Australia, Commonwealth of. The association of the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia in a federal Commonwealth comprising also Papua, the Northern Territory, and Norfolk, Ashmore and Cantier Island in the Pacific (and see MANDATED TERRITORIES), with a Constitution enabling its Parliament, consisting of the Sovereign of the British Empire, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, to legislate for the whole of Australia. The legislative powers of the Parliament, which may be found under 39 heads in the 51st paragraph of the Constitution, extend to trade, taxation, defence, coinage, bankruptcy, copyright, marriage, 'the people of any race other than certain aborigines,' immigrants and emigration, 'external affairs,' railway construction, and other matters too numerous to particularize; see Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900 (Imperial, 63 & 64 Vict. c. 12); A.-G. for Commonwealth of Australia v. Colonial Sugar Refining Co., 1914 AC 237.
The judicial powers of the Commonwealth are vested in a High Court of Australia, consisting of a Chief Justice and not less than two puisne Judges (no qualification being named), appointed by the Governor-General in Council, and removable by him only on an address from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, in the same session. To this High Court there is an appeal, concurrent with that to the Privy Council, from the Supreme Court of every Australian State, Webb v. Qutrim, 1907 AC 81; and from this High Court there is an appeal by its leave (but not otherwise) on any constitutional questions between the States themselves, or between the States and the Commonwealth, to the Privy Council, and on other questions, an appeal to the Privy Council by special leave of the Sovereign. By the Statute of Westminster, 1931 (22 & 23 Geo. 5, c. 4) (q.v.), the Commonwealth of Australia became a Dominion; the powers of the Dominion Parliament were increased and those of the Imperial Parliament at Westminster were defined and restricted. But by s. 10 certain sections are not to apply unless adopted. See the Act.
View Judgments Citing this Phrase View Acts Citing this Phrase