In this session Kim and James explain Federal and State governments and what the Constitution says each is meant to be doing under the Constitution.
Resources related to this episode:
The Australian Constitution can be found at https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/foi-logs/foi-2021-017.pdf
The Senate as a State’s house – section 7
Explanation of Senate voting
ACT and Northern Territory representation in the Senate – see also https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-give-the-act-and-nt-stronger-voices-in-parliament-188717
Comparative scenario of US senate elections andCasual vacancies in Australian constitution– see section 15.
Federal powers set out in section 51, but states continue to have concurrent powers.
What if there is a conflict between Federal and State laws? Section 109
Competitive Federalism discussion – impact of different laws on different peoples.
Laws for Aboriginal people – section 51 (26) – initially specifically about the Federal government not being able to make laws – and leaving it to the states.
1967 Referendum – changed so that the Federal government could make laws for Indigenous people –
Section 25 – still wording of discrimination against Indigenous votes in the States.
Section 109
https://www.vgso.vic.gov.au/navigating-conflicting-state-and-commonwealth-laws
“Covering the field” concept
Federal financial power Section 96
Taxing powers of Commonwealth – Vertical fiscal imbalance
COVID and Federalism – Anne Twomey’s piece https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3473832/MF20-Web3-Aust-ATwomey-FINAL.pdf
https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/3908170/MF-Constitutional-INSIGHT-07-COVID-and-federations.pdf
Section 51 (ix) – Quarantine
Federalism vs Representative Democracy?
Section 41 – Women of the 1890s and Federalism
R v Pearson; Ex parte Sipka: Feminism and the Franchise
See chapter 4 in https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/australian-feminist-judgments-9781849465212/
For questions about the information discussed, contact: Kim.Rubenstein@canberra.edu.au