Federal Constitutional Law: A Contemporary View

680 Pages·2019·78.097 MB·English

by  Sarah Joseph & Melissa Castan

Federal Constitutional Law
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Federal Constitutional Law
A Contemporary View
SARAH JOSEPH
BA/ LLB (Hons) (USyd), LLM (Hons) (Cantab), PhD (Monash)
Professor of Law, Monash University
MELISSA CASTAN
BA/LLB (Hons) (Monash), LLM (Melb), PhD (Monash)
Barrister and Solicitor, Victoria and the High Court of Australia
Associate Professor of Law, Monash University
FIFTH EDITION
LAWBOOK CO. 2019
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Published in Sydney by
Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited ABN 64 058 914 668
19 Harris Street, Pyrmont, NSW 2009
ISBN: 9780455241449
© 2019 Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited
This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of and subject to the conditions prescribed
under the Copyright Act, no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted without prior written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.
All legislative material herein is reproduced by permission but does not purport to be the official or
authorised version. It is subject to Commonwealth of Australia copyright. The Copyright Act 1968
permits certain reproduction and publication of Commonwealth legislation. In particular, s 182A of
the Act enables a complete copy to be made by or on behalf of a particular person. For reproduction
or publication beyond that permitted by the Act, permission should be sought in writing. Requests
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Barton ACT 2600.
Original Cover Photo © Sarah Joseph
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Preface
It has been over 18 years since we wrote the first edition of this book, and interesting,
complex and challenging developments continue to emerge in Australian
constitutional law. Over time almost every chapter has undergone significant revision,
while retaining the same accessible and contemporary style that we sought to capture
in our first edition. This fifth edition of Federal Constitutional Law: A Contemporary
View takes into account a wide variety of new constitutional developments arising
since the publication of the fourth edition. The law is current to 31 December 2018.
The evocative new cover is a photograph of Old Parliament house, taken by Sarah
Joseph.
Fresh material is incorporated on new cases on issues such as the disqualification
of parliamentarians, the implied freedom of political communication, voting rights,
proportionality tests, executive power, powers to detain, the federal power to spend
and Indigenous issues. We trust that these updates continue to make this book an
engaging, analytical and accessible resource for scholars and lawyers who work with
Australia’s constitutional jurisprudence.
Again, we are grateful for all the feedback and assistance we have received,
particularly from Dr Patrick Emerton, and many other colleagues in the law faculty
at Monash University and beyond. We are especially grateful to Tom Dreyfus, Ben
Needleman and Toby Fadida, and all our previous research assistants, for their
invaluable support in the research and updating tasks.
We thank the staff, past and present, at Thomson Reuters for their pre- publication
assistance and meticulous handling of the manuscript.
Finally, we sincerely thank our families and friends for their patience, enthusiasm
and support in this undertaking.
SARAH JOSEPH
MELISSA CASTAN
Monash University
April 2019
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Table of Contents
Preface ..................................................................................................................................................... v
Table of Cases ......................................................................................................................................... xi
Table of Statutes ............................................................................................................................... xxvii
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
[1.10] Fundamental Concepts in Australian Constitutional Law ..............................................2
[1.60] From Colonisation to Federation .......................................................................................16
[1.85] Overview of the Constitution .............................................................................................20
[1.155] Cutting the Apron Strings: From Federation to the Australia Acts ..............................32
[1.175] Judicial Review .....................................................................................................................36
[1.240] Conclusion ............................................................................................................................65
2. Characterisation of Commonwealth Laws ............................................................................... 67
[2.10] Reserved Powers Doctrine: R v Barger .............................................................................67
[2.15] Explosion of the Reserved Powers Doctrine: The Engineers Case ...............................70
[2.20] The Modern Approach to Direct Characterisation ..........................................................73
[2.25] Incidental Characterisation .................................................................................................77
[2.45] The Relevance of Proportionality in Characterisation ....................................................87
[2.60] Conclusion ............................................................................................................................95
3. The Corporations Power .............................................................................................................. 97
[3.10] From Huddart Parker to the Concrete Pipes Case ..........................................................98
[3.15] Constitutional Corporations .............................................................................................101
[3.45] Scope of the Corporations Power ....................................................................................108
[3.80] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................125
4. The External Affairs Power ....................................................................................................... 127
[4.10] Extraterritorial Power ........................................................................................................127
[4.15] Relations with Other Countries .......................................................................................133
[4.20] Implementation of Treaties ...............................................................................................134
[4.65] Matters of International Concern .....................................................................................149
[4.70] Customary International Law ..........................................................................................150
[4.75] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................151
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viii Table of Contents
5. The Commonwealth Executive ................................................................................................. 153
[5.10] Persons within the Executive ...........................................................................................154
[5.20] Scope of Executive Power .................................................................................................156
[5.90] Crown Immunity................................................................................................................187
[5.95] Privatisation and Executive Power..................................................................................190
[5.100] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................190
6. Separation of Judicial Power .................................................................................................... 193
[6.10] Judicial Power .....................................................................................................................194
[6.50] Judicial Power of the Commonwealth ............................................................................210
[6.55] Separation of Judicial Powers – Commonwealth ..........................................................211
[6.75] Exceptions to the Two Principles .....................................................................................219
[6.105] Separation of Judicial Powers – State ..............................................................................229
[6.135] Chapter III as a Source of Individual Rights ..................................................................259
[6.175] Separation of Judicial Power in the Territories ..............................................................285
[6.180] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................286
7. Inconsistency ............................................................................................................................... 287
[7.10] What Is a “Law” for the Purposes of Section 109? ........................................................288
[7.15] Meaning of “Invalidity” ....................................................................................................288
[7.20] Tests for Inconsistency .......................................................................................................289
[7.25] Impossibility of Simultaneous Obedience ......................................................................289
[7.30] Conferral of Rights .............................................................................................................290
[7.35] Indirect Inconsistency/Covering the Field ....................................................................294
[7.65] Inconsistent Criminal Laws ..............................................................................................307
[7.70] Reassessing the Tests for Inconsistency ..........................................................................312
[7.75] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................313
8. Intergovernmental Immunities ................................................................................................ 315
[8.10] Preliminary Issue: Crown Immunity ..............................................................................316
[8.15] The Early Law: The Doctrine of Implied Immunities ...................................................316
[8.20] The Engineers Case: Abandonment of Implied Immunities .......................................317
[8.25] Commonwealth Legislative Power over the States ......................................................318
[8.60] State Legislative Power over the Commonwealth ........................................................337
[8.90] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................348
9. Excise Duties ................................................................................................................................ 349
[9.10] Definition of a “Tax” ..........................................................................................................350
[9.15] The Broad and Narrow Definitions of “Excise” ............................................................355
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Table of Contents ix
[9.45] The Modern Cases .............................................................................................................366
[9.75] Conclusions: The Future for Section 90? .........................................................................374
10. Spending Government Revenue – The Grants and Appropriations Powers ................ 377
[10.10] Section 96 Grants ................................................................................................................378
[10.45] Appropriation and Expenditure ......................................................................................391
11. Freedom of Interstate Trade, Commerce and Intercourse ................................................. 403
[11.10] A Brief History of Section 92 ............................................................................................404
[11.30] A Fresh Start for Section 92 ...............................................................................................407
[11.75] Freedom of Interstate Intercourse ....................................................................................430
[11.80] Section 92 and the Territories ...........................................................................................433
12. Express Rights ............................................................................................................................ 435
[12.10] Acquisition of Property on Just Terms – Section 51(xxxi) ............................................436
[12.65] The Right to Trail by Jury – Section 80 ............................................................................462
[12.70] Freedom of Religion – Section 116 ...................................................................................468
[12.95] Discrimination on the Basis of Interstate Residence – Section 117 .............................474
[12.105] No Express Right to Vote ..................................................................................................480
[12.110] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................483
13. Implied Political Rights and Freedoms ................................................................................ 485
[13.10] The Communist Party Case ..............................................................................................486
[13.15] Freedom of Political Communication .............................................................................490
[13.55] Freedoms of Movement, Association and Participation ..............................................525
[13.60] Voting Equality and Voting Rights ..................................................................................527
[13.75] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................538
14. General Themes in Federal Constitutional Law ................................................................. 541
[14.10] Indigenous People and the Constitution ........................................................................541
[14.40] Constitutional Prohibitions on Discrimination..............................................................562
[14.60] Proportionality ...................................................................................................................575
[14.95] Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................583
Appendix – Commonwealth of Australia Constitution .......................................................... 585
Index ................................................................................................................................................... 623
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