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Paradox said..Chris 249 said..
So where is your evidence for any of that? Under what constitutional precedent or section will the High Court somehow get the power to direct a government "to reestablish the bureaucracy exactly how whoever pretends to represent all indigenous peoples want it"?
The referendum requires the government to make laws about the functions and powers of the Voice. That allows the government to shrink the Voice as they see fit.
Under what standing can the Voice challenge any decision? What precedent are you relying on? What section of the Constitution will allow such things to happen?
The Court derives its authority directly from the Constitution and has two main functions: first, to interpret the Australian Constitution and, secondly, to sit as the final Court of Appeal on all matters arising in Federal, State and Territory courts.
I agree the High Court itself cannot direct the Government to do anything. But it can rule that any legislation (ie Voice is effectively removed) is unconsitutional. The Parliment and Gov of the day can ignore this ruling, but in reality the populace will not stand for it. A Government not abiding by a High Court decision directly related to the consitution would never survive a term and would likely be removed from office by the Governer General.
If a Gov made the voice a dude in a basement, the High Court would look at the intent of the amendment and rule that the intent was for a fully functioning voice that represents all indigenous Australians and a suitable agency must be in place to deliver that. Dude in basement doesn't cut it.
Governments do no ignore high Court decisions on constitutional matters. To have to rely on a Government to take such extreme measures to fix a broken bureaucracy speaks of denial it is an issue.
The Voice can make representations (ie challenge or demand) anything that is being considered by Parliment or any level of government Bureaucracy be it Federal, State or local. If the challenge or demand is ignored then they can take action in the high court.
The voice cannot force its view directly, but it can effectively slow or stop progress on an issue through court challenges and subsequent follow up similar representations. This forces a negotiation to occur. It will be used to blackmail every level of government though nuisance representations and court action.
Recently we saw an issue in WA with farmers not being able to plow thier fields without consultation. In SA last month the disposal of medical waste at a dedicated facility was stopped by court action. You think that is going to get more or less prevelant?
So you appear to have no evidence for your claims. I asked you to provide the answers to some specific questions and instead you've thrown around things that appear to make it pretty clear you don't have actual answers.
You also missed the fact that your own post is contradictory. You said "the High Court would look at the intent of the amendment" (and it's vital to say that it does NOT do so except in certain limited situations) but in this case the intent is very clear. The amendment quite clearly says that "the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice."
THAT is the clear intent - parliament decides the powers, composition, function and procedures. If the parliament decides that the function of the Voice is to be one guy in a basement, that's what happens, because the very clear intent is that parliament gets to decide that stuff.
You keep on referring to court challenges but refuse to answer the clear question I asked - where does it get the standing? No one can just walk up to the High Court and challenge.
The Voice cannot make a representation to state or local governments (or no more than you or I or a union, church or employer's body can) The Voice is a Federal government creation and the Federal government only has power over the areas listed in s 51 and s 52 of the Constitution. It doesn't control other areas unless the states agree to it.
So to repeat the simple questions I asked earlier;
Under what standing can the Voice challenge any decision? Are you referring to standing to challenge certiorari and prohibition? There's already open standing there. Are you referring to writs of mandamus? Indigenous groups already have wide powers of standing under the special interest rule. Standing under the ADJR is also wide already.
So what are you claiming will increase powers to challenge decisions?
What precedent are you relying on?
What section of the Constitution will allow such things to happen?