TERRITORIES: HEARD AND MACDONALD ISLANDS
WHETHER LAWS OF AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY SHOULD BE APPLIED TO HEARD AND MACDONALD ISLANDS: LAW APPLICABLE TO TERRITORY ACQUIRED BY OCCUPATION: WHETHER SAME LAW SHOULD BE APPLIED TO HEARD AND MACDONALD ISLANDS AS APPLIES TO MACQUARIE ISLAND: LAW IN FORCE ON MACQUARIE ISLAND: LAW PROPOSED TO APPLY IN AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC TERRITORY
I refer to your memorandum, dated 15th January, 1949, in which you request my comments on the suggestion that the laws to be applied to the Islands mentioned should be the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, so far as applicable to sub-antarctic areas.
(2) These Islands should, I think, be regarded as having been acquired by occupation, in which case the law applicable thereto is, apart from Statutes, the laws of England at the time of the occupation so far as they are applicable to the conditions of the infant colony (see Moore: Commonwealth of Australia, 2nd Edition, p. 2). The question of the extent of these laws is a matter of some difficulty and it is certainly desirable to indicate by Statute, when opportunity offers, the date as at which and the extent to which the laws are to apply.
(3) An analogous problem was considered in connexion with the Australian Antarctic Territory and the scheme then proposed in an Ordinance drafted for the purpose was as follows:
(i) Certain specified Commonwealth and Victorian Acts were to be applied so far as applicable.
(ii) All laws, proclamations and other legislative acts in force in the Territory at the commencement of the Ordinance were to continue in full force and effect in the Territory.
This Ordinance was not, however, promulgated.
(4) In the case of Heard Island, there is a practical consideration to be borne in mind. Your Department is, I understand, interested in certain activities on Macquarie Island as well as on Heard Island. The conditions existing at both Islands bear some similarity and it is probable that there would be some interchange of staff. In these circumstances, it seems desirable that the law in force in both Islands should be the same. The law in force in Macquarie Island is Tasmanian and I suggest accordingly that the law of that State as in force at the date when the requisite Commonwealth Act is passed be selected as the basis for the law for Heard Island. Particular Commonwealth Acts could be applied by name and provision made for the variation by Ordinance of Tasmanian law in its application to the Island.
[Vol. 38, p. 426]