Talk:Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia

Reserve Powers

"Powers not included in section 51 are considered "reserve powers", and remain the domain of the states (with a few exceptions, noted below)." Is that right? I had thought that 'reserve' or 'reserved' powers are those unwritten powers of the Governor-General, inlcluding the powers to sack a government. Wouldn't it be more accurate to refer to the plenary powers of the states, the concurrent jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Parliament under section 51 etc, and the consequences of section 109? SilasM 03:51, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Yeh, reserve powers is a bit of a bad term - it reeks of reserved state powers doctrine, which doesn't exist anymore. A lot of the Australian constitution articles need going through with a fine tooth comb. enochlau (talk) 11:21, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Proposed merge of Section 51(xii) of the Constitution of Australia into Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia

I have proposed a merge for the following reasons:

A subsection of the Australian Constitution is somewhat less notable than a larger section. The only source used is a primary one and is of low-quality, primary sources should not be used as the only source per the general notability guideline and WP:PRIMARY. The article I have proposed merging this one with is a sensible choice because this is part of the larger context for section 51 as a whole.

Thanks for your consideration,

Qwerty123M (talk) 02:10, 20 February 2026 (UTC) Qwerty123M (talk) 02:10, 20 February 2026 (UTC)