Statute of Westminster, 1929-1933
- Component identifier:
- Series 48
- Content Summary:
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The 1929 Conference on the Operation of Dominion Legislation and Merchant Shipping and the 1930 Imperial Conference discussed ways in which law could be brought into line with the 1926 Balfour Declaration on the relations between the United Kingdom and self-governing Dominions. Subsequently, the British Parliament passed the 1931 Statute of Westminster which repealed the 1865 Colonial Laws Validity Act, limited the power of the British Parliament to legislate for the Dominions, and gave the parliaments of the Dominions full power to make laws having extra-territorial operation. The Australian Parliament did not adopt the Statute until 1942.
The series contains parliamentary papers, debates, newscuttings, notes, correspondence and the report of the 1929 Conference. There is a copy of a cable from the Secretary of State for the Dominions concerning resolutions from the State parliaments protesting against the Statute of Westminster (11 August 1931), notes by Sir Robert Garran on Western Australia's objections (8 September 1931), and correspondence with the Australian delegate, Sir William Harrison Moore, the Attorney-General's Department, and State Attorneys-General (August 1930-August 1932).
Comprises Files 1-4 (Items 1-123).
- Immediate source of acquisition:
- The bulk of the collection was presented to the National Library by Sir John Latham in December 1963, a few months before his death. In November 1974 the Library purchased some further papers from a secondhand book dealer. They comprised family letters and photographs, some diaries and papers relating to the High Court. These papers have been amalgamated into the original collection.
Access and use
- Parent Restrictions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
- Parent Terms of Access:
- Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
- Location of this collection:
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Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: