In NSW, Law 101 rolls along something like this. Imagine a rugby league competition where the head coaches make up the rules, appoint the referees, preside with authority in the video bunker and also sit on the judiciary to pass judgment on all misconduct cases.

There’d be nothing at all improper about that, would there? Yeah, nah.

The Australian Turf Club runs Sydney’s four major racetracks.Credit: Sam Mooy

Because what I’ve described is precisely what the doctrine of the separation of powers exists to prevent. Not in the sporting sense, but in the far weightier theatre of democratic governance.

Law doesn’t just arrive like a genie from a bottle. The legislature crafts the laws and enacts them. The executive arm of government administers those laws. The courts interpret them and make orders concerning those laws.

Nobody is supposed to don multiple hats.

In Australia, the separation is only partially entrenched. The legislative and executive arms remain inextricably and deliberately intertwined, as the Westminster tradition demands. But the judicial arm? That stands resolutely separate. At the federal level, Australia’s constitution quarantines the judiciary from political interference.

Take from this, though, that the executive can’t exercise a legal power that hasn’t been conferred on it by lawmakers.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong

Next in this (brief) Law 101 lesson to end all lessons, and before I get to why I’m even boring you senseless with all this, it’s necessary to consider the doctrine of ultra vires.

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