Glory without Power: The Nationhood Power and Commonwealth Spending on Sport
(2021) 95 Australian Law Journal 274
12 Pages Posted: 1 Sep 2021
Date Written: April 1, 2021
Abstract
The constitutional dimensions of federal spending on sport have yet to be considered by the courts, the academy or various parliamentary inquiries. The current Senate Select Committee on Administration of Sports Grants provides an opportunity to consider the constitutionality of federal spending on sport, which it has not had cause to consider since the seminal decisions of Pape, Williams [No 1] and Williams [No 2]. In the absence of express or concurrent legislative powers regarding sport, this article considers whether the Constitution’s implied nationhood power might support Commonwealth funding in this area. An appropriate constitutional challenge would likely call into question, and possibly fracture, existing aspects of Commonwealth spending on sport for want of necessary constitutional power. In this context, a fascinating conceptual question arises: can sport, as a subject matter, enliven the Commonwealth’s implied nationhood power and therefore validate spending on sport? Were the validity of Commonwealth spending on sport to be challenged, the High Court would have recourse to consider whether, constitutionally at least, Australia is truly a sporting nation.
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This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as Daniel Goldsworthy, Glory without Power: The Nationhood Power and Commonwealth Spending on Sport, 2021, Vol. 95, ALJ, 274.
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Keywords: Commonwealth Spending on Sport; Nationhood Power; Constitutional Law; Pape; Williams No 1; Williams No 2
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