AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION DOCUMENTS

Contents

 

The Branch Executive.

 

 

The Branch Meeting

 

 

The Branch Secretary

 

 

The Branch President


 AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION

Election Manual

Copyright © Chris Coyle AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION Training School

August 2006 East Coast Branch 

Contents

Part 1.  Election Technique and tasks of the Party

Part 2.  Preparatory Election Work

Part 3.  Campaign Apparatus and Activities

Part 4.  Election Day

      

Part 1.

Election Technique and Tasks of the AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION

1. Development of Election Technique                                                                    

                                                                               

Election campaigns have undergone many changes since the early days of elected Governments in Australia. When the Labor Party first entered the Parliamentary field it enjoyed the enthusiastic support of the rising Trade Union movement, whose members campaigned full of determination, fight and confidence. With the growth of the Labor Party, the introduction of compulsory voting and the development of radio and Television advertising, the methods of conducting election campaigns have changed considerably.

Electorates are now larger and greater in numbers, the cost of campaigning is much greater, open air meetings are not so popular nor largely attended. Both the Labor and the National-Liberal parties have adopted a highly organized election technique and carry out a considerable amount of preparatory work, using the parliamentary institutions to great advantage.

They enjoy the advantages of :----

(a)  The assistance of many members of Parliament who, rather than implementing the laws they make, "nurse" their respective electorates, attending to minor matters of their constituents in order to build personal goodwill and retain the basis of a large personal vote at the subsequent elections.

(b)  Personal contact with all public bodies within the electorate.

(c)  The use of Parliament to bring before the public specific demands calculated to raise their popularity in the electorate, window dressing frequently employed prior to elections

(d) The use of tax payers money for re-election, in the 1998 state election, many incumbents were given $50,000.00 to win their seat.

The major parties, play a game called the Two Party preferred system, which simply means they are determined to only allow themselves into Parliament, and in effect, hold elections, for the pretence of democracy, in reality they share Government, by simply changing sides of the house after election day.

The major Parties have a very powerful propaganda machine in the media, and pulpit, and a huge industrial and commercial contact with the public through trade channels. They have developed a method of "mind conditioning," which usually takes the form of concentrated attacks upon all opposition, any party which looks like destroying the comfort zone of the two party preferred system, such as the AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION.

Today this is demonstrated by the media, on behalf of the ruling class, attacking the workers, while defending the Banks and the Multinationals.

Side by side with the media campaign they develop a campaign for the mobilization of forces and finances. Business groups are organized in various sections of industry, such as the Motor Traders' Association, Movement for free Trade, Association to protect the private banks, all of whom circularize fellow traders for the purpose of organizing the greatest possible campaign against any Party outside the Big Two.

Preparations by the reaction for an election campaign are laid well in advance. The election campaign itself is limited to a few weeks prior to the date set down for actual voting, a period in which all the intrigues and misrepresentations reach their highest peak, with the climax being attained on polling day by a highly concentrated shock brigade of booth workers to stampede, coerce and confuse the voters, including the FAKE how to vote cards printed and distributed by the Labor Party

The Government "mind conditions" by advertising its achievements over the radio and television and by other means, pointing out the advantages of the legislation it has enacted. This is an effective method of building the confidence of the people in the Government.

Relying mainly on the method of propaganda, which is prepared by a commercial firm, and neglects mass work amongst the people.

The One Nation Party has a different approach to parliamentary elections. It bases its work on the needs of the people. Its method of campaigning is mass work among the people. It recognizes that parliamentary action alone cannot solve all the problems of society, but with the assistance of the people much can be done for progress.

2. Chief Tasks of the A.I.F

    The chief tasks of the AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION in elections are :----

(a) To ensure the defeat of the incumbent member.

(b) To secure the re-election of A.I.F  Candidates.

(c) To secure the election of new A.I.F  Candidates.

(d) To distribute preferences to a like minded party.

(e) To strengthen in every our united front activity with other like minded candidates during the campaign.

(f) To make the Party policy known to the broadest masses.

AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION members will only be elected to Federal, State, parliaments and local Councils when we considerably improve our election technique.

The development of such a technique, which will enable the A.I.F  to compare with the others, necessitates every member becoming election-conscious, studying the method of electioneering and learning how to relate our mass work to election campaigns.

This can be achieved  by the candidates, Branch executives, and Booth worker attending A.I.F Schools, for their respective training.

Part 2.

Preparatory Election Work

1. Branch Campaigns

A local program should be drawn up by all A.I.F Branches. A survey of the area should be made by canvassing every third or fourth house in order to ascertain the needs of the people. All urgent demands brought to light should be included in the program, together with the points of the National and local programs. This campaigning, one of the best forms of mass work, should be used as a major part of the whole election strategy. All sections of the people should be drawn into the activity. The campaigns should continue until all the goals are achieved.

Public contact should be made by Branches with all public organizations  in the area. AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION seeks unity with all progressive organizations, such as Progress Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Parents and Citizens Associations, Sporting Bodies, Christian Organizations, Horticultural societies, RSL's, Elderly Citizens Etc. These public bodies influence many elections in their political actions and way of voting. Their co-operation should be sought by forwarding copies of our policies, and platform to them, together with an appropriate letter. In each case the approach must be thoroughly considered.

When the campaign for the Branch program is being developed, responsibility should be given to each member for blocks to be covered, for example, a map of the seat should be bought, and the latest street directory, then all the relevant pages of the street directory need to be photo copied, several sets made, one set should be pieced together to create a master map of the seat, providing the Branch campaign committee with a very detailed map, then the seat is to be divided into six divisions, each division to have its boarder highlighted in a different colour. Then all Branches in the seat must be contacted and a clear and continuing dialect maintained. The total number of members must then be assigned to each division as near as possible the their place of residence, then each to be issued with a map of their section of their division, this is important for letter box drops and later on in the campaign for booth workers. Each division of the seat is then to be divided into blocks of about 250 houses, and no more than 250 houses are to be door knocked or letter box dropped by any one member in any one day. 

The next important task for those workers is for a set of lists to be issued to them of the electoral rolls, so they can start strait away on looking for false enrolment, vacant blocks etc. If possible, the people who have worked amongst the people throughout the year should work in the area during election campaigns. It is necessary that the election apparatus be part of the daily work of the A.I.F.

Canvassing should become part of the every day activity of the Branch's involved. It is pleasant and enjoyable to the workers who know why they are doing it. The Party is held in high regard by a growing number of people, many of these people are pleased to meet and talk with A.I.F members. During these preparatory stages, canvassing should be very thorough.

2. Popularization of Candidates

The most suitable Party members likely to be later endorsed as candidates for Federal and State, or Council elections should be popularized by Branches in their mass work. No announcement should be made of a candidature, however, until they are endorsed by the A.I.F.  The candidate known as a leader of the people will get more votes than a candidate without contact with the electors.

Local leaders and candidates should, therefore :--

(a) Take part in all campaigns of the Branch.

(b) Attend all important functions in the area, public and social and Branch activities.

(c) Attend meetings of public organizations to address them on specific points of the Branch and A.I.F program.

(d) Lead deputation’s to the Council, Local Members, and Government Departments.

(e) Write letters to all public bodies around points of local concern or the Branch goals.

(f) Write letters to the papers on topical questions.

(g) Sign leaflets on behalf of the Branch.

(h) Meet as many electors as possible.

( i) Act as a leader of the people in every struggle of the area for progress.

3. Announcement of Candidature

Immediately the date of the election has been fixed the candidate should be announced. The main feature of the announcement must be the name of the candidate, accompanied by suitable slogans and notes on the personal integrity of the candidate. The following methods of propaganda should be used.

(a) Advertisements in the local papers.

(b) Short articles in the local papers.

(c) Radio scatters.

(d) Film slides.

(e) leaflets letterbox drops.

(f) Conversational selling, any subject can be brought around to politics and then to  the candidate.

(g) letters to all public bodies.

4. Mobilization of all  members and non member supporters.

Mobilization must be prepared in the early stages and details worked out well ahead even one or two years.

Four things are necessary to ensure complete mobilization of all available forces for the election campaign

(a) drawing the greatest possible number of Branch members into the day to day local activity.

(b) Interesting workplace Branch members living in the electorate in the life and activity of this local Branch.

(c) Seeking assistance of people, supporters of the local Branch and readers of Update in Branch activity. As election date approaches, a list of those prepared to assist in election activities should be prepared.

(d) Consistently recruiting new members and thus more forces.

The success in mobilization definitely rests upon the ability of leading campaigners to correctly set down the tasks for the membership to perform. Once responsibility has been given for any task, results must be constantly checked.

Consolidation is a day to day problem. It is wrong to talk of consolidating our gains only after election day.

This must go side by side with our mass work, with our literature sales and educational work. Wherever possible, supporters and A.I.F  voters should be drawn into the work, and their interest retained.

Part 3.

Campaign Apparatus & Activities

1. Campaign Apparatus

Simultaneous with the public announcement of the candidature the whole election apparatus should immediately become active. The preparatory work was carried out by the normal Committees and branches. Now we need a special and complete campaign apparatus.

The character of this apparatus will vary according to the nature of the election (i.e., whether Federal, State, Local) and the  organization within the electorate, congested or scattered nature of the electorate, existence of Zone Committees, etc. ; but the basic principle must apply in each case, as shown in example No 1.

Taking a federal electorate as an example, the campaign apparatus would comprise:--

(a) Central Campaign Committee.

(b) Local Campaign Committees.

(c) Campaign Groups.

The Central Campaign Committee should consist of Central Campaign Director, District Secretary or District Committee representative, Candidate, representative from each Local Campaign Committee, and such others as considered necessary.

This Committee will be responsible for the direction of the campaign throughout the whole of the electorate.

It is important that the candidate, whilst being relieved of attention to detail, keep very close contact with all campaign bodies and act as a spearhead of the whole of the campaign forces. The Campaign Director should give overall supervision, be able to assess political changes taking place during the campaign and constantly check up on other members of the Committee and the local campaign Directors. His or her main responsibility must be to provide the initiative, force and drive during the campaign; but he should rely on the other members of the Committee to do the details around the specific sections allocated to them. These could be conveniently divided into the following heads:--

(a) Supervision of publicity.

(b) Mobilization of forces.

(c) canvassing.

(d) Public, and home meetings.

(e) Polling day arrangements.

Local campaign committees should be established by the local Branches in areas equivalent to a town or suburb, electorate or sub-division, whichever is the most suitable. The Committee will be elected from a meeting of all members and supporters in the area and should consist of Campaign Director, members of Branch Executive, Finance Director (Treasurer) and such others as considered necessary. The Committee should not be large, it is a working body and will find in practice that once the basis of the campaign is laid down few business meetings are necessary. It would be advisable where there is more than one Local Campaign Committee within a State Electorate or Federal Electorate for a Deputy Campaign Director to be appointed to co-ordinate the work of the Branches to ensure that every detail is covered for the whole State or Federal electorate. Members who are being popularized to later stand as candidates for future Elections could stand in this capacity. In any case, these members being popularized should become prominent public figures during the campaign.

Campaign Groups should be formed by the local Campaign committees on subdivisions, wards, blocks, polling booths or other suitable basis. These groups should conduct the electioneering activity in their own area and ensure that every election detail is attended to, and draw in more forces as the campaign develops

As previously mentioned

EXAMPLE No 1.

                            

                                                    CENTRAL

                                                   CAMPAIGN

                                                  COMMITTEE

LOCAL CAMPAIGN     LOCAL CAMPAIGN     LOCAL CAMPAIGN    LOCAL CAMPAIGN

    COMMITTEE                 COMMITTEE                 COMMITTEE              COMMITTEE

     CAMPAIGN                     CAMPAIGN                     CAMPAIGN                  CAMPAIGN

        GROUPS                           GROUPS                           GROUPS                        GROUPS

The present group organizing system in the Branches should be a useful preparation for the development of this election organization.

Where Zone Committees exist they should play a leading roll, both in the preparatory stage and in the campaign. Early in the campaign, Zone Committee members should be given responsibility for specific areas to give correct leadership to the Campaign Committee in that area during elections. They should see that members support groups are drawn actively into the campaign.

2. Campaign Rooms

Campaign rooms should be engaged about six weeks prior to polling day, and care exercised in their selection. The most central area would be selected for the central direction of the campaign, and then suitable rooms engaged in each of the important shopping areas.

One in each sub division should be sufficient.

Windows of campaign rooms must be attractively dressed with slogans, policy points and the name of the candidate and the A.I.F. Campaign rooms should be made the rallying center for all campaign workers and interested electors.

A roster should be organized to keep the rooms open and literature folded and divided into the respective bundles; maps marked off and details from the canvass books or distribution books marked onto the wall charts.

3. Technical Preparation

Arrangements for election day should be made well in advance. As soon as the election campaign opens a start should be made collating all information necessary for polling day, including an estimate of the number of people who vote at each booth, number of booth workers required, appointment and record of names of booth captains, booth workers, scrutinizers, car drivers, canvassers and other workers, number of signs, how to vote cards, tables, chairs and lights necessary for each booth.

A chart should be used in order that all members of the Campaign Committee may be able to ascertain the development in each area and switch forces from one area to another in accordance with the importance of the booth and availability of forces.

Signs for election day must also be prepared as soon as the campaign commences. At least one "Enquirer Here" notice, with the name of the candidate in smaller letters, should be prepared for each booth. Six core flute signs, with candidate's name very large and the Party., should be available for every booth, probably more at larger booths. They should be attached to wooden frames, always kept clear of car park spaces and foot paths.

How to vote cards, rolls properly indexed, pencils, hats, lapel labels, must be procured and packed ready for use at each booth and table.

Every booth should also have an ample supply of drawing pins, string, rope, rain cover, sun cover, etc., for use.

Tables and chairs should be arranged early, and delivered to each booth the night prior to election day. It will be too late to look for good positions at 8a.m Get all equipment out early.

4. Mass campaigning

Public Meetings, Nothing is more important to the voters, than to be able to have the candidate available to ask questions of, in some cases voters simply want to know what the candidate looks like, how they speak, dress. Sometimes simple things are enough to convince a voter to vote for the candidate, however first hand knowledge of the Policies are the most important tool for a candidate, if they are placed into a position of not knowing policy, in front of a packed meeting hall, this will be very damaging to both the candidate and the A.I.F , worse if there are media in attendance, every candidate must treat every meeting as if it were being recorded for the media. The meeting hall should be well advertised in advance by letterbox drop and a small ad in the local newspaper, also the hall should be well signed to draw passes by. The meeting should be arranged well in advance with a big build up and the whole of the publicity around it used for the purpose of popularizing the candidate and points of their policy.  The candidates speech should be broadcast, all public organizations and leading citizens invited. Street meetings should be held at busy thoroughfares wherever possible, provided they are organized.

In house meetings should be arranged at least a week in advance on a basis of the most suitable blocks as canvassed by members. Special invitations should be prepared and sent by the person holding the in house meeting to all persons contacted in the block.

Loud speakers (where permitted) should be used as frequently as possible, especially at hotels where crowds congregate, railway stations, bus stations, shopping centers. Short announcements for speakers should be worked out each day and the name of the candidate should be mentioned frequently. Mention the name first and last if possible. Don't be a nuisance in any place. Keep the P.A. on the move. select good speakers with pleasant voices. Use plenty of force, but avoid offensiveness in noise.

Telephoning electors is a good method of contact, and people with telephones should be organized and asked to phone a certain number of electors during the campaign. With local call costs down around 20 cents, 100 people could be contacted by each member, for $20.00 or under. The method should be brief and to the point, the person stating: "I am speaking on behalf of So-and-So, candidate in the forthcoming election. He or She appeals for your support on election day because His or Her policy is ...... and then give an applicable slogan.

5. Publicity

Picture slides In most capital cities, there is a Television Station similar to Briz 31, who have a thing called Tele trader, a photo slide with a message is broadcast for 30 seconds several times throughout the day for a very low cost.

Leaflets are very important and should be prepared in accordance with the information obtained from an examination of the rolls and the information collected from the early survey of the area, i.e., for each section of the population, and on specific issues affecting different sections of the electorate or locality. They should be carefully planed to cover the whole of the electorate would prove sufficient. they should be:--

(a) Candidate's personal manifesto.

(b) Candidate's policy.

(c) Outstanding immediate demand. (Appeal to members of Forces, etc.)

(d) Final appeal.

These should be distributed at regular intervals, preferably one each week of the campaign. Each one should contain a good photo of the candidate, as large as the content will permit. All leaflets should be restricted to essential matter and presented as briefly as possible.

Additional leaflets should be prepared for specific sections of the electors, viz:--

(a) The predominant working class section, miners, meat workers, railway men, etc.

(b) Professional and middle class.

(c) Farmers dairymen, etc.

(d) Seniors, Pensioners.

(e) Women.

(f) Child Care, Sole Parents, and so on.

Special attention should be given to leaflets advertising radio talks by the candidate.Public meetings, social functions, etc.

The candidate's name and the A.I.F should appear on all of these, whilst a note calling upon the public to assist in the campaign and telling them how to assist and where to contact the campaign committees should appear on all literature. Telephone numbers and addresses should be added, remember all literature must by law have written and authorized by, the address and phone number of the person authorizing the literature!

These messages can be kept brief, such as "We invite you to help our Campaign. Ring ........... or call at ............'s Campaign Rooms, ........address.

Radio should be used as much as finance permits. Weekly talks by the candidate, minute or two minute scatters and special broadcasts from public meetings or social gatherings should be arranged if possible.

Posters, although limited by regulations, may be used to the fullest advantage if printed for use conjointly. For example, on the first poster should be the name of the candidate printed in the largest possible type, and the A.I.F in small type: on the second poster the main slogan in large type and the candidate's name in small type, so that the posters separately convey a message, and the large print on both posters side by side can also be read together.

Attractive coloured posters for shop windows, campaign rooms, used on tables on election day, telegraph poles and the like, should also be produced, carrying varied designs and slogans and localized in every way possible.

Stickers should be prepared in sizes of at least 50mm X 75mm to include the candidate's name and slogan. They should be used with discretion, avoiding private property, and not placed in positions likely to arouse hostility against the candidate or the campaign. They should be used freely at places where people congregate in large numbers, such as factories, workshops, train stations, bus stops.

Large signs for use at campaign rooms, back of cars, mobile campaign rooms, caravans, trailers, etc., may be used provided they carry the name of the candidate and the Party but do not give any indication of how to vote. These should be retained for use on election day as far as possible.

Buttons containing the photo of the candidate should be obtained very early in the campaign, distributed for sale amongst friends and supporters. Sufficient quantities should be obtained to allow of free distribution to school children during the final week of the campaign.

How to vote cards are one of the best means of publicity if delivered personally to the voter in the home. Immediately nominations close, how to vote cards should be procured. Name, address of each elector must be attached, and the cards delivered during the last week of the campaign to every home in the electorate.

Original and novel methods of publicity decorating campaign rooms should be used. The nature of the publicity should, however, be adapted to the character of the locality.

6. Canvassing

Canvassing, as well as being part of the everyday activity of the Branches, should be made a special feature of election campaigns. In the preparatory stages the canvassing should have been done very thoroughly. Canvasses should know the people and have a personal approach to them. During the intensified period of the campaign less time would be necessary at each door.

For purposes of canvassing and literature and leaflet distribution the Campaign  Groups formed by the branches could allocate to individual members or groups sections of the area of approximately 250 houses as previously subdivided on the map of the electorate which was obtained during the preparatory period. As far as possible the members who worked in these areas during the preparatory period should also work there during the election campaign. a chart should be prepared to keep a check on the work carried out in the blocks.

 7. How to canvass

Each canvasser should be given an electoral roll, a book and pencil, sufficient literature to cover the street, i:e policy books, literature, candidate's buttons, etc.

Many electors like to check their names on the roll. This method acts as a very good introduction besides giving the canvasser the opportunity of finding out the names of the people. Elimination of false enrolments is vital, and checking the rolls will invariably be found that some have failed to change their address and will need your advice as to how to update their enrollment, you should have several enrollment forms with you.

A little more time could be spent with persons belonging to public bodies, otherwise do not delay. Three to five minutes with ten people is better than 30 minutes with one if you cannot get around all in the street.

Ask the name of the people next door as you depart in order that you may approach them personally and help you in getting to the point. Be brief in what you say, confident and clearly spoken.

Give attention only to electors whose minds have not been made up. Don't waste time with people who are hostile, move on with a courteous gesture. Leave them some literature if possible.

Mention the Candidate's name two or three times, as " I am calling for Mr. Brown who is the A.I.F candidate for .......... Mr brown is........" On parting say, Don't forget to vote for Mr Brown." Try and sell literature and buttons. Ask for donations to the campaign fund.

Canvassing must go on till 8.30 p.m. Every one must work harder at election time. Don't be timid. Voters will be expecting canvassers, if it is not you, it will be your opponent's representatives.

Always know what events are on and mention them when canvassing, e.g.: lectures, meetings, sausage sizzles, it is always effective to say, "Mr Brown your A.I.F Candidate will be at the event at 7.30 pm tomorrow etc.

Another way of introducing your self to the voter, is I am the campaign assistant for Mr Brown THE candidate for (Electorate) by stating THE you place in the minds of the voter Mr Brown is the only one to vote for, without actually stating it, it is a case of what you mean is of course he is THE A.I.F Candidate, you just left that bit off unless asked, but you should be clearly marked as to who you represent, allowing assumption. The fewer words you have to repeat at the door each time, the quicker you can canvass, and your voice won't be worn out at the end of the day.

Ask whether there are other people in the house, lodgers, young people, etc. Leave literature for them. If time permits write their names on the Candidate's literature before you leave it. Ask friendly supporters would they like to help assist on polling day and enter the reply in your note book.

Do not deliver literature while canvassing in stead of letter box distribution, deliver literature while canvassing as well as the normal letter box drops.

Canvassing should receive priority, every able bodied person must go out and canvass.

When the first canvass has been completed, start on the second. The ideal method is to call on each home twice, once during the pre- election and once as close as possible to election day, so what you say is fresh in the minds of the voters on polling day.

Study your method, so you can improve it from experience and you will find the task enjoyable.

Remember the people like to meet people who know their policies . You are one of these people, providing you have been to an A.I.F Training School.

Equip yourself with a "canvass" personality, with the policy and program of the A.I.F . You are one of the most important workers in the campaign. you represent the Candidate and the People.  Stick to the job until you like it, until you have mastered all its details. Your effort will help you to put A.I.F members into parliament.

Your canvassing will help the struggle for Victory, Peace and Security and the attaining of our goal. Be worthy of the effort. You can be one of the efficiently trained canvassers the A.I.F needs NOW one of thousands who will get results.

8. Recording and Collating Information

A standard method of recording information in the roll should be adopted. "AIF" for AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENTS FEDERATION supporter, "L" for Labor, "LPC" for Liberal National Coalition, "DG" for Democrats & Greens, "D" for doubtful, and "H" for hostile.

The note book should be used to record information of a special character, such as complaints of the electors while the Branch or candidate can take up; information about electors wanting postal votes, supporters willing to assist in the campaign; donations to the campaign funds, public organizations to which the electors belong, sales of A.I.F  merchandise etc.

9. How to Get Postal Votes

One of the most important tasks of canvassers is to find out the number of people who will require postal votes on election day. This task need not necessarily be left until the development of the campaign proper. It should always be in the minds of door to door callers.

In every electorate there are a large number of permanent invalids and aged people who vote by post. In a Federal electorate postal votes vary from 1,000 to 5,000, in some State elections they reach as high as 3000. The Labor- Liberal Parties almost have a monopoly on these votes. They have built their organizations over a period of decades. They have lists of names and addresses, they appoint paid canvassers for each Election campaign, to visit hospitals, homes for the sick, institutions, etc.

They start their campaign with a large number of postal votes recorded for their candidates. All kinds of methods are used by them to divert the vote to their candidate, regardless of the desire of the voter. The lead they obtain in this regard can only be corrected if our drive for postal votes is really developed in a correct manner.

It is possible to assist postal voters to record their votes as they desire. They are usually working class people and the majority would be Labor-Liberal voters. Vigilance, therefore, will assist in policing the Electoral laws and safeguarding the democratic rights of the aged, infirm and the sick, all of whom are entitled to vote in freedom and as they desire.

Postal votes are important. They are the first votes recorded. When we enter election campaigns we do so to win and we cannot afford to allow any opponent to gain the advantage of 500 to 1,000 votes start.

The collection of information for postal votes is the duty of canvassers. When the visit a place they should ask if anybody is sick, or will be out of the electorate. This information must be recorded in the canvasses note book. When the time comes a special visit should be made to the home, and an application form for a postal vote provided.

Four postal vote organizers should be appointed in every area covered by a Branch, two men and two women, one of whom should if possible be an authorized witness or a J.P. They should concentrate on visiting the places indicated by canvassers. Care should be exercised in the filling in of application forms. When this is done they should be returned to the Returning Officer with whom the closest relationship should be established. When the form is returned to the applicant, the Authorized Witness or J.P. should visit the place to witness the Postal Ballot Paper Declaration and ensure that the person received a vote.

Don't lose any time making this return visit, otherwise your opponent will collect the vote for his candidate. All applications must be in the hands of the R.O. 18 hours prior to the poll.

A careful check should also be kept on the Postal Vote organizers of the opposition. Where possible, a list of applicants should be obtained from the Returning Officer and every applicant visited and given a How to Vote Card, literature and the services of an Authorized Witness if required.

Postal Ballot Papers, signed and witnessed, may be delivered to the Returning Officer any time prior to the closing of the poll. Read instructions on application and declaration forms carefully. Don't leave any loopholes for the rejection of the votes so collected.

Part 4

Election Day

1. Booths

A booth workers list should be started 18 months prior to the expected normal election date. A booth captain should be appointed for each booth. Their duties will be to direct all campaign workers, see that they are suitably placed, show them how to approach the public, co-ordinate the work of the booth workers with the street canvassers, establish a good relationship with the returning officer, and prevent the development of any disturbances with workers of other candidates. The captain should constantly check over their forces and move them around in order to maintain the best positions and the first and last approach to all electors.

When the booth opens the booth captain should make themselves known to the Presiding Officer, or the officer in charge of the booth. The booth captain should ask the Officer to define the line over which tables cannot be placed. Once they have defined the line don't move your equipment back.

All campaign workers should work under the direction of the booth captain, accept their leadership and respond readily to their requests and advice. NEVER ATEMPT TO UNDERMINE THE CAPTAINS AUTHORITY AND NEVER ARGUE IN PUBLIC, if you think the captain is wrong, ring the Candidates manager, and accept their ruling.

All booth workers should be fully equipped for all weather conditions and with all booth equipment, such as table, chairs, string or zip ties, scissors, tape, eski with food and drinks to last until lunch time, how to vote cards and two core flute signs maximum per booth. All booth workers and screeners, must have or be provided with a fully charged and working mobile phone.

Arrangements should be made for relief workers at lunchtime. Catering should be provided by the committee, preferably at a central place. It may be advisable to arrange for meals at a cafe rather than divert a lot of campaign workers away from their Election Day task to do catering. Where workers are plentiful catering can be done to advantage by the committee and don't forget to invite some of your friends from the rival candidates, especially the Labor party. Every campaigner should keep in mind the necessity of building the United Front. On Election Day it is possible to establish good relations with workers for other candidates.

2. Transport

One Person working under the instructions of the booth captain should be in charge of the direction of all cars on Election Day. As far as possible they should be sent to convey voters from the address previously provided by canvassers. This can most efficiently be carried out if the booth captain has had all information taken from the canvas books and prepared on special slips of paper and sorted into streets.

The campaign director should have a car at their disposal in order to visit the various booths in the electorate, this task should also be undertaken by the Candidate, the candidate must spend a minimum of ten minutes on every booth, also they must greet every worker upon arrival and thank everyone upon leaving the booth. In addition one or two members, depending on the size of the electorate, equipped with car motor bike or bicycle, should act, as runners between the booths and if required the campaign headquarters. This is an essential detail as many of the booths are isolated and supplies must be conveyed to them.

3. Presenting the Face of the A.I.F

It is important to bear in mind that Election Day arrangements firstly, really present the whole face of the A.I.F to the masses. Secondly, it reflects the organization ability of the A.I.F and the Candidate to the electors.

The organization on Election Day must be of a character which will reflect credit, and every effort must be made to present the Party and the Candidate to the electors.

The organization on Election Day must of a character which will reflect credit, and every effort must be made to present the Party and the Candidate in the best manner. This includes all aspects of campaigning, correct allocation of forces, attention to these forces in the way of provision of materials, catering, checking up, encouraging and inspiring them in their work, placing of tables, campaign workers, decorations, signs, badges, and the conduct of the personnel. We must avoid the methods employed by our opponents and approach the public in a dignified and cheerful manner.

In previous campaigns, we have conducted ourselves excellently, however in some areas, some booth workers displayed hand written signs, which provoked hostility, and in other areas signs were placed at booths, centered on the senate campaign, and no mention of the candidate.

The sooner it is recognized that this method of campaign harms the A.I.F , the sooner we will get down to the business of winning campaigns. Whilst the face of the A.I.F must be brought out boldly it should not be done to the exclusion of the banner bearers. In election campaign campaigns we present the A.I.F and A.I.F policy through individuals through our candidates. Electors go to the Polls to vote for individuals as well as Parties. The names of the candidates MUST be the main feature of all signs, the name of the A.I.F comes second.

Only the best signs, posters, hatbands and badges should be displayed on Election Day. As far as possible they should be prepared in a uniform manner preferably in the same colour or combination of colours. Every worker should be requested to wear a hat with the A.I.F logo, at a minimum.

small posters, especially those carrying the largest possible photo of the candidate, others with their name, or pointing the way to the polling booth, should be erected before midnight on the eve of voting, in order that the best positions may be covered. Special concentration should be made adjacent to the booth on all fences, power polls or other places right in the public view.

4. How to Approach the Public

There are two ways to approach an elector the right way and the wrong. It is easier to do it the right way and it is much more pleasant for both. People don't like anybody pushing politics down their necks. But they do like to be recognized. They do appreciate a pleasant comment and when in doubt, helpful assistance.

A good Election Day campaigner will soon find that he or she can find the best way to approach most electors, if they give a little thought to the matter. Very few people like their heads screeched off to "VOTE A.I.F " or any other party or Mr. or Mrs. so and so. It is far better to use an original approach and very your tactics. You will find it interesting and fruitful.

It is possible to classify the people as they come along. For instance, the deliberate voter usually rejects all approaches, takes no how to vote cards, others take all. These deliberate voters usually have their minds made up, but they are not outside your influence. Some of them have been advised by friends, they still have doubts. But how are you going to remove those doubts and help them to make a correct decision and record a conscious political vote? Don't bother about the hostile, but try your hand with the voter mentioned above. You will find that if you make a friendly comment, get into conversation and then give advice, you invariably break through. However, unless there are plenty of other workers don't waste much time with one voter and let dozens pass by without a how to vote card.

There are other types of voters who need your assistance. The aged and infirm like to be shown where to go, to be escorted through the throng of irritating booth workers. As you do, give them the how to vote card and show them where to go. in many cases if they have your how to vote cards on the top, they will realize who helped them and vote accordingly. Young women, especially those with young babies, also like your kindly approach. Whilst we do not approve of the old method of reactionary campaigns of the Candidates kissing babies, it is the duty of booth workers to assist members of the general public. Young mothers who come to the booth with babies would appreciate your assistance. Perhaps they are having their first vote. They are nervous and hesitant and don't know how to vote. They are soon taken care of by your opponents. There are scores of other cross sections of the people who are accustomed to seeking Election Day advice. It is your duty to give it to them.

Booth workers should take it in turns of watching the stream of people coming to the booth. Note how they are treated, whether they are confused. Any voter who stands back and observes the work at the booth for a few minutes will soon learn much about Election Day tactics.

Above all, don't be bluffed by your opponent. You have a right to do all he does, but don't drive the people away from you. Draw them near.

It is far better to say, "May I assist you sir or madam," than to yell ' Vote A.I.F " If you make the first comment in a personal way to the person concerned, and not in a public way usually done, you will find the elector is pleased.

5. Scrutinizing

Scrutinizers must have an appointment form, signed by the Candidate and this form must be lodged prior to the closing of the booth, it is a good idea for the Scrutinizer to go into the booth (Having first made sure to remove all advertising from their person) seek out the officer in charge, and fill out and lodge the form in their presence, remember the form must be signed by the Scrutinizer in front of the officer.

Scrutinizers should be carefully chosen, by their knowledge of the local people, because they may recognize if any of the official counters are members of your opponents political party, if they are they can be disqualified. One scrutinizer is allowed for every counter in the booth, it is important for the scrutinizer to go to the toilet just before they enter the booth, ten minutes before the booths close, so they can be comfortable while they are in the booth, the booths are locked at closing time, and anyone who leaves, regardless of reason, will not be permitted to return.

It is advisable that scrutinizers attend special training meetings set up prior to Election Day, so that they are fully aware of what to look for. For example, it is an old trick for the counter who favors your opponent, to count 49 A.I.F  votes and then quickly slip an opponents vote on the top, making the final 50 for the bundle, then placing the bundle on your opponents pile. Remember you are not allowed to touch a ballot paper, or the counting table, however you have the right to ask the counter to slow down, to go back a few papers, or to recount a bundle.

After the count it is important to phone in the first (Primary) votes to the campaign office, do not phone in the stupid two party preferred count. This rubbish will only confuse our tally room workers.

It is vital that the scrutinizer returns for the second count, usually on the Sunday or the Monday, seek the advise of the Candidate, as the vote may not be close enough to worry.

The scrutinizer should also write down the number of papers issued, and make sure of the number that voted, tally with the number issued, this will be conducted by the booth officer, the number of papers issued at each booth along with the number that voted, must be phoned in to the campaign office, so that double voting can be eliminated.

Scrutinizers should also be on shifts throughout the day, so that they can be present in the booth and check the following.

(a) Only one ballot paper is handed to each voter.

(b) That every ballot paper handed to the voter is initialed on the back by the Presiding Officer (Check to make sure this method is used by the officer, if not then ignore (b)

(c) That every person is alone (next of kin permitted) when marking the ballot paper.

(d) That the ballot box is never out of sight.

(e) that the Presiding officer's attention is drawn to the presence of anyone who has not the right to be present.

(f) That no person is allowed to take ballot papers out of the booth.

(g) That objection is raised to any attempt to canvass votes within a booth.

A person may not be denied a vote because of errors or omissions in the entry of their name as appearing on the roll, if they satisfy the Presiding Officer of their identity.

Any voter who hands back a ballot paper which is claimed to have been spoiled may be given another one by the Presiding Officer, however the spoiled ballot paper must be signed by the Presiding officer as spoiled.

Any blind person or otherwise ill,  may ask the Presiding officer to mark their paper for them. It is the scrutinizers job to make sure the Presiding officer or other person chosen by the voter correctly marks the paper to the wishes of the voter. (safer to discuss this with the Presiding Officer.

All spoiled ballot papers must be placed in a separate pile from the other ballot papers.

General

The duties of scrutinizers are highly important. They should endeavor to work in harmony with the Presiding Officer and promote unity with representatives of other candidates and parties. If it is necessary to take action in the interests of your candidate see that it is done tactfully.

Scrutinizers should be alert at all times, and should bring any concerns to the attention of the Presiding Officer. where the Presiding Officer fails to take action, the scrutinizer must then report the matter to the Returning Officer.

Malpractice’s generally develop in the early stages of the counting and can be detected if scrutinizers carry out the instructions as listed.

Any questions relating to this manual, should be first directed to the nearest branch, or the State Office.

             

(The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster)

Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established:

And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen:

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:--

1. This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later that one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after the proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.

4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so appointed. But the Parliaments of the several colonies may at any time after the passing of this Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the day so appointed, as they might have made if the Constitution had taken effect at the passing of this Act.

5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every State and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.

6. "The Commonwealth" shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as established under this Act.

"The States" shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the northern territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called "a State".

"Original States" shall mean such States as are parts of the Commonwealth at its establishment.

7. The Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885, is hereby repealed, but so as not to affect any laws passed by the Federal Council of Australasia and in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth.

Any such law may be repealed as to any State by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, or as to any colony not being a State by the Parliament thereof.

8. After the passing of this Act the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895, shall not apply to any colony which becomes a State of the Commonwealth; but the Commonwealth shall be taken to be a self-governing colony for the purposes of that Act.

9. The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows:--

Chapter I. The Parliament.

Part I.--General.

1. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, and which is herein-after called "The Parliament," or "The Parliament of the Commonwealth. "

2. A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.

3. There shall be payable to the Queen out of the Consolidated Revenue fund of the Commonwealth, for the salary of the Governor-General, an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise provides, shall be ten thousand pounds. The salary of the Governor-General shall not be altered during his continuance in office.

4. The provisions of this Constitution relating to the Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for the time being, or such person as the Queen may appoint to administer the Government of the Commonwealth; but no such person shall be entitled to receive any salary from the Commonwealth in respect of any other office during his administration of the Government of the Commonwealth.

5. The Governor-General may appoint such times for holding the sessions of the Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from time to time, by Proclamation or otherwise, prorogue the Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the House of Representatives.

After any general election the Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than thirty days after the day appointed for the return of the writs. The Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than six months after the establishment of the Commonwealth.

6. There shall be a session of the Parliament once at least in every year, so that twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and its first sitting in the next session.

Part II.--The Senate.

7. The Senate shall be composed of senators for each State, directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate.

But until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise provides, the Parliament of the State of Queensland, if that State be an Original State, may make laws dividing the State into divisions and determining the number of senators to be chosen for each division, and in the absence of such provision the State shall be one electorate.

Until the Parliament otherwise provides there shall be six senators for each Original State. The Parliament may make laws increasing or diminishing the number of senators for each State, but so that equal representation of the several Original States shall be maintained and that no Original State shall have less than six senators. The senators shall be chosen for a term of six years, and the names of the senators chosen for each State shall be certified by the Governor to the Governor-General.

8. The qualification of electors of senators shall be in each State that which is prescribed by this Constitution, or by the Parliament, as the qualification for electors of members of the House of Representatives; but in the choosing of senators each elector shall vote only once.

9. The Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws prescribing the method of choosing senators, but so that the method shall be uniform for all the States. Subject to any such law, the Parliament of each State may make laws prescribing the method of choosing the senators for that State.

The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining the times and places of elections of senators for the State.

10. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this Constitution, the laws in force in each State, for the time being, relating to elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to elections of senators for the State.

11. The Senate may proceed to despatch of business, notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate.

12. The Governor of any State may cause writs to be issued for elections of senators for the State. In case of the dissolution of the Senate the writs shall be issued within ten days from the proclamation of such dissolution.

13. As soon as may be after the Senate first meets, and after each first meeting of the Senate following a dissolution thereof, the Senate shall divide the senators chosen for each State into two classes, as nearly equal in number as practicable; and the places of the senators of the first class shall become vacant at the expiration of three years, and the places of those of the second class at the expiration of six years, from the beginning of their term of service; and afterwards the places of senators shall be vacant at the expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of service.

The election to fill vacant places shall be made within one year before the places are to become vacant.

For the purpose of this section the term of service of a senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of July following the day of his election, except in the cases of the first election and of the election next after any dissolution of the Senate, when it shall be taken to begin on the first day of July preceding the day of his election.

14. Whenever the number of senators for a State is increased or diminished, the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make such provision for the vacating of the places of senators for the State as it deems necessary to maintain regularity in the rotation.

15. If the place of a senator becomes vacant before the expiration of his term of service, the Houses of Parliament of the State for which he was chosen, sitting and voting together, or, if there is only one House of that Parliament, that House, shall choose a person to hold the place until the expiration of the term. But if the Parliament of the State is not in session when the vacancy is notified, the Governor of the State, with the advice of the Executive Council thereof, may appoint a person to hold the place until the expiration of fourteen days from the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of the State or the expiration of the term, whichever first happens.

Where a vacancy has at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of a State and, at the time when he was so chosen, he was publicly recognised by a particular political party as being an endorsed candidate of that party and publicly represented himself to be such a candidate, a person chosen or appointed under this section in consequence of that vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent vacancy or vacancies, shall, unless there is no member of that party available to be chosen or appointed, be a member of that party.

Where--

(a) in accordance with the last preceding paragraph, a member of a particular political party is chosen or appointed to hold the place of a senator whose place had become vacant; and

(b) before taking his seat he ceases to be a member of that party (otherwise than by reason of the party having ceased to exist),

he shall be deemed not to have been so chosen or appointed and the vacancy shall be again notified in accordance with section twenty-one of this Constitution.

The name of a senator chosen or appointed under this section shall be certified by the Governor of the State to the Governor-General.

If the place of a senator chosen by the people of a State at the election of senators last held before the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies ) 1977 became vacant before that commencement and, at that commencement, no person chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of the State, or appointed by the Governor of the State, in consequence of that vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent vacancy or vacancies, held office, this section applies as if the place of the senator chosen by the people of the State had become vacant after that commencement.

A senator holding office at the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, being a senator appointed by the Governor of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State, shall be deemed to have been appointed to hold the place until the expiration of fourteen days after the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of the State that commenced or commences after he was appointed and further action under this section shall be taken as if the vacancy in the place of the senator chosen by the people of the State had occurred after that commencement.

Subject to the next succeeding paragraph, a senator holding office at the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Casual Senate Vacancies) 1977 who was chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen to hold office until the expiration of the term of service of the senator elected by the people of the State.

If, at or before the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, a law to alter the Constitution entitled "Constitutional Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1977" came into operation, a senator holding office at the commencement of that law who was chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen to hold office--

(a) if the senator elected by the people of the State had a term of service expiring on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight--until the expiration or dissolution of the first House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved after that law came into operation; or

(b if the senator elected by the people of the State had a term of service expiring on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and eighty-one--until the expiration or dissolution of the first House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved after that law came into operation; or, if there is an earlier dissolution of the Senate, until that dissolution.

16. The qualification of a senator shall be the same as those of a member of the House of Representatives.

17. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the Senate; and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President. The President shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the Senate, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor-General.

18. Before or during any absence of the President, the Senate may choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.

19. A senator may by writing addressed to the President, or to the Governor-General if there is no President or if the President is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon shall become vacant.

20. The place of a senator shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the Senate, fails to attend the Senate.

21. Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President, or if there is no President or if the President is absent from the Commonwealth the Governor-General, shall notify the same to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened.

22. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the senators shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its powers.

23. Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote. The President shall in all cases be entitled to a vote; and when the votes are equal the question shall pass in the negative.

Part III.--The House of Representatives.

24. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the number of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of senators. The number of members chosen in the several States shall be in proportion to the respective members of their people, and shall, until the Parliament otherwise provides, be determined, whenever necessary, in the following manner:--

(i. ) A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth, as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by twice the number of senators:

(ii. ) The number of members to be chosen in each State shall be determined by dividing the number of the people of the State, as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by the quota; and if on such division there is a remainder greater than one-half of the quota, one more member shall be chosen in the State. But notwithstanding anything in this section, five members at least shall be chosen in each Original State.

25. For the purposes of the last section, if by the law of any State all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State, then, in reckoning the number of the people of the State or of the Commonwealth, persons of that race resident in that State shall not be counted.

26. Notwithstanding anything in section twenty-four, the number of members to be chosen in each State at the first election shall be as follows:--

New South Wales:- twenty-three;
Victoria:- twenty;
Queensland:- eight;
South Australia:- six;
Tasmania:- five;

Provided that if Western Australia is an Original State, the numbers shall be as follows:--

New South Wales:- twenty-six;
Victoria:- twenty-three;
Queensland:- nine;
South Australia:- seven;
Western Australia:- five;
Tasmania:- five.

27. Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make laws for increasing or diminishing the number of the members of the House of Representatives.

28. Every House of Representatives shall continue for three years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General.

29. Until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise provides, the Parliament of any State may make laws for determining the divisions in each State for which members of the House of Representatives may be chosen, and the number of members to be chosen for each division. A division shall not be formed out of parts of different States.

In the absence of other provision each State shall be one electorate.

30. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be in each State that which is prescribed by the law of the State as the qualification of electors of the more numerous House of Parliament of the State; but in the choosing of members each elector shall vote only once.

31. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this Constitution, the laws in force in each State for the time being relating to elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to elections in the State of members of the House of Representatives.

32. The Governor-General in Council may cause writs to be issued for general elections of members of the House of Representatives. After the first general election, the writs shall be issued within ten days from the expiry of a House of Representatives or from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof.

33. Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member, or if there is no Speaker or if he is absent from the Commonwealth the Governor-General in Council may issue the writ.

34. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives shall be as follows:--

(i. ) He must be of the full age of twenty-one years, and must be an elector entitled to vote at the election of members of the House of Representatives, or a person qualified to become such elector, and must have been for three years at the least a resident within the limits of the Commonwealth as existing at the time when he was chosen:

(ii. ) He must be a subject of the Queen, either natural-born or for at least five years naturalised under a law of the United Kingdom, or of a Colony which has become or becomes a State, or of the Commonwealth, or of a State.

35. The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the Speaker of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker. The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor-General.

36. Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in his absence.

37. A member may by writing addressed to the Speaker, or to the Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon shall become vacant.

38. The place of a member shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the House, fails to attend the House.

39. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers.

40. Questions arising in the House of Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes other than that of the Speaker. The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are equal, and then he shall have a casting vote.

Part IV.--Both Houses of the Parliament.

41. No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.

42. Every senator and every member of the House of Representatives shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before the Governor-General, or some person authorised by him, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form set forth in the schedule to this Constitution.

43. A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.

44. Any person who--

(i. ) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power: or

(ii. ) Is attained of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer: or

(iii. ) Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent: or

(iv. ) Holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth: or

(v. ) Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons:

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives. But sub-section iv. does not apply to the office of any of the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of the Queen's Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half pay, or a pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen's navy or army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth.

45. If a senator or member of the House of Representatives--

(i. ) Becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the last preceding section: or

(ii. ) Takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition, or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors: or

(iii.) Directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or for services rendered in the Parliament to any person or State:

his place shall thereupon become vacant.

46. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any person declared by this Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives shall, for every day on which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of one hundred pounds to any person who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction.

47. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any question respecting the qualification of a senator or of a member of the House or Representatives, or respecting a vacancy in either House of the Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to either House, shall be determined by the House in which the question arises.

48. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, each senator and each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an allowance of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on which he takes his seat.

49. The powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament, and until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the establishment of the Commonwealth.

50. Each House of the Parliament may make rules and orders with respect to--

(i. ) The mode in which its powers, privileges, and immunities may be exercised and upheld:

(ii. ) The order and conduct of its business and proceedings either separately or jointly with the other House.

Part V.--Powers of the Parliament.

51. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:

(i. ) Trade and commerce with other countries, and among the States:

(ii. ) Taxation; but so as not to discriminate between States or parts of States:

(iii. ) Bounties on the production or export of goods, but so that such bounties shall be uniform throughout the Commonwealth:

(iv. ) Borrowing money on the public credit of the Commonwealth:

(v. ) Postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services:

(vi. ) The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and of the several States, and the control of the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the Commonwealth:

(vii. ) Lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys:

(viii. ) Astronomical and meteorological observations:

(ix. ) Quarantine:

(x. ) Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits:

(xi. ) Census and statistics:

(xii. ) Currency, coinage, and legal tender:

(xiii. ) Banking, other than State banking; also State banking extending beyond the limits of the State concerned, the incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money:

(xiv. ) Insurance, other than State insurance; also State insurance extending beyond the limits of the State concerned:

(xv. ) Weights and measures:

(xvi. ) Bills of exchanging and promissory notes:

(xvii. ) Bankruptcy and insolvency:

(xviii. ) Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks:

(xix. ) Naturalisation and aliens:

(xx. ) Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth:

(xxi. ) Marriage:

(xxii. ) Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto, parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants:

(xxiii. ) Invalid and old-age pensions:

(xxiiiA. ) The provision of maternity allowances, widows' pensions, child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but not so as to authorise any form of civil conscription), benefits to students and family allowances:

(xxiv. ) The service and execution throughout the Commonwealth of the civil and criminal process and the judgments of the courts of the States:

(xxv. ) The recognition throughout the Commonwealth of the laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial proceedings of the States:

(xxvi. ) The people of any race, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws:

(xxvii. ) Immigration and emigration:

(xxviii. ) The influx of criminals:

(xxix. ) External Affairs:

(xxx. ) The relations of the Commonwealth with the islands of the Pacific:

(xxxi. ) The acquisition of property on just terms from any State or person for any purpose in respect of which the Parliament has power to make laws:

(xxxii. ) The control of railways with respect to transport for the naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth:

(xxxiii. ) The acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any railways of the State on terms arranged between the Commonwealth and the State:

(xxxiv. ) Railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State:

(xxxv. ) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State:

(xxxvi. ) Matters in respect of which this Constitution makes provision until the Parliament otherwise provides:

(xxxvii. ) Matters referred to the Parliament of the Commonwealth by the Parliament or Parliaments of any State or States, but so that the law shall extend only to States by whose Parliaments the matter is referred, or which afterwards adopt the law:

(xxxviii. ) The exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the States directly concerned, of any power which can at the establishment of this Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of Australasia:

(xxxix. ) Matters incidental to the execution of any power vested by this Constitution in the Parliament or in either House thereof, or in the Government of the Commonwealth, or in the Federal Judicature, or in any department or officer of the Commonwealth.

52. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have exclusive power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to--

(i) The seat of the government of the Commonwealth, and all places acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes:

(ii. ) Matters relating to any department of the public service the control of which is by this Constitution transferred to the Executive Government or the Commonwealth:

(iii. ) Other matters declared by this Constitution to be within the exclusive power of the Parliament.

53. Proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys, or imposing taxation, shall not originate in the Senate. But a proposed law shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys, or to impose taxation, by reason only of its containing provisions for the imposition or appropriation of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the demand or payment or appropriation of fees for licences, or fees for services under the proposed law.

The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation, or proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government.

The Senate may not amend any proposed law so as to increase any proposed charge or burden on the people.

The Senate may at any stage return to the House of Representatives any proposed law which the Senate may not amend, requesting, by message, the omission or amendment of any items or provisions therein. And the House of Representatives may, if it thinks fit, make any of such omissions or amendments, with or without modifications.

Except as provided in this section, the Senate shall have equal power with the House of Representatives in respect of all proposed laws.

54. The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with such appropriation.

55. Laws imposing taxation, shall deal only with the imposition of taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any other matter shall be of no effect.

Laws imposing taxation, except laws imposing duties of customs or of excise, shall deal with one subject of taxation only; but laws imposing duties of customs shall deal with duties of customs only, and laws imposing duties of excise shall deal with duties of excise only.

56. A vote, resolution, or proposed law for the appropriation of revenue or moneys shall not be passed unless the purpose of the appropriation has in the same session been recommended by message of the Governor-General to the House in which the proposal originated.

57. If the House of representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.

If after such dissolution the House of Representatives again passes the proposed law, with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives.

The members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and shall vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed by the House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which have been made therein by one House and not agreed to by the other, and any such amendments which are affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be taken to have been carried, and if the proposed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed by both Houses of the Parliament, and shall be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent.

58. When a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to this Constitution, that he assents in the Queen's name, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen's pleasure.

The Governor-General may return to the house in which it originated any proposed law so presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the Houses may deal with the recommendation.

59. The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the Governor-General's assent, and such disallowance on being made known by the Governor-General by speech or message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul the law from the day when the disallowance is so made known.

60. A proposed law reserved for the Queen's pleasure shall not have any force unless and until within two years from the day on which it was presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent the Governor-General makes known, by speech or message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, that it has received the Queen's assent.

Chapter II. The Executive Government.

61. The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.

62. There shall be a Federal Executive Council to advise the Governor-General in the government of the Commonwealth, and the members of the Council shall be chosen and summoned by the Governor-General and sworn as Executive Councillors, and shall hold office during his pleasure.

63. The provisions of this Constitution referring to the Governor-General in Council shall be construed as referring to the Governor-General acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council.

64. The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer such departments of State of the Commonwealth as the Governor-General in Council may establish.

Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General. They shall be members of the Federal Executive Council, and shall be the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth.

After the first general election no Minister of State shall hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is or becomes a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

65. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Ministers of State shall not exceed seven in number, and shall hold such offices as the Parliament prescribes, or, in the absence of provision, as the Governor-General directs.

66. There shall be payable to the Queen, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth, for the salaries of the Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until the Parliament otherwise provides, shall not exceed twelve thousand pounds a year.

67. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the appointment and removal of all other officers of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall be vested in the Governor-General in Council, unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor-General in Council or by a law of the Commonwealth to some other authority.

68. The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative.

69. On a date or dates to be proclaimed by the Governor-General after the establishment of the Commonwealth the following departments of the public service in each State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth:--

    Posts, telegraphs, and telephones:
    Naval and military defence:
    Lighthouses, lightships, beacons, and buoys:
    Quarantine.

But the departments of customs and of excise in each State shall become transferred to the Commonwealth on its establishment.

70. In respect of matters which, under this Constitution, pass to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth, all powers and functions which at the establishment of the Commonwealth are vested in the Governor of a Colony, or in the Governor of a Colony with the advice of his Executive Council, or in any authority of a Colony, shall vest in the Governor-General, or in the Governor-General in Council, or in the authority exercising similar powers under the Commonwealth, as the case requires.

Chapter III. The Judicature.

71. The judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia, and in such other federal courts as the Parliament creates, and in such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. The High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other Justices, not less than two, as the Parliament prescribes.

72. The Justices of the High Court and of the other courts created by the Parliament--

    (i.) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:

    (ii.) Shall not be removed except by the Governor-General in Council, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session, praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity:

    (iii.) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may fix; but the remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

The appointment of a Justice of the High Court shall be for a term expiring upon his attaining the age of seventy years, and a person shall not be appointed as a Justice of the High Court if he has attained that age.

The appointment of a Justice of a court created by the Parliament shall be for a term expiring upon his attaining the age that is, at the time of his appointment, the maximum age for Justices of that court and a person shall not be appointed as a Justice of such a court if he has attained the age that is for the time being the maximum age for Justices of that court.

Subject to this section, the maximum age for Justices of any court created by the Parliament is seventy years.

The Parliament may make a law fixing an age that is less than seventy years as the maximum age for Justices of a court created by the Parliament and may at any time repeal or amend such a law, but any such repeal or amendment does not affect the term of office of a Justice under an appointment made before the repeal or amendment.

A Justice of the High Court or of a court created by the Parliament may resign his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Governor-General.

Nothing in the provisions added to this section by the Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) 1977 affects the continuance of a person in office as a Justice of a court under an appointment made before the commencement of those provisions.

A reference in this section to the appointment of a Justice of the High Court or of a court created by the Parliament shall be read as including a reference to the appointment of a person who holds office as a Justice of the High Court or of a court created by the Parliament to another office of Justice of the same court having a different status or designation.

73. The High Court shall have jurisdiction, with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as the Parliament prescribes, to hear and determine appeals from all judgments, decrees, orders, and sentences--

    (i.) Of any Justice or Justices exercising the original jurisdiction of the High Court:

    (ii.) Of any other federal court, or court exercising federal jurisdiction; or of the Supreme Court of any State, or of any other court of any State from which at the establishment of the Commonwealth an appeal lies to the Queen in Council:

    (iii.) Of the Inter-State Commission, but as to questions of law only:

and the judgment of the High Court in all such cases shall be final and conclusive.

But no exception or regulation prescribed by the Parliament shall prevent the High Court from hearing and determining any appeal from the Supreme Court of a State in any matter in which at the establishment of the Commonwealth an appeal lies from such Supreme Court to the Queen in Council.

Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the conditions of and restrictions on appeals to the Queen in Council from the Supreme Courts of the several States shall be applicable to appeals from them to the High Court.

74. No appeal shall be permitted to the Queen in Council from a decision of the High Court upon any question, howsoever arising, as to the limits inter se of the Constitutional powers of the Commonwealth and those of any State or States, or as to the limits inter se of the Constitutional powers of any two or more States, unless the High Court shall certify that the Question is one which ought to be determined by Her Majesty in Council.

The High Court may so certify if satisfied that for any special reason the certificate should be granted, and thereupon an appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in Council on the question without further leave.

Except as provided in this section, this Constitution shall not impair any right which the Queen may be pleased to exercise by virtue of Her Royal prerogative to grant special leave of appeal from the High Court to Her Majesty in Council. The Parliament may make laws limiting the matters in which such leave may be asked, but proposed laws containing any such limitation shall be reserved by the Governor-General for Her Majesty's pleasure.

75. In all matters--

    (i.) Arising under any treaty:

    (ii.) Affecting consuls or other representatives of other countries:

    (iii.) In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being sued on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party:

    (iv.) Between States, or between residents of different States, or between a State and a resident of another State:

    (v.) In which a writ of Mandamus or prohibition or an injunction is sought against an officer of the Commonwealth:

the High Court shall have original jurisdiction.

76. The Parliament may make laws conferring original jurisdiction on the High Court in any matter--

    (i.) Arising under this Constitution, or involving its interpretation:

    (ii.) Arising under any laws made by the Parliament:

    (iii.) Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction:

    (iv.) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under the laws of different States.

77. With respect to any of the matters mentioned in the last two sections the Parliament may make laws--

    (i.) Defining the jurisdiction of any federal court other than the High Court:

    (ii.) Defining the extent to which the jurisdiction of any federal court shall be exclusive of that which belongs to or is invested in the courts of the States:

    (iii.) Investing any court of a State with federal jurisdiction.

78. The Parliament may make laws conferring rights to proceed against the Commonwealth or a State in respect of matters within the limits of the judicial power.

79. The federal jurisdiction of any court may be exercised by such number of judges as the Parliament prescribes.

80. The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes.

Chapter IV. Finance And Trade.

81. All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution.

82. The costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt of the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall form the first charge thereon; and the revenue of the Commonwealth shall in the first instance be applied to the payment of the expenditure of the Commonwealth.

83. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Commonwealth except under appropriation made by law.

But until the expiration of one month after the first meeting of the Parliament the Governor-General in Council may draw from the Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the maintenance of any department transferred to the Commonwealth and for the holding of the first elections for the Parliament.

84. When any department of the public service of a State becomes transferred to the Commonwealth, all officers of the department shall become subject to the control of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth.

Any such officer who is not retained in the service of the Commonwealth shall, unless he is appointed to some other office of equal emolument in the public service of the State, be entitled to receive from the State any pension, gratuity, or other compensation, payable under the law of the State on the abolition of his office.

Any such officer who is retained in the service of the Commonwealth shall preserve all his existing and accruing rights, and shall be entitled to retire from office at the time, and on the pension or retiring allowance, which would be permitted by the law of the State if his service with the Commonwealth were a continuation of his service with the State. Such pension or retiring allowance shall be paid to him by the Commonwealth; but the State shall pay to the Commonwealth a part thereof, to be calculated on the proportion which his term of service with the State bears to his whole term of service, and for the purpose of the calculation his salary shall be taken to be that paid to him by the State at the time of the transfer.

Any officer who is, at the establishment of the Commonwealth, in the public service of a State, and who is, by consent of the Governor of the State with the advice of the Executive Council thereof, transferred to the public service of the Commonwealth, shall have the same rights as if he had been an officer of a department transferred to the Commonwealth and were retained in the service of the Commonwealth.

85. When any departments of the public service of a State is transferred to the Commonwealth--

    (i.) All property of the State of any kind, used exclusively in connexion with the department, shall become vested in the Commonwealth; but, in the case of the departments controlling customs and excise and bounties, for such time only as the Governor-General in Council may declare to be necessary:

    (ii.) The Commonwealth may acquire any property of the State, of any kind used, but not exclusively used in connection with the department; the value thereof shall, if no agreement can be made, be ascertained in, as nearly as may be, the manner in which the value of land, or of an interest in land, taken by the State for public purposes is ascertained under the law of the State in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth:

    (iii.) The Commonwealth shall compensate the State for the value of any property passing to the Commonwealth under this section; if no agreement can be made as to the mode of compensation, it shall be determined under laws to be made by the Parliament:

    (iv.) The Commonwealth shall, at the date of the transfer, assume the current obligations of the State in respect of the department transferred.

86. On the establishment of the Commonwealth, the collection and control of duties of customs and of excise, and the control of the payment of bounties, shall pass to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth.

87. During a period of ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of customs and of excise not more than one-fourth shall be applied annually by the Commonwealth towards its expenditure.

The balance shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be paid to the several States, or applied towards the payment of interest on debts of the several States taken over by the Commonwealth.

88. Uniform duties of customs shall be imposed within two years after the establishment of the Commonwealth.

89. Until the imposition of uniform duties of custom--

    (i.) The Commonwealth shall credit to each State the revenues collected therein by the Commonwealth.

    (ii.) The Commonwealth shall debit to each State--

      (a) The expenditure therein of the Commonwealth incurred solely for the maintenance or continuance, as at the time of transfer, of any department transferred from the State to the Commonwealth;

      (b) The proportion of the State, according to the number of its people, in the other expenditure of the Commonwealth.

    (iii.) The Commonwealth shall pay to each State month by month the balance (if any) in favour of the State.

90. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs the power of the Parliament to impose duties of customs and of excise, and to grant bounties on the production or export of goods, shall become exclusive.

On the imposition of uniform duties of customs all laws of the several States imposing duties of customs or of excise, or offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall cease to have effect, but any grant of or agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or under the authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be good if made before the thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and ninety eight, and not otherwise.

91. Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from granting any aid to or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other metals, nor from granting, with the consent of both Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth expressed by resolution, any aid to or bounty on the production or export of goods.

92. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free.

But notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, goods imported before the imposition of uniform duties of customs into any State, or into any Colony which, whilst the goods remain therein, becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into another State within two years after the imposition of such duties, be liable to any duty chargeable on the importation of such goods into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in respect of the goods on their importation.

93. During the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties of customs, and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides--

    (i.) The duties of customs chargeable on goods imported into a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption, and the duties of excise paid on goods produced or manufactured in a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption, shall be taken to have been collected not in the former but in the latter State:

    (ii.) Subject to the last subsection, the Commonwealth shall credit revenue, debit expenditure, and pay balances to the several States as prescribed for the period preceding the imposition of uniform duties of customs.

94. After five years from the imposition of uniform duties of customs, the Parliament may provide, on such basis as it deems fair, for the monthly payment to the several States of all surplus revenue of the Commonwealth.

95. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Parliament of the State of Western Australia, if that State be an Original State, may, during the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties of customs, impose duties of customs on goods passing into that State and not originally imported from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth; and such duties shall be collected by the Commonwealth.

But any duty so imposed on any goods shall not exceed during the first of such years the duty chargeable on the goods under the law of Western Australia in force at the imposition of uniform duties, and shall not exceed during the second, third, fourth, and fifth of such years respectively, four-fifths, three-fifths, two-fifths, and one-fifth of such latter duty, and all duties imposed under this section shall cease at the expiration of the fifth year after the imposition of uniform duties.

If at any time during the five years the duty on any goods under this section is higher than the duty imposed by the Commonwealth on the importation of the like goods, then such higher duty shall be collected on the goods when imported into Western Australia from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth.

96. During a period of ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.

97. Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the laws in force in any Colony which has become or becomes a State with respect to the receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on account of the Government of the Colony, and the review and audit of such receipt and expenditure, shall apply to the receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on account of the Commonwealth in the State in the same manner as if the Commonwealth, or the Government or an officer of the Commonwealth were mentioned whenever the Colony, or the Government or an officer of the Colony, is mentioned.

98. The power of the Parliament to make laws with respect to trade and commerce extends to navigation and shipping, and to railways the property of any State.

99. The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade, commerce, or revenue, give preference to one State or any part thereof over another State or any part thereof.

100. The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers for conservation or irrigation.

101. There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce, and of all laws made thereunder.

102. The Parliament may by any law with respect to trade or commerce forbid, as to railways, any preference or discrimination by any State, or by any authority constituted under a State, if such preference or discrimination is undue and unreasonable, or unjust to any State; due regard being had to the financial responsibilities incurred by any State in connection with the construction and maintenance of its railways. But no preference or discrimination shall, within the meaning of this section, be taken to be undue and unreasonable, or unjust to any State, unless so adjudged by the Inter-State Commission.

103. The members of the Inter-State Commission--

    (i.) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:

    (ii.) Shall hold office for seven years, but may be removed within that time by the Governor-General in Council, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity:

    (iii.) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may fix; but such remuneration shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

104. Nothing in this Constitution shall render unlawful any rate for the carriage of goods upon a railway, the property of a State, if the rate is deemed by the Inter-State Commission to be necessary for the development of the territory of the State, and if the rate applies equally to goods within the State and to goods passing into the State from other States.

105. The Parliament may take over from the States their public debts, or a proportion thereof according to the respective numbers of their people as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, and may convert, renew, or consolidate such debts, or any part thereof; and the States shall indemnify the Commonwealth in respect of the debts taken over, and thereafter the interest payable in respect of the debts shall be deducted and retained from the portions of the surplus revenue of the Commonwealth payable to the several States, or if such surplus is insufficient, or if there is no surplus, then the deficiency or the whole amount shall be paid by the several States.

105A.-- (1.) The Commonwealth may make agreements with the States with respect to the public debts of the States, including--

    (a) the taking over of such debts by the Commonwealth;

    (b) the management of such debts;

    (c) the payment of interest and the provision and management of sinking funds in respect of such debts;

    (d) the consolidation, renewal, conversion, and redemption of such debts;

    (e) the indemnification of the Commonwealth by the States in respect of debts taken over by the Commonwealth; and

    (f) the borrowing of money by the States or by the Commonwealth, or by the Commonwealth for the States.

(2.) The Parliament may make laws for validating any such agreement made before the commencement of this section.

(3.) The Parliament may make laws for the carrying out by the parties of any such agreement.

(4.) Any such agreement may be varied or rescinded by the parties thereto.

(5.) Every such agreement and any such variation thereof shall be binding upon the Commonwealth and the States parties thereto notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution or the Constitution of the several States or in any law of the Parliament of the Commonwealth or of any State.

(6.) The powers conferred by this section shall not be construed as being limited in any way by the provision of section one hundred and five of this Constitution.

Chapter V. The States.

106. The Constitution of each State of the Commonwealth shall, subject to this Constitution, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be, until altered in accordance with the Constitution of the State.

107. Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has become or becomes a State, shall, unless it is by this Constitution exclusively vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the State, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be.

108. Every law in force in a Colony which has become or becomes a State, and relating to any matter within the powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, shall, subject to this Constitution, continue in force in the State; and, until provision is made in that behalf by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, the Parliament of the State shall have such powers of alteration and of repeal in respect of any such law as the Parliament of the Colony had until the Colony became a State.

109. When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.

110. The provisions of this Constitution relating to the Governor of a State extend and apply to the Governor for the time being of the State, or other chief executive officer or administrator of the government of the State.

111. The Parliament of a State may surrender any part of the State to the Commonwealth; and upon such surrender, and the acceptance thereof by the Commonwealth, such part of the State shall become subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.

112. After uniform duties of customs have been imposed, a State may levy on imports or exports, or on goods passing into or out of the State such charges as may be necessary for executing the inspection laws of the State; but the net produce of all charges so levied shall be for the use of the Commonwealth; and any such inspection laws may be annulled by the Parliament of the Commonwealth.

113. All fermented, distilled, or other intoxicating liquids passing into any State or remaining therein for use, consumption, sale, or storage, shall be subject to the laws of the State as if such liquids had been produced in the State.

114. A State shall not, without the consent of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, raise or maintain any naval or military force, or impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to the Commonwealth, nor shall the Commonwealth impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.

115. A State shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts.

116. The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

117. A subject of the Queen, resident in any State, shall not be subject in any other State to any disability or discrimination which would not be equally applicable to him if he were a subject of the Queen resident in such other State.

118. Full faith and credit shall be given, throughout the Commonwealth to the laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial proceedings of every State.

119. The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic violence.

120. Every State shall make provisions for the detention in its prisons of persons accused or convicted of offences against the laws of the Commonwealth, and for the punishment of persons convicted of such offences, and the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws to give effects to this provision.

Chapter VI. New States.

121. The Parliament may admit to the Commonwealth or establish new States, and may upon such admission or establishment make or impose such terms and conditions, including the extent of representation in either House of the Parliament, as it thinks fit.

122. The Parliament may make laws for the government of any territory surrendered by any State to and accepted by the Commonwealth, or of any territory placed by the Queen under the authority of and accepted by the Commonwealth, or otherwise acquired by the Commonwealth, and may allow the representation of such territory in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit.

123. The Parliament of the Commonwealth may, with the consent of the Parliament of a State, and the approval of the majority of the electors of the State voting upon the question, increase, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of the State, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed on, and may, with the like consent, make provision respecting the effect and operation of any increase or diminution or alteration of territory in relation to any State affected.

124. A new State may be formed by separation of territory from a State, but only with the consent of the Parliament thereof, and a new State may be formed by the union of two or more States or parts of States, but only with the consent of the Parliaments of the States affected.

Chapter VII. Miscellaneous.

125. The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.

Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefor. The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meet at the seat of Government.

126. The Queen may authorise the Governor-General to appoint any person, or any persons jointly or severally, to be his deputy or deputies within any part of the Commonwealth, and in that capacity to exercise during the pleasure of the Governor-General such powers and functions of the Governor-General as he thinks fit to assign to such deputy or deputies, subject to any limitations expressed or directions given by the Queen; but the appointment of such deputy or deputies shall not affect the exercise by the Governor-General himself of any power or function.

Chapter VIII. Alteration Of The Constitution.

128. This Constitution shall not be altered except in the following manner:--

The proposed law for the alteration thereof must be passed by an absolute majority of each House of the Parliament, and not less than two nor more than six months after its passage through both Houses the proposed law shall be submitted in each State and Territory to the electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives.

But if either House passes any such proposed law by an absolute majority, and the other House rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with any amendment to which the first-mentioned House will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the first-mentioned House in the same or the next session again passes the proposed law by an absolute majority with or without any amendment which has been made or agreed to by the other House, and such other House rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with any amendment to which the first-mentioned House will not agree, the Governor-General may submit the proposed law as last proposed by the first-mentioned House, and either with or without any amendments subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors in each State and Territory qualified to vote for the election of the House of Representatives.

When a proposed law is submitted to the electors the vote shall be taken in such manner as the Parliament prescribes. But until the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives becomes uniform throughout the Commonwealth, only one-half the electors voting for and against the proposed law shall be counted in any State in which adult suffrage prevails.

And if in a majority of the States a majority of the electors voting approve the proposed law, and if a majority of all the electors voting also approve the proposed law, it shall be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent.

No alteration diminishing the proportionate representation of any State in either House of the Parliament, or the minimum number of representatives of a State in the House of Representative, or increasing, diminishing, or otherwise altering the limits of the State, or in any manner affecting the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the majority of the electors voting in that State approve the proposed law.

In this section, "Territory" means any territory referred to in section one hundred and twenty-two of this Constitution in respect of which there is in force a law allowing its representation in the House of Representatives.

Schedule.

OATH

I, A.B., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law. SO HELP ME GOD!

AFFIRMATION

I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Her heirs and successors according to law.

(NOTE - The name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the time being is to be substituted from time to time.)