COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT
An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia
[9th July 1900]
Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland,
and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to
unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby
established:
And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth
of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the
advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1. This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution
Act.
2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her
Majesty’s heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council,
to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not
being later that one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New
South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, and also, if
Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed
thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under
the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time
after the proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.
4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution of the
Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so appointed. But the
Parliaments of the several colonies may at any time after the passing of this
Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the day so appointed, as they
might have made of the Constitution had taken effect at the passing of this
Act.
5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under
the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every
State and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the
laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on all
British ships, the Queen’s ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance
and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.
6. “The Commonwealth” shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as
established under this Act.
“The States” shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand,
Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia,
including the northern territory of South Australia, as for the time being are
parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted
into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of
the Commonwealth shall be called “a State”.
“Original States” shall mean such States as are parts of the Commonwealth at
its establishment.
7. The Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885, is hereby repealed,
but so as not to affect any laws passed by the Federal Council of Australasia
and in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth.
Any such law may be repealed as to any State by the Parliament of the
Commonwealth, or as to any colony not being a State by the Parliament
thereof.
8. After the passing of this Act the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895,
shall not apply to any colony which becomes a State of the Commonwealth; but
the Commonwealth shall be taken to be a self-governing colony for the purposes
of that Act.
9. The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows:
THE CONSTITUTION
This Constitution is divided as follows:-
Chapter I - The Parliament:
- Part I - General:
Part II - The Senate:
Part III - The House of Representatives:
Part IV - Both Houses of the Parliament:
Part V - Powers of the Government:Chapter II - The Executive Government:
Chapter III - The Judicature:
Chapter IV - Finance and Trade:
Chapter V - The States:
Chapter VI - New States:
Chapter VII - Miscellaneous:
Chapter VIII - Alteration of the Constitution.
The Schedule.
Chapter I - The Parliament
Part I - General
1. 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 herein-after called “The Parliament,” or “The
Parliament of the Commonwealth.”
2. 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. 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 the Governor-General shall not be altered during his continuance
in office.
4. 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. 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.
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. The
Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than six months after the
establishment of the Commonwealth.
6. 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 nest session.
Part II - The Senate
7. 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 Government to the Governor-General.
8. 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. 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.
The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining the times and places
of elections of senators for the State.
10. 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. The Senate may proceed to despatch of business, notwithstanding the
failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate.
12. 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. 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 years, and the places of those of the second
class at the expiration of six years, from the beginning of their term of
service; and afterwards the places of senators shall be vacant at the
expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of service.
The election to fill vacant places shall be made within one year before the
places are to become vacant.
For the purpose 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.
14. 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. 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
recognised by a particular political party as being an endorsed 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 cease 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 a 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 Constitutional Alteration (Casual Senate 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
“Constitutional 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 first 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. The qualification of a senator shall be the same as those of a member
of the House of Representatives.
17. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other
business, choose a senator to be to 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. Before or during any absence of the President, the Senate may choose a
senator to perform his duties in his absence.
19. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 senators. The number of
members chosen in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective
members 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 senators:
(ii.) The number of members to be chosen in each State shall be determined by
dividing the number of 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. 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 the race resident in
that State shall not be counted.
26. 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. Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make laws for
increasing or diminishing the number of the members of the House of
Representatives.
28. Every House of Representatives shall continue for three years from the
first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be soon dissolved by the
Governor-General.
29. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 for Governor-General in
Council may issue the writ.
34. 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 qualifies 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 was chosen:
(ii.) He must be a subject of the Queen, either natural-born or for at least
five years naturalised 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. 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. Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of
Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in his absence.
37. 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 there-upon shall become vacant.
38. 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. 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
it’s powers.
40. 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. 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. 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. A member of either House of Parliament shall be incapable of being
chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.
44. Any person who
(i.) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a
foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights &
privileges of a subject or 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. 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.
45. 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. 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. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any question respecting the
qualification of a senator or member of the House or 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 exchanging and promissory notes:
(xvii.) Bankruptcy and insolvency:
(xviii.) Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks: (xix.)
Naturalisation 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 authorise 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.
52. 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 or the
Commonwealth:
(iii.) Other matters declared by this Constitution to be within the exclusive
power of the Parliament.
53. 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. The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys for the ordinary
annual services of the Government shall deal only with such appropriation.
55. 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. 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. 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 Houses of the
Parliament, and shall be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen’s
assent.
58. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 he 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.
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. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Ministers of the 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 please 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 leave
may be asked, but proposed laws containing any such limitations shall be
reserved by the Governor-General for Her Majesty’s pleasure.
75. 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. 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 Parliaments:
(iii.) Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction:
(iv.) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under the laws of different
States.
77. 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. 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. The federal jurisdiction of any court may be exercised by such number
of judges as the Parliament prescribes.
80. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. When any departments 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.
86. 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. 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 the 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 shall be imposed within two years after the
establishment of the Commonwealth.
89. Until the imposition of uniform duties of custom
(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. 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. Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from granting any aid to
or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other metals, not 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. 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. 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. 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. 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,
two-fifth, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
103. 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. 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. 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; ad 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. (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 paying 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 of any
such agreement.
(4) Any such agreement may be varied or rescinded by the parties therein.
(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 provision of section one hundred and five of this
Constitution.
Chapter V - The States
106. 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 of establishment of the State, as the case may be, until
altered in accordance with the Constitution of the State.
107. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. After uniform duties of customs have been imposed, a State may levy on
imports, or on goods passing into or out of the State such charges as my 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. 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. 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, not shall the
Commonwealth impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.
115. A State shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold and silver
coin a legal tender in payment of debts.
116. 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. A subject of the Queen, resident in any State, shall not be subject to
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. Full faith and credit shall be given, throughout the Commonwealth to
the laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial proceeding of every
State.
119. The Commonwealth shall protect every State against the invasion and,
on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic
violence.
120. Every State shall make provisions 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 effects to this
provision.
Chapter VI - New States
121. 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. 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 an accepted 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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
128. 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 amendments
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 Representative, in 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.
Schedule
OATH
I, A.B., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law. SO HELP ME
GOD!
AFFIRMATION
I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful
and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and
successors according to law.
(NOTE - The name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from time to time.)