The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs has forwarded the following memor-andum from the Deputy Engineer-in-Chief for Commonwealth Railways for advice:

I would like the opinion of the Honourable the Attorney-General on the question as to whether a duty stamp is payable by traders doing business with the Railways of this De-partment, in connection with their request for a monthly credit account as per the attached form.

I am desirous of having this form printed almost immediately, and would be pleased if this matter could be dealt with urgently.

The High Court in D'Emden v. Pedder 1 C.L.R. 91 held that if a State attempts to give its legislative or executive authority an operation which if valid would interfere to any extent with the free exercise of the legislative or executive power of the Common-wealth, the attempt unless expressly authorised by the Constitution is invalid and inoperative.

The working of the Commonwealth Railways constructed or acquired under an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament is an exercise of the executive power of the Com-monwealth, and any attempt on the part of a State to interfere with the free exercise of the power is inoperative.

The Commonwealth requires a trader before he can obtain a credit account, to sign a form; and the State has no right to require that a trader who signs such a form ac-cordingly shall pay stamp duty, as this is a burden on, and an interference with the free exercise of, the executive power of the Commonwealth.

In my opinion, the credit account forms of the Commonwealth Railways are not li-able to State stamp duty.

[Vol. 12, p. 76]