Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900
Australia/UK Parliament · 1900
Read Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 by Australia/UK Parliament (1900) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/australian-constitution-1900.txt.
Description
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passed the British Parliament in 1900, joining six far-flung colonies into one nation. Unlike most founding charters, this one was first approved by the settlers themselves, in referendums held colony by colony. Westminster then gave the people's choice the force of law, and the Commonwealth began on the first day of 1901.
The act creates a federal parliament of two houses, modeled on both Westminster and Washington, with a Senate guarding the states. It splits powers between the Commonwealth and the states and sets up a High Court to judge between them. Queen Victoria's assent closed the act's long road from colonial conventions. The founding law of modern Australia is still in force today, little amended, and its federal design still shapes the continent's politics.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Australia/UK Parliament |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 1900 |
| COLLECTION | DOCUMENTS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 59525 |
| LICENSE | Public Domain |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Wikisource |