Aboriginal Relics (Consequential Amendments) Act 2017 (Repealed) (TAS)

In the matter of the Aboriginal Relics (Consequential Amendments) Act 2017 (Repealed), the court was presented with a dispute concerning the validity and impact of the repeal of the Aboriginal Relics (Consequential Amendments) Act 2017 in Tasmania. The Act had been repealed by its own section 15, which led to questions regarding the legal consequences of the repeal, particularly in terms of the amendments it had made to existing legislation and their continued applicability post-repeal.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the repeal of the Aboriginal Relics (Consequential Amendments) Act 2017 resulted in the complete nullification of all amendments made by the Act, or if some of these amendments remained in force despite the repeal. The court had to interpret the legislative intent behind the repeal and determine the extent to which the repealed Act's amendments were to be considered as having been revoked or retained.

The court determined that the repeal of the Act resulted in the nullification of all the amendments it had previously made. In reaching this conclusion, the court examined the language used in section 15 of the Act, which provided for the Act's repeal. The court found that the section's wording did not suggest any intention to preserve specific amendments made by the Act. Consequently, the court ruled that the repeal had the effect of revoking all the amendments, leading to the conclusion that the legislative framework must revert to its pre-amendment state. The court's decision was based on a strict interpretation of the statutory language and legislative intent, as revealed in the repealed section.