between 57. If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate Disagreerejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Repre- ment sentatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Repre- the Houses. sentatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time. If after such dissolution the House of Representatives again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. The members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed by the House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which have been made therein by one House and not agreed to by the other, and any such amendments which are affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be taken to have been carried, and if the proposed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of The Parliament, and shall be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent. 58. When a proposed law passed by both Houses of The Parliament is presented Royal to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent, he shall declare, according to his discre- assent to tion, but subject to this Constitution, that he assents in the Queen's name, or that he Bills. withholds assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen's pleasure. The Governor-General may return to the House in which it originated any pro- Recommenposed law so presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he dations by may recommend, and the Houses may deal with the recommendation. Governor- 59. The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the Governor-General's Disallowassent, and such disallowance on being made known by the Governor-General by ance by the speech or message to each of the Houses of The Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall Queen. annul the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known. 60. A proposed law reserved for the Queen's pleasure shall not have any force Significaunless and until within two years from the day on which it was presented to the tion of Governor-General for the Queen's assent the Governor-General makes known, by Queen's speech or message to each of the Houses of The Parliament, or by Proclamation, that pleasure it has received the Queen's assent. CHAPTER II. THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT. on Bill reserved. Chap. II. The Executive Govern ment. Executive power. 61. The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen, and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth. 62. There shall be a Federal Executive Council to advise the Governor-General in the government of the Commonwealth, and the members of the Council shall be Executive chosen and summoned by the Governor-General and sworn as Executive Councillors, Council. and shall hold office during his pleasure. Federal Provisions 63. The provisions of this Constitution referring to the Governor-General in Council shall be construed as referring to the Governor-General acting with the advice referring to of the Federal Executive Council. 64. State of the Commonwealth as the Governor-General in Council: The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer such departments of They Governor- Ministers to sit in Parlia ment. Number of After the first general election no Minister of State shall hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is or becomes a senator or a member of the House Representatives. of 65. Until The Parliament otherwise provides, the Ministers of State shall not Ministers. exceed seven in number, and shall hold such offices as The Parliament prescribes, or, in the absence of provision, as the Governor-General directs. Salaries of 66. There shall be payable to the Queen, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund Ministers. of the Commonwealth, for the salaries of the Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until The Parliament otherwise provides, shall not exceed twelve thousand pounds a Appoint ment of civil servants. Command of naval and military forces. Transfer of certain departments. Certain powers of Governors to vest in GovernorGeneral. year. 67. Until The Parliament otherwise provides, the appointment and removal of all other officers of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Governor-General in Council, unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor-General in Council or by a law of the Commonwealth to some other authority. 68. The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative. 69. On a date or dates to be proclaimed by the Governor-General after the establishment of the Commonwealth the following departments of the public service in each State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth: Posts, telegraphs, and telephones: Lighthouses, lightships, beacons, and buoys: But the departments of customs and of excise in each State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth on its establishment. 70. In respect of matters which, under this Constitution, pass to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth, all powers and functions which at the establishment of the Commonwealth are vested in the Governor of a Colony, or in the Governor of a Colony with the advice of his Executive Council, or in any authority of a Colony, shall vest in the Governor-General, or in the Governor-General in Council, or in the authority exercising similar powers under the Commonwealth, as the case requires. Chap. III. The Judicature. Judicial CHAPTER III. THE JUDICATURE. 71. The judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Supower and preme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia, and in such other federal courts as The Parliament creates, and in such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. The High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other Justices, not less than two, as The Parliament prescribes. Courts. Judges' appointment, tenure, and remuneration. Appellate jurisdic tion of High Court. 72. The Justices of the High Court and of the other courts created by The Parliament (i.) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council: (iii.) Shall receive such remuneration as The Parliament may fix; but the 73. The High Court shall have jurisdiction, with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as The Parliament prescribes, to hear and determine appeals from all judgments, decrees, orders and sentences (i.) Of any Justice or Justices exercising the original jurisdiction of the High Court: (ii.) Of any other federal court, or court exercising federal jurisdiction; or of (iii.) Of the Inter-State Commission, but as to questions of law only- Until The Parliament otherwise provides, the conditions of and restrictions on appeals to the Queen in Council from the Supreme Courts of the several States shall be applicable to appeals from them to the High Court. 74. No appeal shall be permitted to the Queen in Council in any matter involving Appeals to the interpretation of this Constitution or of the Constitution of a State, unless the Queen in public interests of some part of Her Majesty's Dominions, other than the Common- Council. wealth or a State, are involved. Except as provided in this section, this Constitution shall not impair any right which the Queen may be pleased to exercise, by virtue of Her Royal Prerogative, to grant special leave of appeal from the High Court to Her Majesty in Council. But The Parliament may make laws limiting the matters in which such leave may be asked. 75. In all matters (i.) Arising under any treaty: (ii.) Affecting consuls or other representatives of other countries: Original jurisdiction of High (iii.) In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being sued on behalf Court. (iv.) Between States, or between residents of different States, or between a (v.) In which a writ of mandamus or prohibition or an injunction is sought the High Court shall have original jurisdiction. 76. The Parliament may make laws conferring original jurisdiction on the High Additional Court in any matter (i.) Arising under this Constitution, or involving its interpretation: (ii.) Arising under any laws made by The Parliament: original jurisdic tion. (iii.) Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction: States. 77. With respect to any of the matters mentioned in the last two sections The Power to Parliament may make laws (i.) Defining the jurisdiction of any federal court other than the High Court: (iii.) Investing any court of a State with federal jurisdiction. define jurisdiction. Proceedings monwealth against Com or State. Number of judges. 80. The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth Trial by shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the State where the offence was jury. committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be Chap. IV. and Trade. Consolidated Revenue Fund. Expendi ture charged thereon. Money to be appropriated by law. Transfer of officers. CHAPTER IV. FINANCE AND TRADE. 81. All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution. 82. The costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt of the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall form the first charge thereon; and the revenue of the Commonwealth shall in the first instance be applied to the payment of the expenditure of the Commonwealth. 83. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law. But until the expiration of one month after the first meeting of The Parliament the Governor-General in Council may draw from the Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the maintenance of any department transferred to the Commonwealth and for the holding of the first elections for The Parliament. 84. When any department of the public service of a State becomes transferred to the Commonwealth, all officers of the department shall become subject to the control of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth. Any such officer who is not retained in the service of the Commonwealth shall, unless he is appointed to some other office of equal emolument in the public service of the State, be entitled to receive from the State any pension, gratuity, or other compensation payable under the law of the State on the abolition of his office. Any such officer who is retained in the service of the Commonwealth shall preserve all his existing and accruing rights, and shall be entitled to retire from office at the time, and on the pension or retiring allowance, which would be permitted by the law of the State if his service with the Commonwealth were a continuation of his service with the State. Such pension or retiring allowance shall be paid to him by the Commonwealth; but the State shall pay to the Commonwealth a part thereof, to be calculated on the proportion which his term of service with the State bears to his whole term of service, and for the purpose of the calculation his salary shall be taken to be that paid to him by the State at the time of the transfer. Any officer who is, at the establishment of the Commonwealth, in the public service of a State, and who is, by consent of the Governor of the State with the advice of the Executive Council thereof, transferred to the public service of the Commonwealth, shall have the same rights as if he had been an officer of a department transferred to the Commonwealth and were retained in the service of the Commonwealth. 85. When any department of the public service of a State is transferred to the property of Commonwealth Transfer of State. (i.) All property of the State of any kind, used exclusively in connection with the department, shall become vested in the Commonwealth; but, in the case of the departments controlling customs and excise and bounties, for such time only as the Governor-General in Council may declare to be necessary. (ii.) The Commonwealth may acquire any property of the State, of any kind, used, but not exclusively used, in connection with the department; the value thereof shall, if no agreement can be made, be ascertained in, as nearly as may be, the manner in which the value of land, or of an interest in land, taken by the State for public purposes is ascertained under the law of the State in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth. (iii.) The Commonwealth shall compensate the State for the value of any property passing to the Commonwealth under this section; if no agreement can be made as to the mode of compensation, it shall be determined under laws to be made by The Parliament. (iv.) The Commonwealth shall, at the date of the transfer, assume the current obligations of the State in respect of the department transferred. 86. On the establishment of the Commonwealth, the collection and control of duties of customs and of excise, and the control of the payment of bounties, shall pass to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth. 87. During a period of ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until The Parliament otherwise provides of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of customs and of excise, not more than one-fourth shall be applied annually by the Commonwealth towards its expenditure. The balance shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be paid to the several States, or applied towards the payment of interest on debts of the several States taken over by the Commonwealth. 88. Uniform duties of customs shall be imposed within two years after the estab- Uniform lishment of the Commonwealth. 89. Until the imposition of uniform duties of customs duties of Payment to (i.) The Commonwealth shall credit to each State the revenues collected before therein by the Commonwealth. (ii.) The Commonwealth shall debit to each State (a) The expenditure therein of the Commonwealth incurred solely for (b) The proportion of the State, according to the number of its people, (iii.) The Commonwealth shall pay to each State month by month the balance (if any) in favour of the State. uniform duties. 90. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs the power of The Parlia- Exclusive ment to impose duties of customs and of excise, and to grant bounties on the produc- power over tion or export of goods, shall become exclusive. customs, bounties. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs all laws of the several States im- excise, and posing duties of customs or of excise, or offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall cease to have effect; but any grant of or agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or under the authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be good if made before the thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and not otherwise. 91. Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from granting any aid to or Exceptions bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other metals, nor from granting, with the consent as to of both Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth expressed by resolution, any bounties. aid to or bounty on the production or export of goods. 92. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free. But notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, goods imported before the imposition of uniform duties of customs into any State, or into any Colony which, whilst the goods remain therein, becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into another State within two years after the imposition of such duties, be liable to any duty chargeable on the importation of such goods into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in respect of the goods on their importation. Trade within the Commonwealth to be free. 93. During the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties of customs, Payment to and thereafter until The Parliament otherwise provides (i.) The duties of customs chargeable on goods imported into a State and States for five years after uniform tariffs. 94. After five years from the imposition of uniform duties of customs, The Parlia- Distriment may provide, on such basis as it deems fair, for the monthly payment to the bution of several States of all surplus revenue of the Commonwealth. surplus. |