Owens v Commonwealth [1991] HCA 20

Owens v Commonwealth [1991] HCA 20

Section 5 of the Builders Labourers' Federation Legislation Amendment Act 1990 Cth is valid because its operation is to prevent the Federation, now unregistered, from being or applying to be a registered organisation for a further five years, and that continued exclusion from eligibility for registration or re-registration under the Commonwealth conciliation and arbitration system is within the legislative power conferred by s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution, even if the legislative basis was the Federation's conduct since deregistration.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Procedural Posture
Constitutional Challenge to Validity of Commonwealth Legislation / Question Reserved for the Opinion of the Full Court
Outcome
The question reserved was answered in the negative; s 5 is not invalid.
Legal Topics
['s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution' 'conciliation and Arbitration Power' 'validity of Commonwealth Legislation' 'registration and Exclusion of Industrial Organisations']
['constitutional Law' 'industrial Law'] ['s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution' 'conciliation and Arbitration Power' 'validity of Commonwealth Legislation' 'registration and Exclusion of Industrial Organisations']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Constitutional Challenge to Validity of Commonwealth Legislation / Question Reserved for the Opinion of the Full Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether s 5 of the Builders Labourers' Federation Legislation Amendment Act 1990 Cth is invalid." 'Whether the Parliament has legislative competence under s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution to continue the exclusion of an unregistered organisation from eligibility for registration or re-registration under the Commonwealth conciliation and arbitration system.']

Ratio Decidendi

Section 5 of the Builders Labourers' Federation Legislation Amendment Act 1990 Cth is valid because its operation is to prevent the Federation, now unregistered, from being or applying to be a registered organisation for a further five years, and that continued exclusion from eligibility for registration or re-registration under the Commonwealth conciliation and arbitration system is within the legislative power conferred by s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution, even if the legislative basis was the Federation's conduct since deregistration.

Court Disposition

The question reserved was answered in the negative; s 5 is not invalid.

Orders

  • ["Answer the question reserved as follows: Is s 5 of the Builders Labourers' Federation Legislation Amendment Act 1990 Cth invalid. Answer: No." "Order that the plaintiffs pay the defendant's costs of the question reserved."]