Legal Opinions

The Minister for Home and Territories asks for advice on the questions raised in the following memorandum:

The Consul for Sweden, in protection of the rights of a Swedish subject-the plaintiff in the action Lundgren v. O'Brien for damages for breach of promise of marriage recently heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria-has requested the Minister to withhold the passport of the defendant, Captain Garrett Farrelly O'Brien, for a period of fourteen days to enable the plaintiff to make him insolvent, with a view of legally securing her rights before he leaves Australia.

The Comptroller-General of Customs has forwarded the following memorandum for advice on the question raised therein:

Section 288 of the Navigation Act includes as a condition upon which licences are issued to ships to engage in the coasting trade: 'That the seamen employed on the ship shall be paid wages in accordance with this Part of this Act'.

The Comptroller-General of Customs has forwarded me the following minute with a request for advice:

In connection with the Solicitor-General's opinion of 15.1.1921 on the abovementioned subject, the following points are submitted for favour of further advice.

The Chairman of the Repatriation Commission has forwarded for advice the following memorandum:

The Commission has long ago adopted the practice that, if a soldier refused to undergo an operation or medical treatment which, in the opinion of the Departmental Medical Officer was advisable and would probably result in the man's recovery, he should be debarred from receiving certain forms of Repatriation benefits and assistance until he gave his consent.

I have been asked to advise as to the liability of the Department of the Navy to pay to some of its employees at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard a sum of 8s 6d per week above the award rates.

The position, as I gather it from the file of papers which has been forwarded, is as follows:

The Acting Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department has requested advice as to whether the interpretation by the Public Service Arbitrator of a determination made by the Arbitrator is a determination within the meaning of section 21 of the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1920.

By sub-section (4) of section 11 of the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1920 all awards and orders made under the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1911 are deemed to be determinations made by the Arbitrator under the Arbitration (Public Service) Act 1920.

The Acting Comptroller-General of Customs has requested advice as to whether when once the Governor-General has determined the limits of a port, for the purposes of the definition of 'Limited coast-trade ship' in section 6 of the Navigation Act 1912-1920, it is competent for him to cancel that determination and issue a fresh one determining other limits for the same port, but not exceeding the limits for home-trade or coast-trade ships, as the case may be, fixed for the port, at the commencement of section 6, by any State law.

The Secretary, Department of Home and Territories, has forwarded me the

following minute for advice:

I shall be glad to be advised, as early as possible, in regard to the following: A German lady, single, was naturalized in South Australia in 1882. She contracted marriage in Australia with a German. He died, and she next married a Czechoslovak who also died. This lady is now returning from Europe and desires to become a British subject again.

The Secretary, Prime Minister's Department, has submitted the following memorandum for advice:

The attached letter of 9 April and radio of 6 May from the Deputy Chairman, Expropriation Board, Rabaul, inquires whether Australian nationality acquired prior to 4 August 1914 is effective outside Australian territory, and more particularly within the mandated Territory of New Guinea.

The following memorandum from the Treasury is forwarded to me for advice on the question raised by Mr Collins:

Two schemes were propounded to prevent double taxation of war-time profits, one by the Board of Inland Revenue, London, and the other by the Commissioner of Taxation (Mr Ewing).