Constitutional law (Cth) – Legislative power – Inconsistency between Commonwealth and State laws – External affairs – Acquisition of property on just terms – Where rate of land tax imposed by State law on non-residents and foreign-owned or controlled entities higher than rate of land tax imposed on other residents and entities – Where Commonwealth law gave force of law to international agreements prohibiting discriminatory land tax on non‑residents and foreign-owned or controlled entities – Where Commonwealth Parliament subsequently passed law excluding State taxes from scope of prohibition in Commonwealth law on imposition of discriminatory land tax on non‑residents and foreign-owned or controlled entities – Whether State law inconsistent with Commonwealth law for purposes of s 109 of Constitution – Whether subsequent Commonwealth law supported by external affairs power – Whether subsequent Commonwealth law had retroactive or retrospective effect – Whether subsequent Commonwealth law effective in removing retroactively inconsistency between Commonwealth law and State law –Whether University of Wollongong v Metwally (1984) 158 CLR 447 should be reopened and overruled – Whether Commonwealth law reviving operation of State law imposing "genuine taxation" characterised as a law with respect to acquisition of property.
Words and phrases – "acquisition of property", "agreement between Australia and Germany", "agreement between Australia and New Zealand", "alter, impair or detract", "assessments of land tax", "bilateral agreements and treaties between Australia and other countries concerning taxation", "character of a law", "choses in action", "Commonwealth law", "Commonwealth Parliament", "declaratory relief", "differences in the reasoning of the members of this Court", "direct collision between an obligation imposed by a Commonwealth law and an obligation imposed by a State law", "direct inconsistency", "discriminatory land taxes", "external affairs power", "factors identified in John v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1989) 166 CLR 417", "force of law", "foreign company", "genuine taxation", "indirect inconsistency", "inoperative", "just terms", "leave to reopen", "legislative power", "manifestly wrong", "obligation to pay additional land tax", "paramountcy of Commonwealth laws over State laws", "partial implementation", "principles carefully worked out in a succession of cases", "property", "purported land tax", "reopened and overruled", "representative proceedings", "restitution", "retroactive operation", "retrospective operation", "revival of inoperative taxes", "rights of recovery", "special case", "State law", "statements of legislative intention", "surcharge rate", "taxes imposed by State legislation", "temporal application", "validity of a law cannot be decided by agreement of the parties".
Constitution, ss 51(ii), 51(xxix), 51(xxxi), 109.
High Court Rules 2004 (Cth), r 27.08.1.
International Tax Agreements Act 1953 (Cth), ss 3(1), 3AAA, 5(1), 5(3), 6B.
Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), s 40(1).
Land Tax Act 2005 (Vic), ss 3(1), 7, 8, 10, 35, 36, 104B, 106A, Sch 1, cll 4.1‑4.5.
Land Tax Act 2010 (Qld), ss 7, 8, 18B, 18C, 18D, 32, 104, 105, Sch 2, Pts 1, 2.
State Taxation Further Amendment Act 2024 (Vic), ss 42, 54.
Taxation Administration Act 1997 (Vic), ss 8, 135A.
Taxation Administration Act 2001 (Qld), ss 63, 69, 70, 189.
Treasury Laws Amendment (Foreign Investment) Act 2024 (Cth), Sch 1, cll 1, 2.