Contents
Covering clauses
1............ Short title [see Note 1]....................................................................... 7
2............ Act to extend to the Queen’s successors............................................ 7
3............ Proclamation of Commonwealth [see Note 2].................................... 7
4............ Commencement of Act....................................................................... 8
5............ Operation of the Constitution and laws [see
Note 3]........................ 8
6............ Definitions.......................................................................................... 8
7............ Repeal of Federal Council Act [see Note
4]....................................... 8
8............ Application of Colonial Boundaries Act............................................ 9
9............ Constitution [see Note 1]................................................................... 9
Chapter I—The Parliament 1
Part I—General 1
1............ Legislative power................................................................................ 1
2............ Governor‑General............................................................................... 1
3............ Salary of Governor‑General................................................................ 1
4............ Provisions relating to Governor‑General............................................ 1
5............ Sessions of Parliament. Prorogation and
dissolution.......................... 2
6............ Yearly session of Parliament.............................................................. 2
Part II—The Senate 3
7............ The Senate [see Note 5]...................................................................... 3
8............ Qualification of electors...................................................................... 3
9............ Method of election of senators [see Note
6]...................................... 3
10.......... Application of State laws................................................................... 4
11.......... Failure to choose senators.................................................................. 4
12.......... Issue of writs...................................................................................... 4
13.......... Rotation of senators........................................................................... 4
14.......... Further provision for rotation [see Note
7]........................................ 5
15.......... Casual vacancies [see Note 8]............................................................. 6
16.......... Qualifications of senator..................................................................... 8
17.......... Election of President........................................................................... 8
18.......... Absence of President.......................................................................... 8
19.......... Resignation of senator........................................................................ 8
20.......... Vacancy by absence............................................................................ 9
21.......... Vacancy to be notified........................................................................ 9
22.......... Quorum............................................................................................... 9
23.......... Voting in the Senate............................................................................ 9
Part III—The House of Representatives 10
24.......... Constitution of House of Representatives....................................... 10
25.......... Provision as to races disqualified from voting.................................. 10
26.......... Representatives in first Parliament................................................... 11
27.......... Alteration of number of members..................................................... 11
28.......... Duration of House of Representatives............................................. 11
29.......... Electoral divisions [see Note 9]........................................................ 11
30.......... Qualification of electors.................................................................... 12
31.......... Application of State laws................................................................. 12
32.......... Writs for general election.................................................................. 12
33.......... Writs for vacancies........................................................................... 12
34.......... Qualifications of members................................................................ 12
35.......... Election of Speaker........................................................................... 13
36.......... Absence of Speaker.......................................................................... 13
37.......... Resignation of member..................................................................... 13
38.......... Vacancy by absence.......................................................................... 13
39.......... Quorum............................................................................................. 14
40.......... Voting in House of Representatives................................................. 14
Part IV—Both Houses of the Parliament 15
41.......... Right of electors of States................................................................. 15
42.......... Oath or affirmation of allegiance....................................................... 15
43.......... Member of one House ineligible for other........................................ 15
44.......... Disqualification................................................................................. 15
45.......... Vacancy on happening of disqualification........................................ 16
46.......... Penalty for sitting when disqualified................................................ 16
47.......... Disputed elections............................................................................ 16
48.......... Allowance to members..................................................................... 17
49.......... Privileges etc. of Houses................................................................... 17
50.......... Rules and orders............................................................................... 17
Part V—Powers of the Parliament 18
51.......... Legislative powers of the Parliament [see
Notes 10 and 11]............ 18
52.......... Exclusive powers of the Parliament.................................................. 20
53.......... Powers of the Houses in respect of legislation................................. 20
54.......... Appropriation Bills.......................................................................... 21
55.......... Tax Bill............................................................................................. 21
56.......... Recommendation of money votes.................................................... 21
57.......... Disagreement between the Houses................................................... 22
58.......... Royal assent to Bills......................................................................... 22
59.......... Disallowance by the Queen.............................................................. 23
60.......... Signification of Queen’s pleasure on Bills
reserved.......................... 23
Chapter II—The Executive Government 24
61.......... Executive power............................................................................... 24
62.......... Federal Executive Council................................................................. 24
63.......... Provisions referring to Governor‑General........................................ 24
64.......... Ministers of State............................................................................. 24
65.......... Number of Ministers........................................................................ 25
66.......... Salaries of Ministers......................................................................... 25
67.......... Appointment of civil servants.......................................................... 25
68.......... Command of naval and military forces............................................. 25
69.......... Transfer of certain departments....................................................... 25
70.......... Certain powers of Governors to vest in Governor‑General............. 26
Chapter III—The Judicature 27
71.......... Judicial power and Courts................................................................ 27
72.......... Judges’ appointment, tenure, and remuneration............................... 27
73.......... Appellate jurisdiction of High Court................................................ 28
74.......... Appeal to Queen in Council [see Note 12]...................................... 29
75.......... Original jurisdiction of High Court................................................... 29
76.......... Additional original jurisdiction......................................................... 30
77.......... Power to define jurisdiction.............................................................. 30
78.......... Proceedings against Commonwealth or State................................... 30
79.......... Number of judges.............................................................................. 30
80.......... Trial by jury..................................................................................... 30
Chapter IV—Finance and Trade 32
81.......... Consolidated Revenue Fund............................................................. 32
82.......... Expenditure charged thereon............................................................. 32
83.......... Money to be appropriated by law................................................... 32
84.......... Transfer of officers........................................................................... 32
85.......... Transfer of property of State........................................................... 33
86.......... [Customs, excise, and bounties] [see Note
13]................................. 34
87.......... [Revenue from customs and excise duties] [see
Note 13]................ 34
88.......... Uniform duties of customs............................................................... 34
89.......... Payment to States before uniform duties......................................... 34
90.......... Exclusive power over customs, excise, and
bounties........................ 35
91.......... Exceptions as to bounties................................................................. 35
92.......... Trade within the Commonwealth to be free..................................... 35
93.......... Payment to States for five years after uniform
tariffs...................... 36
94.......... Distribution of surplus..................................................................... 36
95.......... Customs duties of Western Australia............................................... 36
96.......... Financial assistance to States............................................................ 37
97.......... Audit................................................................................................. 37
98.......... Trade and commerce includes navigation and State
railways........... 37
99.......... Commonwealth not to give preference............................................. 37
100........ Nor abridge right to use water.......................................................... 38
101........ Inter‑State Commission.................................................................... 38
102........ Parliament may forbid preferences by State..................................... 38
103........ Commissioners’ appointment, tenure, and
remuneration................. 38
104........ Saving of certain rates....................................................................... 39
105........ Taking over public debts of States................................................... 39
105A..... Agreements with respect to State debts........................................... 39
Chapter V—The States 41
106........ Saving of Constitutions.................................................................... 41
107........ Saving of Power of State Parliaments............................................... 41
108........ Saving of State laws.......................................................................... 41
109........ Inconsistency of laws....................................................................... 41
110........ Provisions referring to Governor...................................................... 41
111........ States may surrender territory.......................................................... 42
112........ States may levy charges for inspection laws.................................... 42
113........ Intoxicating liquids............................................................................ 42
114........ States may not raise forces. Taxation of property
of Commonwealth or State 42
115........ States not to coin money.................................................................. 42
116........ Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion....................... 43
117........ Rights of residents in States............................................................. 43
118........ Recognition of laws etc. of States..................................................... 43
119........ Protection of States from invasion and violence............................... 43
120........ Custody of offenders against laws of the
Commonwealth............... 43
Chapter VI—New States 44
121........ New States may be admitted or established..................................... 44
122........ Government of territories................................................................. 44
123........ Alteration of limits of States............................................................ 44
124........ Formation of new States................................................................... 44
Chapter VII—Miscellaneous 45
125........ Seat of Government.......................................................................... 45
126........ Power to Her Majesty to authorise Governor‑General
to appoint deputies [see Note 14] 45
Chapter VIII—Alteration of the Constitution 46
128........ Mode of altering the Constitution [see Note
1]............................... 46
Schedule 48
Notes 49
Chapter I—The Parliament
Part I—General
1
Legislative power
The legislative power of the
Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of
the Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, and which is hereinafter
called The Parliament, or The Parliament of the
Commonwealth.
2
Governor‑General
A Governor‑General appointed by
the Queen shall be Her Majesty’s representative in the Commonwealth, and shall
have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen’s pleasure, but
subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her
Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.
3
Salary of Governor‑General
There shall be payable to the Queen out
of the Consolidated Revenue fund of the Commonwealth, for the salary of the
Governor‑General, an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise
provides, shall be ten thousand pounds.
The salary of a Governor‑General
shall not be altered during his continuance in office.
4
Provisions relating to Governor‑General
The provisions of this Constitution
relating to the Governor‑General extend and apply to the Governor‑General
for the time being, or such person as the Queen may appoint to administer the
Government of the Commonwealth; but no such person shall be entitled to receive
any salary from the Commonwealth in respect of any other office during his
administration of the Government of the Commonwealth.
5
Sessions of Parliament. Prorogation and dissolution
The Governor‑General may appoint
such times for holding the sessions of the Parliament as he thinks fit, and may
also from time to time, by Proclamation or otherwise, prorogue the Parliament,
and may in like manner dissolve the House of Representatives.
Summoning Parliament
After any general election the
Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than thirty days after the day
appointed for the return of the writs.
First session
The Parliament shall be summoned to meet
not later than six months after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
6
Yearly session of Parliament
There shall be a session of the
Parliament once at least in every year, so that twelve months shall not
intervene between the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and its
first sitting in the next session.
Part II—The Senate
7 The
Senate [see Note 5]
The Senate shall be composed of senators
for each State, directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the
Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate.
But until the Parliament of the
Commonwealth otherwise provides, the Parliament of the State of Queensland, if
that State be an Original State, may make laws dividing the State into
divisions and determining the number of senators to be chosen for each
division, and in the absence of such provision the State shall be one
electorate.
Until the Parliament otherwise provides
there shall be six senators for each Original State. The Parliament may make
laws increasing or diminishing the number of senators for each State, but so
that equal representation of the several Original States shall be maintained
and that no Original State shall have less than six senators.
The senators shall be chosen for a term
of six years, and the names of the senators chosen for each State shall be
certified by the Governor to the Governor‑General.
8
Qualification of electors
The qualification of electors of
senators shall be in each State that which is prescribed by this Constitution,
or by the Parliament, as the qualification for electors of members of the House
of Representatives; but in the choosing of senators each elector shall vote
only once.
9
Method of election of senators [see Note 6]
The Parliament of the Commonwealth may
make laws prescribing the method of choosing senators, but so that the method
shall be uniform for all the States. Subject to any such law, the Parliament of
each State may make laws prescribing the method of choosing the senators for
that State.
Times and places [see Note 6]
The Parliament of a State may make laws
for determining the times and places of elections of senators for the State.
10
Application of State laws
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.
11
Failure to choose senators
The Senate may proceed to the despatch
of business, notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its
representation in the Senate.
12 Issue
of writs
The Governor of any State may cause
writs to be issued for elections of senators for the State. In case of the
dissolution of the Senate the writs shall be issued within ten days from the
proclamation of such dissolution.
13
Rotation of senators
As soon as may be after the Senate first
meets, and after each first meeting of the Senate following a dissolution
thereof, the Senate shall divide the senators chosen for each State into two
classes, as nearly equal in number as practicable; and the places of the
senators of the first class shall become vacant at the expiration of the
third year three years, and the places of those of the second class
at the expiration of the sixth year six years, from the beginning
of their term of service; and afterwards the places of senators shall become
vacant at the expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of
service.
The election to fill vacant places shall
be made in the year at the expiration of which within one year before
the places are to become vacant.
For the purposes of this section the
term of service of a senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of January
July following the day of his election, except in the cases of the first
election and of the election next after any dissolution of the Senate, when it
shall be taken to begin on the first day of January July
preceding the day of his election.
14
Further provision for rotation [see Note 7]
Whenever the number of senators for a
State is increased or diminished, the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make
such provision for the vacating of the places of senators for the State as it
deems necessary to maintain regularity in the rotation.
15 Casual vacancies
If the place of a senator becomes
vacant before the expiration of his term of service, the House of Parliament of
the State for which he was chosen shall, sitting and voting together, choose a
person to hold the place until the expiration of the term, or until the
election of a successor as hereinafter provided, whichever first happens. But
if the Houses of Parliament of the State are not in session at the time when
the vacancy is notified, the Governor of the State, with the advice of the
Executive Council thereof, may appoint a person to hold the place until the expiration
of fourteen days after the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of
the State, or until the election of a successor, whichever first happens.
At the next general election of
members of the House of Representatives, or at the next election of senators
for the State, whichever first happens, a successor shall, if the term has not
then expired, be chosen to hold the place from the date of his election until
the expiration of the term.
The name of any senator so chosen or
appointed shall be certified by the Governor of the State to the Governor‑General.
15
Casual vacancies [see
Note 8]
If the place of a senator becomes
vacant before the expiration of his term of service, the Houses of Parliament
of the State for which he was chosen, sitting and voting together, or, if there
is only one House of that Parliament, that House, shall choose a person to hold
the place until the expiration of the term. But if the Parliament of the State
is not in session when the vacancy is notified, the Governor of the State, with
the advice of the Executive Council thereof, may appoint a person to hold the
place until the expiration of fourteen days from the beginning of the next
session of the Parliament of the State or the expiration of the term, whichever
first happens.
Where a vacancy has at any time
occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of a State and, at the
time when he was so chosen, he was publicly recognized by a particular
political party as being an endorsed candidate of that party and publicly
represented himself to be such a candidate, a person chosen or appointed under
this section in consequence of that vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy
and a subsequent vacancy or vacancies, shall, unless there is no member of that
party available to be chosen or appointed, be a member of that party.
Where:
(a) in accordance with the last
preceding paragraph, a member of a particular political party is chosen or
appointed to hold the place of a senator whose place had become vacant; and
(b) before taking his seat he
ceases to be a member of that party (otherwise than by reason of the party
having ceased to exist);
he shall be deemed not to have been so chosen or
appointed and the vacancy shall be again notified in accordance with section
twenty‑one of this Constitution.
The name of any senator chosen or
appointed under this section shall be certified by the Governor of the State to
the Governor‑General.
If the place of a senator chosen by
the people of a State at the election of senators last held before the
commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977
became vacant before that commencement and, at that commencement, no person
chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of the State, or appointed by the
Governor of the State, in consequence of that vacancy, or in consequence of
that vacancy and a subsequent vacancy or vacancies, held office, this section
applies as if the place of the senator chosen by the people of the State had
become vacant after that commencement.
A senator holding office at the
commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977,
being a senator appointed by the Governor 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 appointed to hold the place
until the expiration of fourteen days after the beginning of the next session
of the Parliament of the State that commenced or commences after he was appointed
and further action under this section shall be taken as if the vacancy in the
place of the senator chosen by the people of the State had occurred after that
commencement.
Subject to the next succeeding
paragraph, 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.
If, at or before the commencement of
the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, a law to
alter the Constitution entitled “Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous
Elections) 1977” came into operation, a senator holding office at the
commencement of that law 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:
(a) if the senator elected by the
people of the State had a term of service expiring on the thirtieth day of
June, One thousand nine hundred and seventy‑eight—until the expiration or
dissolution of the first House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved
after that law came into operation; or
(b) if the senator elected by the
people of the State had a term of service expiring on the thirtieth day of
June, One thousand nine hundred and eighty‑one—until the expiration or
dissolution of the second House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved
after that law came into operation or, if there is an earlier dissolution of the
Senate, until that dissolution.
16
Qualifications of senator
The qualifications of a senator shall be
the same as those of a member of the House of Representatives.
17
Election of President
The Senate shall, before proceeding to
the despatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the
Senate; and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall
again choose a senator to be the President.
The President shall cease to hold his
office if he ceases to be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of
the Senate, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the
Governor‑General.
18
Absence of President
Before or during any absence of the
President, the Senate may choose a senator to perform his duties in his
absence.
19
Resignation of senator
A senator may, by writing addressed to
the President, or to the Governor‑General if there is no President or if
the President is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon
shall become vacant.
20
Vacancy by absence
The place of a senator shall become
vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he,
without the permission of the Senate, fails to attend the Senate.
21
Vacancy to be notified
Whenever a vacancy happens in the
Senate, the President, or if there is no President or if the President is
absent from the Commonwealth the Governor‑General, shall notify the same
to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened.
22
Quorum
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the presence of at least one‑third of the whole number of the senators
shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of
its powers.
23
Voting in the Senate
Questions arising in the Senate shall be
determined by a majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote. The
President shall in all cases be entitled to a vote; and when the votes are
equal the question shall pass in the negative.
Part III—The House of Representatives
24
Constitution of House of Representatives
The House of Representatives shall be
composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the
number of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of
the senators.
The number of members chosen in the
several States shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their
people, and shall, until the Parliament otherwise provides, be determined,
whenever necessary, in the following manner:
(i) a quota shall be ascertained by
dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth, as shown by the latest
statistics of the Commonwealth, by twice the number of the senators;
(ii) the number of members to be
chosen in each State shall be determined by dividing the number of the people
of the State, as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by the
quota; and if on such division there is a remainder greater than one‑half
of the quota, one more member shall be chosen in the State.
But notwithstanding anything in this
section, five members at least shall be chosen in each Original State.
25
Provision as to races disqualified from voting
For the purposes of the last section, 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 Parliament of the State, then, in
reckoning the number of the people of the State or of the Commonwealth, persons
of that race resident in that State shall not be counted.
26
Representatives in first Parliament
Notwithstanding anything in section
twenty‑four, the number of members to be chosen in each State at the
first election shall be as follows:
|
New South Wales.......................................
|
twenty‑three;
|
|
Victoria......................................................
|
twenty;
|
|
Queensland.................................................
|
eight;
|
|
South Australia...........................................
|
six;
|
|
Tasmania....................................................
|
five;
|
Provided that if Western Australia is an
Original State, the numbers shall be as follows:
|
New South Wales.......................................
|
twenty‑six;
|
|
Victoria......................................................
|
twenty‑three;
|
|
Queensland.................................................
|
nine;
|
|
South Australia...........................................
|
seven;
|
|
Western Australia.......................................
|
five;
|
|
Tasmania....................................................
|
five.
|
27
Alteration of number of members
Subject to this Constitution, the
Parliament may make laws for increasing or diminishing the number of the
members of the House of Representatives.
28
Duration of House of Representatives
Every House of Representatives shall
continue for three years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer,
but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor‑General.
29
Electoral divisions [see
Note 9]
Until the Parliament of the Commonwealth
otherwise provides, the Parliament of any State may make laws for determining
the divisions in each State for which members of the House of Representatives
may be chosen, and the number of members to be chosen for each division. A
division shall not be formed out of parts of different States.
In the absence of other provision, each
State shall be one electorate.
30
Qualification of electors
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall
be in each State that which is prescribed by the law of the State as the
qualification of electors of the more numerous House of Parliament of the
State; but in the choosing of members each elector shall vote only once.
31
Application of State laws
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 in the State of
members of the House of Representatives.
32
Writs for general election
The Governor‑General in Council
may cause writs to be issued for general elections of members of the House of
Representatives.
After the first general election, the
writs shall be issued within ten days from the expiry of a House of
Representatives or from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof.
33
Writs for vacancies
Whenever a vacancy happens in the House
of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new
member, or if there is no Speaker or if he is absent from the Commonwealth the
Governor‑General in Council may issue the writ.
34
Qualifications of members
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives shall be as
follows:
(i) he must be of the full age of
twenty‑one years, and must be an elector entitled to vote at the election
of members of the House of Representatives, or a person qualified to become
such elector, and must have been for three years at the least a resident within
the limits of the Commonwealth as existing at the time when he is chosen;
(ii) he must be a subject of the
Queen, either natural‑born or for at least five years naturalized under a
law of the United Kingdom, or of a Colony which has become or becomes a State,
or of the Commonwealth, or of a State.
35
Election of Speaker
The House of Representatives shall,
before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be
the Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant
the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker.
The Speaker shall cease to hold his
office if he ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of
the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the
Governor‑General.
36
Absence of Speaker
Before or during any absence of the
Speaker, the House of Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties
in his absence.
37
Resignation of member
A member may by writing addressed to the
Speaker, or to the Governor‑General if there is no Speaker or if the
Speaker is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon
shall become vacant.
38
Vacancy by absence
The place of a member shall become
vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he,
without the permission of the House, fails to attend the House.
39
Quorum
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the presence of at least one‑third of the whole number of the members of
the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the
House for the exercise of its powers.
40
Voting in House of Representatives
Questions arising in the House of
Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes other than that of
the Speaker. The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are equal, and then
he shall have a casting vote.
Part IV—Both Houses of the Parliament
41
Right of electors of States
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 House of the Parliament of the
Commonwealth.
42 Oath
or affirmation of allegiance
Every senator and every member of the
House of Representatives shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before
the Governor‑General, or some person authorised by him, an oath or
affirmation of allegiance in the form set forth in the schedule to this
Constitution.
43
Member of one House ineligible for other
A member of either House of the
Parliament shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the
other House.
44
Disqualification
Any person who:
(i) is under any acknowledgment of
allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a
citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a
foreign power; or
(ii) is attainted of treason, or has
been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any
offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by
imprisonment for one year or longer; or
(iii) is an undischarged bankrupt or
insolvent; or
(iv) holds any office of profit under
the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any
of the revenues of the Commonwealth; or
(v) has any direct or indirect
pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth
otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an
incorporated company consisting of more than twenty‑five persons;
shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a
senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
But subsection (iv) does not apply
to the office of any of the Queen’s Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or
of any of the Queen’s Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half
pay, or a pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen’s navy or
army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military
forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly employed
by the Commonwealth.
45
Vacancy on happening of disqualification
If a senator or member of the House of
Representatives:
(i) becomes subject to any of the
disabilities mentioned in the last preceding section; or
(ii) takes the benefit, whether by
assignment, composition, or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or
insolvent debtors; or
(iii) 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.
46
Penalty for sitting when disqualified
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
any person declared by this 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 one hundred pounds to any person
who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction.
47
Disputed elections
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
any question respecting the qualification of a senator or of a member of the
House of Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in either House of the
Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to either House, shall be
determined by the House in which the question arises.
48
Allowance to members
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
each senator and each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an
allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on which
he takes his seat.
49
Privileges etc. of Houses
The powers, privileges, and immunities
of the Senate and of 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.
50
Rules and orders
Each House of the Parliament may make
rules and orders with respect to:
(i) the mode in which its powers,
privileges, and immunities may be exercised and upheld;
(ii) the order and conduct of its
business and proceedings either separately or jointly with the other House.
Part V—Powers of the Parliament
51
Legislative powers of the Parliament [see Notes 10 and 11]
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:
(i) trade and commerce with other
countries, and among the States;
(ii) taxation; but so as not to
discriminate between States or parts of States;
(iii) bounties on the production or
export of goods, but so that such bounties shall be uniform throughout the
Commonwealth;
(iv) borrowing money on the public
credit of the Commonwealth;
(v) postal, telegraphic, telephonic,
and other like services;
(vi) 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;
(vii) lighthouses, lightships, beacons
and buoys;
(viii) astronomical and meteorological
observations;
(ix) quarantine;
(x) fisheries in Australian waters
beyond territorial limits;
(xi) census and statistics;
(xii) currency, coinage, and legal
tender;
(xiii) banking, other than State
banking; also State banking extending beyond the limits of the State concerned,
the incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money;
(xiv) insurance, other than State
insurance; also State insurance extending beyond the limits of the State
concerned;
(xv) weights and measures;
(xvi) bills of exchange and promissory
notes;
(xvii) bankruptcy and insolvency;
(xviii) copyrights, patents of inventions
and designs, and trade marks;
(xix) naturalization and aliens;
(xx) foreign corporations, and trading
or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth;
(xxi) marriage;
(xxii) divorce and matrimonial causes;
and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of
infants;
(xxiii) invalid and old‑age
pensions;
(xxiiiA) the provision of maternity
allowances, widows’ pensions, child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical,
sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but not so as to
authorize any form of civil conscription), benefits to students and family
allowances;
(xxiv) the service and execution
throughout the Commonwealth of the civil and criminal process and the judgments
of the courts of the States;
(xxv) the recognition throughout the
Commonwealth of the laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial
proceedings of the States;
(xxvi) the people of any race, other
than the aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to
make special laws;
(xxvii) immigration and emigration;
(xxviii) the influx of criminals;
(xxix) external affairs;
(xxx) the relations of the Commonwealth
with the islands of the Pacific;
(xxxi) the acquisition of property on just
terms from any State or person for any purpose in respect of which the
Parliament has power to make laws;
(xxxii) the control of railways with
respect to transport for the naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth;
(xxxiii) the acquisition, with the consent
of a State, of any railways of the State on terms arranged between the
Commonwealth and the State;
(xxxiv) railway construction and extension
in any State with the consent of that State;
(xxxv) conciliation and arbitration for the
prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of
any one State;
(xxxvi) matters in respect of which this
Constitution makes provision until the Parliament otherwise provides;
(xxxvii) matters referred to the Parliament
of the Commonwealth by the Parliament or Parliaments of any State or States,
but so that the law shall extend only to States by whose Parliaments the matter
is referred, or which afterwards adopt the law;
(xxxviii) the exercise within the Commonwealth,
at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all 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;
(xxxix) matters incidental to the execution
of any power vested by this Constitution in the Parliament or in either House
thereof, or in the Government of the Commonwealth, or in the Federal
Judicature, or in any department or officer of the Commonwealth.
52
Exclusive powers of the Parliament
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:
(i) the seat of government of the
Commonwealth, and all places acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes;
(ii) matters relating to any
department of the public service the control of which is by this Constitution
transferred to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth;
(iii) other matters declared by this
Constitution to be within the exclusive power of the Parliament.
53
Powers of the Houses in respect of legislation
Proposed laws appropriating revenue or
moneys, or imposing taxation, shall not originate in the Senate. But a proposed
law shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys, or to impose taxation,
by reason only of its containing provisions for the imposition or appropriation
of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the demand or payment or
appropriation of fees for licences, or fees for services under the proposed
law.
The Senate may not amend proposed laws
imposing taxation, or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the
ordinary annual services of the Government.
The Senate may not amend any proposed
law so as to increase any proposed charge or burden on the people.
The Senate may at any stage return to
the House of Representatives any proposed law which the Senate may not amend,
requesting, by message, the omission or amendment of any items or provisions
therein. And the House of Representatives may, if it thinks fit, make any of
such omissions or amendments, with or without modifications.
Except as provided in this section, the
Senate shall have equal power with the House of Representatives in respect of
all proposed laws.
54
Appropriation Bills
The proposed law which appropriates
revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal
only with such appropriation.
55 Tax
Bill
Laws imposing taxation shall deal only
with the imposition of taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any
other matter shall be of no effect.
Laws imposing taxation, except laws
imposing duties of customs or of excise, shall deal with one subject of
taxation only; but laws imposing duties of customs shall deal with duties of
customs only, and laws imposing duties of excise shall deal with duties of
excise only.
56
Recommendation of money votes
A vote, resolution, or proposed law for
the appropriation of revenue or moneys shall not be passed unless the purpose
of the appropriation has in the same session been recommended by message of the
Governor‑General to the House in which the proposal originated.
57
Disagreement between the Houses
If the House of Representatives passes
any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with
amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after
an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the
next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments
which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of
Representatives will not agree, the Governor‑General may dissolve the
Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution
shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the
House of Representatives by effluxion of time.
If after such dissolution the House of
Representatives again passes the proposed law, with or without any amendments
which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of
Representatives will not agree, the Governor‑General may convene a joint
sitting of the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives.
The members present at the joint sitting
may deliberate and shall vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed
by the House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which have been
made therein by one House and not agreed to by the other, and any such
amendments which are affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of
the members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be taken to have
been carried, and if the proposed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried
is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the
Senate and House of Representatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed
by both Houses of the Parliament, and shall be presented to the Governor‑General
for the Queen’s assent.
58
Royal assent to Bills
When a proposed law passed by both
Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor‑General for the
Queen’s assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to
this Constitution, that he assents in the Queen’s name, or that he withholds
assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen’s pleasure.
Recommendations by Governor‑General
The Governor‑General may return to
the house in which it originated any proposed law so presented to him, and may
transmit therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the Houses may
deal with the recommendation.
59
Disallowance by the Queen
The Queen may disallow any law within
one year from the Governor‑General’s assent, and such disallowance on
being made known by the Governor‑General by speech or message to each of
the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul the law from the
day when the disallowance is so made known.
60
Signification of Queen’s pleasure on Bills reserved
A proposed law reserved for the Queen’s
pleasure shall not have any force unless and until within two years from the
day on which it was presented to the Governor‑General for the Queen’s
assent the Governor‑General makes known, by speech or message to each of
the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, that it has received the
Queen’s assent.
Chapter II—The Executive Government
61
Executive power
The executive power of the Commonwealth
is vested in the Queen and is exercisable 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.
62
Federal Executive Council
There shall be a Federal Executive
Council to advise the Governor‑General in the government of the
Commonwealth, and the members of the Council shall be chosen and summoned by
the Governor‑General and sworn as Executive Councillors, and shall hold
office during his pleasure.
63
Provisions referring to Governor‑General
The provisions of this Constitution
referring to the Governor‑General in Council shall be construed as
referring to the Governor‑General acting with the advice of the Federal
Executive Council.
64
Ministers of State
The Governor‑General may appoint
officers to administer such departments of State of the Commonwealth as the
Governor‑General in Council may establish.
Such officers shall hold office during
the pleasure of the Governor‑General. They shall be members of the
Federal Executive Council, and shall be the Queen’s Ministers of State for the
Commonwealth.
Ministers to sit in Parliament
After the first general election no
Minister of State shall hold office for a longer period than three months
unless he is or becomes a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
65
Number of Ministers
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the Ministers of State shall not exceed seven in number, and shall hold such
offices as the Parliament prescribes, or, in the absence of provision, as the
Governor‑General directs.
66
Salaries of Ministers
There shall be payable to the Queen, out
of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth, for the salaries of the
Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise
provides, shall not exceed twelve thousand pounds a year.
67
Appointment of civil servants
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the appointment and removal of all other officers of the Executive Government
of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Governor‑General in Council,
unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor‑General in Council or
by a law of the Commonwealth to some other authority.
68
Command of naval and military forces
The command in chief of the naval and
military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor‑General as
the Queen’s representative.
69
Transfer of certain departments
On a date or dates to be proclaimed by
the Governor‑General after the establishment of the Commonwealth the
following departments of the public service in each State shall become
transferred to the Commonwealth:
posts, telegraphs, and
telephones;
naval and military defence;
lighthouses, lightships,
beacons, and buoys;
quarantine.
But the departments of customs and of
excise in each State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth on its
establishment.
70
Certain powers of Governors to vest in Governor‑General
In respect of matters which, under this
Constitution, pass to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth, all powers
and functions which at the establishment of the Commonwealth are vested in the
Governor of a Colony, or in the Governor of a Colony with the advice of his
Executive Council, or in any authority of a Colony, shall vest in the Governor‑General,
or in the Governor‑General in Council, or in the authority exercising
similar powers under the Commonwealth, as the case requires.
Chapter III—The Judicature
71
Judicial power and Courts
The judicial power of the Commonwealth
shall be vested in a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of
Australia, and in such other federal courts as the Parliament creates, and in
such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. The High Court shall
consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other Justices, not less than two, as
the Parliament prescribes.
72
Judges’ appointment, tenure, and remuneration
The Justices of the High Court and of
the other courts created by the Parliament:
(i) shall be appointed by the
Governor‑General in Council;
(ii) shall not 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 or incapacity;
(iii) shall receive such remuneration
as the Parliament may fix; but the remuneration shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
The appointment of a Justice of the
High Court shall be for a term expiring upon his attaining the age of seventy
years, and a person shall not be appointed as a Justice of the High Court if he
has attained that age.
The appointment of a Justice of a
court created by the Parliament shall be for a term expiring upon his attaining
the age that is, at the time of his appointment, the maximum age for Justices
of that court and a person shall not be appointed as a Justice of such a court
if he has attained the age that is for the time being the maximum age for
Justices of that court.
Subject to this section, the maximum
age for Justices of any court created by the Parliament is seventy years.
The Parliament may make a law fixing
an age that is less than seventy years as the maximum age for Justices of a
court created by the Parliament and may at any time repeal or amend such a law,
but any such repeal or amendment does not affect the term of office of a
Justice under an appointment made before the repeal or amendment.
A Justice of the High Court or of a
court created by the Parliament may resign his office by writing under his hand
delivered to the Governor‑General.
Nothing in the provisions added to
this section by the Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) 1977
affects the continuance of a person in office as a Justice of a court under an
appointment made before the commencement of those provisions.
A reference in this section to the
appointment of a Justice of the High Court or of a court created by the
Parliament shall be read as including a reference to the appointment of a
person who holds office as a Justice of the High Court or of a court created by
the Parliament to another office of Justice of the same court having a
different status or designation.
73
Appellate jurisdiction of High Court
The High Court shall have jurisdiction,
with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as the Parliament
prescribes, to hear and determine appeals from all judgments, decrees, orders,
and sentences:
(i) of any Justice or Justices
exercising the original jurisdiction of the High Court;
(ii) of any other federal court, or
court exercising federal jurisdiction; or of the Supreme Court of any State, or
of any other court of any State from which at the establishment of the
Commonwealth an appeal lies to the Queen in Council;
(iii) of the Inter‑State
Commission, but as to questions of law only;
and the judgment of the High Court in all such cases shall
be final and conclusive.
But no exception or regulation
prescribed by the Parliament shall prevent the High Court from hearing and
determining any appeal from the Supreme Court of a State in any matter in which
at the establishment of the Commonwealth an appeal lies from such Supreme Court
to the Queen in Council.
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the conditions of and restrictions on appeals to the Queen in Council from the
Supreme Courts of the several States shall be applicable to appeals from them
to the High Court.
74
Appeal to Queen in Council [see
Note 12]
No appeal shall be permitted to the
Queen in 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 Her
Majesty in Council.
The High Court may so certify if
satisfied that for any special reason the certificate should be granted, and
thereupon an appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in Council on the question without
further leave.
Except as provided in this section, this
Constitution shall not impair any right which the Queen may be pleased to
exercise by virtue of Her Royal prerogative to grant special leave of appeal
from the High Court to Her Majesty in Council. The Parliament may make laws
limiting the matters in which such leave may be asked, but proposed laws
containing any such limitation shall be reserved by the Governor‑General
for Her Majesty’s pleasure.
75
Original jurisdiction of High Court
In all matters:
(i) arising under any treaty;
(ii) affecting consuls or other
representatives of other countries;
(iii) in which the Commonwealth, or a
person suing or being sued on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party;
(iv) between States, or between
residents of different States, or between a State and a resident of another
State;
(v) in which a writ of Mandamus or
prohibition or an injunction is sought against an officer of the Commonwealth;
the High Court shall have original jurisdiction.
76
Additional original jurisdiction
The Parliament may make laws conferring
original jurisdiction on the High Court in any matter:
(i) arising under this Constitution,
or involving its interpretation;
(ii) arising under any laws made by
the Parliament;
(iii) of Admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction;
(iv) relating to the same subject‑matter
claimed under the laws of different States.
77
Power to define jurisdiction
With respect to any of the matters
mentioned in the last two sections the Parliament may make laws:
(i) defining the jurisdiction of any
federal court other than the High Court;
(ii) defining the extent to which the
jurisdiction of any federal court shall be exclusive of that which belongs to
or is invested in the courts of the States;
(iii) investing any court of a State
with federal jurisdiction.
78
Proceedings against Commonwealth or State
The Parliament may make laws conferring
rights to proceed against the Commonwealth or a State in respect of matters
within the limits of the judicial power.
79
Number of judges
The federal jurisdiction of any court
may be exercised by such number of judges as the Parliament prescribes.
80
Trial by jury
The trial on indictment of any offence
against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial
shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence
was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or
places as the Parliament prescribes.
Chapter IV—Finance and Trade
81
Consolidated Revenue Fund
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.
82
Expenditure charged thereon
The costs, charges, and expenses
incident to the collection, management, and receipt of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund shall form the first charge thereon; and the revenue of the Commonwealth
shall in the first instance be applied to the payment of the expenditure of the
Commonwealth.
83
Money to be appropriated by law
No money shall be drawn from the
Treasury of the Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law.
But until the expiration of one month
after the first meeting of the Parliament the Governor‑General in Council
may draw from the Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the
maintenance of any department transferred to the Commonwealth and for the
holding of the first elections for the Parliament.
84
Transfer of officers
When any department of the public
service of a State becomes transferred to the Commonwealth, all officers of the
department shall become subject to the control of the Executive Government of
the Commonwealth.
Any such officer who is not retained in
the service of the Commonwealth shall, unless he is appointed to some other
office of equal emolument in the public service of the State, be entitled to
receive from the State any pension, gratuity, or other compensation, payable
under the law of the State on the abolition of his office.
Any such officer who is retained in the
service of the Commonwealth shall preserve all his existing and accruing
rights, and shall be entitled to retire from office at the time, and on the
pension or retiring allowance, which would be permitted by the law of the State
if his service with the Commonwealth were a continuation of his service with
the State. Such pension or retiring allowance shall be paid to him by the
Commonwealth; but the State shall pay to the Commonwealth a part thereof, to be
calculated on the proportion which his term of service with the State bears to
his whole term of service, and for the purpose of the calculation his salary
shall be taken to be that paid to him by the State at the time of the transfer.
Any officer who is, at the establishment
of the Commonwealth, in the public service of a State, and who is, by consent of
the Governor of the State with the advice of the Executive Council thereof,
transferred to the public service of the Commonwealth, shall have the same
rights as if he had been an officer of a department transferred to the
Commonwealth and were retained in the service of the Commonwealth.
85
Transfer of property of State
When any department of the public
service of a State is transferred to the Commonwealth:
(i) all property of the State of any
kind, used exclusively in connexion with the department, shall become vested in
the Commonwealth; but, in the case of the departments controlling customs and
excise and bounties, for such time only as the Governor‑General in
Council may declare to be necessary;
(ii) the Commonwealth may acquire any
property of the State, of any kind used, but not exclusively used in connexion
with the department; the value thereof shall, if no agreement can be made, be
ascertained in, as nearly as may be, the manner in which the value of land, or
of an interest in land, taken by the State for public purposes is ascertained
under the law of the State in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth;
(iii) the Commonwealth shall
compensate the State for the value of any property passing to the Commonwealth
under this section; if no agreement can be made as to the mode of compensation,
it shall be determined under laws to be made by the Parliament;
(iv) the Commonwealth shall, at the
date of the transfer, assume the current obligations of the State in respect of
the department transferred.
86 [Customs,
excise, and bounties] [see
Note 13]
On the establishment of the
Commonwealth, the collection and control of duties of customs and of excise,
and the control of the payment of bounties, shall pass to the Executive
Government of the Commonwealth.
87 [Revenue
from customs and excise duties] [see Note 13]
During a period of ten years after the
establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of customs and of
excise not more than one‑fourth shall be applied annually by the
Commonwealth towards its expenditure.
The balance shall, in accordance with
this Constitution, be paid to the several States, or applied towards the
payment of interest on debts of the several States taken over by the
Commonwealth.
88
Uniform duties of customs
Uniform duties of customs shall be
imposed within two years after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
89
Payment to States before uniform duties
Until the imposition of uniform duties
of customs:
(i) the Commonwealth shall credit to
each State the revenues collected therein by the Commonwealth;
(ii) the Commonwealth shall debit to
each State:
(a) the expenditure therein
of the Commonwealth incurred solely for the maintenance or continuance, as at
the time of transfer, of any department transferred from the State to the
Commonwealth;
(b) the proportion of the
State, according to the number of its people, in the other expenditure of the
Commonwealth;
(iii) the Commonwealth shall pay to
each State month by month the balance (if any) in favour of the State.
90
Exclusive power over customs, excise, and bounties
On the imposition of uniform duties of
customs the power of the Parliament to impose duties of customs and of excise,
and to grant bounties on the production or export of goods, shall become
exclusive.
On the imposition of uniform duties of
customs all laws of the several States imposing duties of customs or of excise,
or offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall cease to have
effect, but any grant of or agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or
under the authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be good if
made before the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety‑eight,
and not otherwise.
91
Exceptions as to bounties
Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a
State from granting any aid to or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other
metals, nor from granting, with the consent of both Houses of the Parliament of
the Commonwealth expressed by resolution, any aid to or bounty on the
production or export of goods.
92
Trade within the Commonwealth to be free
On the imposition of uniform duties of
customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of
internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free.
But notwithstanding anything in this
Constitution, goods imported before the imposition of uniform duties of customs
into any State, or into any Colony which, whilst the goods remain therein,
becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into another State within two years
after the imposition of such duties, be liable to any duty chargeable on the
importation of such goods into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in respect
of the goods on their importation.
93
Payment to States for five years after uniform tariffs
During the first five years after the
imposition of uniform duties of customs, and thereafter until the Parliament
otherwise provides:
(i) the duties of customs chargeable
on goods imported into a State and afterwards passing into another State for
consumption, and the duties of excise paid on goods produced or manufactured in
a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption, shall be
taken to have been collected not in the former but in the latter State;
(ii) subject to the last subsection,
the Commonwealth shall credit revenue, debit expenditure, and pay balances to
the several States as prescribed for the period preceding the imposition of
uniform duties of customs.
94
Distribution of surplus
After five years from the imposition of
uniform duties of customs, the Parliament may provide, on such basis as it
deems fair, for the monthly payment to the several States of all surplus
revenue of the Commonwealth.
95
Customs duties of Western Australia
Notwithstanding anything in this
Constitution, the Parliament of the State of Western Australia, if that State
be an Original State, may, during the first five years after the imposition of
uniform duties of customs, impose duties of customs on goods passing into that
State and not originally imported from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth;
and such duties shall be collected by the Commonwealth.
But any duty so imposed on any goods
shall not exceed during the first of such years the duty chargeable on the
goods under the law of Western Australia in force at the imposition of uniform
duties, and shall not exceed during the second, third, fourth, and fifth of
such years respectively, four‑fifths, three‑fifths, two‑fifths,
and one‑fifth of such latter duty, and all duties imposed under this
section shall cease at the expiration of the fifth year after the imposition of
uniform duties.
If at any time during the five years the
duty on any goods under this section is higher than the duty imposed by the
Commonwealth on the importation of the like goods, then such higher duty shall
be collected on the goods when imported into Western Australia from beyond the
limits of the Commonwealth.
96
Financial assistance to States
During a period of ten years after the
establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such
terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.
97
Audit
Until the Parliament otherwise provides,
the laws in force in any Colony which has become or becomes a State with
respect to the receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on account of
the Government of the Colony, and the review and audit of such receipt and
expenditure, shall apply to the receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money
on account of the Commonwealth in the State in the same manner as if the
Commonwealth, or the Government or an officer of the Commonwealth, were
mentioned whenever the Colony, or the Government or an officer of the Colony,
is mentioned.
98
Trade and commerce includes navigation and State railways
The power of the Parliament to make laws
with respect to trade and commerce extends to navigation and shipping, and to
railways the property of any State.
99
Commonwealth not to give preference
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law
or regulation of trade, commerce, or revenue, give preference to one State or
any part thereof over another State or any part thereof.
100 Nor
abridge right to use water
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law
or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the
residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers for
conservation or irrigation.
101
Inter‑State Commission
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.
102
Parliament may forbid preferences by State
The Parliament may by any law with
respect to trade or commerce forbid, as to railways, any preference or discrimination
by any State, or by any authority constituted under a State, if such preference
or discrimination is undue and unreasonable, or unjust to any State; due regard
being had to the financial responsibilities incurred by any State in connexion
with the construction and maintenance of its railways. But no preference or
discrimination shall, within the meaning of this section, be taken to be undue
and unreasonable, or unjust to any State, unless so adjudged by the Inter‑State
Commission.
103
Commissioners’ appointment, tenure, and remuneration
The members of the Inter‑State
Commission:
(i) shall be appointed by the
Governor‑General in Council;
(ii) shall hold office for seven
years, but may be removed within that time 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 or incapacity;
(iii) shall receive such remuneration
as the Parliament may fix; but such remuneration shall not be diminished during
their continuance in office.
104
Saving of certain rates
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.
105
Taking over public debts of States
The Parliament may take over from the
States their public debtsas existing at the establishment of the
Commonwealth, or a proportion thereof according to the respective numbers
of their people as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, and may
convert, renew, or consolidate such debts, or any part thereof; and the States
shall indemnify the Commonwealth in respect of the debts taken over, and
thereafter the interest payable in respect of the debts shall be deducted and
retained from the portions of the surplus revenue of the Commonwealth payable
to the several States, or if such surplus is insufficient, or if there is no
surplus, then the deficiency or the whole amount shall be paid by the several
States.
105A
Agreements with respect to State debts
(1) The Commonwealth may make agreements
with the States with respect to the public debts of the States, including:
(a) the taking over of such debts
by the Commonwealth;
(b) the management of such debts;
(c) the payment of interest and the
provision and management of sinking funds in respect of such debts;
(d) the consolidation, renewal,
conversion, and redemption of such debts;
(e) the indemnification of the
Commonwealth by the States in respect of debts taken over by the Commonwealth;
and
(f) the borrowing of money by the
States or by the Commonwealth, or by the Commonwealth for the States.
(2) The Parliament may make laws for
validating any such agreement made before the commencement of this section.
(3) The Parliament may make laws for the
carrying out by the parties thereto of any such agreement.
(4) Any such agreement may be varied or
rescinded by the parties thereto.
(5) Every such agreement and any such
variation thereof shall be binding upon the Commonwealth and the States parties
thereto notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution or the
Constitution of the several States or in any law of the Parliament of the
Commonwealth or of any State.
(6) The powers conferred by this section
shall not be construed as being limited in any way by the provisions of section
one hundred and five of this Constitution.
Chapter V—The States
106
Saving of Constitutions
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.
107
Saving of Power of State Parliaments
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.
108
Saving of State laws
Every law in force in a Colony which has
become or becomes a State, and relating to any matter within the powers of the
Parliament of the Commonwealth, shall, subject to this Constitution, continue
in force in the State; and, until provision is made in that behalf by the
Parliament of the Commonwealth, the Parliament of the State shall have such
powers of alteration and of repeal in respect of any such law as the Parliament
of the Colony had until the Colony became a State.
109
Inconsistency of laws
When a law of a State is inconsistent
with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall,
to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.
110
Provisions referring to Governor
The provisions of this Constitution
relating to the Governor of a State extend and apply to the Governor for the
time being of the State, or other chief executive officer or administrator of
the government of the State.
111
States may surrender territory
The Parliament of a State may surrender
any part of the State to the Commonwealth; and upon such surrender, and the
acceptance thereof by the Commonwealth, such part of the State shall become
subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.
112
States may levy charges for inspection laws
After uniform duties of customs have
been imposed, a State may levy on imports or exports, or on goods passing into
or out of the State, such charges as may be necessary for executing the
inspection laws of the State; but the net produce of all charges so levied
shall be for the use of the Commonwealth; and any such inspection laws may be
annulled by the Parliament of the Commonwealth.
113
Intoxicating liquids
All fermented, distilled, or other
intoxicating liquids passing into any State or remaining therein for use,
consumption, sale, or storage, shall be subject to the laws of the State as if
such liquids had been produced in the State.
114
States may not raise forces. Taxation of property of Commonwealth or State
A State shall not, without the consent
of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, raise or maintain any naval or military
force, or impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to the Commonwealth,
nor shall the Commonwealth impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to
a State.
115
States not to coin money
A State shall not coin money, nor make
anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts.
116
Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion
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.
117
Rights of residents in States
A subject of the Queen, resident in any
State, shall not be subject in any other State to any disability or
discrimination which would not be equally applicable to him if he were a
subject of the Queen resident in such other State.
118
Recognition of laws etc. of States
Full faith and credit shall be given,
throughout the Commonwealth to the laws, the public Acts and records, and the
judicial proceedings of every State.
119
Protection of States from invasion and violence
The Commonwealth shall protect every
State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of
the State, against domestic violence.
120
Custody of offenders against laws of the Commonwealth
Every State shall make provision for the
detention in its prisons of persons accused or convicted of offences against
the laws of the Commonwealth, and for the punishment of persons convicted of
such offences, and the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws to give
effect to this provision.
Chapter VI—New States
121 New
States may be admitted or established
The Parliament may admit to the
Commonwealth or establish new States, and may upon such admission or
establishment make or impose such terms and conditions, including the extent of
representation in either House of the Parliament, as it thinks fit.
122
Government of territories
The Parliament may make laws for the
government of any territory surrendered by any State to and accepted by the
Commonwealth, or of any territory placed by the Queen under the authority of
and accepted by the Commonwealth, or otherwise acquired by the Commonwealth,
and may allow the representation of such territory in either House of the
Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit.
123
Alteration of limits of States
The Parliament of the Commonwealth may,
with the consent of the Parliament of a State, and the approval of the majority
of the electors of the State voting upon the question, increase, diminish, or
otherwise alter the limits of the State, upon such terms and conditions as may
be agreed on, and may, with the like consent, make provision respecting the
effect and operation of any increase or diminution or alteration of territory
in relation to any State affected.
124 Formation
of new States
A new State may be formed by separation
of territory from a State, but only with the consent of the Parliament thereof,
and a new State may be formed by the union of two or more States or parts of
States, but only with the consent of the Parliaments of the States affected.
Chapter VII—Miscellaneous
125
Seat of Government
The seat of Government of the
Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within
territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and
shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of
New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.
Such territory shall contain an area of
not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall
consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment
therefor.
The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne
until it meet at the seat of Government.
126
Power to Her Majesty to authorise Governor‑General to appoint deputies [see Note 14]
The Queen may authorise the Governor‑General
to appoint any person, or any persons jointly or severally, to be his deputy or
deputies within any part of the Commonwealth, and in that capacity to exercise during
the pleasure of the Governor‑General such powers and functions of the
Governor‑General as he thinks fit to assign to such deputy or deputies,
subject to any limitations expressed or directions given by the Queen; but the
appointment of such deputy or deputies shall not affect the exercise by the
Governor‑General himself of any power or function.
127
Aborigines not to be counted in reckoning population
In reckoning the numbers of people of
the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal
natives shall not be counted.
Chapter VIII—Alteration of the Constitution
128
Mode of altering the Constitution [see Note 1]
This Constitution shall not be altered
except in the following manner:
The proposed law for the alteration
thereof must be passed by an absolute majority of each House of the Parliament,
and not less than two nor more than six months after its passage through both
Houses the proposed law shall be submitted in each State and Territory
to the electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of
Representatives.
But if either House passes any such
proposed law by an absolute majority, and the other House rejects or fails to
pass it, or passes it with any amendment to which the first‑mentioned
House will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the first‑mentioned
House in the same or the next session again passes the proposed law by an
absolute majority with or without any amendment which has been made or agreed
to by the other House, and such other House rejects or fails to pass it or
passes it with any amendment to which the first‑mentioned House will not
agree, the Governor‑General may submit the proposed law as last proposed
by the first‑mentioned House, and either with or without any amendments
subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors in each State and
Territory qualified to vote for the election of the House of
Representatives.
When a proposed law is submitted to the
electors the vote shall be taken in such manner as the Parliament prescribes.
But until the qualification of electors of members of the House of
Representatives becomes uniform throughout the Commonwealth, only one‑half
the electors voting for and against the proposed law shall be counted in any State
in which adult suffrage prevails.
And if in a majority of the States a
majority of the electors voting approve the proposed law, and if a majority of
all the electors voting also approve the proposed law, it shall be presented to
the Governor‑General for the Queen’s assent.
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.
In this section, Territory
means any territory referred to in section one hundred and twenty-two of this
Constitution in respect of which there is in force a law allowing its
representation in the House of Representatives.