R v Barger | |
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Court | High Court of Australia |
Full case name | The King and the Minister of State for the Commonwealth Administering the Customs v Barger The Commonwealth and A. W. Smart, Collector of Customs v McKay |
Decided | 26 June 1908 |
Citations | [1908] HCA 43, (1908) 6 CLR 41 |
Case history | |
Related action | Ex Parte H.V. McKay (Harvester case) (1907) 2 CAR 1 |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Griffith CJ, Barton, O'Connor, Isaacs & Higgins JJ |
Case opinions | |
(3:2) the Excise Tariff Act 1906 was invalid as: (1) it was not in substance a tax; (2) even if it was a tax, the Act dealt with matters other than taxation; & (3) it interfered with matters reserved exclusively to the States. per Griffith CJ, Barton and O'Connor JJ |
R v Barger[1] is a 1908 High Court of Australia case where the majority held that the taxation power[2] could not be used by the Australian Parliament to indirectly regulate the working conditions of workers. In this case, an excise tariff was imposed on manufacturers, with an exemption being available for those who paid "fair and reasonable" wages to their employees.