Section 51(xxxviii) of the Constitution of Australia was intended to give the states of Australia independence from the UK Parliament, as it authorised the Commonwealth Parliament to, with the consent of the relevant state parliament(s), do anything the UK Parliament could do on their behalf, including repeal British laws that applied to them.
Despite this, the Commonwealth itself remained subject to Imperial laws of paramount force, until it finally evolved full legislative independence from the UK with the passage of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942.
Reference list
- ^ Twomey, Anne (March 2018). "Chapter 4: Independence". In Saunders, C; Stone, A (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Australian Constitution. New York, USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191058318.