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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference -

CO-885

17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

Royal Assent to Bills, &c.

Disallow- auce by Order in Council of

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and be accompanied, in such cases as may seem to him necessary, with such explanatory observations as may be required to exhibit the reasons and occasions for proposing such Laws; and he shall also transmit fair copies of the Journals and Minutes of the proceedings of the Parliament of Our said Dominion, which he is to require from the clerks, or other proper officers in that behalf, of the said Parliament.

ACT, 30 VICT., CAP. III. (Extract.)

55. Where a Bill passed by the Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's Assent, he shall declare, according to his Discretion, but subject to the Provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty's Instructions, either that he assents thereto in the Queen's Name, or that he withholds the Queen's Assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the Signification of the Queen's Pleasure.

56. Where the Governor-General assents to a Bill in the Queen's Name, he shall by the first convenient Opportunity send an authentic Copy of the Act to One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and if the Queen Act assented in Council within Two Years after Receipt thereof by the Secretary of State to by Gover- thinks fit to disallow the Act, such Disallowance (with a Certificate of the nor-General. Secretary of State of the Day on which the Act was received by him) being signified by the Governor-General, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, shall annul the Act from and after the Day of such Signification.

Signification of Queen's pleasure on

Bill re-

served.

57. A Bill reserved for the Signification of the Queen's Pleasure shall not have any Force unless and until, within Two Years from the Day on which it was presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's Assent, the Governor-General signifies, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, that it has received the Assent of the Queen in Council.

An entry of every such Speech, Message, or Proclamation shall be made in the Journal of each House, and a Duplicate thereof duly attested shall be delivered to the proper Officer to be kept among the Records of Canada.

41810.

No. 2.

The GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA to the SECRETARY

OF STATE.

(No. 243.)

MY LORD,

(Received November 13, 1906.)

[Answered by No. 3.]

Commonwealth of Australia,

Governor-General's Office,

Melbourne, October 10, 1906. I HAVE the honour to inclose, herewith, a copy of a Bill" which has been passed by the Commonwealth Parliament during the current Session.

From it Your Lordship will perceive that the advisability of making certain changes in the Constitution of the Commonwealth is to be submitted to its electorates at the approaching General Election.

Should the result of this referendum be in favour of the proposed Alterations, the Bill will be presented to the Governor-General for the Royal

assent.

2. The present is the first occasion on which the question of an amend- ment of the Australian Constitution has arisen. I am, therefore, anxious to know whether, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, all amendments of the Constitution should be "reserved" as a matter of course by the

* (Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections), 1907.) (Senate No. 26.) Not reprinted.

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Governor-General for the time being; or whether he is to deal with them as he does with other Bills.

3. The Australian Constitution being the grant to this country of the British Parliament, His Majesty's Government may consider that, even in unimportant matters, proposed changes in it should be approved by His Majesty directly; and not through the Governor-General.

The present occasion will establish a precedent one way or the other; and, therefore, I have the honour to ask for an expression of His Majesty's Government's views thereon.

I have, &c.,

NORTHCOTE,

Governor-General.

41810.

No. 3.

The SECRETARY OF STATE to the GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA.

(No. 215.)

MY LORD,

Downing Street, December. 14, 1906. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's despatch No. 243 of the 10th October, enquiring whether all Bills to amend the Constitution of the Commonwealth should be reserved for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure.

2. His Majesty's Government see no reason why such Bills should be treated differently from other Bills presented to the Governor General for assent, and, therefore, each case should be considered on its merits, in accordance with the general principle by which the Governor General will no doubt guide himself in exercising the discretion vested in him by section 58 of the Constitution, the principle, viz., that only Bills in which His Majesty's Govern- ment are directly concerned, and by which Imperial interests are affected, need be reserved for the signification of the Royal pleasure.

3. On this principle, it seems unnecessary for you to reserve the Bill forwarded in your despatch; but the case might be different in regard, for example, to a Bill amending section 3 of the Constitution, which provides that the salary of a Governor General shall not be altered during his continuance in office, or section 126, which empowers the King to authorise the Governor General to appoint deputies.

4. Ilaving regard, however, to the stringent conditions under which alone changes in the Constitution can be made, His Majesty's Government think that as a matter of practice reservation will be unnecessary even in such cases as those mentioned above. If the Bills are sent home regularly as soon as they are printed, there will be ample time for consultation between the Secretary of State and the Governor General before a Bill altering the Constitution is presented for assent, and the Governor General would no doubt always consult the Secretary of State before reserving such a Bill. It would seem, therefore, that the object of reservation, (viz., that His Majesty's Government should have an opportunity of considering the Bill before it comes into force) will, in the case of Bills altering the Constitution of the Commonwealth, be in practice attained without it being necessary for the Governor General to exercise the discretion to reserve vested in him by the Constitution.

5. I need hardly add that it is not intended in this despatch to lay down definite instructions, but merely to offer some suggestions for the guidance of the Governor General in the exercise of the powers which are entrusted to him by the Constitution of the Commonwealth.

• No. 2.

I have, &c..

ELGIN.

E 45018.

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