User:Orthogonal1/Section119

Section 119 of the Constitution of Australia can be divided into two clauses. The first clause is a requirement that the Commonwealth protect all States against invasion. The second clause requires the Commonwealth to protect the States against internal violence (such as riots), but only upon the application of the State Executive.

Margaret's paper shows examples of this paper being used! The

In practice, the Commonwealth would most likely not need to obtain the consent of the State Executive in order to intervene in cases of internal violence because it would merely need to show that a Commonwealth interest is being affected, and in R v Sharkey, it was found that a Commonwealth interest in internal violence could consist of interference with the delivery of federal mail, interstate commerce or federal elections.

Origins
Section 119 was based upon Article Four, Section 4, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, and was relatively uncontroversial. John Hannah Gordon proposed that the word "invasion" be substituted with "attack" because of fears that a naval attack would not be included, but this proposal was rejected.

The text of Section 119 is: "The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic violence."

Cited academic texts


Category:Australian constitutional law