Category: Commonwealth

In constitutional monarchies like Australia, as well as Canada, New Zealand, and the UK, a fundamental principle of government is that much of the legal basis for the executive and its powers comes from the historical powers of the Crown. Combined with the Constitution and statutes, the Crown continues to be a fundamental source of Read More …

Below is a correspondence from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’ on the subject of the vaccination roll out in Australia and another confirmation vaccination is not compulsory within Australia as vaccination is a personal choice. If this is the case why are the States doing indirectly what the Commonwealth cannot do directly?  In respect of this the Read More …

Since Federation it has been an established principle that the Governor-General in exercising the powers and functions of the office should only do so with the advice of his or her Ministers of State, the principle has not always been followed. This principle of responsible government is discussed further in the Chapter on ‘House, Government Read More …

Is the Digital Identity card a rehashed attempt to bring in another Australia Card? The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1985 convened by the then Federal Labor government led by Bob Hawke. The card was to amalgamate other government identification systems and act against tax avoidance, and health and Read More …

One difficulty for the States with a direct reliance on s 106 is the fact that the continuation of State constitutions in s 106 is said to be ‘subject to’ the Commonwealth Constitution. The heads of legislative power in s 51 are also conferred ‘subject to’ the Commonwealth Constitution but this poses a conundrum: Is s Read More …

268.3  Genocide by killing A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if: (a)  the perpetrator causes the death of one or more persons; and (b)  the person or persons belong to a particular national, ethnical, racial or religious group; and (c)  the perpetrator intends to destroy, in whole or in part, that national, ethnical, racial Read More …

Australian governments are now starting to impose vaccination orders as the way out of lockdowns. They have decided that people who choose to not get vaccinated will have their basic rights restricted, including in their freedom of movement and association. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that the unvaccinated must be treated differently to the Read More …