[UMA-SR-000000859] ACC 4 Standing Committee 'B' Files

Description

IdentifierUMA-SR-000000859Extent4 filesScope and ContentStanding Committee B was constituted by the 1973 Convention, and consisted of two Commonwealth delegates, two delegates from each State, one Northern Territory delegate, one representative of the ACT, and one person representing local government. From the Items listed under the heading 'Topics for Discussion' on the 1973 Agenda, the Convention referred Items 1, 11, 13 and 15 to Standing Committee B:

Item No. 1

The methods of amending the Constitution and varying the distribution of powers, with particular reference to -
(a) the uncertainties concerning the power of State Parliaments to refer power to the Parliament of the Commonwealth (s. 51 (xxxvii));
(b) the operation of the power to alter the Constitution by referendum (s. 128);
(c) the exercise of powers by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under s. 51 (xxxviii); and (d)alternative methods of initiating alterations and altering the Constitution.

Item No. 11

The procedure for the creation of new States (s. 124).

Item No. 13

The relationship of the Commonwealth and the States to the Crown and the United Kingdom, and the extent and area of State sovereignty.

Item No. 15

The Constitutional Provisions affecting Territories (ss. 81, 92, 99, 116, 117, 118, Chapter VI
and s. 128).

Standing Committee B appointed three sub-committees, allocating Item 1 and later Item 13 to one sub-committee, Item 11 to the second and Item 15 to the third. Towards the end of 1973, the Committee advertised in the press for submissions on the four Items. The Committee also commissioned opinions on certain aspects of Item 1. Copies of the Committee's Report to Executive Committee, 1 August 1974, can be found both in this series and with the Proceedings of the ACC, 1975. Standing Committee B also considered further matters referred to it by the Executive Committee, and initiated Agenda Items for the 1975 Constitutional Convention.

In November 1975, the Executive Committee decided that Standing Committees B and C should be amalgamated, but the subsequent role of the resulting Committee 'B/C' is unclear. Certain proposals relating to Territories and new States were referred to Standing Committee B by the Convention in Perth 1978 but, as Standing Committee B no longer existed by then, Standing Committee D was requested to consider the issues.

The files in this series include:

Terms of Reference and Members: Details of the Agenda Items referred to Standing Committee B and membership of the Committee and its working parties or sub-committees.

Correspondence: Letters concerning meetings and matters discussed by the Committee, including inward and outward correspondence of the Chief Executive Officer, the Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chairman of Standing Committee B (L.A. Punch), the Secretary to the Committee (J.C. Potts), the Secretary to the Victorian Parliamentary Delegation (Ann Riordan), and others. This file also contains various papers and notes.

Agendas and Minutes: Agendas, minutes and related papers.

Reports: Drafts and printed version of Report to Executive Committee, 1 August 1974. This file also includes a list of Agenda Items initiated in Standing Committee B.Access StatusOpen for public accessRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this Series

Series

Item

Provenance

CreatorAustralian Constitutional ConventionRoleProvenance

Provenance

CreatorFinemore, JohnRoleProvenance

Dates

Date1973-1975

Relationships

University of Melbourne Archives

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[UMA-SR-000000859] ACC 4 Standing Committee 'B' Files