New South Wales v Commonwealth [1975] HCA 58

High Court of Australia Barwick C.J. McTiernan, Gibbs, Stephen, Mason, Jacobs and Murphy JJ. New South Wales v Commonwealth [1975] HCA 58

ORDER Judgment for the defendant with costs. Order that the question be answered as follows:Is the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 a valid law of the Commonwealth?Answer: Yes.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

Dec. 17 Barwick C.J.

The Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 Cth ("the Act"), passed by the Australian Parliament, came into operation on the date on which it received the Governor-General's assent, namely, 4th December 1973. The Act has several recitals. They are as follows:

Whereas a belt of sea adjacent to the coast of Australia, known as the territorial sea, and the airspace over the territorial sea and the bed and subsoil of the territorial sea, are within the sovereignty of Australia:

and Whereas Australia is a party to the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone a copy of which in the English language is set out in Schedule 1:

and Whereas Australia as a coastal state has sovereign rights in respect of the continental shelf (that is to say, the sea-bed and subsoil of certain submarine areas adjacent to its coast but outside the area of the territorial sea) for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources:

and Whereas Australia is a party to the Convention on the Continental Shelf a copy of which in the English language is set out in Schedule 2:

The First Schedule to the Act contains the international Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone and the Second Schedule contains the international Convention on the Continental Shelf. Each Convention was signed on behalf of Australia on 29th April 1958. Pursuant to Art. 29 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, and the deposit of the requisite number of instruments of ratification or accession, that convention came into force on 10th September 1964. Pursuant to Art. 11 of the Convention on the Continental Shelf and the deposit of the requisite number of instruments of ratification or accession, it came into force on 10th June 1964.