§ 473. “Representation of such Territory.”
A territory which has been surrendered to the Commonwealth by a State, or placed under the authority of the Commonwealth by the Queen, or been otherwise acquired by the Commonwealth, may be allowed representation in either house of the Federal Parliament, to the extent and on such terms as the Parliament thinks fit. The representation thus accorded is not representation as a State, but territorial representation. It may be allowed not only—as in the case of new States—“to the extent” which the Parliament thinks fit, but also “on the terms which it thinks fit.” Apparently, therefore, the Parliament may not only fix the number of representatives for a territory, but determine—at least in some degree—the mode of representation. In the United States, there being no power to allow the territories to send members to Congress, the organized territories are nevertheless allowed to be represented in Congress by delegates who may speak but not vote. It would seem clear that under this Constitution the Parliament may, if it thinks fit, allow the representation of territories by delegates of the same kind, who, although allowed to sit and speak in the Senate or the House of Representatives, would not be members of either House, or entitled to vote therein. The Parliament may, however, under this section, allow a territory to be represented by actual members in either house; and in that case no terms would be imposed inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution as to mode of election, tenure, and right to vote. The number of representatives which a territory may be allowed is of course absolutely in the discretion of the Parliament.
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SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.—In the United States, the District of Columbia is not allowed even territorial representation. Under this Constitution, however, the power to allow the representation of territories clearly includes the territory within which the seat of Government is situated. Whether it would also include any “place” acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes is a more doubtful matter. It is of course most unlikely that any territory—other than the seat of Government—acquired for public purposes would be extensive enough to be entitled to a member of its own; and the practical question is whether the residents in such territory would have to be disfranchised altogether, or whether they might be thrown into one of the electoral divisions of the State out of which the territory was carved. As regards Senate elections the answer must clearly be in the negative; the Senators for each State must be chosen by “the people of the State.” As regards elections for the House of Representatives the matter is not so clear. Members of that House are chosen by “the people of the Commonwealth,” which includes the people of the territories; and although the mode of apportionment provisionally prescribed by sec. 24 does not provide for the people of a territory being counted in with the people of the State out of which the territory may have been carved, yet that mode of apportionment is alterable. Sec. 29 provides that “a division shall not be formed out of parts of different States;” but there is no direct prohibition against including an area of federal territory in an adjoining electoral division. On the whole, it would seem that the residents of a federal territory which is too small to be allowed a member of its own in the House of Representatives, need not necessarily be disfranchised, but may, if the Parliament thinks fit, be included in one of the electoral divisions of “the people of the Commonwealth.”
Alteration of limits of States.
123. The Parliament of the Commonwealth may, with the consent of the Parliament of a State, and the approval of the majority of the electors of the State voting upon the question, increase, diminish, or otherwise alter474 the limits of the State, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed on, and may, with the like consent, make provision respecting the effect and operation of any increase or diminution or alteration of territory in relation to any State affected.
HISTORICAL NOTE.—Clause 4, Chap. VI. of the Commonwealth Bill of 1891 was as follows:—
“The Parliament of the Commonwealth may, from time to time, with the consent of the Parliament of a State, increase, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of a State, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed to, and may, with the like consent, make provision respecting the effect and operation of any such increase or diminution or alteration of territory in relation to any State affected by it.”
At the Adelaide session, 1897, the clause was adopted in substantially the same words. At the Melbourne session, it was verbally altered after the fourth report.
After the failure of the Convention Bill to poll the statutory number of votes in New South Wales, both Houses of the Parliament of that colony recommended (inter alia) “that better provision should be made against the alteration of the boundaries of a State without its own consent—namely, by the protection afforded by clause 127 [sec. 128] as to the representation of States.” Accordingly at the Premiers' Conference, 1899, it was agreed to amend the clause by inserting “and the approval of the majority of the electors of the State voting upon the question.”
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