Chapter 10.5

Question 1

when the original colonies with law-making powers agreed to federate as states they:

Answer 1

• kept some of their powers (residual powers)
• shared some of their powers with the commonwealth (concurrent powers)
• handed some of their powers to the commonwealth entirely (exclusive powers)

Question 2

Law making powers

Answer 2

Law-making powers are powers or authority given to parliament to make laws in certain areas. Those
powers are exercisable by parliament, which is the supreme law-making body in Australia. This means
parliament has the ultimate authority to make laws and can change laws whenever it wants to, so long as
it is acting within its powers.

Question 3

Australian constitution divides the law making powers into:

Answer 3

• residual powers – law-making powers that were left with the states. The Commonwealth
  Parliament generally has no authority to make laws in these areas
• exclusive powers – law-making powers that are held only by the Commonwealth Parliament, and
  only that parliament can create laws in these areas (the states cannot create law in those areas)
• concurrent powers – law-making powers that are shared by the Commonwealth and the
  state parliaments

Question 4

residual powers

Answer 4

Residual powers are law-making powers left with the states at the time of Federation. They are
not listed in the Australian Constitution. Before the Federation of Australia and the forming of the
Commonwealth Parliament, the states, as separate colonies, had power to make laws on all areas that affected their colony. At the time of Federation, some powers were given to the Commonwealth
Parliament, but many powers were left with the states.
section 106, 107 and 108 of the aus constituion protect residual powers

Question 5

examples of residual powers

Answer 5

• criminal law
• education
• road laws

Question 6

Section 106 saving of constitutions

Answer 6

Section 106 of the Australian Constitution preserves the constitutions of the states. It means that the existing state constitutions continue to operate as they were before the establishment of the Commonwealth, subject to the Australian Constitution

Question 7

Section 107 Saving of Power of State Parliaments

Answer 7

Section 107 of the Australian Constitution preserves the powers of the states. It ensures that all powers of the state parliaments, which were in existence before the establishment of the Commonwealth, continue to operate unless they are exclusively vested in the Commonwealth Parliament or withdrawn from the state parliaments.

Question 8

Section 108 Saving of State laws

Answer 8

Section 108 of the Australian Constitution ensures the continuation of existing state laws after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Question 9

exclusive powers

Answer 9

Most of the law-making powers of the Commonwealth Parliament are set out in section 51 of
the Australian Constitution and are referred to as ‘heads of power’. and section 52 These key powers of the
Commonwealth are either exclusive powers or concurrent powers.
An exclusive power is a power which can only be exercised (that is, exclusively or solely) by the
Commonwealth Parliament. This means that only the Commonwealth Parliament can make laws in
these areas. Examples of exclusive powers include:
* defence (the Australian Defence Force including the army, navy and air force)
* currency (printing and coining money)
* customs and border protection (immigration, controls on imports and exports, and border
security).
section 52 of the australian constitution containes a small list of powers that are exclusive powers

Question 10

examples of exclusive powers

Answer 10

• immigration
• defence
• customs

Question 11

Section 52 Exclusive powers of the Parliament

Answer 11

Section 52 of the Australian Constitution outlines the exclusive powers of the Commonwealth Parliament. These are specific areas where only the Commonwealth, and not the state parliaments, has the authority to legislate.

Question 12

commonwealth territories

Answer 12

Sections 111 and 122 give exclusive power to the Commonwealth with respect to Commonwealth
territories (e.g. the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory).

Question 13

concurrent powers

Answer 13

Concurrent powers are law-making powers that both the
Commonwealth and the state parliaments share. Many of
the powers given to the Commonwealth Parliament in the
Australian Constitution are concurrent powers. In fact, all
those powers that are not exclusive to the Commonwealth
Parliament are concurrent powers

Question 14

examples of concurrent powers

Answer 14

• trade – both the Commonwealth and the states can
  make law with regard to trade. Under the Constitution, no
  unreasonable limitations can be made by any parliament,
  Commonwealth or state, on freedom of trade between states
• taxation – the power to make laws about taxation is given to
  the Commonwealth Parliament but state parliaments can also
  make laws about taxes. Commonwealth taxes include income tax and GST (goods and services
  tax). State taxes include stamp duty and payroll tax
• marriage and divorce – both the Commonwealth Parliament and state parliaments have the
  power to make laws on marriage and divorce
• postal, telegraphic, telephonic and similar services – communication services may be
  legislated on by both the Commonwealth and the state parliaments.