''Australian National Airways Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (No 1)''. – most commonly known as ''Australian National Airways Pty Ltd v Commonwealth'' and also referred to as ''The Airlines Case'' or ''the ANA Case'' – was a High Court of Australia decision. The case dealt with limits of the powers of the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

under sections 51 and 92 of the Australian Constitution. The outcome of the case was that the Federal Government could found a federally owned

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

, but it could not hinder

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

competition with that airline.

Background

In mid-1945, the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

Federal Government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

introduced a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

into the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

that would have the effect of nationalising interstate Airlines in Australia. At the time,

Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.I ...

("ANA") was the dominant domestic carrier in Australia. After the bill received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

as the "Australian Airlines Act (1945)", it was immediately challenged by ANA in the High Court in its "

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

" as arbiter of Constitutional Law. ANA argued that the Act was in breach of sections 51 and 92 of the Constitution.

Decision

The High Court,

per curiam In law, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not ...

, found that while nationalised enterprises could be established, ss 51 and 92 did not empower the Commonwealth to acquire pre-existing enterprises (in this case, an airline). ANA then sought to apply for a certificate under

Section 74 of the Constitution of Australia In Australian constitutional law, Chapter III Courts are courts of law which are a part of the Australian federal judiciary and thus are able to discharge Commonwealth judicial power. They are so named because the prescribed features of these co ...

to appeal to the Privy Council for a judgment on further restriction of Commonwealth powers. That application was denied in ''Australian National Airways Pty Ltd v Commonwealth (No 2)..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian National Airways Pty Ltd V Commonwealth 1945 in Australian law Australian constitutional law Freedom of interstate trade and commerce in the Australian Constitution cases High Court of Australia cases Aviation in Australia 1945 in case law

Background

Decision

See also

References