the high court held that the law was unconstitutional, and in the process construed a limitation on the powers of state courts vested with federal jurisdiction under chapter iii of the constitution. they held that chapter iii, particularly section 71 purports to vest federal judicial power in the supreme court of new south wales. the act vested in the supreme court powers that were incompatible with the exercise of judicial power of the commonwealth, that is, the law required the supreme court to exercise a power incompatible with its role in the federal judiciary.