An Act to request the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act to remove certain Restrictions on the Exercise of Legislative Power by the Parliament of Victoria.
Preamble
WHEREAS it is provided inter alia by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia that the Parliament of the Commonwealth shall, subject to that Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to the exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the States directly concerned, of any power which could at the establishment of that Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or the Federal Council of Australasia:
And whereas it is expedient that certain restrictions on the powers of the Parliament of Victoria with respect to the enactment of laws that are repugnant to the law of England should be removed:
And whereas, under the said provision of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Parliament of the Commonwealth has power, at the request of the Parliament of the State, to remove those restrictions:
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Victoria in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same as follows (that is to say):
1 Short title and commencement
s. 1
(1) This Act may be cited as the Constitutional Powers (Request) Act 1980.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on the day upon which it receives the Royal Assent.
2 Request for enactment of Commonwealth Act
The Parliament requests the enactment by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of an Act in or substantially in the terms set out in the Schedule.
SCHEDULE
Sch.
AN ACT
To remove certain Restrictions on the exercise of Legislative Power by the Parliament of Victoria.
WHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii) of section 51 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Parliament of Victoria has, by the Constitutional Powers (Request) Act 1980 of that Parliament, requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in or substantially in the terms of this Act:
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:
Short title
This Act may be cited as the State Powers (Victoria) Act 1980.
Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
Interpretation
In this Act—
"the Colonial Laws Validity Act" means the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as The Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865;
"the Parliament of the United Kingdom" includes any Parliament that at any time has or had general power to enact laws having force in England;
"the State" means Victoria.
State laws repugnant to Imperial Acts or law of England
(1) Notwithstanding sections 2 and 3 of the Colonial Laws Validity Act and any principle or rule of the common law but subject to this section, no law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of the State shall be void or inoperative on the ground that or shall be affected in its operation by reason that it is repugnant to the provisions of any existing or future Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or to any order, rule or regulation made under any such Act, and the powers of the Parliament of the State shall include the power to repeal or amend any such Act, order, rule or regulation in so far as the same is part of the law of the State.
(2) Sub-section (1) of this section does not affect the continued operation of section 3 of the Colonial Laws Validity Act in so far as that section has the effect that a law of the State is not to be or to be deemed to have been void or inoperative on the ground of repugnancy to the law of England other than repugnancy of the kind referred to in sub-section (1) of this section.
(3) Sub-section (1) of this section does not operate so as to give any force or effect to—
(a) a provision of an Act of the Parliament of the State that would abrogate or affect the operation of section 5 of the Colonial Laws Validity Act in so far as that section requires an Act of the Parliament of the State respecting the constitution, powers or procedure of that Parliament to be passed in such manner and form as may from time to time be required by any Act of that Parliament for the time being in force in the State; or
Sch.
(b) a provision of an Act of the Parliament of the State that would repeal or amend, or be repugnant to, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the Constitution of the Commonwealth or the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Statute of Westminster, 1931.
ENDNOTES
Endnotes
General Information
The Constitutional Powers (Request) Act 1980 was assented to on 20 May 1980 and came into operation on 20 May 1980: section 1(2).
Table of Amendments
Endnotes
There are no amendments made to the Constitutional Powers (Request) Act 1980 by Acts and subordinate instruments.