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The External Affairs Power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2025

Geoffrey Sawer
Geoffrey Sawer*
Affiliation:
Australian National University
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Extract

It is a tenable view of Commonwealth v Tasmania that as a matter of ratio decidendi it added nothing to the judicial construction of the Commonwealth's external affairs powers (Constitution ss 51(xxix) and 61) which was not already adumbrated in R v Burgess; ex parte Henry (in 1936) and clearly established in Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (in 1982). In this range of cases, attention is concentrated on circumstances in which the Commmonwealth claims power to enact and implement laws having a domestic application within Australia which would not be valid unless they were made in pursuance of an international agreement to which the Commonwealth is a party. There are other circumstances in which the external affairs power will support Commonwealth laws, and these are mentioned in all the Franklin Dam and Koowarta opinions, but hitherto the case illustration of such valid laws has been minimal. It has been hitherto assumed, though not explicitly stated, that international agreements and their implementation in Australia constitute a distinct subdivision or aspect of the legal rules in question.

Type
Research Article
Information
Federal Law Review , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , March 1984 , pp. 199 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Australian National University

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References

1 (1983) 57 ALJR 450, hereafter the Franklin Dam case.

2 (1936) 55 CLR 608, hereafter Burgess.

3 (1982) 56 ALJR 625, hereafter Koowarta.

4 (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 564.

5 (1982) 56 ALJR 625, 635.

6 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 562.

7 In the Franklin Dam case Dawson J used “connotation” and “denotation” in a sense which is the reverse of that used above (p.842). The meaning attributed to the terms in the text is, however, consistent with usual High Court terminology, eg Professional Engineers' case (1959) 107 CLR 208,267; Lansell v Lansell (1964) 110 CLR 353, 366, 370; King v Jones (1972) 128 CLR 221, 229.

8 (1974) 131 CLR 477.

9 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 564.

10 Ibid 562. The ALJR misprints “xxix”; it should clearly be xxxix.

11 (1936) 55 CLR 608, 687.

12 (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 484-485.

13 lbid 525-527.

14 lbid 545.

15 (1982) 56 ALJR 625, 645. The bona fides requirement was unanimously endorsed in Koowarta, but Gibbs CJ suggested that it might prove a frail safeguard against abuse.

16 Ibid 651.

17 (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 486.

18 Re Toohey; ex parte Northern Land Council (1981) 56 ALJR 164; FAI Insurances Ltd. v. Winneke (1982) 56 ALJR 388.

19 I include him with some doubt, since his opinion is not clear on the point and he is at pains to emphasize the existence of international concern. His opinion in the Franklin Darn case on the point is clear.

20 (1982) 56 ALJR 625, 655-656.

21 (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 484.

22 Ibid 512.

23 Ibid 544, when mentioning Koowarta and criticising the search for an “external affair” in the singular.

24 lbid

25 Ibid 527.

26 (1936) 55 CLR 608, 687.

27 Mason, Murphy, Brennan and Deane JJ.

28 But Deane J considered that these regulations infringed the constitutional guarantee of just terms for Commonwealth acquisitions. Otherwise the finding as to the domestic requirement was by the same four Justices.

29 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 57 ALJR 480, 492 per Mason J, 509 per Murphy J, 530 per Brennan J, 546 per Deane J.

30 R v. Poole; ex parte Henry (No 2) (1939) 61 CLR 634.

31 Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1982) 56 ALJR 625, 655.

32 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 555-559.

33 Ibid 505-506.

34 New South Wales v Commonwealth (1975) 135 CLR 337.

35 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 57 ALJR 450, 488.

36 Ibid 505 per Murphy J.

37 Ibid 490.

38 Ibid 544; (italics added).

39 Ibid 506.

40 Ibid 549.

41 Ibid 488.

42 Ibid 533.

43 lbid 546.

44 Ibid 491 per Mason J, 509 per Murphy J, 531 per Brennan J, 547 per Deane J.

45 Ibid 516.

46 lbid 569.