Case: Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority [1998] HCA 28 ; (1998) 194 CLR 355
Outcome: applied
In Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority [1998] HCA 28 ; (1998) 194 CLR 355, McHugh, Gummow, Kirby and Hayne JJ held at [69], [71] and [78]: [69] The primary object of statutory construction is to construe the relevant provision so that it is consistent with the language and purpose of all the provisions of the statute. The meaning of the provision must be determined "by reference to the language of the instrument viewed as a whole". In Commissioner for Railways (NSW) v Agalianos , Dixon CJ pointed out that "the context, the general purpose and policy of a provision and its consistency and fairness are surer guides to its meaning than the logic with which it is constructed". Thus, the process of construction must always begin by examining the context of the provision that is being construed. ... [71] Furthermore, a court construing a statutory provision must strive to give meaning to every word of the provision. In The Commonwealth v Baume Griffith CJ cited R v Berchet to support the proposition that it was "a known rule in the interpretation of Statutes that such a sense is to be made upon the whole as that no clause, sentence, or word shall prove superfluous, void, or insignificant, if by any other construction they may all be made useful and pertinent". ... [78] However, the duty of a court is to give the words of a statutory provision the meaning that the legislature is taken to have intended them to have. Ordinarily, that meaning (the legal meaning) will correspond with the grammatical meaning of the provision. But not always. The context of the words, the consequences of a literal or grammatical construction, the purpose of the statute or the canons of construction may require the words of a legislative provision to be read in a way that does not correspond with the literal or grammatical meaning." 190 The third edition of the Macquarie Dictionary defines "association" as: 1. An organisation of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure. 2. the act of associating. 3. the state of being associated. 4. companionship or intimacy. 5. connection or combination.; 6. the connection of ideas in thought, or an idea connected with or suggested by a subject of thought. ... 191 The word "associate", which can either be a verb or a noun, is defined as: 1. to connect by some relation, as in thought. 2. to join as a companion, partner, or ally. 3. to unite; combine: coal associated with shale. verb (i) 4. to enter into a league or union; unite. 5. to keep company, as a friend or intimate; to associate only with wealthy people. noun 6. a partner in interest, as in business or in an enterprise or action. 7. a companion or comrade: my most intimate associates. 8. a confederate; an accomplice; an ally. 201 The observations of the High Court in Project Blue Sky at [71] in the judgment earlier set out have direct application to this consideration. 202 Counsel for the Minister said that the character test, which a person does not pass if the person has or has an association with a person or group or organisation that the Minister reasonably suspects has been or is involved in criminal conduct, does not involve any question about the character of the person being assessed. 203 Mr Bennett submitted that the words "the character test" are not words to be read as having a meaning. He says that those words are "just a convenient definition". He submitted, "one does not read character test and say, 'oh, well, this is about character; that means something about character'. Of course it doesn't." 240 It is not consistent with the direction given by the High Court in Project Blue Sky to construe a statutory provision in such a wide fashion as to include circumstances that are clearly alien to the object of the statute. The provision should be read so as to accord with the object and purpose of the statute. A wider construction, which goes beyond that object, is not to be adopted on the basis that the Minister will confine the exercise of his powers to only those instances within the wider construction which are consistent with the object and purpose of the statute. 241 In my opinion, there is nothing in the legislative history of the section, including the changes introduced by the Migration Legislation Amendment (Strengthening of Provisions Relating to Character and Conduct) Act 1998 , which provides support for the interpretation which the Minister applied, and for which his counsel in these proceedings, seeks to vindicate. 242 Emmett J in Chan placed some reliance on the amendments to s 501 brought about by that Amending 1998 Act in reaching the "any association is sufficient" view.