Section 1 [Federal Parliament]
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.".
Section 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.
Section 3 [Governmental Remuneration]
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.
Section 4 [Other Offices]
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.
Section 5 [Convening Parliament]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) The Parliament shall by summoned to meet not later
than six months after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
Section 6 [Minimal Sessions]
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.
Section 7 [Senators]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
Section 8 [Electors of Senators]
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.
Section 9 [Electoral Method]
(1) 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.
(2) The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining
the times and places of elections of senators for the State.
Section 10 [State Methods]
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.
Section 11 [Electoral Failure]
The Senate may proceed to the despatch of business, notwithstanding
the failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate.
Section 12 [Dissolution]
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.
Section 13 [Term]
(1) 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 three yearst
and the places of those of the second class at the expiration of six yearst,
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.
(2) The election to fill vacant places shall be made
within one year before the places are to become vacant.
(3) For the purposes of this section the term of service
of a senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of 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 July preceding the day of his election.
Section 14 [Adaptation of Numbers]
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.
Section 15 [Vacancies]
(1) 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, or until the election of a
successor as hereinafter provided whichever first happens. 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 he deemed not to have been so chosen or appointed and the vacancy
shall be again notified in accordance with Section 21
of this Constitution.
(4) The name of any senator chosen or appointed under
this section shall be certified by the Governor of the State to the Governor-General.
(5) 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 the 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.
(6) 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.
(7) 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 vacancy that had at any time occurred in the
place of a senator chosen by the people of the State shall he 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.
(8) 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.
Section 16 [Qualification of Senators]
The qualifications of a senator shall be the same as
those of a member of the House of Representatives.
Section 17 [President of the Senate]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 18 [Vice-President]
Before or during any absence of the President, the Senate
may choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.
Section 19 [Resignation of Senators]
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.
Section 20 [Mandatory Attendance
of Senators]
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.
Section 21 [Notification to the
State]
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.
Section 22 [Constitutive Presence
of Senators]
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.
Section 23 [Majority of Senators]
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
Section 24 [Number of Representatives]
(1) 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.
(2) 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 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.
(3) But notwithstanding anything in this section, five
members at least shall be chosen in each Original State.
Section 25 [Disqualification by
Race]
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.
Section 26 [First Election]
(1) Notwithstanding anything in Section 24,
the number of members to be chosen in each State at the first election
shall he as follows:
New South Wales: 23
Victoria: 20
Queensland: 9
South Australia: 6
Tasmania: 5.
(2) Provided that if Western Australia is an Original
State, the numbers shall be as follows:
New South Wales: 26
Victoria: 23
Queensland: 9
South Australia: 7
Western Australia: 5
Tasmania: 5.
Section 27 [Changing Number of
Representatives]
Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make
laws for increasing or diminishing the number of the members of the House
of Representatives.
Section 28 [Term]
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.
Section 29 [Eligibility, Electorate]
(1) 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.
(2) In the absence of other provision, each State shall
be one electorate.
Section 30 [General Qualification
of Representatives]
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.
Section 31 [Electoral Method]
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.
Section 32 [Writs for General Elections]
(1) The Governor-General in Council may cause writs to
be issued for general elections of members of the House of Representatives.
(2) 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.
Section 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.
Section 34 [Special Qualifications
of Representatives]
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 21 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.
Section 35 [Speaker]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 36 [Vice-Speaker]
Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House
of Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in his absence.
Section 37 [Resignation of Speaker]
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.
Section 38 [Mandatory Attendance
of Representatives]
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.
Section 39 [Constitutive Presence
of Representatives]
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.
Section 40 [Majority 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
Section 41 [Eligibility]
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.
Section 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 authorized by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance
in the form set forth in the schedule to this Constitution.
Section 43 [Vertical Incompatibility]
A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable
of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.
Section 44 [Exclusion from Eligibility]
(1) 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 attained 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.
(2) But Sub-section 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.
Section 45 [Exclusion]
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.
Section 46 [Punishment]
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 pound to any person who sues for
it in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 47 [Scrutiny of Qualification
and 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.
Section 48 [Allowance of Senators
and Representatives]
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.
Section 49 [Powers, Privileges,
Immunities]
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.
Section 50 [Rules of Proceeding]
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
Section 51 [Legislative Competencies]
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;
(xiv) 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;
(xviii) 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 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.
Section 52 [Exclusive Powers]
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.
Section 53 [Tax Laws]
(1) 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 licenses, or fees for services under the proposed
law.
(2) The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation,
or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual
services of the Government.
(3) The Senate may not amend any proposed law so as to
increase any proposed charge or burden on the people.
(4) 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.
(5) Except as provided in this section, the Senate shall
have equal power with the House of Representatives in respect of all proposed
laws.
Section 54 [Revenues for Services
Laws]
The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys
for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with
such appropriation.
Section 55 [Exclusive Content of
Revenue Laws]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 56 [Governor's Recommendation]
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.
Section 57 [Legislative Conflicts]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
Section 58 [Governor's Assent,
Reservation, or Veto]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 59 [Queen's Disallowance]
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.
Section 60 [Queen's Assent]
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
Section 61 [Head of Government]
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..
Section 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..
Section 63 [Advisory Powers]
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.
Section 64 [Ministers of State]
(1) The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer
such departments of State of the Commonwealth as the Governor-General in
Council may establish.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 67 [Appointment and Removal
of Officers]
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.
Section 68 [Command in Chief of
Armed 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.
Section 69 [Departments of Public
Service]
(1) 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.
(2) But the departments of customs and of excise in each
State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth on its establishment.
Section 70 [Transfer of Old Powers]
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.
Section 71 [High Court]
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.
Section 72 [Appointment, Removal,
and Term of Justices]
(1) 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 misbehavior or
incapacity:
(iii) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament
may fix; but the remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance
in office.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 court
if he has attained the age that is for the time being the maximum age for
Justices of that Court.
(4) Subject to this section, the maximum age for Justices
of any court created by the Parliament is seventy years.
(5) 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.
(6) 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.
(7) 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.
(8) A reverence 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.
Section 73 [Jurisdiction of the
High Court]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
Section 74 [Supreme Jurisdiction
of the High Court]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
Section 75 [Original Jurisdiction
of the 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.
Section 76 [Conferred 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:
(il ) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under
the laws of different States.
Section 77 [Jurisdiction of Federal
Courts]
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.
Section 78 [Recourse Against State
Acts]
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.
Section 79 [Number of Judges]
The federal jurisdiction of any court may be exercised
by such number of judges as the Parliament prescribes.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 82 [Deduction of Administrative
Expenses]
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.
Section 83 [Rule of Law for Expenditure]
(1) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the
Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law.
(2) 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.
Section 84 [Transfer of Officers]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
Section 85 [Transfer of Property]
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 connection 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 connection 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.
Section 86 [Collection of Revenue]
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.
Section 87 [Sharing of Revenue]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 88 [Uniform Duties of Customs]
Uniform duties of customs shall be imposed within two
years after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
Section 89 [Exclusive Revenue of
States]
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 favor of the State.
Section 90 [Exclusive Power to
Impose Duties of Customs]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 91 [Aid or Bounties of
the States]
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.
Section 92 [No Internal Borders]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section 93 [Transitional Customs
Provisions]
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.
Section 94 [Payment of Surplus
Revenue]
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.
Section 95 [Western Australia Customs]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
Section 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.
Section 97 [Transition of Colony
Revenue Laws]
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.
Section 98 [Navigation, Shipping,
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.
Section 99 [Equality of States]
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.
Section 100 [Rights to 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.
Section 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.
Section 102 [No Discrimination
Concerning Railways]
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 connection 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.
Section 103 [Membership in the
Inter-State Commission]
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 misbehavior or incapacity:
(iii) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament
may fix; but such remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance
in office.
Section 104 [Railway 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.
Section 105 [Consolidation of State
Debts]
The Parliament may take over from the States their public
debts, 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.
Section 105a [Consolidation Agreements]
(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 105
of this Constitution.
Section 106 [Continuity of State
Government]
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.
Section 107 [Continuity of Colony
Government]
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.
Section 108 [Continuity of Colony
Legislation]
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.
Section 109 [Priority of Commonwealth
Law over State Law]
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 inconsistency, be invalid.
Section 110 [Binding Force on State
Governors]
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 office or administrator of the government of the
State.
Section 111 [Surrendering Part
of a State]
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.
Section 112 [Inspection Charges
on Customs]
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.
Section 113 [Liquids Customs]
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.
Section 114 [Monopoly on Armed
Forces]
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.
Section 115 [Monopoly on Coinage
of Money]
A State shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold
and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts.
Section 116 [Freedom of Religion,
Secular State]
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.
Section 117 [Citizens' Equality]
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.
Section 118 [Mutual Respect for
State Authority]
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.
Section 119 [Protection of the
States]
The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion
and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against
domestic violence.
Section 120 [Prisons]
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.
Section 121 [Admission or Establishment]
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.
Section 122 [Government of Surrendered
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.
Section 123 [New Delimitation 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.
Section 124 [Spinning Off 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 State
or parts of States, but only with the consent of the
Parliaments of the States affected.
Section 125 [Seat of Government]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meets
at the seat of Government.
Section 126 [Governor's Deputies]
The Queen may authorize 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.
Chapter VIII Alteration of the Constitution
Section 128 [Method of Constitutional
Alteration]
This Constitution shall not be altered except in the
following manner:
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
(6) In this section "Territory" means any territory referred
to in Section 122
of this Constitution in respect of which there is a law in force allowing
its representation in the House of Representatives.