Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration
Full case name
Ex Parte H.V. McKay
Decided
8 November 1907
Citation
(1907) 2 CAR 1
Transcripts
Mon 7 October 1907 Tue 8 October 1907 Wed 9 October 1907 Thu 10 October 1907 Fri 11 October 1907 Mon 14 October 1907 Tue 15 October 1907 Wed 16 October 1907 Thu 17 October 1907 Fri 18 October 1907 Mon 21 October 1907 Tue 22 October 1907 Wed 23 October 1907 Thu 24 October 1907 Fri 25 October 1907 Mon 28 October 1907 Tue 29 October 1907 Wed 30 October 1907 Thu 31 October 1907 Fri 1 November 1907
Case history
Subsequent actions
R v Barger [1908] HCA 43, (1908) 6 CLR 41
Court membership
Judge sitting
Higgins J
Ex parte H.V. McKay,[1] commonly referred to as the Harvester case, is a landmark Australian labour law decision of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The case arose under the Excise Tariff Act 1906[2] which imposed an excise duty on goods manufactured in Australia, £6 in the case of a stripper harvester, however if a manufacturer paid "fair and reasonable" wages to its employees, it was excused from paying the excise duty. The Court therefore had to consider what was a "fair and reasonable" wage for the purpose of the act.
H.B. Higgins declared that "fair and reasonable" wages for an unskilled male worker required a living wage that was sufficient for "a human being in a civilised community" to support a wife and three children in "frugal comfort", while a skilled worker should receive an additional margin for their skills, regardless of the employer's capacity to pay.
While the High Court of Australia in 1908 held that the Excise Tariff Act 1906 was invalid in R v Barger,[3] the judgment nevertheless continued to be the basis for the minimum wage system that extended to half of the Australian workforce in less than 20 years.[4] The decision was credited as the foundation for the national minimum wage included in the Fair Work Act 2009.[5][6] As well as national ramifications, the decision was of international significance.[7]
^Ex parte H.V. McKay (1907) 2 CAR 1.
^"Excise Tariff Act 1906". Commonwealth of Australia..
^R v Barger [1908] HCA 43, (1908) 6 CLR 41.
^Hamilton, RS, ed. (2011). "Waltzing Matilda and the Sunshine Harvester Factory" (PDF). Fair Work Australia.
^Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
^"Fair Work Bill 2008". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: House of Representatives. 25 November 2008. p. 11189.
^Ford, Olwen (2001). Harvester Town: The making of Sunshine 1890-1925. Sunshine & District Historical Society Incorporated. ISBN 0-9595989-4-4.
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