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The High Court and the World of Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2025

Michael Coper
Michael Coper*
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales
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Extract

Being the last speaker of the day I suppose has advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that, as I had anticipated, much of what I would have wished to say about the Franklin Dam case has been said — and well said — by earlier speakers. One advantage, however, is that I may now speak substantially without fear of contradiction — perhaps the “infallibility offinality”, as it has sometimes been called, is not the exclusive province of the High Court! In any event, I will confine myself to some very general remarks — not so general, I hope, as to be trite, but general enough, at least, to put some of the points we have heard earlier today into perspective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Federal Law Review , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , June 1984 , pp. 294 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Australian National University

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References

1 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625.

2 Eg see Brown v Allen (1953) 344 US 443, 540 per Jackson J.

3 Above 277.

4 Eg H C Sleigh Ltd v South Australia (1977) 136 CLR 475, 514.

5 Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (1920) 28 CLR 129.

6 lbid.

7 See generally, Cheryl Saunders, “The National Implied Power and Implied Restrictions on Commonwealth Power” above 267.

8 Cf Sir Maurice Byers, “Commentary” above 276.

9 As in the case of the so-called “negative implications of the commerce clause” in the United States.

10 Eg R v Director-General of Social Welfare for Victoria; ex parte Henry (1975) 133 CLR 369, 388; Buck v Bavone (1976) 135 CLR 110, 137; Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1977) 139 CLR 54, 87-88; Seamen's Union of Australia v Utah Development Company (1978) 144 CLR 120, 157;McGraw-Hinds (Australia) Pty Ltd v Smith (1979) 144 CLR 633, 668-670; Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty Ltd v Wardley (1980) 142 CLR 237, 267; Sillery v R (1981) 35 ALR 227, 234; see also Western Australia v Commonwealth (1975) 134 CLR 201, 283-284; A-G (Cth); ex rel McKinlay v Commonwealth (1975) 135 CLR I, 71; Mcinnis v R (1979) 143 CLR 575, 588.

11 L Zines, above 284; see also C Saunders, above 268.

12 (1803) 5 US (1 Cranch) 137.

13 L Zines, above 290-291.

14 (1983) 47 ALR 225.

15 (1983) 46 ALR 625, 841.

16 L Zines, The High Court and the Constitution (1981) 299.

17 L Zines, “The Australian Constitution 1951-1976” (1976) 7 FLRev 89, 134.

18 Ibid; supra n 16, 299-300.

19 (1983) 6 UofNSWLJ 234, reviewing M Coper, Freedom of Interstate Trade Under the Australian Constitution (1983).

20 Ibid 235-237. Sir Anthony was specifically concerned withs 92, but his comments are appropriate to the Constitution as a whole.

21 (1803) 5 US (I Cranch) 137.

22 (1819) 17 US (4 Wheat) 316.

23 lbid 407.

24 Eg Coper, M, “Interpreting the Constitution: A Handbook for Judges and Commentators” in A R Blackshield (ed), Legal Change: Essays in Honour of Julius Stone (1983) 52, 65;Google Scholar Coper, M, The Franklin Dam Case (1983) 25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

25 Eg (1983) 46 ALR 625, 690-692 per Mason J; and 771-772 per Brennan J.

26 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625, 721-726 per Murphy J; H Burmester,“The Presumption of Constitutionality” (1983) 13 FLRev 277; cf Mason J, supra n 19, 237-238.

27 Coper, M, Freedom of Interstate Trade Under the Australian Constitution (1983) 294Google Scholar.

28 Eg Baker v Campbell (1983) 49 ALR 385, 414-415 per Wilson J.

29 (1920) 28 CLR 129.

30 L Zines, above 284-285.

31 Ibid 284, 289.

32 Ibid 285, 292.

33 Ibid 287, 292.

34 Ibid 286.

35 Ibid 293.

36 Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1982) 39 ALR 417.

37 Ibid 462.

38 Eg (1983) 46 ALR 625, 693 per Mason J. Professor Zines notes Brennan J's ambivalence about the relevance of this consideration, a nice reflection of the tensions between legalism and pragmatism, above 278.

39 SirDawson, Daryl, “The Constitution - Major Overhaul or Simple Tune-Up?”, Southey Memorial Lecture, University of Melbourne, 19 October 1983, esp 30-38.Google Scholar

40 L Zines, The High Court and the Constitution (1983) 309.

41 (I 978) 254.

42 Supra, n 40, 309.

43 It is not suggested either that the correlation is complete (before their respective elevations to the High Court, Gibbs CJ was a federal judge in Bankruptcy and Mason J a judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal), or that, in any event, anything necessarily follows from it.

44 G Evans, “The Most Dangerous Branch? The High Court and the Constitution in a Changing Society” in Hambly, D and Goldring, J (eds), Australian Lawyers and Social Change: Proceedings of a Seminar held at the Faculty of Law, Australian National University, 23-24 August 1974 (1976) 13.Google Scholar

45 Eg Commentary by W Deane and R L Mathews, and reply by G Evans in D Hambly and J Goldring (eds), supra n 44, 80-81; 97-98, l02; 115-116.

46 Above, 296.

47 Sawer, G, Australian Federalism in the Courts (1967) 89-90.Google Scholar

48 (1982) 39 ALR 417.

49 Supra n 39, 34.

50 (1920) 28 CLR 129.