H v McKay Pty Ltd v Hunt

The case of H. v. McKay Pty Ltd v Hunt involved an appeal to the High Court of Australia from a conviction by a Court of Petty Sessions in Victoria. The appellant, H. v. McKay Pty Ltd, was charged with an offence under the Victorian Factories and Shops Act 1915 for failing to pay an employee the minimum wage prescribed by a determination of the Carters and Drivers Wages Board. The employer had paid the employee the minimum wage stipulated by an award of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, which was a lower amount than that set by the Victorian Wages Board. The employer's defence was that the Wages Board determination was inconsistent with the Commonwealth award and therefore invalid under section 109 of the Constitution.

The High Court was required to determine two principal legal issues. Firstly, whether an appeal from the conviction lay to the High Court, given that the decision of the Court of Petty Sessions involved the interpretation and application of federal law, specifically section 109 of the Constitution, and thus exercised federal jurisdiction. Secondly, and more crucially, the Court had to decide whether the determination of the Victorian Wages Board, which prescribed a higher minimum wage than the award of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, was valid or invalid due to inconsistency with the federal award.

The Court, in allowing the appeal and quashing the conviction, reasoned that the appeal was competent under section 39 of the Judiciary Act 1903-1920, as the matter involved the exercise of federal jurisdiction. On the substantive issue, the Court held that the determination of the Wages Board was inconsistent with the Commonwealth award and therefore invalid. This decision followed the principles established in previous High Court cases, notably *Clyde Engineering Co. v. Cowburn*. The Court found that where a State law or determination prescribes a higher minimum wage than a valid award of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in a dispute extending beyond the limits of one State, the State provision is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency, by operation of section 109 of the Constitution. The Court concluded that the Victorian Wages Board determination could not prevail over the earlier Federal award.