In the year 2001, The Australian nation will celebrate the reaching of a significant milestone - one hundred years of government under our present constitution. As the anniversary approaches, it is important for all Australians to reflect on the present arrangements, and consider whether the limits placed on the Commonwealth government are going to restrict Australia's ability to transform with the new millennium. Will the extension of the Federal government's power affect the stability of one hundred years of Australian government?

In the nineteenth century, Australia was made up of different British colonies, with each colony able to make laws on its own behalf. As the end of the nineteenth century approached the Australian colonies started to recognise the advantages of having a federal council that could impose uniform systems of defence, immigration, banking, and currency. However, the colonies were concerned about giving up too much power; in particular the small less populated colonies did not want the more populated states to be in comple

The rationale behind federating was to achieve national unity and regional diversity; hence it was essential to have a division between state and federal of powers. Therefore, the Commonwealth Parliament was only given special and limited powers under the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. These powers are listed in section 51 of the Australian Constitution and are known as the "thirty nine heads of power". Items mentioned in this section include; trade and commerce, taxation, defence, communications and immigration. The powers not listed in section 51 are known as the residual powers and remain the exclusive domain of the States; they include areas such as criminal law, education and public transport.

Chapter three of the Constitution institutes the High Court of Australia as the body, which holds the ultimate responsibility of interpreting Constitution. When the Constitution was passed in the United Kingdom, the need to keep it relevant to ever-changing global and national politics was recognised. The High Court is unable to change the words of the Constitution and yet its interpretation has begun to shift the balance of power away from the States and toward the Federal

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