The Commonwealth v Blunden

The Commonwealth of Australia (the Commonwealth) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Full Federal Court concerning the interpretation of section 118 of the *Constitution*. The dispute arose from a claim by Mr Blunden for a Commonwealth pension, which the Commonwealth denied on the basis that Mr Blunden was not an Australian citizen. The core of the disagreement was whether Mr Blunden, born in England in 1948, had acquired Australian citizenship by operation of law at the time of his birth, or whether he had acquired it later through naturalisation.

The High Court was required to determine whether, under the *Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth) (the 1948 Act), Mr Blunden became an Australian citizen at birth. Specifically, the court had to consider the effect of section 118 of the *Constitution*, which states that "Full faith and credit shall be given, throughout the Commonwealth, to the public Acts, records and judicial proceedings of every State." The central question was whether section 118 had any bearing on the acquisition of citizenship under Commonwealth legislation, or whether the *1948 Act* operated independently to confer citizenship.

McHugh and Kirby JJ, in their joint judgment, held that section 118 of the *Constitution* had no relevance to the question of whether Mr Blunden had acquired Australian citizenship at birth. They reasoned that section 118 concerns the recognition of the laws and judicial proceedings of the States within the Commonwealth, and does not extend to the conferral of citizenship by the Commonwealth Parliament. Their Honours concluded that the *1948 Act* provided the sole basis for determining Australian citizenship, and that Mr Blunden had not acquired citizenship at birth under its provisions.

The appeal was allowed, and the orders of the Full Federal Court were set aside.