Strickland_v_Rocla_Concrete_Pipes_Ltd
Strickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd,[1] also known as the Concrete Pipes Case, is a High Court of Australia case that discusses the scope of the corporations power in section 51(xx) of the Australian Constitution. This was an important case in Australian constitutional law because it overruled the decision in the earlier case of Huddart, Parker & Co Pty Ltd v Moorehead,[2] which held that the corporations power only extended as far as the regulation of their conduct in relation to their transactions with or affecting the public. Since this case, the Commonwealth has had at least the ability to regulate the trading activities of trading corporations, thus opening the way for an expansion in Commonwealth power.
The width of this power was later considered again in the cases of Actors and Announcers Equity Association v Fontana Films,[3] Commonwealth v Tasmania (the Tasmanian Dam Case),[4] Re Dingjan; Ex parte Wagner,[5] and New South Wales v Commonwealth (the WorkChoices Case).[6]