Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen

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Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen
Court	High Court of Australia
Full case name	Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen & Ors; Queensland v Commonwealth
Decided	11 May 1982
Citations	[1982] HCA 27, (1982) 153 CLR 168
Case history
Subsequent action	Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1988) 92 FLR 104
Court membership
Judges sitting	Gibbs CJ, Stephen, Mason, Murphy, Aickin, Wilson & Brennan JJ
Case opinions
(5:1) the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 was not valid under s 51 (xxvi) of the Constitution, since they applied to all races, and not to one particular race (per Gibbs CJ, Stephen, Aickin, Wilson & Brennan JJ; Mason J not deciding) (4:3) the Act was however valid under s 51 (xxix) of the Constitution, since implementing a treaty is a valid exercise of the 'external affairs' power (per Stephen, Mason, Murphy & Brennan JJ)

Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen,^[1] was a significant court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 11 May 1982. It concerned the constitutional validity of parts of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, and the discriminatory acts of the Government of Queensland in blocking the purchase of land by Aboriginal people in northern Queensland.