Bryan Pape was a senior lecturer at the
University of New England, New South Wales, Australia and a former office holder and member of the
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...
,
who in ''
Pape v Commissioner of Taxation
''Pape v Commissioner of Taxation'' is an Australian court case concerning the constitutional validity of the ''Tax Bonus for Working Australians Act (No 2) 2009'' (Cth) which seeks to give one-off payments of up to $900 to Australian taxpayer ...
'' (April 2009) lost his challenge to the constitutional legality of the
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
Government's proposed $7.7 billion tax bonus payments as part of the $42 billion economic stimulus package in the
High Court of Australia.
A fervent and longtime believer in
federalism and state's rights, Pape argued the case himself as a "concerned lawyer". He argued that the $900 stimulus payments anticipated to be made to 7.4 million Australians beginning 6 April were not a valid extension of the Commonwealth's taxation powers but a gift, and the Commonwealth has no constitutional power to spend consolidated revenue on gifts under section 81 and 83 of the
Australian Constitution.
Whilst Pape has disagreed with previous government stimulus packages, he then had no standing to take the Commonwealth to court. The $900 tax rebate is the first that he would be eligible to receive and thus enabled him to take the matter to the High Court. While the High Court unanimously rejected the Commonwealth's submission that it could rely on its use of s 81 of the Constitution to support the expenditure, it upheld the Commonwealth's submission that it could do so by relying on the executive power (s.61 of the Constitution) and the incidental power (s.51 (xxxix) of the Constitution) by a thin majority of 4:3. (See (2009) 238 CLR 1.)
Pape believed that if he were successful, "the Government could still give the bonus just through... giving a rebate and letting the money flow through the PAYG system."
Pape died on 27 April 2014 at his home in Armidale.
References
External links
Bryan Pape's website for candidature in Australian Federal SenateThe Bryan Pape Memorial Prize at The University of New England, Armidale, AustraliaListen to Bryan Pape and Jürgen Bröhmer from the University of New England, School of Law, discussing Bryan Pape's High Court Challenge of the Tax Bonus Act
Academic staff of the University of New England (Australia)
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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