Legal Opinions

Senator Playford ⁽¹⁾:

You ask me 'Has the Commonwealth power to establish the manufacture of tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, close all present establishments, and prevent private persons in future manufacturing such articles?'

The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs:

The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs, asks whether a scrutineer who has signed the declaration required by regulation 19, and by the amendment thereto gazetted on 5 December 1903, may supply a candidate, by his own hand or by the agency of another, with lists or marked rolls of those who have voted, or whether the Act and declaration forbid his divulging the information obtained by him in the capacity of scrutineer.

In my opinion a scrutineer is not an 'officer' within the meaning of section 174 (ii) of the Act.

The Treasurer:

The Auditor-General has forwarded to the Secretary to the Treasury the following observation upon the accounts of the House of Representatives:

On Voucher B/69, included in this Reimbursement, Sir M. D. McEacharn was paid as a Member of the House of Representatives for the period 16/31st December, viz. £17.4.1.

As it is understood the Melbourne election has been declared void, will this and subsequent payments to Sir M. D. McEacharn as Member under the late election be repaid?

The Auditor-General:

The Auditor-General has queried reimbursement vouchers for payments to Sir F. W. Holder for salary paid to him as 'Speaker' from 24 November to 31 December 1903.

He observes:

Section 35 of the Constitution provides that the Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a Member.

As the House of Representatives was dissolved on 23 November 1903, the Office of Speaker appears to have been vacated, notwithstanding the footnote to Division 2, Sub-division 1 of the Appropriation Act 1903-4.

The Minister for Trade and Customs:

The Comptroller-General of Customs has submitted the following minute to the Minister:

The Prime Minister:

The Prime Minister asks for my views on the questions raised in the confidential Colonial Office despatch of 31 July 1903, with the file. Those questions appear to be:

The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs:

The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs asks to be advised whether a Returning Officer is legally justified in rejecting a postal ballot-paper from a bona fide elector if some other person has already voted in the name signed on the counterfoil-in view of section 41 of the Constitution.

The Auditor-General:

The Auditor-General asks to be advised on the following questions:

The Treasurer:

With reference to the late Attorney-General's opinion of 31 March 1904⁽¹⁾, it appears that Sir Malcolm McEacharn has instructed his solicitor (Mr J. C. Stewart) to pay the amount if he concurs in the opinion.

Mr Stewart has written to the Treasury that he 'cannot see that the fees paid to Sir Malcolm, while he was de facto a member, were paid in mistake of fact', and asks that the point should be resubmitted to me.

The Minister for External Affairs:

A.B.C., an Ottoman subject and a Syrian, applied for a certificate of naturalization and was informed that as he appeared to be a native of Syria he was disqualified under section 5 of the Naturalization Act-which excepts, mter alios, any person being 'an aboriginal native of Asia, Africa, or the Islands of the Pacific'.

He claims that, though a native of Syria, he is not an 'aboriginal' native, on a number of grounds of which the following only can be considered material: