23.
was said about trading and financial corporations in R v Federal Court of Australia; Ex parte WA National Football League[1], Actors and Announcers Equity Association v Fontana Films Pty Ltd[2], State Superannuation Board v Trade Practices Commission[3] or Fencott v Muller[4].
4Other issues
56 The other principal issues between the parties may be identified as follows. Section 6(1) of the new Act, in pars (e) and (f), invokes the power conferred by s 122 of the Constitution (the territories power). There is a question whether the territories power supports the operation given to the new Act in connection with Territories by the definitions of employee and employer. As has been noted above, Sched 6 of the new Act continues reliance on the conciliation and arbitration power. There is a question whether that power enables the Commonwealth to maintain in force a limited conciliation and arbitration system, or to legislate with respect to the dismantling of the previous industrial relations system. There is a question whether s 16(1) and s 16(4) of the new Act validly exclude State and Territory laws in so far as they apply to employees and employers as defined in ss 5 and 6. There is a question whether s 117 of the new Act validly empowers the AIRC to make orders which restrict the actions of State industrial authorities. As was noted above, there are questions as to the validity of various provisions empowering the making of regulations.
PART II – SECTION 51(xx)
1The plaintiffs' principal arguments
57 The plaintiffs' submissions about s 51(xx) were directed principally to identifying what were said to be relevant limits to the power. There were three principal strands to the submissions. First, it was submitted that s 51(xx) permits the making of a law with respect to only the external relationships of constitutional corporations, not their internal relationships, and that the relationship between a constitutional corporation and its employees should be classified as "internal". Secondly, both in amplification of and as an alternative
