WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The Australia Act is fraudulent because colonial parliaments were dissolved at federation.
OUR VERDICT
False. Multiple courts have ruled the Australia Act is valid, while the constitution explicitly preserves the powers of colonial parliaments.
AAP FACTCHECK - A video shared on social media falsely claims a 1986 law severing ties with UK law is fraudulent.
The "Australia acts" were enacted in 1986 by federal and state parliaments, as well as in the UK, effectively preventing the UK's parliament legislating for Australia.
The video claims no one had lawful power to enact this bill because colonial parliaments were dissolved at federation in 1901.
A leading expert, however, said this misunderstands the constitution and that colonial powers were preserved at federation.
The false claim appears in a video shared widely on Facebook after originating on TikTok from an account that routinely shares claims similar to those of the sovereign citizen movement.
The movement is a loosely organised anti-government ideology, the followers of which believe they aren't subject to most laws, rejecting the authority of courts, governments and law enforcement.
The video, with a stilted AI voiceover, describes the Australia Act 1986 as "fraud".
"The Australia Act 1986 claims to sever ties with UK law, but clause 7 dissolved all colonial parliaments at federation," it says. "That means no one had lawful power to enact the Australia act."
AAP FactCheck contacted the account behind the video for clarity regarding the claim and evidence to support it, but did not hear back.
Harry Hobbs, a legal expert at the University of NSW who has led a study of Australia's sovereign citizen movement, said claims the Australia Act is fraudulent are "very common" and have been considered by the courts before.
The "Australia acts" refers to legislation passed by the Commonwealth, state governments and the UK parliament in the mid-1980s, terminating the ability for the UK to pass laws that were binding on Australian state governments.
In a paper on sovereign citizen legal arguments, Dr Hobbs wrote that a number of legal cases in the early 2000s argued the Australia acts were invalid and this meant all laws enacted thereafter were unconstitutional.
None of the cases was successful.
"Courts have consistently found that the Australia acts are valid and therefore the UK can no longer pass laws for Australia," Dr Hobbs told AAP FactCheck.
The specific claim made in the video is that no one had power to enact the Australia Act 1986 because colonial parliaments were dissolved at federation by "clause 7". It's unclear what "clause 7" refers to.
Section 7 of the Australia Act 1986 defines the powers and functions of governors in each state, while Section 7 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act establishes the Senate and outlines the number of senators required. A separate Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, passed in the UK to give legal effect to Australia's federation, is referenced earlier in the TikTok video.
Official records show the UK and Australian versions of the act are identical.
Clause 7 of both constitution acts repeals an earlier law called the Federal Council of Australasia Act 1885, which established an interstate governance structure regarded as a forerunner to the Commonwealth before federation.
None of these pieces of legislation details a dissolution of colonial parliaments, which were replaced at federation when Australia's six states were established.
Dr Hobbs said it isn't possible the dissolution of colonial parliaments undermined the legal basis required to pass the Australia acts in 1986, because the constitution specifically preserved the legal powers of colonies that became states unless those powers were given to the Commonwealth.
"Sections 106 and 107 of the Australian Constitution confirm that the powers enjoyed by the colonies and their parliaments are preserved in the new Commonwealth," Dr Hobbs said.
In other words, the dissolution of colonial parliaments at federation could not have undermined the legal authority used to enact the Australia Act 1986.
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