division of powers

Question 1

law making powers

Answer 1

authority given to parliament to make laws in certain areas
- to allow for federation, the colonies had to give up some of their powers to the new commonwealth parliament
- when the colonies became states they kept some powers, shared others with the commonwealth and gave up some completely
these powers are exercisable by parliament which is the supreme law-making body in australia (this means that parliament can make and change laws whenever it wants to

Question 2

divides law making powers into:

Answer 2

residual powers - those left with the states
exclusive powers - held only by the commonwealth parliament
concurrent powers - shared by the commonwealth and the state

Question 3

residual powers

Answer 3

powers left with the states at federation
- these are not listed in the constitution
specific areas of the constitution protects the continuing power of the states to create law in areas that were not given to commonwealth. or preserve state laws
- this includes section 106, 107 and 108 of the constitution

Question 4

exclusive powers

Answer 4

most are set out in section 51
- referred to as heads of power - these key powers are either exclusive or concurrent
sections 111 and 122 give exclusive power to the commonwealth with respect to commonwealth territories
- section 51 (iii)
- section 51 (vi)
- section 51 (vii)
- section 90
- section 114
- section 115
section 52 contains a small list of powers that are exclusive

Question 5

examples of residual

Answer 5

• criminal law
• road laws
• public transport

Question 6

examples of exclusive

Answer 6

• defence
• currency
• customs and border protection

Question 7

concurrent powers

Answer 7

powers that both the commonwealth and state parliaments share
- many powers. given to the commonwealth in the constitution are concurrent powers
- all those powers that are not exclusive are concurrent

Question 8

examples of concurrent

Answer 8

• trade
• taxation
• marriage and divorce