Dear Mr H
I refer to your correspondence of 27 October 2019 sent to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) (as set out below) – our reference FOI/2019/316.
Validity
This email is to advise that your request below, in its current form, does not constitute a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
If you would like assistance to make a valid FOI request, please feel free to contact the Department by return email at [email address]
or telephone 02 6271 5849.
Briefly, section 15 of the FOI Act requires that a request for access to documents under the FOI Act meets certain requirements. These requirements are:
- It must be in writing;
- It must state it is a request for the purposes of the FOI Act;
- It must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify the document/s being sought.
Background information
We consulted the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) on your email below. AGD provided the following general and background comments only, which may be of interest to you:
The Australia Act was enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament at the request of the Australian States in accordance with section 51(xxxviii) of the
Constitution, which provides that the Commonwealth has legislative power with respect to:
the exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all States directly concerned, of any power
which can at the establishment of this Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of Australasia.
The Australia Act 1986 was enacted in virtually identical terms by the United Kingdom Parliament. As the long title of the Act indicates, it
brought certain arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a fully independent, federal nation. Section 1, in particular, confirmed that the United Kingdom Parliament no longer
had power to make laws for Australia. The High Court has treated the Australia Act as enacted by the Commonwealth parliament as valid and effective (see, for example, Attorney-General (WA) v Marquet (2003) 217 CLR 545 at [66]-[67]).
If you are seeking legal advice, this is something the Department is not in a position to provide to you and thus you may wish to seek independent legal advice on this matter if you continue to
have questions. The Department will take no further action in relation to this enquiry.
Regards,
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5849
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris H <foi+[email address]>
Sent: Sunday, 27 October 2019 8:47 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Validity of the Australia Act introduced in 1986
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I would like to request any information on how and why the Australia Act 1986 is valid and legal because there are some fundamental issues. Some of these issues include:
* The Australia Act 1986 has no head of power. The Head of Power under 'The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900' is the Crown of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
* The Australia Act 1986 was enacted by the "Parliament of Australia" which is not recognised as a legislator under section 1 of 'The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900'.
* The Australia Act 1986 was an attempt to equalise powers exclusive to the Federal Government to that of the States by allowing the States to put aside any obligations to the inherited laws of
England and obligations to the Federal Government, this attempt was put to the people in question 2 of the 1984 Federal Referendum and failed.
Therefore, I would like to know why the Australia Act 1986 has been introduced and is still in place today. If there are no arguments that prove the fundamental issues above are wrong, then I
strongly suggest you repeal the Australia Act 1986.
Yours faithfully,
Anonymous
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