No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2025
This article examines the compatibility of extra-departmental executive agencies, a defining feature of the modern regulatory state, with responsible government, one of the architectonic principles of the Australian Constitution. Some scholars have argued that a constitutional implication derived from responsible government should be drawn limiting the types of entities that may be established by the Commonwealth and imposing requirements relating to the relationship that must exist between ministers and entities within their portfolio. This article argues that the view that independent statutory agencies are a derogation from the principles of responsible government rests on a misunderstanding of responsible government. Responsible government is an inherently evolutionary system: as incorporated into the Australian Constitution, responsible government was intended to be flexible and non-prescriptive, allowing for change in the governmental arrangements considered necessary from time to time. Independent statutory agencies should not be seen as a challenge to the true principles of responsible government but a legitimate evolution in governance arrangements, which the Constitution deliberately left open.
My thanks to Dan Meagher, Matthew Groves and the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts.
1. Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (1920) 28 CLR 129, 147 (Knox CJ, Isaacs, Rich and Starke JJ) (‘Engineers Case’); R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers’ Society of Australia (1956) 94 CLR 254, 275 (Dixon CJ, McTiernan, Fullagar and Kitto JJ) (‘Boilermakers’ Case’); Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (1992) 177 CLR 106, 135, 184–5 (Dawson J) (‘ACTV’).
2. Benedict Sheehy and Don Feaver, ‘Re-Thinking Executive Control of and Accountability for the Agency’ (2016) 54(1) Osgoode Hall Law Journal 175, 196.
3. In 1901, there were 6 Commonwealth government departments, with approximately 133 800 persons employed by the Commonwealth and State governments: A Barnard, N G Butlin and J J Pincus, ‘Public and Private Sector Employment in Australia, 1901–1974’ (1977) 10(1) Australian Economic Review 43, 50. As at June 2018, there were 1 987 000 public sector employees in Australia, which includes 240 700 Commonwealth, 1 558 700 state government and 187 600 local government employees: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia, 2017–18’, Australian Bureau of Statistics (Result Summary Release, 8 November 2018) <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6248.0.55.002>.
4. Terence Daintith and Yee-Fui Ng, ‘Executives’ in Cheryl Saunders and Adrienne Stone (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Australian Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2018) 587, 589.
5. Geoffrey Lindell, Responsible Government and the Australian Constitution: Conventions Transformed into Law? (Federation Press, 2004) 18 (emphasis in original).
6. (2010) 239 CLR 531 (‘Kirk’).
7. Ibid 566 [55], 581 [98]–[100] (French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Crennan, Kiefel and Bell JJ).
8. Ibid 581 [99] (French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Crennan, Kiefel and Bell JJ).
9. A variety of different terms are used in the literature to describe these bodies, including statutory authorities, statutory corporations, non-departmental bodies, executive agencies, public corporations and arms’ length bodies.
10. This article considers only the position relating to the Commonwealth, not the states.
11. Engineers Case (n 1) 146 (Knox CJ, Isaacs, Rich and Starke JJ).
12. W Harrison Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (Maxwell, 2nd ed, 1910) 168.
13. For discussion of these issues, see, eg, Christos Mantziaris, ‘Interpreting Ministerial Directions to Statutory Corporations: What Does a Theory of Responsible Government Deliver?’ (1998) 26(2) Federal Law Review 309; Enid Campbell, ‘Ministers, Public Servants and the Executive Branch’ in Gareth Evans (ed), Labor and the Constitution 1972–1975 (Heinemann, 1977) 140–2.
14. See A H Birch, Representative and Responsible Government: An Essay on the British Constitution (Allen & Unwin, 1964) 17–21; Ian Thynne and John Goldring, ‘Government “Responsibility” and Responsible Government’ (1981) 16(2) Politics 197; R N Spann, Government Administration in Australia (Allen & Unwin, 1979) 493–7.
15. (2012) 248 CLR 156, 204 [58] (‘Williams [No 1]’).
16. B R Wise, The Commonwealth of Australia (Pitman, 1909) 195.
17. Constitution ss 5, 28, 32, 33, 56, 57, 58, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 72, 85, 103, 126, 128.
18. Ibid s 61.
19. Ibid s 64.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid ss 7, 24.
22. Janina Boughey and Greg Weeks, ‘Government Accountability as a Constitutional Value’ in Rosalind Dixon (ed), Australian Constitutional Values (Hart Publishing, 2018) 99, 108.
23. Pape v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (2009) 238 CLR 1, 43 [77] (French CJ), 105 [294], 113 [320], 119 [338] (Hayne and Kiefel JJ).
24. Constitution s 56; ibid 110 [310] (Hayne and Kiefel JJ).
25. John Quick and Robert Randolph Garran, The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth (Angus & Robertson, 1901) 704.
26. Geoffrey Lindell, ‘Responsible Government’ in P D Finn (ed), Essays on Law and Government (Lawbook, 1995) vol 1, 75, 79.
27. Australian Constitutional Commission, Final Report of the Constitutional Commission (Report, 1988) vol 1, 86 [2.185].
28. See Ian Killey, Constitutional Conventions in Australia (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2009) ch 4.
29. Hughes Aircraft Systems International v Airservices Australia (1997) 76 FCR 151, 246 (‘Hughes’).
30. Richard Mulgan, ‘Assessing Ministerial Responsibility in Australia’ in Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis (eds), Ministerial Careers and Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Government (ANU E Press, 2012) 177, 180; Judy Maddigan, ‘Ministerial Responsibility: Reality or Myth?’ (2011) 26(1) Australasian Parliamentary Review 158, 158; IDF Callinan, ‘Responsible Government—in Dilution’ (April 2008) 52(4) Quadrant 16; Luke Raffin, ‘Individual Ministerial Responsibility during the Howard Years: 1996–2007’ (2008) 54(2) Australian Journal of Politics and History 225.
31. George Winterton, Parliament, the Executive and the Governor-General (Melbourne University Press, 1983) 2.
32. L F Crisp, Australian National Government (Longman Cheshire, 5th ed, 1983) 37.
33. Helen Irving, Five Things to Know about the Australian Constitution (Cambridge University Press, 2004) 33–4.
34. Peter Hanks, Frances Gordon and Graeme Hill, Constitutional Law in Australia (LexisNexis, 4th ed, 2018) 237.
35. R S Parker, ‘Responsible Government in Australia’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 11, 12–13, as summarised by Lindell, ‘Responsible Government’ (n 26) 76–7.
36. For instance, the increasingly fragile tenure of senior public servants calls point 4 into question. See, eg, Leah MacLennan, ‘New SA Liberal Government Sacks Four Senior Public Servants’, ABC News (online), 21 March 2018 <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-21/new-sa-liberal-government-sacks-four-senior-public-servants/9571042>.
37. To borrow an epithet of Martin Krygier in a different context: ‘Why the Rule of Law Is Too Important to Be Left to Lawyers’ (2012) 2(2) Prawo i Więź [Law & Social Bonds] 30, 31.
38. See, eg, H N Collins, ‘What Shall We Do with the Westminster Model?’ in RFI Smith and Patrick Weller (eds), Public Service Inquiries in Australia (University of Queensland Press, 1978) 360.
39. Elaine Thompson, ‘The ‘Washminster’ Mutation’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 32, 33–4.
40. Nicholas Aroney, The Constitution of a Federal Commonwealth: The Making and Meaning of the Australian Constitution (Cambridge University Press, 2009) ch 8.
41. Boilermakers’ Case (n 1) 275 (Dixon CJ, McTiernan, Fullagar and Kitto JJ); Cheryl Saunders, ‘Future Prospects of the Australian Constitution’ in Robert French, Geoffrey Lindell and Cheryl Saunders (eds), Reflections on the Australian Constitution (Federation Press, 2003) 212, 219. See also Gordon Greenwood, The Future of Australian Federalism (University of Queensland Press, 2nd ed, 1976) 55.
42. See, eg, Brian Galligan, A Federal Republic: Australia’s Constitutional System of Government (Cambridge University Press, 1995) 47 (‘A Federal Republic’); Colin Howard and Cheryl Saunders, ‘The Blocking of the Budget and Dismissal of the Government’ in Gareth Evans (ed), Labor and the Constitution, 1972–1975 (Heinemann, 1977) 251, 286; Brian Galligan, ‘The Kerr-Whitlam Debate and the Principles of the Australian Constitution’ (1980) 18(3) Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 247; Joan Rydon, ‘Some Problems of Combining the British and American Elements in the Australian Constitution’ (1985) 23(1) Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 67; Geoffrey Sawer, Federation Under Strain: Australia 1972–1975 (Melbourne University Press, 1977) 121–3; Winterton (n 31) 5–11; Paul Kelly, November 1975: The Inside Story of Australia’s Greatest Political Crisis (Allen & Unwin, 1995) 15–17; Thompson (n 39) 33–4.
43. Andrew Parkin, ‘Pluralism and Australian Political Science’ (1980) 15(1) Politics 50; Galligan, A Federal Republic (n 42) 5; Stanley Bach, ‘Crisp, the Senate, and the Constitution’ (2008) 54(4) Australian Journal of Politics and History 545, 551.
44. Crisp (n 32) 349. See also Campbell Sharman, ‘Australia as a Compound Republic’ (1990) 25(1) Politics 1, 4.
45. Bach (n 43) 551–2.
46. Winterton (n 31) 4–5.
47. Lindell, Responsible Government and the Australian Constitution (n 5) 2, 7.
48. Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 189 CLR 520; Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Wills (1992) 177 CLR 1; ACTV (n 1); Coleman v Power (2004) 220 CLR 1; Unions NSW v New South Wales (2013) 252 CLR 530; McCloy v New South Wales (2015) 257 CLR 178 (‘McCloy’); Brown v Tasmania (2017) 261 CLR 328; Clubb v Edwards; Preston v Avery (2019) 93 ALJR 448.
49. McCloy (n 48) 222–3 [101]–[102] (Gageler J).
50. (1997) 189 CLR 520, 561.
51. See Roach v Electoral Commissioner (2007) 233 CLR 162.
52. McCloy (n 48) 207 [45] (French CJ, Kiefel, Bell and Keane JJ). See also Unions NSW v New South Wales [2019] HCA 1, [40] (Kiefel CJ, Bell and Keane JJ).
53. James Stellios, Zines’s the High Court and the Constitution (Federation Press, 6th ed, 2015) 369.
54. Williams [No 1] (n 15) 351–2 [516].
55. Ibid 370 [581].
56. (2001) 207 CLR 391, 403 [17] (Gleeson CJ) (‘Re Patterson’).
57. Egan v Willis (1998) 195 CLR 424, 451 [41] (Gaudron, Gummow and Hayne JJ). See also ibid 460–5 [211]–[221] (Gummow and Hayne JJ).
58. See R L Wettenhall, Railway Management and Politics in Victoria 1856–1906: Report of a Case Study in the Origins of the Public Corporation (Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1961); R L Wettenhall, ‘Administrative Boards in Nineteenth Century Australia’ (1963) 22(3) Australian Journal of Public Administration 255.
59. Australian Government Department of Finance, Flipchart of PGPA Act Commonwealth Entities and Companies (Flipchart, 30 May 2019) <https://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/Flipchart%20May%202019.pdf>.
60. There were 152 095 employees in the Australian Public Service as at 30 June 2017: ‘Size of the APS’, Australian Public Service Commission (Web Page) <https://www.apsc.gov.au/size-aps>. As at 30 June 2018, there were 95 651 ongoing staff employed in Commonwealth departments: ‘APS Employment Data 30 June 2018 Release’, Australian Public Service Commission (Web Page, 30 June 2018) <https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-employment-data-30-june-2018-release>.
61. See, eg, National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) s 117.
62. Roger Wettenhall, ‘Non-Departmental Public Bodies under the Howard Governments’ (2007) 66(1) Australian Journal of Public Administration 62, 63.
63. Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Government Operations, Parliament of Australia, Statutory Authorities of the Commonwealth (Parliamentary Paper No 1, 1979) 20 [2.5].
64. Campbell, ‘Ministers, Public Servants and the Executive Branch’ (n 13) 140.
65. Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration (Final Report, August 1976) 84.
66. W H Tucker, ‘Public Control of Statutory Corporations’ (1954) 13(1) Australian Journal of Public Administration 19, 19.
67. R L Wettenhall, ‘Government Department or Statutory Authority?’ (1968) 27(4) Australian Journal of Public Administration 350, 353, 356; Spann (n 14) 118–20.
68. See Leicester Webb, ‘Freedom and the Public Corporation’ (1954) 13(2) Australian Journal of Public Administration 101.
69. T H Kewley, ‘Some General Features of the Statutory Corporation in Australia’ (1957) 16(1) Australian Journal of Public Administration 3, 4.
70. E L Normanton, The Accountability and Audit of Governments: A Comparative Study (Manchester University Press, 1966) 313.
71. Webb (n 68) 105.
72. Roger Wettenhall, ‘Continuity and Change in the Outer Public Sector’ in Chris Aulich and Mark Evans (eds), The Rudd Government: Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007–2010 (ANU E Press, 2010) 55, 61. See also Roger Wettenhall, ‘The Public Sector: Departments and Arm’s Length Bodies’ in Chris Aulich (ed), The Gillard Governments: Australian Commonwealth Administration 2010–2013 (Melbourne University Press, 2014) 88.
73. T H Kewley and Joan Rydon, ‘Australian Commonwealth Government Corporations: A Statutory Analysis’ (1950) 9(1) Australian Journal of Public Administration 200, 202. See also Leslie Zines, ‘Federal Public Corporations in Australia’ in W Friedmann and J F Garner (eds), Government Enterprise: A Comparative Study (Stevens, 1970) 227.
74. W J Campbell, ‘The Statutory Corporation in New South Wales’ (1952) 11(3) Australian Journal of Public Administration 108, 111.
75. Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth) ss 25–9, 35, 37, 41–4, 57, 58.
76. Thynne and Goldring (n 14) 203.
77. ‘Ministry 25 January 2019 to 2 March 2019’, Parliament of Australia (Web Page) <https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Parliamentary_Handbook/Current_Ministry_List/Ministry_25_January_2019_to_2_March_2019>.
78. See Campbell Sharman, ‘Reforming Executive Power’ in George Winterton (ed), We the People: Australian Republican Government (Allen and Unwin, 1994) 113, 113; Alan J Ward, Parliamentary Government in Australia (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2012) 266–8; John Summers, ‘Parliament and Responsible Government’ in Dennis Woodward, Andrew Parkin and John Summers (eds), Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia (Pearson, 9th ed, 2010) 73, 76.
79. Explanatory Memorandum, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Bill 2013 (Cth) [47]; Meredith Edwards et al, Public Sector Governance in Australia (ANU E Press, 2012) 1–2; Meredith Edwards, ‘Public Sector Governance: Future Issues for Australia’ (2002) 61(2) Australian Journal of Public Administration 51, 52.
80. Edwards et al, Public Sector Governance in Australia (n 79) 62.
81. Sheehy and Feaver (n 2) 184. See also John Warhurst, ‘Exercising Control over Statutory Authorities: A Study in Government Technique’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 151, 151, 159.
82. Mark Aronson, ‘Ministerial Directions: The Battle of the Prerogatives’ (1995) 6 Public Law Review 77, 88; Sheehy and Feaver (n 2) 217; John Goldring and Roger Wettenhall, ‘Three Perspectives on the Responsibility of Statutory Authorities’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 136, 139.
83. Paul Latimer, ‘Ministerial Directions to Independent Statutory Commissions: Commissions Causing Trouble for Their Minister’ (2004) 25(1) Australian Bar Review 29, 30.
84. Thynne and Goldring (n 14) 205.
85. Victorian Ombudsman, A Review of the Governance of Public Sector Boards in Victoria (Parliamentary Report, December 2013) 16, 17, 22; Public Bodies Review Committee, Parliament of New South Wales, Follow-Up Review of Performance Audit Report on Corporate Governance (Report No 6/53, 21 September 2006) 15; Auditor-General for Western Australia, Governance of Public Sector Boards (Report No 9, June 2014) 13; Department of Treasury and Finance (Vic), Corporate Planning and Performance Reporting Requirements: Government Business Enterprises (Reporting Requirements, October 2009) 2.
86. John Uhr, Deliberative Democracy in Australia: The Changing Place of Parliament (Cambridge University Press, 1998) 200.
87. J E Willoughby, ‘Official Independence and the Statutory Corporation’ (1943) 4(8) Australian Journal of Public Administration 353, 356.
88. Winterton (n 31) 110.
89. Campbell, ‘The Statutory Corporation in New South Wales’ (n 74) 113.
90. Latimer (n 83) 30, 33; Killey (n 28) 113.
91. Mantziaris (n 13) 321.
92. John Uhrig, Review of the Corporate Governance of Statutory Authorities and Office Holders (Report, June 2003) 17; see also 34, 42.
93. Goldring and Wettenhall (n 82) 139.
94. L C Webb, ‘Statutory Corporations under Review’ (1955) 14(3) Australian Journal of Public Administration 158, 162.
95. See, eg, Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (Cth) s 73.
96. See, eg, Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (Cth) s 14.
97. See, eg, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth) ss 21–2.
98. Spann (n 14) 142. In Victoria, legislation specifically provides that the minister responsible for a public entity is accountable to parliament in respect of ‘the exercise by the public entity of its functions’: Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) s 85(2)(a).
99. Daintith and Ng (n 4) 596.
100. Goldring and Wettenhall (n 82) 140; Australian Coastal Shipping Commission v O’Reilly (1962) 107 CLR 46; Re KL Tractors Pty Ltd (1961) 106 CLR 318; A-G (Vic) ex rel Victorian Chamber of Manufactures v Commonwealth (1935) 52 CLR 533.
101. See R Else Mitchell, ‘Australian Aspects of Government Corporations’ (1947) 6(6) Australian Journal of Public Administration 277.
102. Re Patterson (n 56) 401 [11] (Gleeson CJ), 460 [211] (Gummow and Hayne JJ, Kirby agreeing at 498 [320]).
103. Mitchell (n 101).
104. Hughes (n 29).
105. Ibid 231, 245–6.
106. Mantziaris (n 13) 332.
107. Ibid 340.
108. Lindell, Responsible Government and the Australian Constitution (n 5) 18.
109. John Goldring, ‘Accountability of Commonwealth Statutory Authorities and “Responsible Government”’ (1980) 11(4) Federal Law Review 353.
110. See, eg, National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) s 121.
111. Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth) s 8(4).
112. Constitution s 61.
113. Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Government Operations, Parliament of Australia, Statutory Authorities of the Commonwealth (Report No 5, 1982) app 4; see especially 182.
114. J E Richardson, ‘The Executive Power of the Commonwealth’ in Leslie Zines (ed), Commentaries on the Australian Constitution: A Tribute to Geoffrey Sawer (Butterworths, 1977) 82–7.
115. Michael Crommelin, ‘The Executive’ in Gregory Craven (ed), The Convention Debates 1891–1898: Commentaries, Indices and Guide (Legal Books, 1986) 127, 147.
116. Wise (n 16) 193; W Harrison Moore, The Commonwealth of Australia: Four Lectures on the Constitution Bill 1897 (George Robertson and Co, 1897) 79; Egan v Willis (n 57) 473 [95] (McHugh J).
117. Brian Galligan, ‘The Founders’ Design and Intentions Regarding Responsible Government’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 1, 1.
118. See, eg, ibid.
119. Edward A Freeman, The Growth of the English Constitution (Macmillan, 3rd ed, 1890), 56–8, 90–1, 114–7, 123–6; Eduard Fischel, The English Constitution (Bosworth and Harrison, 1863) 4–5.
120. William Reynell Anson, The Law and Custom of the Constitution (Clarendon Press, 3rd ed, 1897) part 1, 36.
121. Robert Saunders, ‘Parliament and People: The British Constitution in the Long Nineteenth Century’ (2008) 6(1) Journal of Modern European History 72, 72.
122. Alpheus Todd, On Parliamentary Government in England: Its Origin, Development, and Practical Operation (Longmans, 2nd ed, 1887) vol 1, 6.
123. A V Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (MacMillan, 6th ed, 1902) 22–4, 191–201.
124. Matthew N C Harvey, ‘James Bryce, “The American Commonwealth”, and the Australian Constitution’ (2002) 76(6) Australian Law Journal 362, 362; Stephen Gageler, ‘James Bryce and the Australian Constitution’ (2015) 43(1) Federal Law Review 177, 182; Harry Evans, ‘Bryce’s Bible: Why Did It Impress the Australian Founders?’ (2001) 8 New Federalist 89, 89. See also John S F Wright, ‘Anglicizing the United States Constitution: James Bryce’s Contribution to Australian Federalism’ (2001) 31(4) Publius 107.
125. James Bryce, The American Commonwealth (Macmillan, 2nd ed, 1891) vol 1, 237. To similar effect, see Dicey (n 123) 22–4, 191–201; Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (n 12) 83.
126. Alpheus Todd, Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies (Longmans, Green, 2nd ed, 1894) 1; John Allen, Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England (Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, rev ed, 1849) 7–8.
127. Earl Grey, Parliamentary Government Considered with Reference to Reform (John Murray, 2nd ed, 1864) 8–11; William Reynell Anson, The Law and Custom of the Constitution (Clarendon Press, 3rd ed, 1897) part 2, 36–44.
128. William Edward Hearn, The Government of England: Its Structure, and Its Development (George Robertson, 2nd ed, 1886) 2.
129. Anson, The Law and Custom of the Constitution (n 120) 37.
130. Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution, and Other Political Essays (D Appleton, rev ed, 1902) 1; Anson, The Law and Custom of the Constitution (n 127) xvii–xviii; Homersham Cox, The British Commonwealth, or, A Commentary on the Institutions and Principles of British Government (Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1854) 568.
131. E S Creasy, The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution (R Bentley, 1853) 6; Lord Hugh Cecil, Conservatism (Williams & Norgate, 1912) 219–22; Dicey (n 123) 29.
132. See, eg, Winterton (n 31) 5–11; Galligan, A Federal Republic (n 42) 75–86; Howard and Saunders (n 42) 252–60.
133. Paul Finn, Law and Government in Colonial Australia (Oxford University Press, 1987) 5.
134. Ibid 13, 46–7, 58–61, 64, 86–91.
135. With one exception, namely James Thomas Walker, who was a delegate to the 1897–98 Federal Convention.
136. Constitution s 64.
137. Ibid s 62.
138. Ibid s 56.
139. Ibid s 65.
140. John A Cockburn, Australian Federation (Horace Marshall, 1901) 100.
141. Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Adelaide, 25 March 1897, 86–7 (Joseph Carruthers), 13 April 1897, 511 (Alfred Deakin) (‘Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897’); Andrew Inglis Clark, Studies in Australian Constitutional Law (Charles F Maxwell, 1901) 6; cf Alfred Deakin, ‘The Federation of Australia’ (1891) 10 Scribner’s Magazine 549, 549.
142. Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Sydney, 4 March 1891, 23, 26–7, 447 (‘Convention Debates, 1891’). Cf at 5 March, 1891, 46 (James Munro).
143. J A La Nauze, The Making of the Australian Constitution (Melbourne University Press, 1972) 48–50.
144. Convention Debates, 1891 (n 142) 34–5, 37, 767. See also at 298 (Adye Douglas); Samuel Walker Griffith, Notes on Australian Federation: Its Nature and Probable Effects (Government Printer, 1896).
145. Convention Debates, 1891 (n 142) 431 (Samuel Griffith).
146. Ibid 40, 431, 527 (Samuel Griffith).
147. See, eg, Galligan, ‘The Founders’ Design’ (n 117) 2; Frank Roland McGrath, The Intentions of the Framers of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution (PhD Thesis, University of Sydney, 2006) 37.
148. Convention Debates, 1891 (n 142) 401 (Adye Douglas), 229, 239 (Duncan Gillies), 410 (Edmund Barton).
149. Ibid 244 (Andrew Inglis Clark), 468 (Henry Wrixon), 716 (John Downer). See also Andrew Inglis Clark, Australasian Federation (Hobart, 1891) 6.
150. John Quick, The Inauguration of the Parliamentary Government in Victoria (JW Burrows, 1888) 22.
151. Convention Debates, 1891 (n 142) 104, 727 (Andrew Thynne).
152. Ibid 162 (Charles Kingston).
153. Ibid 279 (Hackett). See also at 468 (Henry Wrixon).
154. John M Williams, The Australian Constitution: A Documentary History (Melbourne University Press, 2005) 425.
155. George Houstoun Reid, ‘The “Commonwealth of Australia”’ (1891) 173 Nineteenth Century 145, 148.
156. Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (n 12) 610.
157. Aroney (n 40) 206.
158. Williams (n 154) 1131.
159. Paul Strangio, ‘The Ancestry of the Australian Prime Ministership: “The Blue Ribbon of the Highest Possible Ambition”’ (2015) 61(1) Australian Journal of Politics and History 19, 20–1, 31. See also Paul Strangio, Paul Hart and James Walter, Settling the Office: The Australian Prime Ministership from Federation to Reconstruction (Miegunyah Press, 2016) 9.
160. Galligan, ‘The Founders’ Design’ (n 117) 6.
161. Robert Randolph Garran, Draft Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia (Government Printer, 1898) 17; John Quick, The Federation Bill (Wilson and MacKinnon, 1898) 7; New South Wales, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 14 July 1897, 1896 (Edmund Barton).
162. New South Wales, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 14 July 1897, 1897 (Edmund Barton); John Alexander Cockburn, ‘The Biology of Federation’ (1903) 52(2674) Journal of the Society of Arts 272, 278.
163. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 443–4, 910–13; Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Melbourne, 10 March 1898, 2252–3, 2255 (‘Convention Debates, 1898’). See also Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (n 12) 103.
164. See also Barton’s comments in Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 443–4.
165. Wise (n 16) 193, 195.
166. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 45, 94, 271, 534; Official Report of the National Australasian Convention Debates, Sydney, 404 (‘Convention Debates, Sydney, 1897’); Convention Debates, 1898 (n 163) 344, 503, 613, 737, 739, 740, 904, 917, 1787, 1985, 2239. See also Cockburn (n 162) 275; Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 20 July 1897, 526 (Isaac Isaacs).
167. Robert Randolph Garran, The Coming Commonwealth: An Australian Handbook of Federal Government (Angus & Robertson, 1897) 149, 150–1. Cf Quick and Garran (n 25) 706–7.
168. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 214, 478 (John Downer), 511 (Alfred Deakin). See also R C Baker, A Manual of Reference to Authorities for the Use of the Members of the National Australasian Convention (WK Thomas, 1891) 46.
169. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 275 (Joseph Carruthers), 531. Cf 194 (Henry Dobson).
170. Convention Debates, 1891 (n 142) 545 (Richard Baker).
171. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 194 (Henry Dobson), 307 (Matthew Clarke); Convention Debates, 1898 (n 163) 2262 (Josiah Simon).
172. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 161–2 (William Lyne), 274, 280, 284 (George Reid); (1898), 2350 (George Reid).
173. Convention Debates, 1898 (n 163) 2514 (Patrick Glynn).
174. Ibid 2508 (Josiah Simon).
175. F W Holder, ‘Why South Australia Should Accept the Bill’ (1898) 12 Review of Reviews 302, 303; John Quick, ‘Why Victoria Should Accept the Bill’ (1898) 12 Review of Reviews 305, 306. See also Cockburn (n 140) 27 (discussed in ‘Personal Notes from London’, The Advertiser, 6 February 1901, 6); Patrick McMahon Glynn, Federation (Adelaide, 1897) 5.
176. Henry Wrixon, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia: An Address (Melville, Mullen & Slade, 1901) 9.
177. Convention Debates, Sydney, 1897 (n 166) 628.
178. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 443–4.
179. Ibid 511.
180. Ibid 288. See also Wise (n 16) 227.
181. Convention Debates, Adelaide, 1897 (n 141) 745 (Edmund Barton), 708 (William Trenwith), 747–8 (Frederick Holder), 752 (George Reid). See also 919–20; Convention Debates, Sydney, 1897 (n 166) 113 (Richard O’Connor), 418 (Edmund Barton), 1002 (Issac Isaacs), 1013–14 (Patrick Glynn), 1032 (Frederick Holder).
182. Convention Debates, Sydney, 1897 (n 166) 368 (William McMillan).
183. Convention Debates, 1898 (n 163) 1465 (George Reid).
184. Moore, The Commonwealth of Australia: Four Lectures (n 116) 80–1.
185. Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (n 12) 168–9. See also Thomas Brassey, ‘Australian Federation’ (1899) 266 Nineteenth Century 548, 550–1.
186. Griffith was appointed Chief Justice of Queensland in 1893.
187. Samuel Walker Griffith, Notes on the Draft Federal Constitution Framed by the Adelaide Convention of 1897 (Brisbane, 1897) 4; Samuel Walker Griffith, ‘The Draft Federal Constitution Framed by the Adelaide Convention of 1897: A Criticism’ (1897) 11 Review of Reviews 56, 57.
188. Samuel Walker Griffith, Australian Federation and the Draft Commonwealth Bill (Government Printer, 1899) 16.
189. These include Constitution ss 62 (mandating the existence of a Federal Executive Council), 64 (requiring ministers to hold a seat in Parliament), 56 (which provides that a measure for the appropriation of revenue ‘shall not be passed unless the purpose of the appropriation has in the same session been recommended by message of the Governor-General to the House in which the proposal originated’).
190. Winterton (n 31) 3–4.
191. Cf Charles Lawson, ‘The Legal Structures of Responsible Government and Ministerial Responsibility’ (2012) 35(3) Melbourne University Law Review 1005, 1036–7.
192. On originalism, see Jeffrey Goldsworthy, ‘Originalism in Constitutional Interpretation’ (1997) 25(1) Federal Law Review 1.
193. See Goldring (n 109).
194. Engineers Case (n 1) 147 (Knox CJ, Isaacs, Rich and Starke JJ); Boilermakers’ Case (n 1) 275 (Dixon CJ, McTiernan, Fullagar and Kitto JJ); A-G (Cth) ex rel McKinlay v Commonwealth (1975) 135 CLR 1, 24 (Barwick CJ); ACTV (n 1) 135, 184–5 (Dawson J).
195. Hanks, Gordon and Hill (n 34) 237.
196. Moore, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (n 12) 168–9.
197. R S Parker, ‘The Meaning of Responsible Government’ (1976) 11(2) Politics 178, 182.
198. Goldsworthy, ‘Originalism in Constitutional Interpretation’ (n 192); Jeffrey Goldsworthy, ‘Original Meanings and Contemporary Understandings in Constitutional Interpretation’ in H P Lee and Peter Gerangelos (eds), Constitutional Advancement in a Frozen Continent (Federation Press, 2009) 245.
199. Jeremy Kirk, ‘Constitutional Interpretation and a Theory of Evolutionary Originalism’ (1999) 27(3) Federal Law Review 323, 359.
200. Lindell, Responsible Government and the Australian Constitution (n 5) 18.
201. Ellen Rock, ‘Accountability: A Core Public Law Value?’ (2017) 24(3) Australian Journal of Administrative Law 189.
202. Paul Finn, ‘Public Trust and Public Accountability’ (1993) 65(2) Australian Quarterly 50.
203. For an analysis of accountability under the Constitution, see Boughey and Weeks (n 22).
204. Matthew Groves, ‘Judicial Review and Ministerial Responsibility’ in Matthew Groves (ed), Law and Government in Australia (Federation Press, 2005) 82, 88–90.
205. Mulgan (n 30) 180, 191.
206. Theophanous v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd (1994) 182 CLR 104, 171 (Deane J).
207. See Wettenhall, ‘Administrative Boards’ (n 58); Finn, Law and Government (n 133) 60–1, 97–9, 129–31.
208. Cf J R Archer, ‘The Theory of Responsible Government in Britain and Australia’ (1980) 15(2) Politics 23, 30.
209. See, eg, Paul Finn, ‘A Sovereign People, a Public Trust’ in Finn (ed), Essays on Law and Government (n 26) vol 1, ch 1.