State of New South Wales; State of Western Australia; State of Queensland; State of South Australia v The Commonwealth of Australia

The High Court of Australia heard proceedings involving the State of New South Wales, the State of Western Australia, the State of Queensland, and the State of South Australia as plaintiffs, and the Commonwealth of Australia as the defendant. The dispute concerned the constitutional validity of certain legislative provisions enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Commonwealth Parliament possessed the legislative power, specifically under section 51(xx) of the Constitution, to legislate for the incorporation of companies. This question was to be determined in the context of specific Commonwealth legislation that included provisions for the filing of "activity statements" by those promoting companies, detailing their intention to commence trading or financial activities within a limited timeframe, or to operate as "shelf companies."

The parties had agreed to a form of order that would allow the Full Court to determine two specific questions. The first question was designed to address the general constitutional power of the Commonwealth Parliament under section 51(xx) to provide for incorporation. However, it was also framed to consider this power within the specific context of the impugned legislation, which involved provisions for varying statements of intent, particularly when a shelf company was purchased by an "active trader." This specific context was anticipated to raise matters of potential long-term difficulty for the Commonwealth or necessitate careful drafting if the constitutional question was answered in a particular way.