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Section 92 and the Regulation of E-Commerce: A Casenote on Betfair Pty Ltd V Western Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2025

Eli Ball
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Extract

The internet is a new and ubiquitous tool for conducting business. In the age of e-commerce, distance and physical borders mean very little. The Constitution, however, was drafted at a time when trade and commerce was characterised by important geographical considerations, the most significant being the geo-political boundaries between the several colonies that became the States. The internet has all but destroyed whatever remnants of that age might have survived the previous 100 years. This tension between recent technological advancement and long established constitutional jurisprudence confronted the High Court in Betfair Pty Ltd v Western Australia.

Betfair is one of a long line of cases dealing with the freedom of interstate trade and commerce enshrined in s 92 of the Constitution, the most litigated section of Australia's highest document of government. But it is also truly unique: Betfair is the first time that the freedom of interstate trade and commerce has been considered in an e-commerce context. Presented with this opportunity, the High Court has elaborated upon the approach to s 92 set down nearly 20 years ago in Cole v Whitfield. The outcome has significant consequences for both State and Commonwealth internet regulators.

Type
Research Article
Information
Federal Law Review , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 265 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 The Australian National University

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank Robynne Croft and Sebastian Hartford-Davis for their input in preparing this piece for publication. All errors are, of course, the author's alone.

References

1 Betfair Pty Ltd v Western Australia (2008) 244 ALR 32 (‘Betfair’).

2 (1998) 165 CLR 360.

3 See generally Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v South Australia (1990) 169 CLR 436.

4 See, eg, Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 13 September 2006, 5877-5878 (Mark McGowan MLA); Katherine Jimenez, ‘Tabcorp seeks betting exchange ban’, The Australian (Sydney), 29 November 2007, 23.

5 See, eg, Andrew Darby and Orietta Guerrera, ‘Betfair gets foot in door in Australia’, The Age (Melbourne), 4 November 2005, 2.

6 Report of the Betting Exchange Taskforce Australasian Racing Ministers’ Conference Volume 1 (July 2003) 2.

7 Betting Control Act 1954 (WA) s 27B(1).

8 Betting Control Act 1954 (WA) s 24(1aa).

9 Betting Control Act 1954 (WA) s 27D(1)(a)-(b).

10 Western Australia Minister for Racing and Gaming Ljiljanna Ravlich, ‘Betfair application to publish WA race fields not in the public interest’ (Press Release, 11 October 2007).

11 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 55 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid 56 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ), 65, 68 (Heydon J).

14 Ibid (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

15 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 37 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

16 Ibid 39. (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and KeifelKiefel JJ).

17 Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360, 383-4 (The Court).

18 See, eg, Fox v Robbins (1909) 8 CLR 115. Cf Commonwealth v Bank of New South Wales (1949) 79 CLR 497.

19 Tony, Blackshield and George, Williams, Australian Constitutional Law and Theory (3rd ed, 2002) 1037Google Scholar. Professors Blackshield and Williams suggest that a convenient way to appreciate the caselaw prior to Cole v Whitfield is by reference to ‘three dominant individuals’: Sir Isaac Isaacs, Sir Owen Dixon and Sir Garfield Barwick.

20 Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360, 385 (The Court).

21 Ibid 393.

22 Ibid 399.

23 Ibid 408.

24 See, eg, Commonwealth v Bank of New South Wales (1949) 79 CLR 497, 635 (Lord Porter); McCarter v Brodie (1950) 80 CLR 432, 465 (Dixon J); North Eastern Dairy Co Ltd v Dairy Industry Authority of NSW (1975) 134 CLR 559, 582 (Barwick CJ).

25 Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360, 409 (The Court).

26 Castlemaine Tooheys (1990) 169 CLR 436, 472 (Mason CJ, Brennan, Deane, Dawson and Toohey JJ).

27 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 37 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

28 Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360, 385 (The Court).

29 (1997) 198 CLR 465.

30 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 38, 41 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ) (emphasis added).

31 See generally McGinty v Western Australia (1996) 186 CLR 140.

32 Baldwin v G A F Seelig, Inc, 294 US 511, 523 (1935) (emphasis added). Cited in Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 44 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

33 Guy v Baltimore, 100 US 434, 439 (1879). Cited in Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 46 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

34 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 62 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ), 64 (Heydon J).

35 Ibid 62, 63 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ), 64, 67 (Heydon J).

36 Transcript of Proceedings, Betfair Pty Ltd & Anor v State of Western Australia (High Court of Australia, Kirby J, 9 November 2007).

37 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 37 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

38 (1936) 55 CLR 1, 56 (Lord Wright MR).

39 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 41 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ). The joint judgment also cited at 48 the opinion of Harlan J to the same effect in Minnesota v Barber 136 US 313 (1890).

40 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 37 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

41 To use the words of Heydon J, the trading activity prohibited and the trading activity protected need not be identical if they can be described as part of the same overall trading activity, that is, part of the same national market: ibid 64.

42 Ibid 61 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

43 Ibid 59 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ). Citing Thomas v Mowbray (2007) 81 ALJR 1414, 1428-9 (Gleeson CJ).

44 (1975) 134 CLR 559, 608. Cited in Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 59 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ). This is further evidence of the proposition advanced by the Court that Cole v Whitfield did not completely sever the continuity of s 92 jurisprudence.

45 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 61 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

46 Ibid 64 (Heydon J).

47 Jumbunna Coal Mine, No Liability v Victorian Coal Miners’ Association (1908) 6 CLR 309, 367-368 (O’Connor J). See also, in the context of s 92, Samuels v Readers’ Digest Association Pty Ltd (1969) 120 CLR 1, 14 (Barwick CJ); North Eastern Dairy Co Ltd v Dairy Industry Authority of NSW (1975) 134 CLR 559, 615 (Mason J).

48 See, eg, Australian National Airways Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1945) 71 CLR 29, 89–90 (Dixon J); Commonwealth v Bank of New South Wales (1949) 79 CLR 497, 632 (Lord Porter).

49 See generally Richard A Posner, Antitrust in the New Economy (2001) 68 Antitrust Law Journal 925.

50 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 38 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

51 Castlemaine Tooheys (1990) 169 CLR 436, 472 (Mason CJ, Brennan, Deane, Dawson and Toohey JJ).

52 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 57 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

53 Queensland Wire Industries Pty Ltd v Broken Hill Proprietary Co Ltd (1989) 167 CLR 177, 199 (Dawson J). See also Boral Besser Masonry Ltd v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2003) 215 CLR 374, 454–6 (McHugh J).

54 Boral Besser Masonry Ltd v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2003) 215 CLR 374, 456 (McHugh J).

55 Betfair (2008) 244 ALR 32, 36 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

56 Ibid 62 (Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Crennan and Kiefel JJ).

57 See generally Cole v Whitfield (1988) 165 CLR 360, 398–400, 407-8 (The Court).

58 See, eg, Joel, R Reidenberg, ‘Resolving Conflicting International Data Privacy Rules in Cyberspace’ (2000) 52 Stanford Law Review 1315Google Scholar; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Dismantling the Barriers to Global Electronic Commerce, OECD Doc DSTI/ICCP(98) (1998).