From Higgins to Hancock: The Boundaries of a New Province for Law and Order

Abstract

Two important decisions were taken in the last decade of the nineteenth century: to federate the six colonies and to follow a policy of state intervention in industrial relations. Through the machinery of conciliation and arbitration, the role of law was to reach out into a new province and replace barbarous practices with orderly procedures. The wisdom of both decisions has been debated ever since. The debate has been conducted within the concept of federalism and has focused on two central issues: first, where to draw the limits to the jurisdiction of the federal industrial tribunals and, second, what role to assign to the law. Responses were given to these questions in the second decade of this century and both the topography and the boundaries of the new province for law and order were explored. Today the landscape is familiar to many and landmarks are well recognized. Where the boundaries are to be drawn continues to excite speculation and arouse debate. The argument divides those who assert a role for state systems and those who point to the need for a unitary, federal- based system.