Queanbeyan City Council v ACTEW Corporation Limited [2009] FCA 943

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Queanbeyan City Council v ACTEW Corporation Limited [2009] FCA 943

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW –duties of excise – whether the ACT invalidly imposed duties of excise on a statutory corporation – whether a fee imposed on infrastructure constitutes a duty of excise.

TAXATION – whether a charge to abstract water is a tax and, accordingly, a duty of excise – whether a charge imposed to conserve a natural public resource is a tax – whether a charge should have a discernible relationship with the value of what is being acquired.

ENERGY AND RESOURCES – control by government of scarce natural resources – whether a charge to abstract water is a mere device for tax collecting.

Constitution s 90 Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth) ss 7, 22, 36; Sch 4 Canberra Water Supply (Googong Dam) Act 1974 (Cth) s 11(2) Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission Act 1997 (ACT) ss 4C, 8, 15 Legislation Act 2001 (ACT) ss 56, 120, 127, 162(2) Limitation Act 1985 (ACT) s 21A(4) Local Government Act 1989 (Vic) Pt 8 Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) s 611 Taxation Administration Act 1999 (ACT) Territory-Owned Corporations Act 1990 (ACT) Utilities Act 2000 (ACT) ss 21, 25(2), 42(2), 44, 45, 47 Utilities (Network Facilities Tax) Act 2006 (ACT) ss 1, 4, 8 Water Resources Act 1998 (ACT) ss 13, 33(1), 35, 78 Water Resources Act 2007 (ACT) s 7

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