I don’t know how many Australians are here (probably a very small minority) but I thought I’d ask this question anyway. There are a lot of smart people here.
Chapter IV, Section 92 of the Constitution of Australia stares:
“92. On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free.”
Uniform customs duties were apparently an issue of the day and were sorted out the best part of a century ago. IANAL but, to me, this section now means, in part, that I cannot be prevented from doing business in one state while I reside in another.
I currently have a car licensed in WA and would like to move it to NSW. I have been in contact with the Department of Transport in WA and they tell me that my car is licensed for use anywhere in the country so long as I am paid up. The insurance people say the same.
But the Roads and Transport Authority in NSW says that I must license and insure the car in NSW. This is MUCH more expensive.
Licensing and insuring my car seem to me to be a type of “trade, commerce [or] intercourse” so I wonder if I can in fact be forced to do it in one state and not another.
Well, IANAL either and I am not even in Australia but in the US it is pretty much the same. There’s the interstate freedom of commerce etc but if you move to another state you have to register your car there and they don’t care if it costs you.
Be practical. I am sure many other Australians have had a hard look at the same issue, including many lawyers. If they are paying I doubt you can find a way to avoid it in this message board.
There are people in the US who argue income tax is illegal and, while they might believe their arguments, when the IRS catches up with them they get their backsides thrown in jail. If most people are paying, the best thing you can do is pay.
On the other hand maybe you can get away for a while with saying you are “visiting”. I know people living here with their cars registered out of state… it’s only illegal if they catch you.
acronym- A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women’s Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.
Just because something has never been done before, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Sometimes unconstitutional laws can be overturned. If everyone thought “somebody else must have tried it” then nothing would ever change.
Having said that though, you are probably right. But some friends and I were talking about it and I thought it was an interesting topic for discussion so I thought I would get some more opinions.
And some small rental car companies seem to get away with it. But they aren’t telling how.
Old Ming called this “the curse of the constitution”. S92 has been construed to mean many things, most of them surprising. As a rule, do not imagine that the constitution will be held to mena what it says.
For example, the states may not levy excise taxes, yet until two years ago they got away with it by calling them franchise fees. All of a sudden, the High Court turns around and says, okay they’re excises.
In practice the done thing is to change your rego to where you live when it falls due.
Or you can take it to the High Court. If they decide they’re interested (non-Australians: the High Court is our highest, and yopu require special leave to appeal to it.)
In the U.S., despite similar laws on interstate commerce, the same situation exists. You are required to register your car in the state in which you reside. I got around this for the past 6 years by using my parents address as my official residence, but now that I’m married, there is much less chance of that happening…
Another legal way around that in the US is military service. When I was in the navy, living in California, I legally kept my car registered in Arizona, had an Arizona driver’s license and paid Arizona income tax.
It seems that you have been caught in the one of those hangovers from colonial days, when each state acted like it was a little nation.
Now that we have a national road traffic code, hopefully a national vehicle registration system isn’t too far behind. But I’m not going to hold my breath waiting.
I agree with picmr. Just take the car to NSW and change the details when it comes up for renewal.
