PM Transcripts

P. M. No. 2311961
ATTORNEY-GENERAL RETURNING
Statement by~ the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. R. G. Menzies
The Commonwealth Attorney-General ( Sir Garfield
Barwick) left London by air on Wednesday on his return
journey to Australia. He took a leading part in the two cases in the
Privy Council in which hotel-keepers in Melbourne and
Brisbane challenged the validity of the licence fees imposed
by State law. The States of Victoria and Queensland, supported
by the Commonwealth and by the other four States, succeeded in
establishing, as a preliminary point, that the question raised
by the hotel-keepers could not be entertained by the Privy
Council except upon a certificate by the High Court of
Australia, under section 74 of the Constitution, which the
appellants had not sought to obtain. The majority decision of
the High Court in favour of the States therefore stands.
The Privy Coincil's decision made an important
clarification of the constitutional position of the High
Court, and extended, in line with legal thought in Australia,
the constitutional cases in which an appeal to the Privy
Council will not be available without a certificate from the
High Court. The Attorney-General will interrupt his journey
to make brief calls at Karachi, New Delhi, Bangkok, Kuala
Lumpur and Singapore. He is expected to reach Sydney at the
end of next week.
CANBERRA,
llth May, 1961.