Airlines of NSW Pty Ltd v New South Wales [No 2]

Airlines of NSW Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning the validity of certain regulations made under the *Air Navigation Act 1920* (Cth). The dispute centred on whether these Commonwealth regulations, which imposed licensing and operational requirements on intrastate air services, were validly supported by the Commonwealth’s legislative power.

The High Court was required to determine whether the *Air Navigation Act 1920* (Cth) and the regulations made thereunder, specifically those relating to the licensing and operation of intrastate air services, were within the legislative competence of the Commonwealth Parliament. A key issue was whether the Commonwealth’s power to make laws with respect to "lighthouses, lightships, beacons and sea marks" and "navigation and shipping" extended to the regulation of intrastate air navigation.

The Court, by majority, held that the Commonwealth’s legislative power in relation to navigation did not extend to the regulation of intrastate air navigation. The majority reasoned that the power to regulate navigation and shipping was historically understood to apply to maritime navigation and did not encompass air travel. Consequently, the *Air Navigation Act 1920* (Cth) and the regulations made under it were found to be beyond the legislative power of the Commonwealth in so far as they purported to regulate intrastate air services. The appeal was allowed.