LAWS50024 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Australia Act 1986, Determinative, United Nations Human Rights Committee
26 Jul 2018
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Acquisition of australian territory through settlement (legal fiction of terra nullius), which implies plain slate and there are no existing laws. Mabo overturned this, where it dealt with property law- re-conception of existing laws and how they would continue to apply. 1901-1986: treaty of versailles, balfour declaration, statute of westminster, australia acts. Constitution/s: developed at federation and not disrupted by any other statutes. People being the authority of the constitution affirmed in high court jurisprudence: authority of the constitution resides in the people of australia. Constituted federation: states and commonwealth tier of government; set out major powers of the. Commonwealth system, set out relations between states and territories in s 51. Derived its authority from subservience to the uk parliament but as the uk parliament no longer has authority in australia, it is now authority of the people. S 128: requires referendum (majority of the population, majority in states, territories only count as national vote & 2/3 majority in parliament)
