13

A.—s

Payment to States before uniform duties. 89. Until the imposition of uniform duties of Customs — 1. The Commonwealth shall credit to each State the revenues collected therein by the Commonwealth. 2. The Commonwealth shall debit to each State— (a.) The expenditure therein of the Commonwealth incurred solely for the maintenance or continuance, as at the time of transfer, of any department transferred from the State to the Commonwealth; (b.) The proportion of the State, according to the number of its people, in the other expenditure of the Commonwealth. 3. The Commonwealth shall pay to each State month by month the balance (if any) in favour of the State. Exolusive power over Customs, exoise, and bounties. 90. On the imposition of uniform duties of Customs the power of the Parliament to impose duties of Customs and of excise, and to grant bounties on the production or export of goods, shall become exclusive. On the imposition of uniform duties of Customs all laws of the several States imposing duties of Customs or of excise, or offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall cease to have effect, but any grant of or agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or under the authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be good if made before the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and not otherwise. Exceptions as to bounties. 91. Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from granting any aid to or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other metals, nor from granting, with the consent of both Houses of the Parliament of the Commonwealth expressed by resolution, any aid to or bounty on the production or export of goods. t Trade within the Commonwealth to be free. 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. But notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, goods imported before the imposition of uniform duties of Customs into any State, or into any colony which, whilst the goods remain therein, becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into another State within two years after the imposition of such duties, be liable to any duty chargeable on the importation of such goods into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in respect of the goods on their importation. Payment to State for five years after uniform tariffs. 93. During the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties of Customs, and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides— (1.) The duties of Customs chargeable on goods imported into a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption, and the duties of excise paid on goods produced or manufactured in a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption, shall be taken to have been collected not in the former but in the latter State : (2.) Subject to the last subsection, the Commonwealth shall credit revenue, debit expenditure, and pay balances to the several States as prescribed for the period preceding the imposition of uniform duties of Customs. Distribution of surplus. 94. After five years from the imposition of uniform duties of Customs, the Parliament may provide, on such basis as it deems fair, for the monthly payment to the several States of all surplus revenue of the Commonwealth. Customs duties of Western Australia. 95. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Parliament of the State of Western Australia, if that State be an original State, may, during the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties of Customs, impose duties of Customs on goods passing into that State and not originally imported from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth; and such duties shall be collected by the Commonwealth. But any duty so imposed on any goods shall not exceed during the first of such years the duty chargeable on the goods under the law of Western Australia in force at the imposition of uniform duties, and shall not exceed during the second, third, fourth, and fifth of such years respectively, four-fifths, three-fifths, two-fifths, and one-fifth of such latter duty, and all duties imposed under this section shall cease at the expiration of the fifth year after the imposition of uniform duties. If at any time during the five years the duty on any goods under this section is higher than the duty imposed by the Commonwealth on the importation of the like goods, then such higher duty shall be collected on the goods when imported into Western Australia from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth. Financial assistance to States. 96. During a period of ten years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.