Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners’ Association

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Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners’ Association
Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
Court High Court of Australia
Full case nameJumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association
Decided 6 October 1908
Citation(s) [1908] HCA 95, (1908) 6 CLR 309
Case history
Prior action(s) Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration reported in (1908) 6 CLR 309 per Higgins P.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting Griffith CJ, Barton, O'Connor & Isaacs   JJ

Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association [1] is a landmark Australian judgment of the High Court. The matter related to the Commonwealth Government's power to make laws for the conciliation and arbitration of interstate industrial disputes under subsection 51(xxxv) of the Australian Constitution and the incidental power under subsection 51(xxxix), [2] but in reaching a decision set principles on matters of statutory interpretation affecting the Constitution.

In law, a judgment is a decision of a court regarding the rights and liabilities of parties in a legal action or proceeding. Judgments also generally provide the court's explanation of why it has chosen to make a particular court order.

High Court of Australia supreme court

The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the states, and the ability to interpret the Constitution of Australia and thereby shape the development of federalism in Australia.

Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering tensions, improving communications, interpreting issues, encouraging parties to explore potential solutions and assisting parties in finding a mutually acceptable outcome.

Contents

Background

Following strike action across Australia and New Zealand in the 1890s, the Constitution had been drafted to allow the federal government to make laws about the conciliation and arbitration of industrial disputes, but only where such disputes went beyond state boundaries. In 1903 there was industrial action in the Victorian coalfields which lasted for 70 weeks, initially at Outtrim, Victoria before spreading to the nearby Jumbunna Coal Mine in Victoria. [3] [4] [5]

New Zealand Country in Oceania

New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Outtrim, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Outtrim is a locality in Victoria, Australia. It is located south of Korumburra off the Korumburra to Wonthaggi Road and is southeast of Melbourne.

Subsequently, the Victorian Coal Miners' Association sought to be registered as a union under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904. The two coal mining employers affected by the strike, Jumbunna Coal Mine NL and Outtrim, Howitt and British Consolidated Coal Co NL. The Industrial Registrar decided to register the union and the two companies applied to have the registration annulled and presented two arguments, that a union could not be involved in an industrial dispute beyond one state when its membership was only from one State and the provisions that allowed the union's registration were constitutionally ultra vires. [6]

A trade union, also called a labour union or labor union (US), is an association of workers in a particular trade, industry, or company created for the purpose of securing improvement in pay, benefits, working conditions or social and political status through collective bargaining and working conditions through the increased bargaining power wielded by creation of a monopoly of the workers. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies.

A no-liability company in Australia is a company which, under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), must have as its stated objects that it is solely a mining company and that it is not entitled to calls on the unpaid issue price of shares. It is a company which is restricted to mining activities and is the only sort of corporation which is entitled to this form of liability, given the sometimes financially risky business of mining. Most of the usual rules in the Act apply to no-liability companies, save that a mining company must adopt a constitution which states their objects as mining.

<i>Ultra vires</i> Legal concept meaning powers are exceeded

Ultra vires is a Latin phrase meaning "beyond the powers". If an act requires legal authority and it is done with such authority, it is characterised in law as intra vires. If it is done without such authority, it is ultra vires. Acts that are intra vires may equivalently be termed "valid" and those that are ultra vires "invalid".

Decision of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration

In the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration the application for review was heard by H. B. Higgins. [n 1] His Honour rejected the companies argument that an interstate industrial dispute could not occur unless an employer carried on business in at least two states and . [7] From this decision the two companies then appealed to the High Court. The union did not appear on the appeal in the High Court, however the Industrial Registrar was represented.

The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was an Australian court that existed from 1904 to 1956 with jurisdiction to hear and arbitrate interstate industrial disputes, and to make awards. It also had the judicial functions of interpreting and enforcing awards and hearing other criminal and civil cases relating to industrial relations law.

H. B. Higgins Australian politician

Henry Bournes Higgins KC, known by his initials, was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He served on the High Court of Australia from 1906 until his death.

Finding in the High Court

Each of the judges of the High Court of Australia gave separate judgements however all judges agreed as to the result.

The court held that a union that was limited to one state could be a party to an industrial dispute that extended beyond that state. Griffith CJ held that an industrial dispute could extend beyond one state by organizations of different States in temporary alliance for a common purpose. [8] Barton J similarly held that disputants in different States may make common cause to defend a common interest. [9]

Samuel Griffith Australian politician

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and two terms as Premier of Queensland, and played a key role in the drafting of the Australian constitution.

Chief Justice of Australia presiding justice of the High Court of Australia

The Chief Justice of Australia is the presiding justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia. The incumbent is Susan Kiefel, who is the first woman to hold the position.

Edmund Barton Australian politician, first Prime Minister of Australia and founding justice of the High Court of Australia

Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1903. He resigned to become a founding member of the High Court of Australia, where he served until his death.

The court ruled that for a law to be valid pursuant to sub-section 51(xxxix) as incidental to another head of power, such a law depends on its ends to be legitimate and the law must be appropriate and adaptable to that end. Because the provisions of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 were a legitimate means of achieving the ends set out in the head of power under sub-section 51(xxxv) of the Constitution they were therefore incidental to that power and were therefore valid laws. Griffith CJ held that the Parliament is unfettered in its choice of means, provided that they are really incidental to the attainment of these ends, and not manifestly unconnected with them. [10] Both Barton J and O'Connor J [11] cited with approval the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in McCulloch v. Maryland [12] including "Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution are constitutional.”

In reaching this decision the court held that in matters where there are variable interpretations, the Court should assume that the intention of Parliament was that the statute would not exceed the constitutional power. O'Connor J held that "In the interpretation of general words in a Statute there is always a presumption that the legislature does not intend to exceed its jurisdiction" and that "… every statute is to be interpreted and applied so far as its language admits so as not to be inconsistent with the comity of nations or with the established rules of international law". [13]

Notes

  1. ↑ H.B. Higgins heard the application in his capacity as President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. While his Honour was a judge of the High Court and his judgement that was the subject of the appeal is included in the law report, he did not sit on the appeal to the High Court.

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References

  1. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association [1908] HCA 95 , (1908) 6 CLR 309.
  2. ↑ Leslie Zines, Future Directions in Australian Constitutional Law, Federation Press 1994 page 251
  3. ↑ "The Outtrim Strike". The Argus . Victoria, Australia. 7 February 1903. p. 18 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Outtrim, Victorian Places". victorianplaces.com.au. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  5. ↑ The Outtrim Howitt and British Consolidated Coal Company NL v Gregory [1903] VicLawRp 86 (1903) 28 VLR 586.
  6. ↑ George Williams, Labour law and the Constitution, Federation Press, 1998 page 75
  7. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 313–4 per Higgins J.
  8. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 336–7 per Griffith CJ.
  9. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 342 per Barton J.
  10. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 333 per Griffith CJ.
  11. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 344 per Barton J and at 357 per O'Connor J.
  12. ↑ McCulloch v. Maryland 17 U.S. 316 (1819)
  13. ↑ Jumbunna Coal Mine NL v Victorian Coal Miners' Association (1908) 6 CLR 309 at 363 per O'Connor J.
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