Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth
Encyclopedia
Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth (1947) 74 CLR
31; [1947] HCA 26 (13 August 1947), also known as the Melbourne Corporation case or the State banking case, is an important case in Australian constitutional law. It stands for the proposition that there are limits on the scope of express Commonwealth legislative powers which can be implied from the federal character of the Constitution
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The Melbourne Corporation principle is an implied limit on Commonwealth legislative power under the Constitution of Australia. This is due to the express federal nature of the governmental structure described by the Constitution in having a federation of states combine into one Commonwealth.
The principle renders constitutionally invalid any Commonwealth law that is otherwise valid under a head of power in s51 or some other part of the Constitution if it:
1. Denies the existence or ability of a State to govern itself or the federal structure of the Commonwealth; and
2. Singles out any one State.
A recent case of Austin v Commonwealth
(2003) conflated the original 2 limbed test of the original case into an expanded 1st limb so that a commonwealth law that affects a state's ability to administer itself is constitutionally invalid.
This constitutional protection is one of the few reliable protections in the Australian Constitution against legislative and executive power, the other main protection being the Chapter III Separation of Powers Doctrine.
See also Re Australian Education Union
Commonwealth Law Reports
The Commonwealth Law Reports are the authorised reports of decisions of the High Court of Australia. The CLR are published by the Lawbook Company, a division of Thomson Reuters...
31; [1947] HCA 26 (13 August 1947), also known as the Melbourne Corporation case or the State banking case, is an important case in Australian constitutional law. It stands for the proposition that there are limits on the scope of express Commonwealth legislative powers which can be implied from the federal character of the Constitution
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
.
The Melbourne Corporation principle is an implied limit on Commonwealth legislative power under the Constitution of Australia. This is due to the express federal nature of the governmental structure described by the Constitution in having a federation of states combine into one Commonwealth.
The principle renders constitutionally invalid any Commonwealth law that is otherwise valid under a head of power in s51 or some other part of the Constitution if it:
1. Denies the existence or ability of a State to govern itself or the federal structure of the Commonwealth; and
2. Singles out any one State.
A recent case of Austin v Commonwealth
Austin v Commonwealth
Austin v Commonwealth 215 CLR 185, is a High Court of Australia case that deals with issues of intergovernmental immunity and discrimination of states against Commonwealth power.- Background :...
(2003) conflated the original 2 limbed test of the original case into an expanded 1st limb so that a commonwealth law that affects a state's ability to administer itself is constitutionally invalid.
This constitutional protection is one of the few reliable protections in the Australian Constitution against legislative and executive power, the other main protection being the Chapter III Separation of Powers Doctrine.
See also Re Australian Education Union
Re Australian Education Union
Re Australian Education Union 184 CLR 188 is a High Court of Australia case that discusses intergovernmental immunities in relation to the Australian Constitution....
External links
- Full text of the decision
- Anne Twomey, 'Federal Limitations on the Legislative Power of the States and the Commonwealth to Bind One Another', Federal Law Review, Vol. 31 No. 3.