The Australian Constitution’s main role is to:
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Section 109
This section is listed in the Study Design so you MUST know it. Under this section, any conflict between the Commonwealth and state legislation dealing with concurrent matters will result in the Commonwealth legislation overriding the state legislation to the extent necessary to remedy the inconsistency. "If there is an inconsistency between State and Commonwealth law-making, then the latter will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency" Examples include taxation (s.51(ii)) and marriage (s.51(xxi)). So while both Commonwealth Parliament and Victorian Parliament have the right to make laws on marriage, the Commonwealth law prevails over state law and can render it invalid |
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Restriction of Law making powers |
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