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Petar Zivkovic published this page 2020-12-07 08:56:00 +1100
FAQ
- What does Nationhood mean?
- How did the Australian Constitution come about?
- What is meant by Federation?
- What is the Westminster System?
- What Is meant by the word 'Crown'?
- What Is meant by the word 'Sovereignty'?
- What Are the Australian Symbols ?
- Why did the British parliament have to legislate on our Constitution?
- What part did the United States of America play in our Constitution?
- Why is our governance different from the United States of America?
- Why do we have a King?
- Why is the King represented by a Governor-General?
- Why are some people seeking to remove the monarchy?
- Why is a referendum required to change the Australian Constitution?
- Is the King an Australian Citizen?
- Do we pay the King a salary?
- If the Australian people decide to become a republic, can the King refuse?
- What Are the Commonwealth Realms?
- What is the Commonwealth?
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Petar Zivkovic published this page 2020-10-27 03:53:45 +1100
Our Constitution
In February 1890, leading representatives from the six Australian colonies and New Zealand (who are now referred to as our Founding Fathers) met at the Australasian federation Conference held in Melbourne and drafted the Australian Constitution. This document is based on the British Westminster system, but also incorporates provisions from the constitutions of the United States, Canada and Switzerland. The Australian Constitution and has underpinned our culture and enabled us to enjoy the freedoms we have, while also continuing to protect the democracy our country for the past 120 years.
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Petar Zivkovic commented 2020-07-19 14:02:32 +1000
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Coat of Arms
The Australian Commonwealth ‘Coat of Arms’ was granted by George V in 1912 and is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth and its monarch. It serves as a sign of identity and authority. The Arms are used by Australian government departments and agencies, statutory and non-statutory bodies, Parliament and State and Commonwealth courts and tribunals to show the Authority of the Commonwealth and its Sovereign in whose name government and the law is carried out.
The 'shield' (sometimes called ‘escutcheon’) consists of six distinctive designs or ‘badges’ representing each of the six States and arranged in six ‘quarters’ all surrounded by a border of ermine. The border symbolises the bringing together of the States into a Commonwealth. The design is heraldic.
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The Sovereign's Flag
Here is the flag in the ratio 1:2
The Sovereign uses the Australian Coat of Arms as the base for her own personal Australian flag which is flown, usually as a "Standard" (ratio 22:31), wherever she may be at a particular moment in Australia or when representing Australia abroad.
The crowned "E" set within the seven pointed star used on the national flag brings together both symbols - the Commonwealth and the national flag and the ermine border symbolises the joining together of the States into a Commonwealth. The design of the flag is heraldic.
Queen Elizabeth II's Australian Standard in use
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The State Governors
Each State has a Governor who is from that State and who is appointed by the King on the advice of the State Premier. Their roles are broadly similar to those of the Governor-General but they act entirely independently within their State.
Here are the names of the States with their Governors’ badges and the URLs of their respective websites.
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The Crown
THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST RECOGNISED SYMBOL OF MONARCHY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
Crowns come in various sizes and shapes but the one which we in Australia are connected with is the ‘double arched crown’ i.e. two cross-over pieces which meet at the apex and which symbolises unity and sovereignty. Only the Sovereign or the representative of the Sovereign can use an image of the double arched crown. The Heir-Apparent uses a single arched crown.
Representations of the crown in the Governors’ and Governor-General’s case are always of St Edward’s Crown as this is the crown with which the Sovereign is crowned during the coronation.
The picture to the left shows St Edward's Crown. It was made in 1660 for the coronation of Charles II. The older mediaeval version was sold and broken up during the interregnum but it is believed that fragments were rescued and in due course incorporated into the version we have today. As an aside it is ironic that Cromwell ensured that the symbol of the crown be used in the coat of arms of the protectorate thus ensuring that the crown continuously remained a uniting symbol from its earliest days.
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The Flag
The Australian Flag was first flown at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne on 3rd September 1901, in the presence of the first Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Edmund Barton and Lady Hopetoun, wife of our first Governor-General.
The centenary of the Flag’s inauguration was commemorated on 3 September 2001 and involved a re-enactment of the original flag raising ceremony by then Prime Minister John Howard OM AC at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne.ON WHAT OFFICIAL OCCASIONS, OTHER THAN NATIONAL FLAG DAY, DO WE FLY THE AUSTRALIAN FLAG?
- 1 January - Anniversary of establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia (1901).
- 26 January - Australia Day-Anniversary of First Fleet arrival, Sydney Cove.
- Second Monday in March - Commonwealth of Nations Day.
- 25 April - Anzac Day – flags flown at half mast till noon, then at the peak for the remainder of the day.
- Second Monday in June - King's Birthday is celebrated (Except in W.A. & Queensland where it is held in October).
- 11 November - Remembrance Day – Flags flown at peak till 10:30 am, at half mast from 10:30am to 11:03am, then at peak the remainder of the day.
The flag can be flown on any day but its use is particularly encouraged on State and Commonwealth special days.
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For Schools
EXPLAINING AUSTRALIA’S CONSTITUTION
THIS IS A SET OF SIX PAPERS OUTLINING HOW AUSTRALIA WAS SETTLED AND HOW OUR CONSTITUTION CAME ABOUT.
Each paper can be individually downloaded and has a number of questions at the end.
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The Role of the Governor-General
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S DUTIES ARE MANY AND VARIED, BUT FALL ROUGHLY INTO THREE CATEGORIES: CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY DUTIES, FORMAL CEREMONIAL DUTIES, AND NON-CEREMONIAL SOCIAL DUTIES.
Constitutional and statutory duties
These derive firstly from the Constitution, and in particular, its first two sections. Section 1 provides that "The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of The Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives,...", and Section 2 provides that "A Governor-General appointed by The Queen shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during The Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of The Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him."
The Constitution also makes other provisions about the office of Governor-General. It provides that the Executive power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the King and exercisable by the Governor-General as the King's representative. It provides for the Governor-General to appoint a Federal Executive Council to advise him/her in the government of the Commonwealth, to establish departments of State and to appoint Ministers of State to administer them, to summon, prorogue and dissolve Parliament, to give Royal assent in the King's name to a Bill which has been passed by both Houses of the Parliament, to exercise the command-in-chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth, to name but a few matters.
The Constitution sets out many other powers for the Governor-General to exercise as part of our machinery of government, but by far the majority of his powers and duties are imposed upon him by statute, that is, by Acts of the Australian Parliament. Virtually every Act empowers the Governor-General to perform some executive function - to issue proclamations, to make and terminate appointments to public office, to issue regulations - but always acting on the advice of his Ministers in the Executive Council.
It is in the nature of the Governor-General's office that he acts on the advice of his Ministers but, as Sir Paul Hasluck (G-G 30/4/69-10/7/74) put it in his 1972 William Queale Memorial lecture,
"... he is under no compulsion to accept it unquestioningly. He has a responsibility for seeing that the system works as required by the law and conventions of the Constitution but he does not try to do the work of Ministers. For him to take part in political argument would be both overlapping the boundaries of his office and lessening his own influence. He can himself question a conclusion, seek to know the reasons for it, draw attention to relevant considerations to ensure they are taken into account, and satisfy himself that the proposal does express the single mind of his advisers, but he himself, while influencing the outcome of discussion in this way, needs to be careful not to be an advocate of any partisan cause. In doing this he has two dominant interests - ... the stability of government (no matter from which political party it is drawn) and regard for the total and non-partisan overall interests of the people and the nation."
There is also a constitutional provision which places the command-in-chief of the armed forces with the Governor-General. These days the exercise of that power is qualified by a number of statutes of the Commonwealth Parliament and by regulations made under them. In their day-to-day administration and operation the services are under the command of the Chief of the Defence Force and his subordinate officers. The placing of the command-in-chief with the Governor-General ensures that, in the final analysis, ultimate control of the armed forces remains with and will be exercised by the civil power, the Government of the day and the Governor-General acting with the advice of his Ministers.
It would be very easy to conclude that a Governor-General who is required to act on the advice of his Ministers has no power at all, or that Ministers whose advice has to be taken have no restraints placed on their use of executive power, but to do so would be to miss the whole point. For their part, Ministers are not able to carry into effect on their own all of the executive powers conferred by the Acts of Parliament which they administer, but rather they must seek the approval of their fellow Executive Councillors and the Governor-General. So far as the Governor-General is concerned, the question is not at all how much power does he himself have or exercise, but rather how much absolute power does his presence in the machinery of government deny to others who must first seek to advise and persuade him.
For the vast majority of his fellow Australians, their contact with the Governor-General is through his public duties - both ceremonial and non-ceremonial.
Formal ceremonial duties
The Governor-General's ceremonial duties themselves derive from his relationship to the Parliament and the Government. To mark the opening of a new Parliament the Governor-General delivers the speech from the throne, in which the Government sets out its legislative programme. He administers oaths of office to Prime Ministers and Ministers, to Administrators of Territories of the Commonwealth, to judges of Federal Courts, and to the Auditor-General. He receives the credentials of foreign Ambassadors and the High Commissioners of Republics within the Commonwealth. He holds investitures at Government House and elsewhere, and invests recipients of honours and awards with their insignia. He attends Anzac Day and Remembrance Day commemorative services and leads the nation in its tributes to its war dead. He is the reviewing officer at many military parades, at which he presents commissions and prizes to graduating officers, or new colours and banners to regiments and other units of the armed services. He receives and entertains visiting heads of state in accordance with the accepted standards of international diplomacy and protocol.
In carrying out all of these acts of state ceremonial, whether at Government House or in public the Governor-General is fulfilling his duties as Australia's constitutional Head of State, in the absence of the King who is the Head of State.
Non-ceremonial social duties
The most time and energy-consuming aspects of the Governor-General's responsibilities are his non-ceremonial public duties. These, too, may be discharged at Government House or anywhere else within the Commonwealth, for the Governor-General's jurisdiction extends over the whole of Australia and its Territories. These duties include opening conferences on behalf of national and international organisations; attending meetings of national and international societies and institutions; attending major public gatherings such as exhibitions, agricultural shows and sports meetings; attending academic occasions, meetings of learned societies and professional institutes, and presentations of major awards; attending functions as patron or principal office-bearer of the organisation concerned; official visits to a region, an area, a locality, or to see a particular industry at work.
Despite the range and variety of the organisations and their functions, the intention of the Governor-General in accepting many invitations is generally the same - to acknowledge the standing and the worth of the host organisation or institution in the community and the value of its contribution to the well-being of our society, to encourage by his presence and by his interest the continuation of those activities, and to meet his fellow Australians wherever they may live or work.
Finally, by receiving the many hundreds of callers at his two official residences and, by extending hospitality as hosts to the many thousands of guests at functions held at Government House and Admiralty House, the Governor-General acknowledges and encourages the contribution made by individual Australians to our national life.
For more information see: www.gg.gov.au
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The Governor-General
His Excellency General the Honourable David John Hurley AC DSC (Retd)
Following appointment by the King, our sovereign head of state, the Governor-General, always an Australian, assumes that role as our effective head of state and Commander in Chief. Our system is different from most others. We have a Head of Government in the Prime Minister who exercises administrative control and a Governor-General who is more like a benevolent Trustee, well above politics.
Read about:
The Role Of The Governor-General
The Biography of the Governor-General -
The Sovereign
Her Majesty the Queen ascended the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. She is the elder daughter of HM King George VI. As Queen she is Sovereign of Australia and all government, justice and national defence is carried out in her name. An oath of allegiance to the Queen is a fundamental criterion of membership in the Australian body politic. She stands above all political matters. Although the Queen is usually resident in the UK, her presence wherever it may be, ensures that the machinations of overbearing politicians are ultimately kept in check as she remains the ultimate check on procedural correctness.Governor-General
The Sovereign is represented throughout Australia by the Governor-General (see separate section) who is appointed by her on the advice of her Prime Minister and in each state she is represented by a Governor who is again appointed by her on the advice of her State Premier. All Governors and Governors-General are Australian citizens. Whilst in office the Governor-General is in effect the head of state and performs all national regal functions in the absence of the monarch. The Queen is kept abreast of affairs by her Governor-General. Only the Queen can remove a Governor or Governor-General from his post.
Royal Assent
The Governor-General may reserve a parliamentary bill "for the Queen's pleasure"; that is withhold his consent to the bill and present it to the sovereign for her personal decision. Under the constitution, the Sovereign also has the power to disallow a bill within one year of the Governor-General having granted Royal Assent.This power, however, has never been used nor would be as the Queen always accepts the advice of her ministers but it might be suggested that Royal Prerogatives exist as warnings to those who might prefer to ignore or deviously subvert the checks and balances our system of governance has in place to protect us.
The Queen as a Person
Although she is often physically distant, close contact with Australia and Australians is maintained either through vice-regal briefings and government communiques or from individual Australians writing to her or those who are fortunate enough to meet her in person. Her visits to Australia have over the years given her a comprehensive understanding of the country.
The Queen is a practising Christian and, since the Church of England is Britain's established religion, by law she is required to be the Supreme Governor of that Church. However, Australia has no established religion and the monarch plays no formal part in the Anglican Church of Australia. -
Our Monarchical Symbols
SYMBOLS ARE VERY OFTEN OBJECTS OR DESIGNS OR PHOTOGRAPHS AND CONSCIOUSLY AND UNCONSCIOUSLY PLAY A PART IN REPRESENTING SOMETHING WHICH IS USUALLY FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN THE SYMBOL ITSELF.
Each nation has its symbols and the best known is often the flag of the country itself but there are many others. In the case of our monarchy some of the best known are the crown, the profile image of the monarch (e.g. on the $5 note), the King's personal coat of Arms, the orb and sceptre and sword of state, the mace used in parliament. The list is a long one but each item used in a particular place or instance symbolises the authority of the monarch within that field e.g. in parliament, in law courts, in council chambers, on Commonwealth government stationery etc.
You can explore other symbols relating to the monarchy by referring to the side menu on this page. -
Australia’s System of Governance
Australia is an hereditary constitutional monarchy with its sovereignty invested in the person of the reigning sovereign and is entirely independent and self-governing. Its system of parliamentary government, modelled on that of the United Kingdom, is comprehensively integrated within the Australian constitution.
The Sovereign, King Charles III, is represented in Australia by the Governor-General who is appointed by His on the advice of the Commonwealth Government Prime Minister. In each State there is a Governor who is similarly appointed by the monarch but on the advice of the State Government Premier. Only the Sovereign can appoint or dismiss His representatives.
Day to day government is carried out at Commonwealth level through the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). The leader of the democratically elected major political party is the Prime Minister. The Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition represents the main opposition. Parliamentary arrangements in the States varies but the same principles apply i.e. there is a governing party and an opposition party and also representatives of other political groups who have been elected.
All parliamentary or judicial business, at State or Commonwealth level is carried out in the Sovereign’s name. The system of constitutional (parliamentary) monarchy is always carried out in such a manner as this ensures that no political group can ever grasp absolute power. Politicians must take an Oath of Allegiance to the Sovereign and by so doing the politicians are confronted by the fact that there is a higher authority and that authority is in fact the people represented by the Sovereign. The very fact of the Sovereign’s existence - no matter where He may be - is guarantee of good order and governance.
The Sovereign embodies the sovereignty of the nation and delegates the day to day functioning of this to her representative the Governor-General. The Sovereign represents every Australian citizen regardless and by ensuring that government, justice and law are all carried out in His name, His existence ensures the continuance of government for the people and ultimately by the people through the legal requirement to hold regular elections.
The King is also Sovereign of other Realms and it is important to realise though that each is entirely separate from the other. The King as Sovereign in Australia is not legally the same person as the King in Canada nor is he in his role as King of the United Kingdom.
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Australia Act (1986)
Having been a country comprising six colonies, all of which were once administered by the British, there were obviously a number of laws that needed to be ‘Australianised’. The process of amending these laws came to an end with the Australia Acts of 1986 with appeals from state governments to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom being disallowed. Appeals from Commonwealth courts had earlier been disallowed in 1975.
See video of signing at end.THE AUSTRALIA ACT (1986)
An Act published simultaneously by the Australian and UK parliaments with the wordings of each Act being broadly similar. The effect of the Acts was to eliminate any possibility of the UK having any legal influence over Australia and to disallow appeals to any British court. The Act ensured that Australia became entirely independent of the UK and a sovereign nation in its own right.
This Act (passed simultaneously in the UK parliament) ended any uncertainty as to the UK’s possible involvement in Australian legislation and for any appeals from an Australian court to one in the UK. In effect Australia became completely independent of the UK.
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
1. Termination of power of Parliament of United Kingdom to legislate for Australia
2. Legislative powers of Parliaments of States
3. Termination of restrictions on legislative powers of Parliaments of States
4. Powers of State Parliaments in relation to merchant shipping
5. Commonwealth Constitution, Constitution Act and Statute of Westminster not affected
6. Manner and form of making certain State laws
7. Powers and functions of Her Majesty and Governors in respect of States
8. State laws not subject to disallowance or suspension of operation
9. State laws not subject to withholding of assent or reservation
10. Termination of responsibility of United Kingdom Government in relation to State matters
11. Termination of appeals to Her Majesty in Council
12. Amendment of Statute of Westminster
13. Amendment of Constitution Act of Queensland
14. Amendment of Constitution Act of Western Australia
15. Method of repeal or amendment of this Act or Statute of Westminster
16. Interpretation
17. Short title and commencementAustralia Act 1986 No. [142] of 1985
An Act to bring constitutional arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign, independent and federal nation
WHEREAS the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth and the Premiers of the States at conferences held in Canberra on 24 and 25 June 1982 and 21 June 1984 agreed on the taking of certain measures to bring constitutional arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign, independent and federal nation:
AND WHEREAS in pursuance of paragraph 51 (xxxviii) of the Constitution the Parliaments of all the States have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in the terms of this Act:
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:Termination of power of Parliament of United Kingdom to legislate for Australia
1. No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to the Commonwealth, to a State or to a Territory as part of the law of the Commonwealth, of the State or of the Territory.Legislative powers of Parliaments of States
2. (1) It is hereby declared and enacted that the legislative powers of the Parliament of each State include full power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of that State that have extra-territorial operation.
(2) It is hereby further declared and enacted that the legislative powers of the Parliament of each State include all legislative powers that the Parliament of the United Kingdom might have exercised before the commencement of this Act for the peace, order and good government of that State but nothing in this subsection confers on a State any capacity that the State did not have immediately before the commencement of this Act to engage in relations with countries outside Australia.Termination of restrictions on legislative powers of Parliaments of States
3. (1) The Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 shall not apply to any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a State.
(2) No law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a State shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England, or 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 a State shall include the power to repeal or amend any such Act, order, rule or regulation in so far as it is part of the law of the State.Powers of State Parliaments in relation to merchant shipping
4. Sections 735 and 736 of the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, in so far as they are partvof the law of a State, are hereby repealed.Commonwealth Constitution, Constitution Act and Statute of Westminster not affected
5. Sections 2 and 3 (2) above-
(a) are subject to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act and to the Constitution of the Commonwealth; and
(b) do not operate so as to give any force or effect to a provision of an Act of the Parliament of a State that would repeal, amend or be repugnant to this Act, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the Constitution of the Commonwealth or the Statute of Westminster 1931 as amended and in force from time to time.Manner and form of making certain State laws
6. Notwithstanding sections 2 and 3 (2) above, a law made after the
commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a State respecting the constitution, powers or procedure of the Parliament of the State shall be of no force or effect unless it is made in such manner and form as may from time to time be required by a law made by that Parliament, whether made before or after the commencement of this Act.Powers and functions of Her Majesty and Governors in respect of States
7. (1) Her Majesty’s representative in each State shall be the Governor.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) below, all powers and functions of Her Majesty in respect of a State are exercisable only by the Governor of the State.
(3) Subsection (2) above does not apply in relation to the power to appoint, and the power to terminate the appointment of, the Governor of a State.
(4) While Her Majesty is personally present in a State, Her Majesty is not precluded from exercising any of Her powers and functions in respect of the State that are the subject of subsection (2) above.
(5) The advice to Her Majesty in relation to the exercise of the powers and functions of Her Majesty in respect of a State shall be tendered by the Premier of the State.State laws not subject to disallowance or suspension of operation
8. An Act of the Parliament of a State that has been assented to by the Governor of the State shall not, after the commencement of this Act, be subject to disallowance by Her Majesty, nor shall its operation be suspended pending the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereon.State laws not subject to withholding of assent or reservation
9. (1) No law or instrument shall be of any force or effect in so far as it purports to require the Governor of a State to withhold assent from any Bill for an Act of the State that has been passed in such manner and form as may from time to time be required by a law made by the Parliament of the State.
(2) No law or instrument shall be of any force or effect in so far as it purports to require the reservation of any Bill for an Act of a State for the
signification of Her Majesty’ s pleasure thereon.Termination of responsibility of United Kingdom Government in relation to State matters
10. After the commencement of this Act Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom shall have no responsibility for the government of any State.Termination of appeals to Her Majesty in Council
11. (1) Subject to subsection (4) below, no appeal to Her Majesty in Council lies or shall be brought, whether by leave or special leave of any court or of Her Majesty in Council or otherwise, and whether by virtue of any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Royal Prerogative or otherwise, from or in respect of any decision of an Australian court.
(2) Subject to subsection (4) below-
(a) the enactments specified in subsection (3) below and any orders, rules, regulations or other instruments made under, or for the purposes of, those enactments; and
(b) any other provisions of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in force immediately before the commencement of this Act that make provision for or in relation to appeals to Her Majesty in Council from
or in respect of decisions of courts, and any orders, rules, regulations or
other instruments made under, or for the purposes of, any such provisions, in so far as they are part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory, are hereby repealed.
(3) The enactments referred to in subsection (2) (a) above are the following Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or provisions of such Acts:
The Australian Courts Act 1828, section 15
The Judicial Committee Act 1833
The Judicial Committee Act 1844 20 The Australian Constitutions Act 1850, section 28
The Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890, section 6.
4. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section-
(a) affects an appeal instituted before the commencement of this Act to Her Majesty in Council from or in respect of a decision of an Australian court; or
(b) precludes the institution after that commencement of an appeal to Her Majesty in Council from or in respect of such a decision where the appeal is instituted-
(i) pursuant to leave granted by an Australian court on an application made before that commencement; or
(ii) pursuant to special leave granted by Her Majesty in Council on a petition presented before that commencement,
but this subsection shall not be construed as permitting or enabling an appeal to Her Majesty in Council to be instituted or continued that could not have been 35 instituted or continued if this section had not been enacted.Amendment of Statute of Westminster
12. Sections 4, 9 (2) and (3) and 10 (2) of the Statute of Westminster
1931, in so far as they are part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory, are hereby repealed.Amendment of Constitution Act of Queensland
13. (1) The Constitution Act 1867-1978 of the State of Queensland is in this section referred to as the Principal Act.
(2) Section 11A of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3)-
(a) by omitting from paragraph (a)-
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii)"constituted under Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom"; and
(b) by omitting from paragraph (b)-
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "whenever and so long as the office of Governor is vacant or the Governor is incapable of discharging the duties of administration or has departed from Queensland".
(3) Section 11B of the Principal Act is amended-
(4) (a) by omitting "Governor to conform to instructions" and substituting "Definition of Royal Sign Manual";
(b) by omitting subsection (1); and
(c) by omitting from subsection (2)-
(i) "(2)";
(ii) "this section and in"; and
(iii) "and the expression ‘Signet’ means the seal commonly used for the sign manual of the Sovereign or the seal with which documents are sealed by the Secretary of State in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Sovereign".
(4) Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by omitting,"subject to his performing his duty prescribed by section 11B,".Amendment of Constitution Act of Western Australia
(14). (1) The Constitution Act 1889 of the State of Western Australia is in this section referred to as the Principal Act.
(2) Section 50 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3)- (a) by omitting from paragraph (a)-
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "constituted under Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom";
(b) by omitting from paragraph (b)-
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) (ii) "whenever and so long as the office of Governor is vacant or the Governor is incapable of discharging the duties of administration or has departed from Western Australia"; and
(c) by omitting from paragraph (c)-
(i) "under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom"; and
(ii) "during a temporary absence of the Governor for a short period from the seat of Government or from the State".(3) Section 51 of the Principal Act is amended-
(a) by omitting subsection (1); and
(b) by omitting from subsection (2)-
(i) "(2)";
(ii) "this section and in"; and
(iii) "and the expression ‘Signet’ means the seal commonly used for the sign manual of the Sovereign or the seal with which documents are sealed by the Secretary of State in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Sovereign".Method of repeal or amendment of this Act or Statute of Westminster
15. (1) This Act or the Statute of Westminster 1931, as amended and in
force from time to time, in so far as it is part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory, may be repealed or amended by an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth passed at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the States and, subject to subsection (3) 15 below, only in that manner.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, an Act of the Parliament of
the Commonwealth that is repugnant to this Act or the Statute of Westminster 1931, as amended and in force from time to time, or to any provision of this Act or of that Statute as so amended and in force, shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, be deemed an Act to repeal or amend the Act, Statute or provision to which it is repugnant.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) above limits or prevents the exercise by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of any powers that may be conferred upon that Parliament by any alteration to the Constitution of the Commonwealth made in accordance with section 128 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act.Interpretation
16. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-
"appeal" includes a petition of appeal, and a complaint in the nature of an appeal;
"appeal to Her Majesty in Council" includes any appeal to Her Majesty; "Australian court" means a court of a State or any other court of Australia or of a Territory other than the High Court;
"court" includes a judge, judicial officer or other person acting judicially; "decision" includes determination, judgment, decree, order or sentence; "Governor", in relation to a State, includes any person for the time being administering the government of the State;
"State" means a State of the Commonwealth and includes a new State;
"the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" means the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act;
"the Constitution of the Commonwealth" means the Constitution of the Commonwealth set forth in section 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, being that Constitution as altered and in force from time to time;
"the Statute of Westminster 1931" means the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Statute of Westminster 1931.
2 The expression "a law made by that Parliament" in section 6 above and the expression "a law made by the Parliament" in section 9 above include, in relation to the State of Western Australia, the Constitution Act 1889 of that State.
(3) A reference in this Act to the Parliament of a State includes, in relation to the State of New South Wales, a reference to the legislature of that State as constituted from time to time in accordance with the Constitution Act, 1902, or any other Act of that State, whether or not, in relation to any particular legislative act, the consent of the Legislative Council of that State is necessary.Short title and commencement
17. (1) This Act may be cited as the Australia Act 1986.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on a day and at a time to be fixed by Proclamation.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above is a fair print of the Australia Bill 1986 which originated in the House of Representatives and has been finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
[A.R. Browning]
Clerk of the House of Representatives
IN THE NAME OF HER MAJESTY, I assent to this Act.
[Sir Ninian Stephen]
Governor-General
[4] December 1985
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Royal Style & Titles Act (1973)
It was this act of the Australian parliament which created the Queen’s Australian title:
Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the CommonwealthAct No. 114 of 1973
This Act, currently in force, gives the Queen her specific Australian title.
This Act was prepared on 29 April 2002An Act relating to the Royal Style and Titles
WHEREAS, in accordance with the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953 [see Note 2], Her Majesty, by Proclamation dated 28th May, 1953, adopted, as the Royal Style and Titles to be used in relation to the Commonwealth of Australia and its Territories, the Style and Titles set forth in the Schedule to that Act:
AND WHEREAS the Government of Australia considers it desirable to propose to Her Majesty a change in the form of the Royal Style and Titles to be used in relation to Australia and its Territories:
AND WHEREAS the proposed new Style and Titles, being the Style and Titles set forth in the Schedule to this Act, retains the common element referred to in the preamble to the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953: [see Note 2]
BE IT THEREFORE enacted by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:1 Short title [see Note 1]
This Act may be cited as the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973.2 Assent to adoption of new Royal Style and Titles in relation to Australia
(1) The assent of the Parliament is hereby given to the adoption by Her Majesty, for use in relation to Australia and its Territories, in lieu of the Style and Titles set forth in the Schedule to the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953, [see Note 2] of the Style and Titles set forth in the Schedule to this Act, and to the issue for that purpose by Her Majesty of Her Royal Proclamation under such seal as Her Majesty by Warrant appoints.
(2) The Proclamation referred to in subsection (1) shall be published in the Gazette and shall have effect on the date upon which it is so published. [see Note 1]Schedule—Royal Style and Titles
Section 2
Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.Notes to the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973
Note 1
Act No. 114, 1973; assented to 19 October 1973 and commenced 19 October 1973 (see Gazette 1973, No. 152).Note 2
Preamble and s. 2(1)—The Royal Style and Titles Act 1953 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1973 (No. 216, 1973). -
Royal Style & Titles Act (1953)
This Act signified a change in the way that the Crown in the United Kingdom related to the Crown in other Commonwealth Realms. A similar Act was passed in the UK in March 1953 but the Act named above is purely Australian and announces the Queen’s Australian title as it was to be used until the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 No 114 - see elsewhere on this site.
No. [32] of 1953.
AN ACT
Relating to the Royal Style and Titles.
Assented to
[Elizabeth R] [April 3rd 1953.]WHEREAS it was recited in the preamble to the Statute of Westminster, 1931 that it would be in accord with the established constitutional position of all the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations in relation to one another that any alteration in the law touching the Royal Style and Titles should, after the enactment of that Act, "require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom" :
AND WHEREAS the Style and Titles appertaining to the Crown at the time of the enactment of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 had been declared by His then Majesty King George V. in a Proclamation in pursuance of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act, 1927 of the United Kingdom, and were, in consequence of the establishment of the Republic of India, subsequently altered with the assent as well of the Parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom :
AND WHEREAS it was agreed between the Prime Ministers and other representatives of Her Majesty’ s Governments in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon assembled in London in the month of December, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-two, that the Style and Titles at present appertaining to the Crown are not in accord with current constitutional relationships within the British Common- wealth and that there is a need for a new form which would, in particular, "reflect the special position of the Sovereign as Head of the Commonwealth" :
AND WHEREAS it was concluded by the Prime Ministers and other representatives that, in the present stage of development of the British Commonwealth relationship, it would be in accord with the established constitutional position that each member country should use for its own purposes a form of the Royal Style and Titles which suits its own particular circumstances but retains a substantial element which is common to all :
AND WHEREAS it was further agreed by the Prime Ministers and other representatives that the various forms of the Royal Style and Titles should, in addition to the appropriate territorial designation, have as their common element the description of the Sovereign as "Queen of Her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth" :AND WHEREAS it was further agreed by the Prime Ministers and other representatives that the procedure of prior consultation between all Governments of the British Commonwealth should be followed in future if occasion arose to propose a change in the form of the Royal Style and Titles used in any country of the British Commonwealth :
BE it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows :-
1. This Act may be cited as the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
3. In this Act, "the United Kingdom" means the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
4.-(1.) The assent of the Parliament is hereby given to the adoption by Her Majesty, for use in relation to the Commonwealth of Australia and its Territories, in lieu of the Style and Titles at present appertaining to the Crown, of the Style and Titles set forth in the Schedule to this Act, and to the issue for that purpose by Her Majesty of Her Royal Proclamation under such seal as Her Majesty by Warrant appoints.
(2.) The Proclamation referred to in the last preceding sub-section shall be published in the Gazette and shall have effect from the date upon which it is so published.
5. The assent of the Parliament is hereby given to the adoption by Her Majesty, for use in relation to Her other Realms and T erritories, in lieu of the Style and Titles at present appertaining to the Crown, of such Style and Titles as Her Majesty thinks fit, in accordance with the principles that were formulated by the Prime Ministers and other representatives of British Commonwealth countries assembled in London, as recited in the Preamble to this Act.THE SCHEDULE
The Royal Style and Titles.
Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Australia and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above is a fair print of the Bill intituled "An Act relating to the Royal Style and Titles", which has been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and that the said Bill originated in the House of Representatives.
[F C. Green]
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
In the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, I assent to this Act.
[JF]
[I reserve this Act for Her Majesty’s pleasure]
[W.J.McKell]
Governor-General.
[18th March] 1953.
_______________
By Authority : L. F. JOHNSTON, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra. -
Statute of Westminster (1931)
Detail from the cover of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth)An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of certain Commonwealth Legislation, to obviate Delays occurring in its Passage, and to effect certain related purposes, by adopting certain Sections of the Statute of Westminster, 1931, as from the Commencement of the War between His Majesty the King and Germany. (No. 56 of 1942)
It was this Act of the UK parliament which effectively made the former Dominions sovereign nations.
THE ACT1931 CHAPTER 4 22 and 23 Geo 5
[Passed on 11 December 1931, the act established legislative equality for the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom, thereby marking the effective legislative independence of these countries, either immediately or upon ratification. The Statute of Westminster's relevance today is that it sets the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth Realms and the Crown.]An Act to give effect to certain resolutions passed by Imperial Conferences held in the years 1926 and 1930
[Preamble]
Whereas the delegates to His Majesty's Governments in the United Kingdom, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland, at Imperial Conferences holden at Westminster in the years of our Lord nineteen hundred and twenty-six and nineteen hundred and thirty did concur in making the declarations and resolutions set forth in the Reports of the said Conference:And whereas it is meet and proper to set out by way of preamble to this Act that, inasmuch as the Crown is the symbol to the free association of the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and as they are united by a common allegiance to the Crown, it would be in accord with the established constitutional position of all the members of the Commonwealth in relation to one another that any alteration in the law touching the Succession to the Throne or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the assent as well of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the Parliament of the United Kingdom:
And whereas it is in accord with the established constitutional position that no law hereafter made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall extend to any of the said Dominions as part of the law of that Dominion otherwise than at the request and with the consent of that Dominion.
And whereas it is necessary for the ratifying, confirming and establishing of certain of the said declarations and resolutions of the said Conferences that a law be made and enacted in due form by authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom:
And whereas the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland have severally requested and consented to the submission of a measure to the Parliament of the United Kingdom for making such provision with regard to the matters aforesaid as is hereafter in this Act contained:
Now, therefore, be in enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Section 1 [Meaning of "Dominion" in this Act]
In this Act the expression "Dominion" means any of the following Dominions, that is to say, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland.Section 2 [Validity of laws made by Parliament of a Dominion]
(1) The Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, shall not apply to any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a Dominion. (2) No law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a Dominion shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England, or to the provisions of any existing or future Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, or to any order, rule, or regulation made under any such Act, and the powers of the Parliament of a Dominion 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 Dominion.Section 3 [Power of Parliament of Dominion to legislate extra-territorially]
It is hereby declared and enacted that the Parliament of a Dominion has full power to make laws having extra-territorial operation.Section 4 [Parliament of United Kingdom not to legislate for Dominion except by its consent]
No Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend or be deemed to extend, to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion, unless it is expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof.Section 5 [Powers of Dominion Parliaments in relation to merchant shipping]
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this Act, sections seven hundred and thirty-five and seven hundred and thirty-six of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall be construed as though reference therein to the Legislature of a British possession did not include reference to the Parliament of a Dominion.Section 6 [Powers of Dominion Parliaments in relation to Courts of Admiralty]
Without prejudice to a generality of the foregoing provisions of this Act, section four of the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890 (which requires certain laws to be reserved for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure or to contain a suspending clause), and so much of section seven of that Act as requires the approval of His Majesty in Council to any rules of Court for regulating the practice and procedure of a Colonial Court of Admiralty, shall cease to have effect in any Dominion as from the commencement of this Act.Section 7 [Saving for British North America Acts and applications of the Act to Canada]
(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to apply to the repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts, 1867 to 1930, or any order, rule or regulation made thereunder.
(2) The provisions of section two of this Act shall extend to laws made by any of the Provinces of Canada and to the powers of the legislatures of such Provinces.
(3) The powers conferred by this Act upon the Parliament of Canada or upon the legislatures of the Provinces shall be restricted to the enactment of laws in the relation to matters within the competence of the Parliament of Canada or of any of the legislatures of the Provinces respectively.Section 8 [Saving for Constitution Acts of Australia and New Zealand]
Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to confer any power to repeal or alter the Constitution or the Constitution Act of the Commonwealth of Australia or the Constitution Act of the Dominion of New Zealand otherwise than in accordance with the law existing before the commencement of this Act.Section 9 [Saving with respect to States of Australia]
(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to authorize the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia to make laws on any matter within the authority of the States of Australia, not being a matter within the authority of the Parliament or Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to require the concurrence of the Parliament or Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, in any law made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom with respect to any matter within the authority of the States of Australia, not being a matter within the authority of the Parliament or Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, in any case where it would have been in accordance with the constitutional practice existing before the commencement of this Act that the Parliament of the United Kingdom should make that law without such concurrence.
(3) In the application of this Act to the Commonwealth of Australia the request and consent referred to in section four shall mean the request and consent of the Parliament and Government of the Commonwealth.Section 10 [Certain sections of Act not to apply to Australia, New Zealand or Newfoundland unless adopted]
(1) None of the following sections of this Act, that is to say, sections two, three, four, five and six, shall extend to a Dominion to which this section applies as part of the law of that Dominion unless that section is adopted by the Parliament of the Dominion, and any Act of that Parliament adopting any section of this Act may provide that the adoption shall have effect either from the commencement of this Act or from such later date as is specified in the adopting Act.
(2) The Parliament of any such Dominion as aforesaid may at any time revoke the adoption of any section referred to in subsection (1) of this section.
(3) The Dominions to which this section applies are the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand and Newfoundland.Section 11 [Meaning of "Colony" in future Acts]
Notwithstanding anything in the Interpretation Act, 1889, the expression "Colony" shall not, in any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act, include a Dominion or any Province or State forming a part of a Dominion.Section 12 [Short title]
This Act may be cited as the Statute of Westminster, 1931.
Canadian cartoon following the Statute of Westminster
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Governor Phillip’s Instructions (1787)
The facts surrounding the settlement of Australia often become obscured by political rhetoric and so it is important to know that George III and his advisers and in particular those responsible for carrying out the initial voyage were given strict instructions to treat the original inhabitants with humanity and understanding.
[These draft instructions form the first official wording related to the settling and development of Australia. They are held in the Public Records Office in the UK and have a number of emendations - shown in the text below with crossed through writing. The instructions, composed by Lord Sydney and agreed by King George III with the advice of the Privy Council, formed the basis of the running of the first settlement.]
THE INSTRUCTIONSInstructions for Our Trusty George R and well beloved Arthur Phillip Esq. Our Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over (LS.) Our Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, or to the Lieutenant Governor or Commander in Chief of the said Territory for the time being. Given at Our Court at St. James the 25th day of April 1787. In The Twenty Seventh year of Our Reign.
With these Our Instructions you will receive Our Commission under Our Great seal constituting and appointing you to be Our Captain General and Governor in Chief of Our Territory called New South Wales
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extending from the Northern Cape or Extremity of the Coast called Cape York in the Latitude of Ten Degrees thirty seven Minutes south, to the Southern Extremity of the said Territory of New South Wales, or South Cape, in the Latitude of Forty three Degrees Thirty nine Minutes south, and of all the Country Inland to the Westward as far as the One hundred and Thirty fifth Degree of East Longitude, reckoning from the Meridian of Greenwich including all the Islands adjacent in the Pacific - Ocean within the Latitudes aforesaid of 10 o 37' South, and 43o 39' South, and of all Towns, Garrisons, Castles, Forts, and all other Fortifications, or other Military Works which may be hereafter erected upon the said Territory, or any of the said Islands, with directions to obey such Orders and Instructions as shall from time to time be given to you under Our Signet and Sign Manual, or by Our Order in our Privy Council; You are therefore to fit Yourself with all convenient speed, and to
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hold yourself in readiness to repair to Your said Command, and being arrived, to take, upon the execution of the place and trust We have reposed in You, and as soon as conveniently may be with all due solemnity to cause our said Commission under our Great Seal of Great Britain constituting you Our Governor and Commander in chief as aforesaid, to be read and published. And whereas we have ordered that about 600 Male, and 180 Female Convicts now under sentence or order of Transportation whose names are contained in the List hereunto annexed,
Alexander
Scarborough
Lady Penrhyn
Friendship
Charlotte
Prince of Wales
Golden Grove
Fishburnshould be removed out the Gaols and other places of Confinement in this Our Kingdom, and be put on board of the several Transport Ships which have been taken up for their reception. It is our Royal Will and Pleasure that as soon as the said Convicts, the several persons composing the Civic Establishments, and the Stores, Provisions etc provided for their use shall be embarked on board the Supply Tender, and the Transport
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Ships named in the Margin, and be in readiness to depart, that you do take them under your protection and proceed in the Sirius with the said Tender and Transports to the Port on the Coast of New South Wales, situated in the Latitude of 33o41' called by the name of Botany Bay, agreeably to the Instructions with which you will be furnished by the Commissioner of Our Admiralty, in pursuance of our Royal Commands already signified to them. And Whereas it may happen upon your Passage to New South Wales that you may find it necessary and expedient to call with the Ships and Vessels under your Convoy, at the Island of Teneriffe, at the Rio di Janeiro, and also at the Cape of Good Hope, for Supplies of Water, and other Refreshments for the Voyage; It is Our further Will and Pleasure, that you do, upon your arrival at the former of, those places, take on board any of the ships of the Convoy which you may
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think proper, such quantities of Wine as may be requisite for the supply of the said settlement, according to the Instructions with which the Commissary of Stores and Provisions will be furnished by the Commissioners of Our Treasury, taking care that the Quantities purchased do not exceed the proportions to be issued to the several Persons composing the said settlements entitled thereto, agreeably to the said Instructions, for the time to which they have confined the Supply of that article; and for the Amount of such purchases, You will direct the Commissary to draw Bills of Exchange upon them properly certified by you, or Our Lieut: Governor of the said intended settlement, with the other usual attestations, that the same has been obtained at the most reasonable Rates, transmitting at the same time an account thereof to them in order that You may be released from any Imprest which
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such purchases might occasion. Notwithstanding there is already a considerable quantity of Corn and other seed Grain put onboard the Ships of the Convoy, most likely probably more than may be immediately necessary for raising supplies for the settlement; We are disposed to guard as much as possible against accidents which may happen, or Injuries which these articles might sustain during the Passage; It is therefore Our further Will and Pleasure, that you do upon your arrival at any of the Places you may have occasion to touch at, endeavour to obtain such further Quantities of Seed Grain as You may think requisite for the Tillage of the Land, at the place of your Destination; And also that You do take onboard any number of Black Cattle, Sheep, Goats or Hogs which you can procure, and the Ships of the Convoy can contain, in order to propagate the
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Breed of these Animals for the general Benefit of the intended settlement, causing the Commissary of Stores and Provisions to draw Bills for the same as in before directed for such Supplies, as well as for any Fresh Provisions which it may be requisite to procure for the use of the Marines or Convicts, at those places, and transmitting information to the Commissioners of Our Treasury such proceedings.
And Whereas it is intended that several of the Transport Ships and Victuallers which are to accompany you to New South Wales, should be employed in bringing home Cargoes of Tea, and other Merchandise, from China, for the use of our the East India Company; provided they can arrive at Canton , on or before the 1st of January 1788 in due time whereby a very considerable saving would arise to the Public in the Freight of these Vessels; It is Our Royal Will and Pleasure, that upon your arrival at Botany Bay, on the said Coast of New South Wales, You do cause every possible exertion to be
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made use of for disembarking the Officers and Men composing the Civil and Military Establishments, together with the Convicts, Stores, Provisions etc and having so done you are to discharge all the said Transports or Victuallers, in order that such of them as may be engaged by the East India Company may proceed to China, and that the rest may return home; You will however take care, before the said Transport Ships are discharged, to obtain an assignment to You or the Governor in chief for the time being, from the Masters of them, of the servitude of the several Convicts, for the remainder of the Times or Terms specified in their several sentences or Orders of Transportation.
According to the best Information which We have obtained, Botany Bay appears to be the most eligible situation upon the said Coast for the first Establishment, possessing a commodious Harbour and other Advantages which
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no part of the Coast hitherto discovered affords. It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you do immediately upon your landing after taking Measures for securing Yourself and the people who accompany you, as much as possible from any attacks or Interruptions of the Natives of that Country, as well as for the preservation and safety of the Public Stores, proceed to the Cultivation of the Land, distributing the Convicts for that purpose in such manner, and under such Inspectors or Overseers and under such Regulations as may appear to You to be necessary and best calculated for procuring Supplies of Grain and Ground Provisions. The Assortment of Tools and Utensils which have been provided for the use of the Convicts and other Persons who are to compose the intended settlement, are to be distributed according to Your discretion, and according to the employment, assigned to the several persons. In the Distribution however, you will use every
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proper degree of economy, be careful that the Commissary do transmit an Account of the Issues from time to time to the Commissioners of Our Treasury, to enable them to judge of the propriety or expediency of granting farther supplies. The Clothing of the Convicts and the Provisions issued to them, and the Civil and Military Establishments must be accounted for in the same manner. And Whereas the Commissioners of Our Admiralty have appointed Capt. Hunter to repair on board the Sirius to assist you in the execution of Your Duty, and to take the Command of the Ship whenever you may see occasion to detach her from the Settlement, and also to station the supply Tender under Your Orders, and to be assisting to You upon occasional services after your arrival. And whereas it is Our Royal Intention that Measures should be taken in addition to those which are specified in the Article of these Our Instructions, for
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obtaining Supplies of Live Stock, and having in consequence of such Intention, caused a Quantity of Arms and other Articles of Merchandise to be provided, and sent out in the Ships under your Convoy, in order to barter with the Natives either on the Territory of New South Wales, or the Islands adjacent in those Seas, who found their ignorance of the value of .........for such Articles; It is our Will and Pleasure that as soon as either of these Vessels can be spared with safety from the Settlements that you do detach one or both of them for that purpose, confining their Intercourse as much as possible to such parts as are not in the possession or under the Jurisdiction of other European Powers; The Increase of the Stock of Animals, must depend entirely upon the measures you may adopt on the outset for their preservation, and as the settlement with be amply supplied with vegetable production and most likely with Fish, Fresh Provisions, excepting for the Sick and Convalescents, may in a great
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degree be dispensed with; For these Reasons it will become you to be extremely cautious in permitting any Cattle, Sheep Hogs etc intended for propagating the Breed of such animals being to be slaughtered, until a competent stock may be acquired to admit of Your supplying the settlement from it with animal Food without having further recourse to the places from whence such stock may have originally been obtained. It is our Will and Pleasure that the Productions of all Descriptions acquired by the Labour of the Convicts It is our Will and Pleasure shall be considered as a Public Stock and which we so far leave to your disposal, that such parts there of as may be requisite for the subsistence of the said Convicts and their Families, or the Subsistence of the Civil and Military Establishments of the Settlement may be applied by you to that use. The remainder of such Productions you will reserve as a
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provision for a further number of Convicts which you may expect will shortly follow you from hence, to be employed under your direction in the manner pointed out in these our Instructions to you. From the natural Increase of Corn and other vegetable food from a common Industry after the Ground has been once cultivated, as well as of Animals; It cannot be expedient that all the Convicts which accompany you, should be employed in attending only to the object of Provisions. And as it has been humbly represented unto us that advantages may be derived from the Flax Plant which is found in the Islands not far distant from the intended Settlement, not only as a means of acquiring Clothing for the Convicts and other persons who may become settlers, but from its superior excellence for a variety of maritime purposes and as it may ultimately may become an Article of Export.
It is therefore Our Will and Pleasure that you do particularly attend to its
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Cultivation, and that you do send home by every opportunity which may offer, Samples of that Article, in order that a Judgement may be formed whether it may not be necessary to instruct you further upon this Subject.
And Whereas We are desirous that some further Information should be obtained of the several Ports or Harbours upon the Coast and the Islands contiguous thereto within the Limits of Your Government; you are, whenever the Sirius or the Supply Tender, can conveniently be spared, to send one, or both of them, upon that service. Norfolk Island situated in the Lat: and Long: East from Greenwich about being represented as a spot which may hereafter become useful; you are, as soon as circumstances will admit of it, to send a small Establishment thither to secure the same to us, and prevent its being occupied by the subjects of any other European Power, and you will cause any Remarks or Observations which you obtain in consequence
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of this Instruction to be transmitted to Our Principal Secretary of State for Plantation affairs for Our Information.
And Whereas it may happen, when the Settlement shall be brought into some state of Regulation, that the service of the Sirius may not be necessary at the said settlement; and as we are desirous to diminish as much as possible the Expences which the intended Establishment occasions; You will, whenever the service of the said ship can be dispensed with, and or Capt. Hunter to return with to England; And as from such an arrangement, the Emoluments of your station will be diminished, It is our Royal Intention, that the same shall be made good to you by Bills to be drawn by you upon the Commissioners of Our Treasury.
You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an Intercourse with the Natives and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all Our Subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of Our Subjects shall wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary Interruption in the exercise of
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their several occupations. It is our Will and Pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to punishment according to the degree of the Offence. You will endeavour to procure an account of the Numbers inhabiting the Neighbourhood of the intended settlement and report your opinion to one of our Secretaries of State in what manner Our Intercourse with these people may be turned to the advantage of this country.
And Whereas it is Our Royal Intention that all persons who may here after inhabit Our said Territory of New South Wales, or the Islands adjacent within Your Government should have full liberty of Conscience and the free Exercise of all such modes of Religious Worship as are not prohibited by Law, we do therefore herby require you to permit all Persons within your said Government to have such Liberty, and to exercise such modes of Religious Worship as are not prohibited by Law, provided they be contented with a quiet and peaceable
And it is further Our Royal Will and Pleasure that you do by all proper methods enforce a
due observance of Religion and good order among all the inhabitants of the new Settlement
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and that you so take such steps for the one celebration of publick Worship as circumstances will permit
enjoyment of the same, not giving offence or scandal to Government. It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do cause the Laws against Blasphemy, Profaneness, adultery, Fornication, Poligamy, Incest, Profanation of the Lord’s Day, swearing and Drunkenness to be rigorously executed and that you do take due care for the punishment of the aforementioned Vices by Presentment upon Oath to be made to the Justices of the Peace at their Session by the Constables or other Inferior Officers, And for the further discouragements of Vice and promotion of Virtue and good morals, you are not to admit any Person to act as a Justice of the peace whose ill fame or Conversation may occasion Sandal, and especially you shall take care that the Lord’s Day be devoutly and duly observed that the Book of Common Prayer as by Law established in this Kingdom be read each Sunday and Holy day, and the Blessed sacraments be administered, according to the Rites of the Church of England. And if any Orthodox Minister already appointed
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to that Settlement, or hereafter to be appointed shall appear to give Scandal either by his Deportment or Manners, or if any person not being in Orders shall preach or administer the Holy Sacrament in any Orthodox Church or chapel, you shall give in an account thereof to the Lord Bishop of London. And you are to take especial care that a Table of Marriages as established by the Canons of the Church of England be hung up in every Orthodox Church or Chapel and be duly observed, and also to transmit --- ---- --- an account of such Deaths, Marriages, and Births as may take place within your said Government, by every opportunity which offers to Our Secretary of state for Plantation Affairs.
And whereas from the great disproportion of Female Convicts, those of the Males, who are put under your Superintendance, it, appears advisable and necessary not only for the preservation of decency and good order, but for attending to domestic exercises that a further number of the latter should be introduced into the new
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intended Settlements; You are, whenever the Sirius or the Tender shall touch at any of the Islands in the Seas, to instruct their Commanders to take on board any of the women who may be disposed to accompany them to the said settlements; you will however take special care, that the Officers who may happen to be employed upon this Service, do not upon any account, exercise any compulsive measures, or make use of fallacious pretences for bringing away any of the said Woman from the places of their present Residence.
If any of these women shall hereafter arrive at the intended settlements, you will exert every means to prevent their living in common with the Convicts, hold out every indulgence which it may be in your power to grant, to promote matrimonial Connexion, which must upon many accounts be productive of great advantage to the settlement, as well as to the Interests and Happiness of the Individuals.
And Whereas We have by our Commission bearing date
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given and granted unto you other acknowledgements whatsoever full power and authority to emancipate and discharge from their Servitude, any of the Convicts under your superindendance, who shall from their good conduct and a disposition to Industry, be deserving of favor; It is our Will and Pleasure that in every such case you do issue your Warrant to every such to the Surveyor of Lands person as you may think competent to the discharge of that trust to make surveys of, and mark out in Lots such Lands upon the said Territory as may be necessary for their use; and when that shall be done, that you do pass Grants thereof with all convenient speed to any of the said Convicts so emancipated, in such proportions, and under such conditions and acknowledgements, as shall hereafter be specified . Viz To every Male shall be granted, 30 Acres of land, and in case he shall be married, 20 Acres more, and for every child who may be with them at the Settlement, at the time of making the said Grant, a further quantity of 10 Acres, free of all Fees, Taxes, Quit Rents, or, for the
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space of Ten years, provided that the person to whom the said Land shall be been granted, shall reside within the same, and proceed to the cultivation and improvement thereof. Reserving only to us such Timber as may be growing, or to grow hereafter, upon the said Land, which may be fit for Naval purposes, and an annual Quit Rent of Bushel of wheat after the expiration of the term or time before mentioned. You will cause Copies of such Grants as may be passed to be preserved, and make a regular return of the said Grants to the Commissioners of Our Treasury and the Lords of the Committee of Our Privy Council for Trade and Plantations.
And Whereas it is likely to happen that the Convicts, who may, after their Emancipation, in consequence of this Instruction, be put in possession of Lands, will not have the means of proceedings to their Cultivation without the Public Aid; it is Our Will and Pleasure that you do cause every such person you may so emancipate, to be supplied with such a Quantity of Provisions as may be sufficient, for the subsistence of himself and also of this family for twelve months, together with an
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assortment of Tools and Utensils, and such a proportion of Seed Grain, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs etc as may be proper, and can be spared from the general stock of the Settlement.
And Whereas many of Our subjects, employed upon Military service, at the said Settlement, and others who may resort thither upon their private occupations, may hereafter be desirous of proceedings to the cultivation and Improvement of the Land, and as we are dispersed to afford them every reasonable Encouragement in such an undertaking; It is Our Will and Pleasure that you do with all convenient speed transmit a report of the actual state and Quality of the Soil at and near the said intended Settlement, the probable and most effectual means of Improving and Cultivating the same and in what manner it can best be done and of the mode and upon what terms and conditions according to the best of your Judgements the said Lands should be granted, that proper Instructions and authorities may be given to you for that purpose.
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And Whereas It is Our Royal Intention that every sort of Intercourse between the intended settlement at Botany Bay, or other places which may be hereafter - established on the coast of New South Wales, and its Dependencies, and the settlements of Our East India Company, as well as the Coasts of China, and the Islands situated in that part of the World, to which any Intercourse has been established by any European Nation, should be prevented by every possible means; It is Our Royal Will and Pleasure that you do not upon any account allow Craft of any sort to be built for the use of private Individuals, which might enable them to effect such Intercourse, and that you do prevent any Vessels which may at any time hereafter arrived the said settlement from any of the Ports before mentioned, from having communication with any of the Inhabitants residing within your
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Government, without first receiving especial permission from you for that purpose.
GR
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1787 Ap. 20,
Gov. Philip’s Instructions Referred to the Committee 20 April, 1787 New South Wales
Governor Arthur Philip Raising the BritishFlag on Australian Soil
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The Act of Settlement, 1700 (1701)
The correct title of this Act is Act of Settlement 1700 12 and 13 Will 3 c 2 which states that the Act was formulated in the parliamentary session which began in 1700 but was not assented to by William III until 1701. In many reference sources the date is given as 1701 but until the system was changed in 1793 all Acts and Laws were dated by the session in which they were formulated. '12 and 13 Will 3' means in the twelfth and thirteenth years of the reign of William III and 'c 2' stands for Chapter 2 which means that this was the second Act formulated in the twelfth year of William's reign.
The wording used below has updated spelling. The original wording, along with the proposed changes to Succession, can be read on: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Will3/12-13/2
Whereas in the first year of the reign of Your Majesty, and of our late most gracious sovereign lady Queen Mary (of blessed memory), an Act of Parliament was made, entitled, "An Act for declaring the rights and liberties of the subject, and for settling the succession of the crown," wherein it was (amongst other things) enacted, established, and declared that the crown and regal government of the Kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, should be and continue to Your Majesty and the said late Queen, during the joint lives of Your Majesty and the said Queen, and to the survivor: and that after the decease of Your Majesty and of the said Queen, the said Crown and regal government should be and remain to the heirs of the body of the said late Queen; and for default of such issue, to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; and for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of Your Majesty.
And it was thereby further enacted, that all and every person and persons that then were, or afterwards should be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be excluded, and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same: and in all and every such case and cases the people of these realms shall be and are thereby absolved of their allegiance: and that the said Crown and government shall from time to time descend to and be enjoyed by such person or persons, being Protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same, in case the said person or persons, so reconciled, holding communion, professing or marrying, as aforesaid, were naturally dead.
After the making of which statute, and the settlement therein contained, your majesty's good subjects, who were restored to the full and free possession and enjoyment of their religion, rights, and liberties, by the providence of God giving success to your majesty's just undertakings and unwearied endeavours for that purpose, had no greater temporal felicity to hope or wish for, that to see a royal progeny descending from Your Majesty, to whom (under God) they owe their tranquillity, and whose ancestors have for many years been principal assertors of the reformed religion and the liberties of Europe, and from our said most gracious sovereign lady, whose memory will always be precious to the subjects of these realms: and it having since pleased Almighty God to take away our said sovereign Lady, and also the most hopeful Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (the only surviving issue of Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark) to the unspeakable grief and sorrow of Your Majesty and your said good subjects, who under such losses being sensibly put in mind, that it standeth wholly in the pleasure of Almighty God to prolong the lives of Your Majesty and of Her Royal Highness, and to grant to Your Majesty, or to Her Royal Highness, such issue as may be inheritable to the Crown and regal government aforesaid, by the respective limitations in the said recited act contained, do constantly implore the divine mercy for those blessings: and Your Majesty's said subjects having daily experience of your royal care and concern for the present and future welfare of these Kingdoms, and particularly recommending from your throne a further provision to be made for the succession of the Crown in the Protestant line, for the happiness of the nation, and the security of our religion; and it being absolutely necessary for the safety, peace, and quiet of this realm, to obviate all doubts and contentions in the same, by reason of any pretended title to the Crown, and to maintain a certainty in the succession thereof, to which your subjects may safely have recourse for their protection, in case the limitations in the said recited act should determine.
Therefore for a further provision of the succession of the Crown in the Protestant line, we Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, do beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted and declared, and be it enacted and declared by the King's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the most excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, daughter of the most excellent Princess Elizabeth, late Queen of Bohemia, daughter of our late sovereign lord King James the First, of happy memory, be and is hereby declared to be the next in succession, in the Protestant line, to the imperial Crown and dignity of the said Realms of England, France, and Ireland, with the dominions and territories thereunto belonging, after His Majesty, and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the said Princess Anne, and of His Majesty respectively: and that from and after the deceases of His said Majesty, our now sovereign lord, and of Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and for default of issue of the said Princess Anne, and of His Majesty respectively, the Crown and regal government of the said Kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland, and of the dominions thereunto belonging, with the royal state and dignity of the said Realms, and all honours, styles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions and authorities, to the same belonging and appertaining, shall be, remain, and continue to the said most excellent Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants: and thereunto the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, shall and will in the name of all the people of this Realm, most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities: and do faithfully promise, that after the deceases of His Majesty, and Her Royal Highness, and the failure of the heirs of their respective bodies, to stand to, maintain, and defend the said Princess Sophia, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants, according to the limitation and succession of the Crown in this act specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall attempt anything to the contrary.
II. Provided always, and be it hereby enacted, that all and every person and persons, who shall or may take or inherit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this present act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the popish religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be subject to such incapacities, as in such case or cases are by the said recited act provided, enacted, and established; and that every King and Queen of this Realm, who shall come to and succeed in the imperial Crown of this Kingdom, by virtue of this act, shall have the coronation oath administered to him, her or them, at their respective coronations, according to the act of Parliament made in the first year of the reign of His Majesty, and the said late Queen Mary, intituled, An act for establishing the coronation oath, and shall make, subscribe, and repeat the declaration in the act first above recited mentioned or referred to, in the manner and form thereby prescribed.
III. And whereas it is requisite and necessary that some further provision be made for securing our religion, laws and liberties, from and after the death of His Majesty and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default of issue of the body of the said Princess, and of His Majesty respectively; be it enacted by the King's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That whosoever shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall join in communion with the Church of England, as by law established;
That in case the Crown and imperial dignity of this Realm shall hereafter come to any person, not being a native of this Kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the Crown of England, without the consent of Parliament;
That no person who shall hereafter come to the possession of this Crown, shall go out of the dominions of England, Scotland, or Ireland, without the consent of Parliament;
That from and after the time that the further limitation by this act shall take effect, all matters and things relating to the well governing of this Kingdom, which are properly cognizable in the Privy Council by the laws and customs of this Realm, shall be translated there, and all resolutions taken thereupon shall be signed by such of the Privy Council as shall advise and consent to the same;
That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, no person born out of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging (although he be naturalized or made a denizen, except such as are born of English parents) shall be capable to be of the Privy Council, or a member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have any grant of lands, tenements or hereditaments from the Crown, to himself or to any other or others in trust for him;
That no person who has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension from the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a member of the House of Commons;
That after the said limitation shall take effect as aforesaid, judges commissions be made quamdiu se bene gesserint, and their salaries ascertained and established; but upon the address of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to remove them;
That no pardon under the Great Seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the Commons in Parliament.IV. And whereas the laws of England are the birth-right of the people thereof, and all the Kings and Queens, who shall ascend the throne of this Realm, ought to administer the government of the same according to the said laws, and all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respectively according to the same: the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do therefore further humbly pray, That all the laws and statutes of this Realm for securing the established religion, and the rights and liberties of the people thereof, and all other laws and statutes of the same now in force, may be ratified and confirmed, and the same are by His Majesty, by and with the advice of the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, and by authority of the same, ratified and confirmed accordingly.
Petar Zivkovic 95sc