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to Aboriginals, attempts have failed to achieve any co-operative arrangement with the Queensland Government regarding management and control of the affairs of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in that State. [More…]