In this new edition of Government Powers Under a Federal Constitution, John Pyke responds to the change that has taken place in constitutional case-law in the past few decades by grouping the topics in a completely new way.

The newer developments in political free speech, voting rights, and the protection of the independence of State judiciaries by the Kable doctrine are grouped with older cases on just terms, the rule of law and the separation of powers at the Commonwealth level to show Constitutional Law as, at least in part, a way of enforcing individual rights.

Its more traditional role as the divider of powers between the Commonwealth and States has not, of course, gone away, so it is the focus of the other major part of the book – but it is noticeable that there have been very few new cases in this area in the last decade; the emphasis has swung towards Constitutional Law as Human Rights Law.

While still paying due regard to the older themes that used to dominate constitutional argument, this is a book on Constitutional Law for the 2020s.