When was the Australian Constitution first written?
Federation of Australia
The importance of the draft Constitution of 1891 was recognised by John La Nauze when he flatly declared that "The draft of 1891 is the Constitution of 1900, not its father or grandfather." In the Twenty-First Century, however, a lively debate has sprung up as to whether the principal credit for this draft belongs to Queensland's Sir Samuel Griffith or Tasmania's Andrew Inglis Clark. The debate began with the publication of Peter Botsman's "The Great Constitutional Swindle: A Citizen's Guide to the Australian Constitution" in 2000, and a biography of "Andrew Inglis Clark" by F.M. Neasey and L.J. Neasey published by the University of Tasmania Law Press in 2001.
Australian constitutional law
Although express protections for human and civil rights in the Constitution are scant, and have mostly been read down, some protections have been created by the High Court through its jurisprudence on the separation of powers and through its findings of rights implied by the text and structure of the constitutional document.
Constitution of Australia
The Governor-General must put the bill to a referendum between two and six months after it has been passed by the parliament. If the bill is approved in the referendum, it receives the Royal Assent and becomes law, so that the wording of the Constitution is changed.
History of Australia
By the mid-19th century, there was a strong desire for representative and responsible government in the colonies of Australia, fed by the democratic spirit of the goldfields evident at the Eureka Stockade and the ideas of the great reform movements sweeping Europe, the United States and the British Empire. The end of convict transportation accelerated reform in the 1840s and 1850s. "The Australian Colonies Government Act" [1850] was a landmark development which granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments—though the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established constitutional monarchies with the British monarch as the symbolic head of state.
Tenterfield Oration
Prompted by Parkes' Tenterfield Oration, the colonies agreed to send delegates to Melbourne in 1890 for a Constitutional Conference. That set in motion the process of writing and adopting the Commonwealth Constitution over the course of the 1890s, resulting in the union of the colonies and the establishment of a system of federalism in Australia.
Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990
The Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1990. The purpose of the Act was to allow the Commonwealth of Australia to retain the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), which the British government had loaned for the celebration in 1988 of the bicentenary of British settlement in Australia.
Section 40 of the Constitution of Australia
This suggestion was rejected at the 1897 Sydney Constitutional Convention.
Section 109 of the Constitution of Australia
In the "Engineers Case" (1920), the High Court of Australia swept away the earlier doctrines of |implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved State powers, firmly establishing the modern basis for the legal understanding of federalism in Australia. The Court also rejected the use of American precedent and said that they would apply the settled rules of construction giving primacy to the text of the Constitution, anchoring interpretation in its express words. In 2003, former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Anthony Mason wrote:
1933 Western Australian secession referendum
The Constitution of Australia, which established the Australian federation in 1901, had originally been an act of the British Parliament, and a petition was sent to it from Western Australia, asking that the Australian Constitution be changed to give effect to the separation vote. A joint select committee was set up by the British Parliament to consider the petition, and it decided that the request could not be acted upon because it did not have the support of the Australian federal government, as required by the 1931 Statute of Westminster.
Australian constitutional law
Implied rights are the political and civil freedoms that necessarily underlie the actual words of the constitution but are not themselves expressly stated directly in the constitution. The High Court has held that no implication can be drawn from the Constitution which is not based on the actual terms of the Constitution, or on its structure. Since the 1990s the High Court has discovered rights which are said to be implied by the very structure and textual form of the Constitution. Chief amongst these is an implied right to freedom of communication on political matters. In addition, some protections of civil liberties have been the result of the High Court's zealous attempts to safeguard the independence of, and confidence in, the Federal judiciary.
1988 Australian referendum
The Constitution Alteration (Rights and Freedoms) 1988 was proposed legislation that was put to referendum in the Australian referendum, 1988. The legislation sought to enshrine in the Australian constitution various civil rights, including freedom of religion, rights in relation to trials, and rights regarding the compulsory acquisition of property.
History of Australia
A 1967 Referendum called by the Holt Government saw Australians vote by a 90 per cent majority to change the Australian constitution to include all Aborigines in the national census and allow the Federal parliament to legislate on their behalf. A Council for Aboriginal Affairs was established.
Constitutional history of Australia
The Australian Constitution, besides other matters, dealt with the allocation of powers between the colonies, which became states, and the federal parliament. Most of the powers, including those of foreign affairs and defence, were concurrent powers, with the proviso that if there was a conflict between the federal and a state law, then the federal law "will prevail". But the United Kingdom still had the power to engage in foreign affairs on behalf of Australia, and to make laws for it. In the early years Australia continued to be represented by the United Kingdom as part of the British Empire at international conferences. In 1919, following Canadian lead, Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes insisted that Australia have separate representatives at the Versailles Peace Conference and not as part of the British delegation.
John Bentham Neales
Neales was appointed to the South Australian Legislative Council in 1851 and was elected to the seat of North Adelaide in 1855. He was appointed one of the drafters of the State Constitution in 1852.
Section 3 of the Constitution of Australia
It has been argued unsuccessfully that that legislation passed in Australia since 1966 is unconstitutional because it has been signed by Governors-General who were paid in dollars, not pounds as specified by section 3 of the Constitution.
1910 Australian referendum (Surplus Revenue)
The Constitution Alteration (Finance) 1909 was an Australian referendum which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to amend section 87 (the 'Braddon Clause') which was due to lapse in 1910. It was to add to the Constitution a financial agreement reached between the States and the Commonwealth to replace the section.
Colonial forces of Australia
By 1901, the Australian colonies were federated and formally joined together to become the Commonwealth of Australia, and the federal government assumed all defensive responsibilities. The Federation of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901 and as of that time the constitution of Australia stated that all defence responsibility was vested in the Commonwealth government. Co-ordination of Australia-wide defensive efforts in the face of imperial German interest in the Pacific Ocean was one of the main reasons for federation, and so one of the first decisions made by the newly formed Commonwealth government was to create the Department of Defence which came into being on 1 March 1901. From that time the Australian Army came into being under the command of Major General Sir Edward Hutton, and all of the colonial forces, including those then on active service in South Africa, transferred into the Australian Army.
History of the United States Constitution
The United States Constitution was written in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The old Congress set the rules the new government followed in terms of writing and ratifying the new constitution. After ratification in eleven states, in 1789 its elected officers of government assembled in New York City, replacing the Articles of Confederation government. The original Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times. The meaning of the Constitution is interpreted and extended by judicial review in the federal courts. The original parchment copies are on display at the National Archives Building.
Constitution of Australia
However, because conventions are not textually based, their existence and practice are open to debate. Real or alleged violation of convention has often led to political controversy. The most extreme case was the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, in which the operation of conventions was seriously tested. The ensuing constitutional crisis was resolved dramatically when the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, appointing Liberal opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister pending the 1975 general election. A number of conventions were said to be broken during this episode. These include:
Australian constitutional law
Australian constitutional law is the area of the law of Australia relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Australia. Several major doctrines of Australian constitutional law have developed.
Australia Act 1986
At federation in 1901, the supreme court of each colony became the supreme court of that State. In 1903, a High Court of Australia was established, one of whose functions was to hear appeals from the State supreme courts. The draft of the Constitution, that was put to voters in the various colonies and presented to the British government for embodiment in UK legislation, was that there was to be no appeal from the High Court to the Privy Council in any matter involving the interpretation of the Constitution or of the Constitution of a State, unless it involved the interests of some other dominion. However, the British insisted on a compromise. Section 74 of the Constitution as enacted by the Imperial Parliament, provided two possibilities of appeal. There could be an appeal if the High Court issued a certificate that it was appropriate for the Privy Council to determine an "inter se" matter, i.e. a matter that concerned the constitutional relations between the Commonwealth and one or more States or between two or more States. And there could be an appeal with permission of the Privy Council. The Commonwealth Parliament was empowered to legislate to limit the latter path and it did so in 1968 and 1975; but legislation could only limit, not abolish.
History of the Australian Capital Territory
The Constitution of Australia – which took effect on 1 January 1901 – provided that a new national capital should be built at a site determined by Federal Parliament. It had to be within the state of New South Wales, but at least away from Sydney. The "Seat of Government Act 1908" fixed Canberra as the site of the new capital, and the surrounding region was formally ceded to the federal government on 1 January 1911. It was originally known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adopting its current name in 1938. American architect Walter Burley Griffin won the competition to design the new city, and was appointed to oversee its construction. He was dogged by disputes with the government and the onset of World War I, and was fired in 1921. Multiple planning bodies were established but achieved little, in part due to the Great Depression.
Federalism in Australia
Instigated by Henry Parkes' Tenterfield Oration of 24 October 1889, the Australian Colonies conducted a series of constitutional conventions through the 1890s. These culminated in a draft Constitution that was put to popular vote in the individual colonies, and eventually approved by the electors, after a final round of changes met the higher threshold of support required in New South Wales. It was then passed into law by the Imperial Parliament in Britain as the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900", finalising the process of the Federation of Australia.
History of monarchy in Australia
In the 1970s more Australians began to seriously reconsider Australia's constitutional framework. The constitutional crisis of 1975 occasioned many to question the role of the monarchy in a modern Australia. There were no serious attempts to alter the constitutional role of the Queen until the 1986 Australia Act. Nevertheless Australians were more conscious of being an independent nation, and there was a downplaying of the monarchy in Australia, with references to the monarchy being removed from the public eye (e.g., the Queen's portrait from public buildings and schools, and the Royal Mail became a government-owned corporation, Australia Post).
History of Western civilization
Canada united as a "dominion" of the British Empire under the Constitution Act, 1867 (British North America Acts). The colony of New Zealand gained its own parliament (called a "general assembly") and home rule in 1852. and in 1907 was proclaimed the Dominion of New Zealand. Britain began to grant its Australian colonies autonomy beginning in the 1850s and during the 1890s, the colonies of Australia voted to unite. In 1901 they were federated as an independent nation under the British Crown, known as the Commonwealth of Australia, with a wholly elected bicameral parliament. The Constitution of Australia had been drafted in Australia and approved by popular consent. Thus Australia is one of the few countries established by a popular vote. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) ended with the conversion of the Boer republics of South Africa into British colonies and these colonies later formed part of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Constitution of Australia
Constitution Day is celebrated on 9 July, the date the Constitution became law in 1900. The date is not a public holiday. Constitution Day was first held on 9 July 2000 to mark the centenary of the Constitution in the lead up to the Centenary of Federation, although commemorations were low key and were not widely held after 2001. Constitution Day was revived in 2007 and is jointly organised by the National Archives of Australia, which holds the original Constitution documents, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
History of Australia (1901–45)
The First Fleet of British ships had arrived at Sydney Harbour in 1788, founding the first of what would evolve into six self-governed British colonies: New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland. The last British garrisons had left Australia in 1870. At the beginning of the 20th century, nearly two decades of negotiations on Federation concluded with the approval of a federal constitution by all six Australian colonies and its subsequent ratification by the British parliament in 1900. This resulted in the political integration of the six Australian colonies into one federated Australian Commonwealth, formally proclaimed on 1 January 1901.
Robert Garran
Garran, like his father, was strongly involved in the Australian Federation movement, the movement which sought to unite the British colonies in Australia (and, in early proposals, New Zealand) into one federated country. The first Constitutional Convention was held in 1891 in the chamber of the Legislative Council of New South Wales in Macquarie Street, Sydney, around the corner from Garran's chambers in Phillip Street; Garran regularly attended and sat in the public gallery to see "history... in the making under my very eyes." Garran would later recall with approval that the 1891 convention was the first with the courage to face the "lion in the path", the issue of customs duties and tariffs, which had previously divided states such as Victoria, who were in favour of protectionism, and states such as New South Wales, who were in favour of free trade. In Garran's view a clause proposed at the convention, which allowed for tariffs against international trade while ensuring free trade domestically (the predecessor to the final section 92 of the Constitution of Australia), "expressed the terms on which New South Wales was prepared to face the lion."
Constitution of Victoria
In 1901, the Australian colonies, including Victoria, formed the Commonwealth of Australia which was constituted by the Australian Constitution. The jurisdiction of the Victorian Parliament to make laws and the laws of Victoria became subject to limitations imposed by the Australian Constitution.
Constitution of Australia
Although Federation is often regarded as the moment of "independence" of Australia from Britain, legally the Commonwealth was a creation of the British Parliament, through the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), which applied to Australia by paramount force. As a result, since Australia was still legally a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom, there was continued uncertainty as to the applicability of British Imperial laws to the Commonwealth. This was resolved by the Statute of Westminster 1931, adopted by the Commonwealth via the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942. The Statute of Westminster freed the Dominions, including the Commonwealth, from Imperial restrictions and removed nearly all of the British Parliament's remaining authority to legislate for the Dominions. The Adoption Act backdated Australia's adoption of the Statute of Westminster to 1939, when Australia entered World War II. Legally, this is often regarded as the moment Australia became a "de jure" sovereign nation.
However, due to specific exemptions in the Statute of Westminster, Imperial law continued to be paramount in Australian states. This was altered by the Australia Act 1986, which was passed in substantially the same form by the Commonwealth parliament and the British parliament, at the request of each state. In addition to ending the British Parliament's power to legislate over Australian states, the Australia Act also cut the last avenues of appeal from the Australian courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. As a symbol of the significance of this legislation, Queen Elizabeth II travelled to Australia to personally sign the proclamation of the law.
Constitution of Australia
In 1895, the six premiers of the Australian colonies agreed to establish a new Convention by popular vote. The Convention met over the course of a year from 1897 to 1898. The meetings produced a new draft which contained substantially the same principles of government as the 1891 draft, but with added provisions for responsible government. To ensure popular support, the draft was presented to the electors of each colony. After one failed attempt, an amended draft was submitted to the electors of each colony except Western Australia. After ratification by the five colonies, the Bill was presented to the British Imperial Parliament with an Address requesting Queen Victoria to enact the Bill.
Division of Clark
The Division of Clark is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Tasmania, which will be contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election. The division is named in honour of Andrew Inglis Clark, the principal author of the Australian Constitution.
History of monarchy in Australia
Until then Australian constitutional documents were signed by the monarch and counter-signed by a British minister of state. But now such documents were to be counter-signed by the Prime Minister of Australia. Further, they were to be sealed with the Royal Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia. Queen Victoria's letters patent had ordered a Great Seal for Australia in 1900, but it was never made. On 19 October 1955 Elizabeth, advised by Prime Minister Robert Menzies, issued a warrant for the Seal.
Constitution of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) contains a Preamble, and nine sections. Sections 18 are covering clauses outlining the legal procedures for the establishment of the Commonwealth. Section 9, beginning with the words "The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows ...", contains the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution itself is divided into eight chapters, containing 128 sections. The legislative, executive, and judicial powers are separately stated in the Constitution, in Chapters I, II and III respectively.
Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
The colonies ratified the Constitution of Australia, becoming States of the Commonwealth in the new federation, and ceding certain of their legislative powers to the Commonwealth Parliament, but otherwise retaining their self-governing status with their own constitutions and parliaments. The state parliaments were all created by legislation of the British Imperial Parliament, and their original constitutions were contained in Acts of that Parliament; however now the power to amend state constitutions resides with the respective state parliaments, in accordance with its constitution. The Commonwealth Parliament cannot amend a state's constitution.
Constitutional history of Australia
In the 1890s, two constitutional conventions were called, which ultimately adopted a constitution based on a combination of British, American and other models (monarchy and parliamentary government from Britain, federalism from Canada and the United States, the use of the referendum from Switzerland). This constitution was then approved by the voters in each of the six colonies. (At the time women had the vote in only one of them: South Australia, and Aboriginal Australians in South Australia and Queensland only).
Federation of Australia
In his 1969 entry on "Clark, Andrew Inglis (1848–1907)" for the "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Henry Reynolds offers a more nuanced view:Before the National Australasian Convention in Sydney in 1891 he [Clark] circulated his own draft constitution bill. This was practically a transcript of relevant provisions from the British North American Act, the United States Constitution and the Federal Council Act, arranged systematically, but it was to be of great use to the drafting committee at the convention. Parkes received it with reservations, suggesting that 'the structure should be evolved bit by bit'. George Higinbotham admitted the 'acknowledged defects & disadvantages' of responsible government, but criticized Clark's plan to separate the executive and the legislature. Clark's draft also differed from the adopted constitution in his proposal for 'a separate federal judiciary', with the new Supreme Court replacing the Privy Council as the highest court of appeal on all questions of law, which would be 'a wholesome innovation upon the American system'. He became a member of the Constitutional Committee and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Although he took little part in the debates he assisted (Sir) Samuel Griffith, (Sir) Edmund Barton and Charles Cameron Kingston in revising Griffith's original draft of the adopted constitution on the Queensland government's steam yacht, "Lucinda"; though he was too ill to be present when the main work was done, his own draft had been the basis for most of Griffith's text. Clark's supporters are quick to point out that 86 Sections (out of a total of 128) of the final Australian Constitution are recognisable in Clark's draft, and that "only eight of Inglis Clark’s ninety-six clauses failed to find their way into the final Australian Constitution"; but these are potentially misleading statistics. As Professor John Williams has pointed out:It is easy to point to the document and dismiss it as a mere ‘cut and paste’ from known provisions. While there is some validity in such observations it does tend to overlook the fact that there are very few variations to be added once the basic structure is agreed. So for instance, there was always going to be parts dealing with the executive, the parliament and the judiciary in any Australian constitution. The fact that Inglis Clark modelled his on the American Constitution is no surprise once that basic decision was made. Issues of the respective legislative powers, the role of the states, the power of amendment and financial questions were the detail of the debate that the framers were about to address in 1891.As to who was responsible for the actual detailed drafting, as distinct from the broad structure and framework of the 1891 draft, Professor Williams (for one) is in no doubt:In terms of style there can be little argument that Inglis Clark’s Constitution is not as crisp or clean as Kingston’s 1891 draft Constitution. This is not so much a reflection on Inglis Clark, but an acknowledgement of the talents of Charles Kingston and Sir Samuel Griffith as drafters. They were direct and economical with words. The same cannot always be said of Inglis Clark.
Constitution of Australia
Chapter I sets up the legislative branch of government, the Parliament of Australia, which consists of three constituent parts: The Sovereign (King or Queen), who is represented by the Governor-General of Australia; the Senate; and the House of Representatives. Section 1 provides that legislative power is vested in this Parliament, which has paramount power of governance.
History of Australia since 1945
In the early 21st century, Australia remains a constitutional monarchy under the Australian Constitution adopted in 1901, with the duties of the monarch performed by a Governor-General selected by the Australian Government. Australian republicanism which had been a feature of the 1890s faded away during the First World War. Support for the Monarchy in Australia peaked during the Menzies years with the wildly successful 1954 tour by Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles attended school in Australia during the 1960s. The issue of a republic did not arise again until the 1970s. In the 1990s it was brought to the forefront of national debate by Prime Minister Paul Keating, who promised in 1993 to introduce an "Australian federal republic" by the centenary of Federation in 2001.
Copyright law of Australia
The Australian legislation is based on the authority of section 51(xviii) of the Australian Constitution. Copyright law in Australia is federal law and established by the Australian Parliament. Historically, Australian copyright law followed British copyright law, but now also reflects international standards found in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, other international copyright agreements and multilateral treaties, and more recently, the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Barton Government
After a series of constitutional conventions and referenda, the colonies agreed to federate as a new "commonwealth": the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution of Australia, with its provision for the foundation of a bicameral Australian Parliament, was endorsed by the Imperial Parliament in Britain and signed into law by Queen Victoria. Lord Hopetoun, a Lord-in-waiting to Queen Victoria and a former Governor of the Colony of Victoria, was selected as Australia's first Governor-General, and the appointment of the first Cabinet was put in train.
Constitution of Argentina
The Constitution of Argentina is the basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a Constitutional Assembly gathered in Santa Fe, and the doctrinal basis was taken in part from the United States Constitution. It was then reformed in 1860, 1866, 1898, 1949, 1957 (which mainly repealed the 1949 reform), and the current version is the reformed text of 1994.
Copyright law of Australia
Prior to Australia's federation in 1901, a number of Australian Colonies, later states, had enacted copyright laws. In part this was done to mitigate the inadequacy of the protection afforded to Australian authors by British copyright law. The state laws continued to apply after the federal Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1901. The laws operated in concurrency with the British copyright law that was in force in the colonies. The Australian Constitution gives the federal parliament power to make laws relating to copyright and intellectual property, concurrently with the states. Section 51(xviii) of the Commonwealth Constitution provides that "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, inter alia, copyright, patents of inventions and designs, and trademarks". As an immediate consequence copyright law was no longer established at state level, but by the federal parliament.
Federation of Australia
In 1893 John Quick, who had attended the Corowa convention, drew up a bill which became the basis of discussion at the Adelaide Convention (see below) and is considered to have contributed largely to the eventual constitution. Quick with Robert Garran went on to publish "The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth" in 1901, which is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative works on the Australian Constitution.
Constitutional amendment
The procedure for amending the Constitution of Australia is detailed in Section 128 of the Constitution.
John Downer
The home he purchased in 1880 at 42 Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide, is now St Mark's College and the original part of the building is known as Downer House. A draft of the Australian Constitution was prepared in the ballroom in 1897.
Constitution of Australia
At various times since Federation, debates have occurred over whether Australia should become a republic. On 6 November 1999, Australians rejected a proposal to remove the Queen and replace the Governor-General with a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.
1998 Australian Constitutional Convention
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy was established in 1992, after Prime Minister Keating announced his republican agenda. The organisation was called together to counter the republican movement by Justice Michael Kirby and like minded constitutional monarchists including Lloyd Waddy , Aboriginal statesman Neville Bonner, Chancellor of the University of Sydney Dame Leonie Kramer, Helen Sham-Ho (the first Chinese-born member of an Australian Parliament), Doug Sutherland (former Labor Lord Mayor of Sydney) and others.
Culture of Australia
William Wentworth established Australia's first political party in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. From the 1850s, the colonies set about writing constitutions which produced democratically advanced parliaments as Constitutional Monarchies with Queen Victoria as the head of state.
Samuel Griffith
In 1893, Griffith retired from politics to head the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was frequently asked to assist in drafting legislation, and the Queensland criminal code – the first in Australia – was mostly his creation. Griffith was an ardent federationist, and with Andrew Inglis Clark wrote the draft constitution that was presented to the 1891 constitutional convention. Many of his contributions were preserved in the final constitution enacted in 1900. Griffith was involved in the drafting of the federal "Judiciary Act 1903", which established the High Court of Australia, and was subsequently nominated by Alfred Deakin to become the inaugural Chief Justice. He presided over a number of constitutional cases, though some of his interpretations were rejected by later courts. He was also called on to advise governors-general during political instability. Griffith University is named in his honour.
Constitutional history of Australia
A fundamental change in the constitutional structures of the British Commonwealth (formerly the British Empire, and not to be confused with the Commonwealth of Australia) did occur, however, in the late 1920s. Under the British Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, which implemented a decision of an earlier Commonwealth conference, the unified Crown that had heretofore been the centre point of the Empire was replaced by multiple crowns worn by a "shared monarch".
1998 Australian Constitutional Convention
The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 3 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a republic. The convention concluded with "in principle support" for an Australian republic (with a dissenting minority voting for a continuation of the Australian constitutional monarchy) and proposed a model involving appointment of the head of state by Parliament. The model was put to a referendum in November 1999 and rejected by the Australian electorate.
Suffrage in Australia
The first parliamentary elections in Australia took place in 1843 for the New South Wales Legislative Council under the "New South Wales Constitution Act 1842" (UK). The Council had 36 members, of which 12 were appointed by the Governor and the remainder were elected. The right to vote was limited to men with a freehold valued at £200 or a householder paying rent of £20 per year, both very large sums at the time.
Cole v Whitfield
The first five judges appointed to the High Court had all been leading participants in the Constitutional Conventions and all are properly seen as among the framers of the Constitution, The Court described the Constitution as "framed in Australia by Australians, and for the use of the Australian people", thus when the Court spoke of what was framers of the Constitution knew, intended or expected, their Honours are referring to their personal experience in that process, and not to the intention or knowledge of the Imperial Parliament in passing the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" 1900. Despite the references to intention however, it was the settled doctrine of the High Court that the records of the debates of the Constitutional Conventions were not available in the construction of the Constitution.
Australia Act 1986
The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 by federation of six British colonies, each of which became a State. The Commonwealth Constitution provided for a Commonwealth Parliament, with legislative power on a range of specified topics, leaving the residue of legislative power to the States. That constitution was (and still is) contained in a British statute. The United Kingdom Parliament retained ultimate legislative power in relation to Australia.
Government of Victoria
Functioning within the scope of Victoria's status as a sub-national parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the Government was first formed in 1851, when Victoria first gained the right to responsible government. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Victoria has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Victoria ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth.
Reserved powers doctrine
The reserved powers doctrine was a principle used by the inaugural High Court of Australia in the interpretation of the Constitution of Australia, that emphasised the context of the Constitution, drawing on principles of federalism, what the Court saw as the compact between the newly formed Commonwealth and the former colonies, particularly the compromises that informed the text of the constitution. The doctrine involved a restrictive approach to the interpretation of the specific powers of the Federal Parliament to preserve the powers that were intended to be left to the States. The doctrine was challenged by the new appointments to the Court in 1906 and was ultimately abandoned by the High Court in 1920 in the "Engineers' Case", replaced by an approach to interpretation that emphasised the text rather than the context of the Constitution.
The Constitution sets up the Commonwealth of Australia as a federal polity, with enumerated limited specific powers conferred on the Federal Parliament. The constitutional convention held in Adelaide in 1897, passed a resolution that, as the first condition for the creation of a federal government, "the powers, privileges and territories of the several existing colonies shall remain intact, except in respect of such surrenders as may be agreed upon to secure uniformity of law and administration in matters of common concern." The intention of the framers of the Australian Constitution has been said to be "to create a federal government, albeit of limited jurisdiction, which would be responsive to the popular will in specified matters of national concern and to superimpose it upon existing colonial or state governments which were seen as each adequately responsive to the popular will within their respective territorial constituencies."
Public Records Act 1958
The Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 was passed in 1990 on the request of Australia to allow the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 to be permanently removed from the Public Records Office and given to Australia. The UK government agreed as a gift to celebrate the bicentenary of British settlement in Australia.
Andrew Inglis Clark
Andrew Inglis Clark (24 February 1848 – 14 November 1907) was an Australian founding father and the principal author of the Australian Constitution; he was also an engineer, barrister, politician, electoral reformer and jurist. He initially qualified as an engineer, but he re-trained as a barrister in order to effectively fight for social causes which deeply concerned him. After a long political career, mostly spent as Attorney-General, he was appointed a Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. Despite being acknowledged as the leading expert on the Australian Constitution, he was never appointed to the High Court of Australia.
Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd
The three original judges of the High Court, Griffith CJ, Barton and O'Connor JJ, and the two new judges appointed in 1906, Isaacs and Higgins JJ, had all been leading participants in the Constitutional Conventions and all are properly seen as among the framers of the Constitution, The Court described the Constitution as "framed in Australia by Australians, and for the use of the Australian people", thus when the Court spoke of what was framers of the Constitution knew, intended or expected, they were referring to their personal experience in that process, and not to the intention or knowledge of the Imperial Parliament in passing the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" 1900.
Robert Garran
Throughout 1898, following the completion of the proposed Constitution, Garran participated in the campaign promoting Federation leading up to the referendums at which the people of the colonies voted whether or not to approve the Constitution. He contributed a daily column to the "Evening News", and had humorous poems critiquing opponents of federation published in "The Bulletin". The following year, he began working with Quick on the "Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth", a reference work on the Constitution including a history, and detailed discussion of each section analysing its meaning and its development at the Conventions. Published in 1901, the "Annotated Constitution", commonly referred to simply as "Quick & Garran", soon became the standard work on the Constitution and is still regarded as one of the most important works on the subject.
History of Australia (1788–1850)
The oldest legislative body in Australia, the New South Wales Legislative Council, was created in 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. William Wentworth established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett, sought to apply Enlightenment principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, first by extending jury rights to emancipists, then by extending legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines. Plunkett twice charged the colonist perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre of Aborigines with murder, resulting in a conviction and his landmark "Church Act" of 1836 disestablished the Church of England and established legal equality between Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
Constitutional basis of taxation in Australia
The constitutional basis of taxation in Australia is predominantly found in sections 51(ii), 90, 53, 55, and 96, of the Constitution of Australia. Their interpretation by the High Court of Australia has been integral to the functioning and evolution of federalism in Australia.
Constitution of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) became law on 9 July 1900, and entered into force on 1 January 1901. Even though the Constitution was originally given legal force by an Act of the United Kingdom parliament, the Australia Act 1986 removed the power of the United Kingdom parliament to change the Constitution as in force in Australia, and the Constitution can now only be changed in accordance with the prescribed referendum procedures in Section 128.
Military history of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a result of the federation of the Australian colonies. Under the Constitution of Australia, defence responsibility was now vested in the new federal government. The co-ordination of Australia-wide defensive efforts in the face of Imperial German interest in the Pacific Ocean was one of driving forces behind federalism, and the Department of Defence immediately came into being as a result, while the Commonwealth Military Forces (early forerunner of the Australian Army) and Commonwealth Naval Force were also soon established.
Section 109 of the Constitution of Australia
It had first been suggested by Isaacs J in 1910 in "Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation v Whybrow". Justice Dixon had foreshadowed a similar test in 1920 when appearing for the Commonwealth in "Commonwealth v Queensland". This test received its first clear formulation in "Clyde Engineering Co Ltd v Cowburn" by Justice Isaacs. In that case, by covering the field, Isaacs was able to ensure the supremacy of the Commonwealth system.
Australia
Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians for about 60,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century. It is documented that Aborigines spoke languages that can be classified into about 250 groups. After the European exploration of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, who named it New Holland, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories.
Law of Australia
The Australian Constitution is the legal foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia and sets out a federal system of government, dividing power between the federal Government and the States and territories, each of which are separate jurisdictions and have their own system of courts and parliaments. The constitutional framework of Australia is a combination of elements of the Westminster and United States systems of government. The federal legislature has the power to pass laws with respect to a number of express areas, which apply to the whole of Australia and override any State laws to the extent of any inconsistency. However, beyond those express areas the States legislatures generally have plenary power to enact laws on any subject.
D'Emden v Pedder
Griffith CJ then said:
"The framers of the Australian Constitution had before them decided cases in which certain provisions of the United States Constitution had received definite and settled interpretation. With these cases before them they used in many of the sections of our Constitution almost identical language. Does not this raise a strong presumption that they intended the same interpretation to be placed upon similar words in our Constitution?"
Nicholls agreed, but maintained that as far as the provisions for the relationship between the states and the federal government were concerned, the Australian Constitution was quite different from the United States Constitution.
History of Australia (1851–1900)
By the mid 19th century, there was a strong desire for representative and responsible government in the colonies of Australia, fed by the democratic spirit of the goldfields evident at the Eureka Stockade and the ideas of the great reform movements sweeping Europe, the United States and the British Empire. The end of convict transportation accelerated reform in the 1840s and 1850s. "The Australian Colonies Government Act" [1850] was a landmark development which granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments - though the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established Constitutional Monarchies with the British monarch as the symbolic head of state.
Reserved powers doctrine
The three inaugural judges of the High Court, Griffith CJ, Barton and O'Connor JJ, and the two new judges appointed in 1906, Isaacs and Higgins JJ, had been leading participants in the Constitutional Conventions and all are properly seen as among the framers of the Constitution. The Court described the Constitution as "framed in Australia by Australians, and for the use of the Australian people", thus when the Court spoke of what was framers of the Constitution knew, intended or expected, their Honours are referring to their personal experience in that process, and not to the intention or knowledge of the Imperial Parliament in passing the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" 1900."Peterswald v Bartley" concerned a brewer of beer at Cootamundra in the state of New South Wales. Bartley had a licence under the Commonwealth "Beer Excise Act" 1901, which involved payment of an annual fee together with duty on the quantity of beer. He didn't however have a licence under the NSW "Liquor Act 1898" which required payment of a fixed fee regardless of the brewer's output. Bartley had successfully argued in the Supreme Court of NSW that the NSW licence fee was an excise duty and that the effect of section 90 of the Australian Constitution was that the State Act ceased to have effect once the Commonwealth imposed uniform customs duties.
Section 117 of the Constitution of Australia
Richard O'Connor eventually proposed that the clause read:
But this too was rejected on the grounds that it would be impossible for there to be any practical difference between the rights of citizens by State. Following this, O'Connor made another proposal, which was accepted. After a minor modification, section 117 reached the form that it is in today:
Chief Justice of Australia
The office of Chief Justice of the High Court is established under section 71 of the Australian Constitution, which establishes the High Court as consisting of a Chief Justice and at least two other Justices. The Court was constituted by, and its first members were appointed under, the Judiciary Act 1903, with the first appointments to the High Court commencing on 5 October 1903.
Constitution of Australia
In line with the common law tradition in Australia, the law on the interpretation and application of the Constitution has developed largely through judgments by the High Court of Australia in various cases. In a number of seminal cases, the High Court has developed several doctrines which underlie the interpretation of the Australian Constitution. Some examples include:
Section 117 of the Constitution of Australia
The original form of the section, proposed at the 1891 Constitutional Convention, read:
At the Melbourne session of the 1897–1898 Constitutional Convention, it was decided that the first part of the section should be removed because it was unclear to the delegates how one State's law could interfere with the privilege or immunity of a citizen of another State, and in addition there was no definition of a Commonwealth citizen. Several attempts were made to define Commonwealth citizenship, none of which were successful.
King v Jones
An alternative argument raised for the respondent Jones was that section 41 was only ever intended to be a transitional provision, to have effect only until the Parliament of Australia made laws about who could vote in federal elections. On this view, the section could be read as referring only to adult persons who were alive when the Constitution came into effect, or referring only to state laws in force when the Constitution came into effect, under which people might acquire a right to vote. This argument was first raised by John Quick and Robert Garran in their 1901 book, "The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth".
History of broadcasting in Australia
On 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies and the province of South Australia joined together to form a new nation, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia gave federal governments power to make laws with respect to specifically defined areas (section 51). In particular, paragraph 51(v) explicitly identified "postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services". While there was no stated specific power in respect of the press, it was considered that such power fell within the scope of paragraph 51(i) "trade and commerce with other countries and among the states", among others.
Timeline of the expansion of federal powers in Australia
Federalism was adopted, as a constitutional principle, in Australia on 1 January 1901. Relatively few changes have been made in terms of the formal constitution since Australian federation occurred; in practice, however, the Commonwealth government has increasingly assumed a position of dominance through the acquisition and negotiation of additional powers and responsibilities.
1967 Australian referendum (Aboriginals)
The Australian referendum of 27 May 1967, called by the Holt Government, approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) 1967, which became law on 10 August 1967 following the results of the referendum. The amendments were overwhelmingly endorsed, winning 90.77% of votes cast and carrying in all six states. These amendments altered sections 51(xxvi), and 127, having the immediate effect of including Aboriginal Australians in determinations of population, and also empowering the Federal Parliament to legislate specifically for this racial group. The other question put in the referendum, to allow the number of seats in the House of Representatives to be increased without increasing the number of senators, was rejected. It received majority support in only one state – New South Wales – and received about 40.25% "yes" votes nationwide.
Colony of Tasmania
On 5 August 1850, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the "Australian Constitutions Act", granting the right of legislative power to the Australian colonies, and called for a 'Blended' Council, which was to be part nominated and part elected. The formerly appointed Tasmanian Legislative Council held its first popular elections 21 October 1851, and the newly elected members joined their appointed colleagues for the first time on 30 December 1851. On 19 August 1853 the Legislative Council appointed a select committee to draft a constitution, which was passed by the Council on 31 October 1855. By January 1855, the first Governor of Tasmania, Sir Henry Fox Young had been appointed. The constitution, calling for a new bicameral parliament received Royal Assent from Queen Victoria on 1 May 1855. On 21 July 1855, the Privy Council granted the application to change the colony's name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and on 24 October 1855, a tumultuous crowd gathered in Hobart to hear that the "Tasmanian Constitution Act" had been granted Royal Assent. On 8 February 1856, the old Legislative Council met for the last time, and between September and October, elections were held across the state for the new Tasmanian Legislative Council, and Tasmanian House of Assembly.
Census in Australia
Indigenous Australians in contact with the colonists were enumerated at many of the colonial censuses. When the Federation of Australia occurred in 1901, the new Constitution contained a provision (Section 127), which said: "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted." In 1967, a referendum was held which approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to indigenous Australians. The second of the two amendments deleted Section 127 from the Constitution. It was widely believed at the time of the referendum, and is still often said, that Section 127 meant that aboriginal people were not counted in Commonwealth censuses before 1967. In fact section 127 related to calculating the population of the states and territories for the purpose of allocating seats in Parliament and "per capita" Commonwealth grants. Its purpose was to prevent Queensland and Western Australia using their large aboriginal populations to gain extra seats or extra funds. Thus the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics interpreted Section 127 as meaning that they may enumerate "aboriginal natives" but that they must be excluded from published tabulations of population. Aboriginal people living in settled areas were counted to a greater or lesser extent in all censuses before 1967.
Constitution of Australia
In 1988, the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 from the Public Record Office in London was lent to Australia for the purposes of the Australian Bicentenary. The Australian government requested permission to keep the copy, the British parliament agreed by passing the Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 and the copy was given to the National Archives of Australia.
History of Australia
The oldest legislative body in Australia, the New South Wales Legislative Council, was created in 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. William Wentworth established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett, sought to apply Enlightenment principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, first by extending jury rights to emancipists, then by extending legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines. Plunkett twice charged the colonist perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre of Aborigines with murder, resulting in a conviction and his landmark "Church Act" of 1836 disestablished the Church of England and established legal equality between Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
Australian constitutional law
Constitutional law in the Commonwealth of Australia consists mostly of that body of doctrine which interprets the Commonwealth Constitution. The Constitution itself is embodied in clause 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, which was passed by the British Parliament in 1900 after its text had been negotiated in Australian Constitutional Conventions in the 1890s and approved by the voters in each of the Australian colonies. The British government did, however, insist on one change to the text, to allow a greater range of appeals to the Privy Council in London. It came into force on 1 January 1901, at which time the Commonwealth of Australia came into being.
Australian National University
Canberra University College (CUC) was the first institution of higher education in the national capital, having been established in 1929 and enrolling its first undergraduate pupils in 1930. Its founding was led by Sir Robert Garran, one of the drafters of the Australian Constitution and the first Solicitor-General of Australia. CUC was affiliated with the University of Melbourne and its degrees were granted by that university. Academic leaders at CUC included historian Manning Clark, political scientist Finlay Crisp, poet A. D. Hope and economist Heinz Arndt.
High Court of Australia
This draft was largely the work of Sir Samuel Griffith, then the Premier of Queensland, later Chief Justice of Queensland and the first Chief Justice of Australia. Other significant contributors to the judicial clauses in the draft included Attorney-General of Tasmania Andrew Inglis Clark, who had prepared his own constitution prior to the convention. Inglis Clark's most significant contribution was to give the court its own constitutional authority, ensuring the separation of powers; the original formulation from Griffith, Edmund Barton and Charles Kingston provided only that the parliament could establish a court.
Deakin Government (1903–1904)
The Commonwealth of Australia came into being when the Federal Constitution was proclaimed by the Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, on 1 January 1901. The first Federal elections were held in March 1901 and resulted in a narrow plurality for the Protectionist Party over the Free Trade Party with the Australian Labor Party (ALP) polling third. Labor declared it would offer support to the party which offered concessions and Edmund Barton's Protectionists formed a government, with Alfred Deakin as Attorney-General.
Culture of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia was founded in 1901, after a series of referenda conducted in the British colonies of Australasia. The Australian Constitution established a federal democracy and enshrined human rights such as sections 41 (right to vote), 80 (right to trial by jury) and 116 (freedom of religion) as foundational principles of Australian law and included economic rights such as restricting the government to acquiring property only "on just terms". The Australian Labor Party was established in the 1890s and the Liberal Party of Australia in 1944, both rising to be the dominant political parties and rivals of Australian politics, though various other parties have been and remain influential. Voting is compulsory in Australia and government is essentially formed by a group commanding a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives selecting a leader who becomes Prime Minister. Australia remains a constitutional monarchy in which the largely ceremonial and procedural duties of the monarch are performed by a Governor General selected by the Australian government.
Constitution of Australia
The history of the Constitution of Australia began with moves towards federation in the 19th century, which culminated in the federation of the Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. However, the Constitution has continued to develop since then, with two laws having particularly significant impact on the constitutional status of the nation.
Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia
Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia grants legislative powers to the Australian (Commonwealth) Parliament only when subject to the constitution. When the six Australian colonies joined together in Federation in 1901, they became the original States and ceded some of their powers to the new Commonwealth Parliament. There are 39 subsections to section 51, each of which describes a "head of power" under which the Parliament has the power to make laws.
D'Emden v Pedder
On the use of United States case law, from which the doctrine had largely been drawn, the court acknowledged that decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States were of course not binding in Australia, but given the similarities between the American and Australian Constitutions, such decisions "may well be regarded... not as an infallible guide, but as a most welcome aid and assistance." The court went on to discuss the method by which the Constitution was formed, at the Constitutional Conventions, and said that "we think... we are entitled to assume – what, after all, is a fact of public notoriety – that some, if not all, of the framers of the Constitution were familiar, not only with the Constitution of the United States, but with that of the Canadian Dominion and those of the British colonies", and that when provisions of the Australian Constitution are in substance the same as those in other constitutions, and those other provisions have been interpreted by courts in a certain way, "it is not an unreasonable inference that [the Australian Constitution's] framers intended that like provisions should receive like interpretation." Griffith CJ , Barton and O'Connor JJ were capable of speaking for at least some of the framers of the Constitution, having each "assisted in the actual drafting of the constitutional documents."
History of New South Wales
In 1840, the Sydney City Council was established. Men who possessed property worth at least £1000 were able to stand for election and wealthy landowners were permitted up to four votes each in elections. Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. The Australian Colonies Government Act in 1850 was a landmark development which granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments—though the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established constitutional monarchies with the British monarch as the symbolic head of state.
1998 Australian Constitutional Convention
Australia remains a constitutional monarchy under the Australian Constitution adopted in 1901, with the duties of the head of state performed by a Governor-General selected by the Australian Prime Minister. Australian republicanism has persisted since colonial times, though for much of the 20th century, the monarchy remained popular. In the early 1990s, republicanism became a significant political issue. Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Paul Keating indicated a desire to instigate a republic in time for the Centenary of the Federation of Australia in 2001. The opposition Liberal-National Coalition, led by Alexander Downer, though less supportive of the republic plan, promised to convene a Constitutional Convention to discuss the issue. Under John Howard, the Coalition won the 1996 Federal Election and set the Convention date for February 1998.
History of Australia
In 1890, representatives of the six colonies and New Zealand had met in Melbourne and called for the union of the colonies and for the colonial legislatures to nominate representatives to attend a constitutional convention. The following year, the 1891 National Australasian Convention was held in Sydney, with all the future states and New Zealand represented. A draft Constitutional Bill was produced by the Constitution Committee, chiefly drafted by Samuel Griffith, with Inglis Clark and Charles Kingston, as well as the assistance of Edmund Barton. The delegates returned to their parliaments with the Bill, but progress was slow, as Australia faced its 1890s economic Depression. Nevertheless, by 1895 five of the colonies elected representatives for a second Convention, which was conducted in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne over the space of a year, allowing time for consultation. The Constitution Committee this time appointed Barton, Richard O'Connor and John Downer to draft a Bill and after much debate, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania adopted the Bill to be put to their voters. Queensland and Western Australia later moved to do the same, though New Zealand did not participate in the Convention.
John Quick (politician)
When Federation was inaugurated on 1 January 1901, he was knighted in recognition of his services to the federation movement. On the same day, Quick and Robert Garran published "The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth", which is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative works on the Australian Constitution.
Religion in Australia
The Australian constitution consists of several documents, including the Statute of Westminster and the Australia Act of 1986, but there is only one reference to religion in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, signed into law in 1900. Notably, the constitution does not include a Bill Of Rights and, as a result, Australia's fundamental law has been criticised for its lack of explicit protection for several rights and freedoms. However, Section 116 of the 1900 Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Constitution) provides that:
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
Constitution of Australia
Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, was instrumental in pushing for a series of conferences in the 1890s to discuss federalismone in Melbourne in 1890, and another (the National Australasian Convention) in Sydney in 1891, attended by colonial leaders. By the 1891 conference, significant momentum had been built for the federalist cause, and discussion turned to the proper system of government for a federal state. Under the guidance of Sir Samuel Griffith, a draft constitution was drawn up. However, these meetings lacked popular support. Furthermore, the draft constitution sidestepped certain important issues, such as tariff policy. The draft of 1891 was submitted to colonial parliaments but lapsed in New South Wales, after which the other colonies were unwilling to proceed.
Governors of the Australian states
The office of governor ("governor in chief" was an early title) is the oldest constitutional office in Australia. The title was first used with the Governor of New South Wales, and dates back to 1788 to the day on which the area (which is now the city of Sydney) became the first British settlement in Australia. Each of the subsequent five states in Australia was also founded as a British colony, and a governor was appointed by the British government to exercise executive authority over the colony. The first governors of the colonies, and their dates of appointment, are as follows:
Constitution of Australia
For the Constitution, the impact of these two laws is that the Constitution as in force in Australia is now separate from the text in the original Act. While the British Parliament can amend or repeal the Imperial Act, that would not affect Australia. Instead, the Constitution as in force in Australia can only be amended following the referendum mechanisms set out in the Constitution. Conversely, any amendment to the Constitution in Australia following the referendum mechanisms would not affect the text of the Imperial Act as in force in the United Kingdom.
Constitutional history of Australia
The Constitutional history of Australia began with the first white settlement in Sydney in 1788 and has undergone numerous constitutional changes since.
Federation of Australia
The "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (UK)" was passed on 5 July 1900 and given Royal Assent by Queen Victoria on 9 July 1900. It was proclaimed on 1 January 1901 in Centennial Park, Sydney. Sir Edmund Barton was sworn in as the interim Prime Minister, leading an interim Federal ministry of nine members.