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Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, Western Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, Western Australia ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters ...
Western Australia v Commonwealth, [1] also known as the First Territory Senators' Case, was an important decision of the High Court of Australia concerning the procedure in section 57 of the Constitution and the representation of territories in the Senate.
The reception of English law in Western Australia and South Australia was later deemed by statute to have occurred on 1 June 1829 [12] and 28 December 1836 [13] respectively. The earliest civil and criminal courts established from the beginnings of the colony of New South Wales were rudimentary, adaptive and military in character.
Western Australia is divided into 15 federal electoral divisions, each represented by a seat in the Australian House of Representatives. Like other Australian states, Western Australia is represented by twelve Senators in the Australian Senate, with six of those Senators elected for two three-year Senate terms at each half-Senate election.
The preamble names all states except Western Australia, mentions God and recognises that the Australian people have agreed to unite under the Constitution and the Crown. It ends with the standard enacting clause of the United Kingdom , acknowledging the Queen and the UK houses of Parliament as the legal authority of the act.
State constitutions in Australia are the legal documents that establish and define the structure, powers, and functions of the six state governments in Australia. Each state constitution preceded the federal Constitution of Australia as the constitutions of the then six self-governing colonies .
Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories are broadly similar to the electoral system used in federal elections in Australia.. When the Australian colonies were granted responsible government in the 19th century, the constitutions of each colony introduced bicameral parliaments, each of which was based on the contemporaneous version of the Westminster system.
McGinty v Western Australia was a significant case decided in the High Court of Australia in 1996. The plaintiffs sought to enshrine the principle of ‘one vote, one value’ in the Australian Constitution, and has had a significant impact on how the High Court approaches matters of the franchise, as well as malapportionment. The plaintiff's ...