Other Sections of The Australian Constitution and The Census and Statistics Power
Section 24 of the Australian Constitution says the number of members in the House of Representatives per state will be based on the based on quotas based on population, which will be based on "the latest statistics of the Commonwealth" (s. 24(i)) and s. 24(ii)). Section 24 envinces a clear intention that the Commonwealth would use Section 51(xi) to conduct census and collect information, rather than leaving the matter to the states.
Section 127 of the Australian Constitution stated that "Aboriginal natives" should not be counted in the census. This section was removed by a referendum to amend the constitution that was held in 1967.
Section 127 uses the word "census" - the language of s. 51(xi) - rather than "the latest statistics of the Commonwealth" used in Section 24. However, on a purposive approach, the debates at the Constitutional Conventions showed the clear purpose of section 127 was to limit section 24. Section 127 operated to prevent the number of Aboriginals being used in the calculations for the number of members of the House of Representatives. Section 127 was quite a narrow provision, in that it did not use the word "statistics". Accordingly, section 51(xi) still allowed the Commonwealth had the power to collect statistics on Aboriginal people which it, in fact, did according population numbers.
Read more about this topic: Section 51(xi) Of The Australian Constitution
Famous quotes containing the words sections, australian, constitution, statistics and/or power:
“That we can come here today and in the presence of thousands and tens of thousands of the survivors of the gallant army of Northern Virginia and their descendants, establish such an enduring monument by their hospitable welcome and acclaim, is conclusive proof of the uniting of the sections, and a universal confession that all that was done was well done, that the battle had to be fought, that the sections had to be tried, but that in the end, the result has inured to the common benefit of all.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Beyond the horizon, or even the knowledge, of the cities along the coast, a great, creative impulse is at work—the only thing, after all, that gives this continent meaning and a guarantee of the future. Every Australian ought to climb up here, once in a way, and glimpse the various, manifold life of which he is a part.”
—Vance Palmer (1885–1959)
“But in every constitution some large degree of animal vigor is necessary as material foundation for the higher qualities of the art.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We already have the statistics for the future: the growth percentages of pollution, overpopulation, desertification. The future is already in place.”
—Günther Grass (b. 1927)
“This immediate dependence of language upon nature, this conversion of an outward phenomenon into a type of somewhat in human life, never loses its power to affect us. It is this which gives that piquancy to the conversation of a strong-natured farmer or backwoodsman, which all men relish.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)