FOI REQUESTI N ACCORDANCE WITH THE Freedom of Information Act 1982

Brett Wilson made this Right to Information request to Gold Coast City Council

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Dear Gold Coast City Council, I am requesting a copy of the document/lawful legislative instrument which provides YOU WITH THE POWER AND AUTHORITY to track citizens and collect their PRIVATE data including their private business transactions using credit cards without the persons express personal consent?

I also require you to provide reference to a copy of the legislative instrument or document that authorizes your council as being appointed as a third tier of government?

You claim on your council web site, '' that in the Australian federal system there are three levels of government: Federal, State, and Local.''

According to Burgess Political Science vol. 1. p. 165. and as quoted in the Quick and Garran Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth on page 401 of the Lexis Nexis revised edition, the ''Federal Commonwealth'' according to Burgess the eminent jurist, is a National State, with a federal government - dual system of government under common sovereignty.

Could you please provide information or a document that details the approval i.e. the date a Referendum was conducted in accordance with SECT 128 of the Commonwealth Constitution, that might have authorized a third level of government that would provide the permission required, for the Gold Coast City Council to operate as a third level of government.

Given your Council claims on its web site that it derives its power and authority from the Local Government Act 2009, could you please provide a reference or copy of the legislative instrument or document that authorizes the QLD State Parliament to pass into law, the Local Government Act 2009 through only One House of Parliament, when it is an established principle of English Law, that Two Houses of Parliament are required to pass Bills into law for that Bill to become law other wise such a Bill is declared ''Ultra Vires'.

Can you please provide a copy or reference to the existing legislation document in Australia, that authorizes or over turns established Legal Principles of English Law and makes these principles repugnant to the laws of the Australian Commonwealth?

Yours faithfully,
Brett Wilson

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Dear Gold Coast City Council,

Attention: Council FOI Officer

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides a legally enforceable right of access to government documents. It applies to Australian Government ministers and most agencies including the Gold Coast City Council.

Your Council responded to my request on 29 August 2019 and stated that my FOI Request email
will be distributed during business hours to the relevant officer(s) to
action.

The standard timeframe to process an FOI request is 30 days. However, the FOI Act contains a number of extension of time provisions.

Please provide a statement of reasons as to why you have not responded up to this date. If you require an extension of time to process my FOI Request, you have a Statutory obligation to provide due process and inform me why there is a delay in your office providing the requested information so that I can either agree or deny the extension.

If you require an extension to allow you to consult with a third party, you have a Statutory obligation to inform the OAIC and myself as a matter of due process.

See Part 8 of the FOI Act re Guidelines and Extension of Time for Processing Requests for further details.

You must provide reasons to the OAIC for the delay. The decision period may be extended by a further 30 days or a longer or shorter period of time, as appropriate.

The FOI Officer acting on behalf of the Council, should continue to process an FOI request even where the statutory timeframe has expired and an extension of time has been refused or not sought. The expiry of the timeframe gives the applicant the right to apply for review of a deemed decision — it does not remove the agency’s obligation to process the request.

I look forward to your prompt reply

Yours faithfully,

Brett Wilson

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Council of the City of Gold Coast - confidential communication

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Dear Mr Wilson,

In response to your email received 14th October 2019 Council of the City
of Gold Coast (Council) is not bound by the Freedom of Information Act
1982.

Council is bound by the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) which
provides you with the right to access information contained in documents
held by Council. The RTI Act promotes the release of information by

Council unless this information is exempt, or its release would be
contrary to the public interest.

If you would like to submit a request for information under the RTI Act,
please click on the link below, where you will be able find information on
how to apply.
[1]https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/council...

Please find below the link to the Right to Information and Information
Privacy Access Application Form.

[2]https://www.rti.qld.gov.au/__data/assets...

Please be aware that access to documents that are not related to an
individual’s personal information will incur an application fee of $50.80
and possibly processing charges of $7.85 for each 15 minutes, or part
thereof, spent dealing with the application.

However to assist you with making a decision to submit a request for
information under the RTI Act, Council provides the following in response
to your email dated 29 August 2019:

In regard to your request for Council to “provide a copy of the
document/lawful legislative instrument which provides YOU WITH THE POWER
AND AUTHORITY to track citizens and collect their PRIVATE data including
their private business transactions using credit cards without the persons
express personal consent”.

1. Council does not track persons and where Council collect personal
information to provide services and carry out its functions, it does so in
accordance with the requirements of the Information Privacy Act 2009 and
Council’s Privacy Policy. For further information please refer to the link
below:

[3]https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/informa...

In regard to the other requests for information documentation that appear
to relate to the validity of Local Government.

2. In short the legal legitimacy of the system of local government
and the Local Government Act 2009 or its predecessor legislation, is
unquestionable. Council recommends that you seek legal advice from a
qualified lawyer prior to submitting a request for information under the
RTI Act in regard this subject matter. Council provides the following
information to assist in your understanding of the legitimacy of Local
Government in Queensland.

State Government as a valid level of government

3. A 6 June, 1859 Order in Council by Queen Victoria separated
Queensland from New South Wales, creating it as an autonomous British
colony. Initially, its parliament was bicameral (two house), comprising a
Legislative Assembly (lower house) and a Legislative Council (upper
house). Unlike the lower house members, who were elected by the people,
the upper house members (other than those of the inaugural upper house)
were appointed for life by the Governor.

4. The Legislative Council was abolished by legislation (on 23 March,
1922), and the Queensland parliament has been unicameral ever since.

5. Before federation, Australia was composed of 6 autonomous (though
not sovereign) British colonies. Queensland was one of those colonies,
gaining its autonomy via the above 1859 Imperial Order in Council.

6. The colonies became a federation of States via proclamation of the
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp.) on 1 January, 1901.

7. Queensland passed the Constitution Act 1867 (the 1867 Act), and
that Act (with various amendments) remained its constitution until June,
2002, when most of its provisions were transferred to, and freshened in,
the Constitution of Queensland 2001 (the 2001 Act). The latter Act now
operates in tandem with what is left of the former (which isn't much).

8. Section 2 of the 1867 Act, which continues in effect, gives the
Queensland Parliament, for all practical purposes, the widest possible
power to legislate and govern:

2 Legislative Assembly constituted
Within the said Colony of Queensland Her Majesty shall have power by and
with the advice and consent of the said [Legislative] Assembly to make
laws for the peace welfare and good government of the colony in all cases
whatsoever. (Emphasis added).

9. For perspective, section 2 is read with section 9 of the 2001 Act,
which states:

9 Powers, rights and immunities of Legislative Assembly

(1) The powers, rights and immunities of the Legislative Assembly and
its members and committees are—

(a) the powers, rights and immunities defined under an Act; and
(b) until defined under an Act—the powers, rights and immunities, by
custom, statute or otherwise, of the Commons House of Parliament of the
United Kingdom and its members and committees at the establishment of the
Commonwealth.

(2) In this section—

rights includes privileges.

(Emphasis added).

10. The Queensland Constitution is, as are the constitutions of the
other States, a flexible instrument: it confers plenary power to make
laws for the peace welfare and good government of the State in all cases
whatsoever, and Parliament can amend it by simple legislative process.
With three exceptions, that amendment power is not hamstrung by manner and
form preconditions for its exercise.

11. The exceptions are:

· a proposal to abolish the office of Governor;^1

· a proposal to restore or establish or constitute another
legislative body (e.g. an upper house);^2 and

· a proposal to end the system of local government.

Any such proposal requires a referendum.

12. The Australian colonies became a federation of new States at the
beginning of 1901, pursuant to a 1900 agreement between the colonial and
imperial parliaments. Federation necessarily entailed the new States
vesting in a federal parliament certain of their constitutional powers.
Those vested powers became enshrined in the Commonwealth Constitution.

13. Unlike the State constitutions, the Commonwealth Constitution is a
rigid instrument: rather than giving the Commonwealth the broad power to
make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of the Commonwealth,
it specifies each of the powers that the States have given the
Commonwealth, and it imposes manner and form preconditions for exercising
the power of amendment.

14. There can be no alteration to the Constitution unless the proposed
law is passed by an absolute majority of both houses of the Commonwealth
Parliament and is approved by a majority of the electors in a majority of
the States via a referendum held not earlier than 2 months and not later
than 6 months after its passage by Parliament. Thus, while amending the
Queensland Constitution is, speaking generally, a relatively simple matter
of passing the necessary legislation, amending the Commonwealth
Constitution is extremely difficult (if only because of the "if in doubt,
vote no" entreaty of the negative lobby).

15. There appears a common misconception that the Commonwealth's powers
under the Commonwealth Constitution have been withdrawn from the States,
i.e. if the Commonwealth possesses a particular constitutional power, a
State does not. This is not correct. Most of the Commonwealth's powers
are concurrent with a State's powers, e.g. the power to tax. That the
States do not levy income tax is not the product of a constitutional
limitation upon their power; rather it is the product of astute politico
legal manoeuvring by the Commonwealth during and after the second world
war, resulting in what is now essentially a consensual political
arrangement. Some instances where the Commonwealth's powers are exclusive
are the power to impose customs and excise duties (section 90) and the
power to coin money (section 115).

16. The misconception sometimes emanates from a misunderstanding of
Commonwealth Constitution section 109, which states:

109 Inconsistency of laws
When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the
latter shall prevail and the former shall, to the extent of the
inconsistency, be invalid.

17. Section 109 applies to laws, not to constitutional powers. The
enactment of a Commonwealth law on a given issue does not withdraw a
State's constitutional power to pass a law on the same issue; it simply
operates to give that Commonwealth law precedence over the law the State
passes if, and to the extent that, the latter is inconsistent with the
Commonwealth law. It is a provision that obviously is necessary to avoid
Commonwealth State legislative deadlocks.

18. Commonwealth Constitution sections 106 and 107, particularly section
107, place the issue beyond doubt:

106 Saving of Constitutions
The Constitution of each State of the Commonwealth shall, subject to this
Constitution, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as
at the admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be, until
altered in accordance with the Constitution of the State.

107 Saving of Power of State Parliaments
Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has become or becomes a
State, shall, unless it is by this Constitution exclusively vested in the
Parliament of the Commonwealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the
State, continue as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the
admission or establishment of the State, as the case may be.

Local Government as a valid level of government

19. The absolute power given it by 1867 Act section 2 enables the
Queensland Parliament to operate a system of local government, and to
invest its local governments with as broad or as narrow a range of powers
as it considers appropriate for the peace, welfare, and good government of
the State. Nothing in the Commonwealth Constitution limits in any
material sense the State's powers in that respect. (Obviously, for
example, the State cannot empower a local government to impose customs or
excise duties, but that is by the bye).

20. Successive Queensland governments have maintained the system of
local government. They have constituted and continued the local
governments as discrete legal entities,^3 delegating to them the power to
do whatever is necessary or convenient for the good rule and local
government of their areas. See section 9 of the Local Government Act 2009
for present purposes.

21. Though 1867 Act section 2 suffices to empower the State to maintain
a system of local government, 2001 Act sections 70, 71 and 78 (the
Preservation Provisions) are specific:

70 System of local government

(1) There must be a system of local government in Queensland.
(2) The system consists of a number of local governments.

71 Requirements for a local government

(1)   A local government is an elected body that is charged with the good
rule and local government of a part of Queensland allocated to the body.
(2)   Another Act, whenever made, may provide for the way in which a
local government is constituted and the nature and extent of its functions
and powers.
(3)   Despite subsection (1), another Act, whenever made, may provide for
the appointment of 1 or more bodies or persons to exercise all or any of a
local government's powers and to be taken to be a local government—

(a) during a suspension of a local government's councillors under
section 74; or
(b) if a local government is dissolved or unable to be properly
elected—until a local government has been properly elected.

78 Procedure for Bill ending system of local government

(1)   This section applies for a Bill for an Act ending the system of
local government in Queensland.
(2)   The Bill may be presented for assent only if a proposal that the
system of local government should end has been approved by a majority vote
of the electors voting on the proposal.
(3)   The Bill has no effect as an Act if assented to after presentation
in contravention of subsection (2).
(4)   The vote about the proposal must be taken on a day that is more
than 1 month but less than 6 months before the Bill is introduced in the
Legislative Assembly.
(5)   The vote must be taken in the way prescribed by an Act.
(6)   An elector may bring a proceeding in the Supreme Court for a
declaration, injunction or other remedy to enforce this section either
before or after the Bill is presented for assent.
(7)   In this section—
elector means a person entitled to vote at a general election for members
of the Legislative Assembly.

1988 Federal Referendum

22. A 1988 referendum dealt with a proposal to amend the Commonwealth
Constitution by inserting the following provision (as section 119A):

Each State shall provide for the establishment and continuance of a system
of local government, with local government bodies elected in accordance
with the laws of the State and empowered to administer, and to make by
laws for, their respective areas in accordance with the laws of the State.

23. In short, the proposal was that it be made compulsory for the States
to maintain their systems of local government. Having failed to command a
majority of votes in any State, the proposal was defeated.

24. Queensland responded to the defeat by passing the Constitution Act
Amendment Act 1989, which inserted provisions analogous to the
Preservation Provisions into the 1867 Act (as sections 54 to 56).

25. Though section 78 relevantly requires a favourable referendum result
to enliven the power to end the system of local government, the
Preservation Provisions are ultimately window dressing given the breadth
of the section 2 (1867 Act) power and Parliament's ability to repeal the
provisions at will. Such a repeal would leave unaffected its plenary
power under section 2, enabling it to continue or discontinue the system
of local government in Queensland as it chooses.

26. In a nutshell, then, the constitutional legitimacy of the State
Parliament, the legal legitimacy of the system of local government and the
Local Government Act or its predecessor legislation, is unquestionable.

[1] 1867 Act section 53.

2 Constitution Amendment Act 1934, section 3. After separating from New
South Wales in 1859, Queensland had a bicameral (two house) parliament:
the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the Legislative Council (upper
house). Unlike the lower house members, who were elected by the people,
the upper house members (other than those of the inaugural upper house)
were appointed for life by the Governor. The Constitution Amendment Act
1921 abolished the Legislative Council on 23 March, 1922 (after a number
of failed attempts) and the Queensland parliament has been unicameral ever
since.

3 Originally constituted as corporations, Queensland local governments
were reconstituted as non corporate legal entities for a brief period
before repeal of the Local Government Act 1993, the apparent object being
to place them beyond the Commonwealth's power to regulate trading
corporations. That was unnecessary as they are not trading corporations,
nor have they ever been. The Local Government Act 2009 restored their
corporate status.

Kind regards

Legal Services
Office of the Chief Operating Officer
City of Gold Coast

T: 1300 GOLDCOAST (1300 465 326)
PO Box 5042 Gold Coast Mail Centre Qld 9726
[4]cityofgoldcoast.com.au

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-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Wilson [mailto:[FOI #5606 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 29 August 2019 6:43 PM
To: City of Gold Coast mail
Subject: Right to Information request - FOI REQUESTI N ACCORDANCE WITH THE
Freedom of Information Act 1982

This email originates from outside of the City of Gold Coast. If
suspicious send it to [email address]

Dear Gold Coast City Council, I am requesting a copy of the
document/lawful legislative instrument which provides YOU WITH THE POWER
AND AUTHORITY to track citizens and collect their PRIVATE data including
their private business transactions using credit cards without the persons
express personal consent?

I also require you to provide reference to a copy of the legislative
instrument or document that authorizes your council as being appointed as
a third tier of government?

You claim on your council web site, '' that in the Australian federal
system there are three levels of government: Federal, State, and Local.''

According to Burgess Political Science vol. 1. p. 165. and as quoted in
the Quick and Garran Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth
on page 401 of the Lexis Nexis revised edition, the ''Federal
Commonwealth'' according to Burgess the eminent jurist, is a National
State, with a federal government - dual system of government under common
sovereignty.

Could you please provide information or a document that details the
approval i.e. the date a Referendum was conducted in accordance with SECT
128 of the Commonwealth Constitution, that might have authorized a third
level of government that would provide the permission required, for the
Gold Coast City Council to operate as a third level of government.

Given your Council claims on its web site that it derives its power and
authority from the Local Government Act 2009, could you please provide a
reference or copy of the legislative instrument or document that
authorizes the QLD State Parliament to pass into law, the Local Government
Act 2009 through only One House of Parliament, when it is an established
principle of English Law, that Two Houses of Parliament are required to
pass Bills into law for that Bill to become law other wise such a Bill is
declared ''Ultra Vires'.

Can you please provide a copy or reference to the existing legislation
document in Australia, that authorizes or over turns established Legal
Principles of English Law and makes these principles repugnant to the laws
of the Australian Commonwealth?

Yours faithfully,

Brett Wilson

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Council of the City of Gold Coast - confidential communication

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Brett Wilson left an annotation (November 07, 2019)

Some notes on the Councils response:
1. The FOI requester acted on a newspaper article regarding the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) allegedly investigating the possibility of using facial recognition cameras to track people including their movements and possible spending habits whilst visiting the Gold Coast.
The FOI requester believes that a Municipal Authority like GCCC has no reasonable cause to employ these cameras at rate payer’s expense, it would be done beyond their power and would violate the privacy rights and sovereignty of individuals, being targeted by such Orwellian like invasive technology.
Employing such technology does not relate to the services and functions GCCC might provide its rate payers as a Municipal Authority or Body Corporate.

2. GCCC makes the claim that their interpretation of the legitimacy of the system of local government they operate under is unquestionable of which remains in dispute by the FOI requester and many Constitutional law researchers and experts due to reckless Unconstitutional and unlawful behavior, we alleged has been carried out previously by mostly the two major political parties.
To fully understand the unconstitutional effect on Queensland, of the requests by Members of Political Parties, each under their own parties constitution and policies, sitting in the respective purported Parliaments and Governments “of Australia”. One needs to first look back into Queensland’s Constitutional history in particular, Queensland’s Constitution Act 1867 [31 Vic. No.38] as amended to 5th April 1977. Of which GCCC Legal Services references several times in its FOI response.
The Conferences held on 24th June 1982, 25th June 1982, and 21st June 1984,
resulted in a Prime Minister and six Premiers agreeing
“on the taking of certain measures
to bring constitutional arrangements
affecting the Commonwealth and the States
into conformity with
the status of the Commonwealth of Australia
as a sovereign, independent and federal nation”

Note: Oxford Dictionary:-
“ conformity n. compliance with conventions, rules or laws ”
“ status n. the official classification given to a person, country, etc. ”

However, the words “Prime Minister” and “Premier” do NOT appear anywhere in
Queensland’s Constitution Act 1867 [31Vic. No.38] as amended to 5th April 1977,
and NOT in the Founding and Primary “Law of the Commonwealth of Australia”,
the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901, as Proclaimed and Gazetted,
consisting of its Preamble, Clauses 1 to 9 and the Schedule.

The Australia Acts (Request) Act 1985, (QLD) No. 69 of 16th October 1985 is contra
to Queensland’s Constitution Act 1867 [31Vic. No.38] as amended to 5th April 1977
and is contra to the Founding and Primary “Law of the Commonwealth of Australia”,
the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901, as Proclaimed and Gazetted,
consisting of its Preamble, Clauses 1 to 9 and the Schedule
The Constitutional “Australia” and “The Commonwealth” were defined in the
Acts Interpretation Act 1901, Act No. 2 given Royal Assent on 12th July 1901:-
Constitutional and official definitions
17. In any Act, unless the contrary intention appears—
(a) “The Commonwealth” shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia
(b) “Australia” includes the whole of the Commonwealth
Refer: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C...
3. GCCC Legal Services mentioned the fact that The Legislative Council was abolished by legislation in 1922 however, the FOI requester alleges this was an action done beyond the power of the QLD State Parliament at that time “Ultra Vires” void and is of no effect.

It is repugnant to Sect 128 of the Commonwealth Constitution, a law which prevails over all State Constitutions, applies to the Sate of QLD now and as it did in 1922 to its Parliament and Ministers who were in direct breach of Covering Clause 5 of the Commonwealth Constitution at that time and are now, for not upholding its laws i.e. Sect 128 in this case.

Coverinng Clause 5 states the following:

Shall be Binding on the Courts, Judges and People.
The importance of these words, as indicating one of the fundamental principles of the Constitution, should be specially noted. Under this clause, the Act, the Constitution, and laws of the Commonwealth made in pursuance of its powers, will be the supreme law of the land, binding on the Courts, Judges, and people of every State, despite anything to the contrary in the laws of any State. The latter words operate as a rescission of all State laws incompatible with the Act, with the Constitution, and with such laws as may be passed by the Parliament of the Commonwealth in the exercise of its Constitutional rights. Therefore, by this clause, coupled with sections 106, 107, 108 and 109, all the laws of a State, constitutional as well as ordinary, will be in effect repealed so far as they are repugnant to the supreme law being the Commonwealth Constitution. All the laws of any State, that includes QLD, so far as not inconsistent with the supreme law (Commonwealth Constitution), will remain in force until altered by the proper authority.

The QLD Parliament also ignored established English legal principles, where two houses of parliament are required to pass Bills into law. The Commonwealth Constitution does not allow for a unicameral parliament and QLD creating one, is a breach of the rule of law and blatant disrespect for English legal principles.

Copies of the sealed and signed pages, as well as a copy of the text of the
Constitution Act Amendment Act 1922 [12 Geo. V.] [No. 32]
which abolished the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Queensland,
despite the people of Queensland having voted NO in the Referendum held in 1917,
can be found at:-
http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid...
http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources...
The Constitution of Queensland 2001, No. 80 of 3rd December 2001,
with its Schedule 2, made Amendments to the Constitution Act 1867, but had
NO Crown and Constitutional authority to do so, and had
NO consent of the people of Queensland to do so under the people’s
Queensland’s Constitution Act 1867 [31 Vic. No.38] as amended to 5th April 1977,
at Section 53, inserted under Crown and Constitutional authority with Section 7 of
Queensland’s Constitution Act Amendment Act 1977, No. 9 of 5th April 1977.

The Legitimacy of Local Government is unquestionable claims the GCCC Legal Services?

The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth.
Sir John Quick LL.D. and Sir Robert Randolph Garran, M.A.
Quote:
“Section 107: RESIDUARY LEGISLATIVE POWERS.
The residuary authority left to the Parliament of each State, after the exclusive and concurrent grants to the Federal Parliament, embraces a large mass of constitutional, territorial, municipal, and social powers, including control over:
Agriculture and the cultivation of the soil:
Banking — State banking within the limits of the State:
Borrowing money on the sole credit of the State:
Bounties and aids on mining for gold, silver, or metals:
Charities—establishment and management of asylums:
Constitution of State: amendment, maintenance and execution of
Corporations—other than foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations:
Courts—civil and criminal, maintenance and organization for the execution of the laws of a State:
Departments of State Governments — regulation of
Education
Factories
Fisheries within the State:
Forests
Friendly Societies
Game
Health, Inspection of goods imported or proposed to be exported in order to detect fraud or prevent the spread of disease:
Insurance — State Insurance within the limits of the State:
Intoxicants—the regulation and prohibition of the manufacture within the State of fermented, distilled, or intoxicating liquids:
Justice—Courts:
Land—management and sale of public lands within the State:
Licenses—the regulation of the issue of licenses to conduct trade and industrial operations, within the State, such as liquor licenses and auctioneers’ licenses.
Manufactures—see factories:
Mines and Mining:
Municipal institutions and local government:
Officers—appointment and payment of public officers of the State:
Police — regulations, social and sanitary:
Prisons—State prisons and reformatories:
Railways—control and construction of railways within the State, subject to constitutional limitations (see Restricted Powers):
Rivers—subject to constitutional limitations (see Restricted Powers): Shops—subject to constitutional limitations (see Restricted Powers):
Taxation on order to the raising of revenue for State purposes (see Restricted Powers):
Trade and Commerce within the State (see Restricted Powers):
Works—construction and promotion of public works and internal improvements, subject to the constitutional limitations (see Restricted Powers):”
Unquote
Comment:
As outlined above, municipal institutions and local government can only be a department of a State and any other description is a breach of the Commonwealth Constitution section 107.

Any Act passed by any Parliament or a local law passed by a Municipal Authority is ultra vires, not lawfully enforceable if in contradiction inconsistent or repugnant to the Commonwealth Constitution.
Any Act that is in contradiction with the Commonwealth Constitution is not valid and is unlawful and the people of Queensland are entitled to disregard it.

Authority’s for the above statement:
1. The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth.
Sir John Quick LL.D. and Sir Robert Randolph Garran, M.A.
Quote:
“Not all enactments purporting to be laws made by the Parliament are binding; but laws made under, in pursuance of, and within the authority conferred by the Constitution, and those only, are binding on the courts, judges, and people. A law in excess of the authority conferred by the Constitution is no law; it is wholly void and inoperative; it confers no rights, it imposes no duties; it affords no protection” (Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425 10th May 1886).
2. Former Chief Justice Latham’s made the comments in a High Court decision; South Australia v The Commonwealth 1942 (Uniform Tax Case) former Chief Justice Latham’s comments:

Quote:
“If either the Commonwealth Parliament or a State Parliament attempts to make a law which is not within its powers, the attempt fails, because the alleged law is unauthorized and is not a law at all”.
“The courts have declared a statute invalid, sometimes lead to misunderstanding. A pretended law made in excess of power is not and never has been a law at all. Anybody in the country is entitled to disregard it”.

Local government is not a third independent level of government in Australia; it is a sublevel of government of state government”.
“Our Constitution is a dual system. It has two levels of government—a federal government and a state government”. It DOES NOT allow for three levels of government of which GCCC falsely claims and misleads the public to be a third level of government on its web site.
Professor Anne Towmey made comments during the joint select expert hearing on the recognition of local government on Wednesday the16 of January 2013: Professor Anne Twomey comments where as follows:

Quote:
“One of the reasons that is sometimes stated is that local government is a third level of government in Australia and it should be recognised in the Constitution. This, I think, is a bit of a misleading argument. Technically, local government is not a third independent level of government in Australia; it is a sublevel of government of state government”.
“Our Constitution is a dual system. It has two levels of government—a federal government and a state government”.
Unquote.

State Governments by means of Section 108 of the Commonwealth Constitution have the power to make laws for their respective State, but they do not have the power to make laws outside of their authority or to create or authorise any other body or organisation to make laws (Local Laws) or to become a third or an essential tier of government or any other form of government.

Tesi left an annotation (October 27, 2020)

The question ultimately is are the local governments acting within their “reserved power” and conducting themselves for the “peace, ordinance and good governance”?????

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FOI REQUESTI N ACCORDANCE WITH THE Freedom of Information Act 1982

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Brett Wilson left an annotation (November 07, 2019)

Tesi left an annotation (October 27, 2020)

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