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Abstract

This chapter, however, will focus on the narrower conception of constitutional reasoning as judicial reasoning. This focus is justified partly by central tenets of Australian constitutionalism itself. Unlike the position in the United States (which is so often an important constitutional model for Australia), the courts' power to interpret and enforce the Constitution has never been the subject of serious con­troversy. Moreover, as the High Court made clear in Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth, as a matter of constitutional law, the courts are the fina1 arbiters of constitutional meaning.