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About the Office of Water
What We Do
The Office of Water (OW) ensures drinking water is safe, and restores and maintains oceans, watersheds, and their aquatic ecosystems to protect human health, support economic and recreational activities, and provide healthy habitat for fish, plants and wildlife.
OW is responsible for implementing the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, and portions of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Ocean Dumping Ban Act, Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, Shore Protection Act, Marine Plastics Pollution Research and Control Act, London Dumping Convention, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and several other statutes.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Office of Water works with the ten EPA regional offices, other federal agencies, state and local governments, American Indian tribes, the regulated community, organized professional and interest groups, land owners and managers, and the public-at-large. OW provides guidance, specifies scientific methods and data collection requirements, performs oversight and facilitates communication among those involved. OW helps the states and American Indian tribes to build capacity, and water programs can be delegated to them for implementation.
Documents Related to Our Mission
You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
- EPA Strategic Plan
- National Water Program Guidance
- National Water Program Performance, Trends and Best Practices Report
- Enhancing the Office of Water's Efficiency and Effectiveness
The Office of Water includes:
- Immediate Office of the Assistant Administrator for Water
- Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
- Office of Science and Technology
- Office of Wastewater Management
- Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Immediate Office of the Assistant Administrator for Water (IO)
What We Do
Under the direction of the Assistant Administrator, the Immediate Office performs a variety of policy, communications, resources management, and operational functions for managing the National Water Program. The IO also works on broad or emerging issues in coordination with its program offices and other parts of EPA.
IO Organization
- Phone: (202) 564-5700
- Email: email@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
- Phone: (202) 564-5700
- Email: email@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
- Phone: (202) 564-5700
- Email: email@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
- Phone: (202) 564-5700
- Email: email@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
- Phone: (202) 564-5700
- Email: email@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
- Phone: (202) 566-0480
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Mail code: 4101M | EPA mailing addresses
Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW)
What We Do
- develop and help implement national drinking water standards;
- oversee and assist funding of state drinking water programs and source water protection programs;
- help small drinking water systems;
- protect underground sources of drinking water through the Underground Injection Control Program; and
- provide information about drinking water quality to the public.
Programs and Projects Managed by OGWDW
- Drinking Water Contaminants
- Drinking Water Basics
- Drinking Water Standards
- Public Drinking Water Systems
- Small Public Drinking Water Systems
- Source Water Protection
- Sustainable Infrastructure
- Underground Injection Control
- Water Security
- Private Drinking Water Wells
Mail code: 4601M | EPA mailing addresses
Location: EPA Headquarters at Washington, D.C. Federal Triangle campus
OGWDW Organization
- Phone: 202-564-4029
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Phone: 202-564-6591
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water includes:
- Standards and Risk Management Division
Eric Burneson, Director- Phone: 202-564-5250
- Email: email@example.com
- Drinking Water Protection Division
Anita Maria Thompkins, Director- Phone: 202-564-3751
- Email: email@example.com
- Water Security Division
David Travers, Director- Phone: 202-564-4638
- Email: email@example.com
Office of Science and Technology (OST)
What We Do
OST works with states, tribes, and other stakeholders to develop recommended safe water quality levels for toxics, nutrients, and pathogens to help ensure our nation's waters can be used for fishing, swimming, and drinking water. OST also develops national economically and technologically achievable performance standards to address water pollution from industry.
Programs managed by OST
- Analytical Methods to Assess Wastewater
- Beaches
- Biosolids
- Cooling Water Intakes
- Drinking Water Contaminant Human Health Effects Information
- Fish and Shellfish Advisories
- Industrial Effluent Guidelines
- Nutrient Pollution Policy and Data
- Water Quality Standards
- Water Quality Criteria
Mail code: 4301M | EPA mailing addresses
Location: EPA Headquarters at Washington, D.C. Federal Triangle campus
OST Organization
- Phone: 202-566-0430
- Email: email@example.com
- Phone: 202-564-3152
- Email: email@example.com
The Office of Science and Technology includes:
- Engineering and Analysis Division
Rob Wood, Director- Phone: 202-566-1822
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Standards and Health Protection Division
Sara Hisel-McCoy, Director- Phone: 202-566-1649
- Email: email@example.com
- Health and Ecological Criteria Division
Betsy Behl, Director- Phone: 202-566-0788
- Email: email@example.com
Office of Wastewater Management (OWM)
What We Do
OWM supports the Clean Water Act by promoting effective and responsible water use, wastewater treatment, disposal and management and by encouraging the protection and restoration of watersheds. We provide regulatory standards, voluntary management approaches, and financial and technical assistance to states, tribes, communities, and regulated entities to protect human health and aquatic ecosystems, reduce flooding, and protect the nation's infrastructure investment.
Programs and Projects Managed by OWM
- Animal Feeding Operations
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund
- Clean Watersheds Needs Survey
- Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary Sewer Overflows
- Green Infrastructure
- Permits - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
- Septic Systems (Onsite/Decentralized)
- Small, Rural, and Tribal Wastewater Systems
- Stormwater Management
- Sustainable Water Infrastructure
- U.S./Mexico Border Water Infrastructure
- Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center
- Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)
- Water Pollution Control (Section 106) Grants
- WaterSense Program
Mail code: 4201M | EPA mailing addresses
Location: EPA Headquarters at Washington, D.C. Federal Triangle campus
OWM Organization
- Phone: 202-564-0748
- Email: email@example.com
- Phone: 202-564-6296
- Email: email@example.com
The Office of Wastewater Management includes:
- Water Infrastructure Division
Raffael Stein, Director- Phone: 202-564-5385
- Email: email@example.com
- Water Permits Division
Sally Gutierrez, Acting Director- Phone: 202-564-9545
- Email: email@example.com
Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW)
What We Do
OWOW works to protect our freshwater, estuarine, coastal and ocean ecosystems, including watersheds and wetlands. We regulate and monitor ocean dumping and vessel discharges, and reduce aquatic trash and marine debris. We protect water quality and habitats in 28 estuaries around the nation. We control polluted runoff and restore impaired waters.
Programs and Projects Managed by OWOW
- Climate Ready Estuaries
- Healthy Watersheds Program
- Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
- Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force
- Monitoring Water Quality
- National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS)
- National Estuary Program
- Nutrient Pollution
- Ocean Discharge Criteria
- Ocean Dumping Management
- Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
- Urban Waters
- Vessels, Marinas and Ports
- WATERS (Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results) Databases
- Watershed Academy
- Wetlands Protection and Restoration
Mail code: 4501T | EPA mailing addresses
Location: EPA Headquarters at Washington, D.C. Federal Triangle campus
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
OWOW Organization
- Phone: 202-566-1373
- Email: email@example.com
- Phone: 202-564-1573
- Email: email@example.com
The Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds includes:
- Watershed Restoration, Assessment, and Protection Division
Tom Wall, Director- Phone: 202-564-4179
- Email: email@example.com
- Oceans, Wetlands, and Communities Division
Brian Frazer, Director- Phone: 202-566-1652
- Email: email@example.com
- Planning, Communications, and Resource Management Division
Sandy Dickens, Director- Phone: 202-566-2349
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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North Fork man wrote the book on turkey this Thanksgiving
Greenport Village resident Sam Sifton, national editor of The New York Times, has been talking lots of turkey this holiday season.
A former restaurant critic for the Times, Mr. Sifton chose preparing a great Thanksgiving dinner as the theme for his first cookbook, "Thanksgiving: How To Cook It Well."
In the book, Mr. Sifton, 46, who served as the Times' restaurant critic from 2009 to 2011, mostly uses the written word to describe the perfect holiday dinner, though he does include a few line drawings. He said he avoided lavish photographs in the book, released by Random House this October, because he wanted to stick with a theme as timeless and traditional as the holiday itself.
"The thing about those food porn books, as good as they are sometimes at getting you excited to cook, it goes out of fashion after a little while," Mr. Sifton said this week. "What I'm arguing for is not the new trend of turkey… The only people who really need new ideas for the turkey and new ideas for the side dishes are the people that put out food pages in newspapers and magazines. Those of us at home just need to know how to make a really good plate of mashed potatoes or a sweet potato dish or a good roasted turkey. That's what this book is about."
In addition to providing traditional recipes, Mr. Sifton writes about certain things he believes should be eliminated from the holiday feast. He doesn't support the idea of serving appetizers at Thanksgiving because he believes they get in the way of the meal by taking up valuable stomach space, wasting dishes and forcing you to spend extra time cleaning.
Mr. Sifton suggests serving oysters to kick off your Turkey Day meal.
"Laying in a few dozen bivalves to eat while the turkey rests on a sidebar is in my view a brilliant solution to the fidgety issue of serving food in advance of the Thanksgiving meal," Mr. Sifton writes. "Consumed with a sparkling wine, outdoors if possible, oysters provide a direct and visceral connection to aquatic harvest, and to the true history of Thanksgiving in America."
If you get your oysters from Pipe's Cove, vegetables from Latham's in Orient and a fresh turkey from Miloski's Poultry Farm in Calverton, Mr. Sifton said, he believes your holiday dinner will be "pretty marvelous."
Taking a walk after the meal, spending some time outside and sparking the fireplace also contribute to making a holiday dinner extra special, he said.
"[That's] Thanksgiving on the North Fork," Mr. Sifton said. "There's no better time of the year out here."
Mr. Sifton and his wife, Tina Fallon, a real estate agent and theater producer in Brooklyn, currently reside in the Red Hook neighborhood there and have also lived in Greenport Village part-time since 1999. They've bought and sold a few houses there over the years, and they've spent many Thanksgivings in the village with their two young daughters.
Mr. Sifton's love affair with the maritime village began sometime in the mid-1990s when he was desperate to find a custom part for a boat he kept in Sag Harbor.
While he waited for the part, Mr. Sifton said, he bumped into an old friend, David Berson, captain of the Greenport-based electric tour boat Glory.
"I had known him when I was in high school because I worked on the schooner Pioneer at the South Street Seaport Museum from the time I was in middle school until the time I was in college," Mr. Sifton said. "I knew him from the harbor. There were a lot of other New York Harbor rats that washed up in Greenport."
Mr. Sifton said Greenport has had a special place in his heart since that day.
Over the years, the village has also become a part-time home to his in-laws, who stay with him and his wife when not in Florida.
"I'm out here to cook in my house with my family and take advantage of the great farms and fish and the bounty of the North Fork," he said.
Although he enjoys dining out, Mr. Sifton said, he's no longer in the business of naming his favorite restaurants. And since becoming the Times' national editor a year ago, he now has to pay for his own meals.
"I can't imagine a bigger change than from being the restaurant critic, where you're out six nights a week eating in restaurants all over the city and all over the globe, to being national editor, when you're in the newsroom many, many hours a day, every day, and not writing so much," he said.
Mr. Sifton has been promoting his book the past few weeks, making talk show appearances in between covering Hurricane Sandy and the election.
When asked how his own Thanksgiving preparations have been going, he said "terrible." As of last Friday afternoon, he hadn't called Miloski's to order his turkey.
"In every interview I give, in every appearance I've made, I talk about the importance of planning, the importance of gaming everything out, and this year I have done none of that," he said. "I've got to play a little catch up if I'm going to have a good Thanksgiving."

subset: commoncrawl


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San Francisco is a city long associated with rights movements, idealism and rallies for peace, making it a useful backdrop for X-Men: Destiny. But Silicon Knights isn't planning on a Summer of Love in when the game arrives this Australian spring.
Shown off at a preview event Wednesday at Comic-Con, Destiny will present three different stories for a player to choose, advancing their characters through an individualised narratives and choosing powers and abilities to fill out their development into entirely new super heroes.
"It's not good and evil the X-Men universe; it's always about making morally ambiguous choices," said Silicon Knights' Julian Spillane, an avowed X-Men fan. Destiny will therefore have a variety of outcomes that arrive through the choices a character makes and who he or she aligns with, reflecting the X-Men's idealistic perspective and the Brotherhood's darker, more Darwinian world view.
Destiny is a splinter of the X-Men continuity, putting the mutants in San Francisco following Professor X's death at the hands of Bastion. San Francisco has offered amnesty for mutants as the Purifier movement advances globally.
The story begins up on San Francisco's Embarcadero, with Cyclops, Emma Frost and San Francisco's mayor making a joint appearance to unveil a giant peace memorial which is, quite inadvisably, made of metal.
A catastrophic attack of unseen origin unfolds, laying waste to the Market House. At this point the player charatcter's powers manifest themselves. You get to pick one of three bases: density manipulation (think Colossus), energy projection (think any sort of blaster character), or dark matter (think Nightcrawler).
From there, the adventure proceeded through the ruins, with the player encountering roving bands of Purifier thugs, all waving stun wands, You dispatch these with the assistance of well-known mutants like Iceman and Quicksilver, with RPG Q&A conversations after the encounters helping to fill out the story.
Spillane said the game has three scripts, to account for each main character, and though the stories have the same plot turns and objectives, they will reveal details and explore backstories unique to all three.
Aimi Yoshida is the stranger in a strange land, a 15-year-old sent to America from Japan by her father, who also is a mutant. Grant Alexander is a college football player from Georgia, someone politically unmotivated and something of a party animal. Adrian Luca, the son of a Purifier, is the most conflicted, beginning as a highly motivated hate activist who becomes the target of his father's agenda.
The combat I saw definitely marked the game as a brawler. Battling as Grant with density manipulation, his arms became enormous, rock-like pistons that smashed foes and blocked attacks. The brawling used standard light/heavy attack buttons and allowed for some combinations and finisher moves, to be chosen and placed into a power tree. I did not see the X-Gene power specification in action, as the demo ran through the tutorial introduction to the game. The map proceeded in linear fashion and bad-guy spawns unfolded conventionally.
The game has echoes of the well received X-Men: First Class film from earlier this year, something that makes Spillane optimistic for the response to this game. "The story of the X-Men has always been an allegory for rights," he said. "When I see that we've hit these tenets (seen in the film) I feel we've done something that's really true to the brand."


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A minor league baseball stadium. A negative coronavirus test and absolutely no slow dancing.
Those are just a few of the unusual requirements for a high school prom happening in Manchester, New Hampshire, later this month, one of many school districts across the country struggling to navigate holding the formal dance in the second year of the pandemic.
Students only found out early this month that the proposal to hold prom May 28 at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats stadium had been approved, after some school board members expressed reservations the event could spread the coronavirus. Along with socially-distanced dancing, students are also being encouraged to get vaccinated before the dance.
"It would be awesome if we could all have a prom and be together. I mean I haven't seen some of my classmates in over a year," said Allison Hermann, a senior who is among the Central High School students who helped plan the prom.
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"This is one of the only times that we all get to share together. Just being a high school senior is very symbolic so the fact we haven't gotten the chance to be together yet is really sad," she added.
School districts across the country are weighing whether they can safely hold an event that many seniors consider a capstone to their high school careers.
Schools from Miami to Charlotte to El Paso have already cancelled prom over safety concerns. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has described proms as a high-risk activity due to the singing and dancing and has recommended that districts scrap proms and come up with alternative celebrations for seniors.
Some students and parents are forging ahead to organize their own celebrations if the school has opted not to. Those schools going ahead — albeit with a laundry list of restrictions — cite rising vaccination rates and a drop in coronavirus cases in their districts.
Some holding proms are requiring a negative coronavirus test to attend while others are encouraging students to get vaccinated before they slip into their gowns and tuxedos. Most are requiring masks and putting strict restrictions on dancing or who can attend.
In Florida, Sarasota County schools are allowing a prom but with no dancing and limiting the event to seniors. Several schools, including Fletcher High School in Duval County, are requiring students to quarantine for 10 days after the event. Many districts are holding their dances outdoors, including one on yacht and another in a football stadium.
At Elmbrook Schools outside of Milwaukee, Superintendent Mark Hansen said he worked with teachers, students and parents to come up with a process to "restore some level of normalcy for school events that have been lost for over a year."
The two Elmbrook high schools are requiring a negative COVID-19 test to attend its two proms and students are encouraged to stick with their friends "to prevent any outbreak from having a dramatic impact on our ability to continue operations."
Hansen said no cases were reported from the first prom that happened May 8. The second prom takes place this weekend.
An outdoor prom in Exeter, New Hampshire, on June 4 will rotate students on and off the dance floor under an outdoor tent with no touching allowed. And they are only serving water, no food.
"We are really trying to make it as safe as possible. The last thing we want is to spread COVID," Liz Morse, an Exeter High School science teacher and senior class adviser, said. "Everyone is making concessions and people are being pretty gracious about it."
Some districts are holding alternative events with student support like outdoor movie nights or dinners, in an effort to recognize the significance of the event for seniors. But prom cancellations elsewhere have left many students, and their parents, frustrated and angry.
In Manor, Texas, the school had set a date, time and venue for high school senior Jesenia Correa's prom. She even had her dress picked out — a glamorous long burgundy dress with a dramatic slit and spaghetti straps. But the administration abruptly reversed themselves because of safety concerns and canceled the event.
"I'm honestly mad that we aren't having prom," Correa said." I do feel like I'm being robbed of a milestone, especially since the school managed to do so many other things in spite of COVID."
In Frederick, Maryland, Presley Winer is attending an alternative prom with dancing this weekend that was planned by the parents after her school canceled prom.
"It felt like a milestone that won't happen again in my life and it made me feel sad knowing one of the most rewarding parts of senior year was being stripped away from me and others," said the 18-year-old senior.
Some southern New Mexico students held an unsanctioned prom, after being told their official event wouldn't allow slow dancing. After El Paso districts cancelled prom, Grace Gardens, a large venue in the city, threw a dance for this year's seniors and students who graduated last year. The outdoor, mask-optional prom at the 125,000 square foot venue last Friday, featured three dance floors and drew around 2,000 students.
Many students packed together shoulder to shoulder dancing to club hits and bachata, a Caribbean partner dance. Some, though, tried to avoid the denser crowds, wore masks and tried to socially distance.
Eugenio Vasquez, 18, of Jackson, Mississippi, attended the prom with his long-distance girlfriend who is a student at a local high school.
"It was an amazing night. Especially for someone who is not a party animal, I really enjoyed myself," he said.
Associated Press writer Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.


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WCU will digitize historic Smokies photos
Western Carolina University's Hunter Library will produce a new digital collection of 2,000 items focused on the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park with support from a $93,000 grant from the North Carolina State Library.
"The park certainly has an amazing and well-cared-for archive, but it's locked away," said Anne Fariello, associate professor of digital initiatives with Hunter Library. "We will be digitally preserving and increasing access to material that is important, not only to the development of the park, but also to the region."
This digital collection and interpretive website will include documents and photographs that relate to the initial idea and construction of a national park in the eastern United States, said Fariello.
The materials will focus on a group of North Carolinians who promoted the idea of a park as early as 1899, the efforts of private individuals such as Horace Kephart, whose papers contain many never-before-seen materials that promote a park, and people involved in federal programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, who actually built the park.
Highlights will include journals Horace Kephart assembled in preparation for his book, Camping and Woodcraft, images of the park's construction and photographs of life in the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Appalachian National Park Association records.
Related Items
Grant funding will support staff of the library's digital production team and will enable the purchase of a new scanner that has the capacity to digitize items up to 2 feet by 3 feet and items currently too fragile to scan.
Fariello applied for the grant for the project after learning that a comprehensive history of the park had not been published online and that the park had historical items that are not exhibited.
Fariello said interest in the park has grown with the recent celebration of its 75th anniversary and the success of Ken Burns' "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" documentary film series.
Fariello said the library collaborated with the park on a recent digitization project, "Picturing Appalachia," (see story below) and gained a better understanding of the park and its history.
The project is made possible through formal partnerships Hunter Library has entered with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the state Office of Archives and History, which each house items that will be included in the collection.
Archive focuses on early 20th century Appalachia
Western Carolina University joined forces with Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the latest addition to its digital collections, housed at Hunter Library.
"Picturing Appalachia" is a collection of more than 1,000 early 20th century photographs that provides a glimpse into the life, culture and natural landscape of the Southern Appalachian mountains in and around Western North Carolina.
The collection includes images by popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park photographer James E. Thompson, whose work is housed at park headquarters in Sugarlands, Tenn. A memorandum of understanding between the university and the park allowed Hunter Library to digitize the historic photographs.
"It just makes them a lot more accessible to people around the world," said John McDade, museum curator at the park. Not only can people access the images more easily, but it also protects the images from handling, McDade said.
Thompson and his brother, Robin (whose work also is in the new collection), ran the Thompson Brothers Commercial Photography business in Knoxville, Tenn., making images for park supporters and various other regional tourism and business interests.
WCU staff also selected groups of pictures from Hunter Library's own special collections, including work by George Masa, who photographed and documented the Mount Mitchell Motor Road, giving tourists a glimpse of America's highest peak east of the Mississippi. Masa is well known for working with Horace Kephart, an authority on the cultural and natural history of the region, to build support for establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The collection also comprises the work of other, lesser-known photographers, including A.L. Ensley, a Jackson County farmer who photographed families in formal portraits at his home studio.
"It is these pictures — along with the growth of the railroad and the publication of various travel brochures — that have made Western North Carolina a popular travel destination," said Anna Fariello, associate research professor at Hunter Library who coordinates digital archiving efforts.
Users can search "Picturing Appalachia" by photographer, source institution or by topic, which includes botanicals, cities and towns, portraits, industry, landscapes, transportation, and travel and tourism. Descriptions included in each entry include biographical information about the photographer and other facts.
Images from other photographers, including R.A. Romanes, who documented communities and towns in WNC and counties in north Georgia and east Tennessee, are planned for addition. To complete the collection, the library's digital production team also will scan and upload a number of 19th-century travel brochures.
Picturing Appalachia" takes its place along with the library's other digital collections, including ones for the craft revival, Cherokee traditions and Kephart, as well as the sound collection "Stories of Mountain Folk," all of which can be accessed from www.wcu.edu/library/digitalcollections/.
"As a regional public institution and through collaboration with cultural partners, Hunter Library is committed to building regionally oriented, historically significant digital collections of broad research interest," said Dana Sally, dean of library services.


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New Orleans Parking helps you save time and money on your airport and seaport parking.
With new orleans parking no need to drive around a parking garage looking for a space to park your car, as we will come around to direct you right to an open place. We have shuffle buses that will pick right at your car to where you are checking-in. We'll even help load and unload your luggage. So be ready for a wonderful experience with us.
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At new orleans parking our rates are affordable and pocket friendly. You save up to 72% by parking with us.
New orleans parking offers you free shuttle service between our garages to the airport and seaport.


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Cuba: 6 Cases of Chikungunya Virus in Travelers
HAVANA June 18, 2014 (AP)
By PETER ORSI Associated Press
Cuban health authorities on Wednesday said they detected six cases of
chikungunya fever, a debilitating, mosquito-borne virus that is
suspected of afflicting tens of thousands across the Caribbean since its
arrival in the region last year.
In a statement published by Communist Party newspaper Granma and other
official media, the Health Ministry said the cases were found in people
who had recently traveled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where
there have been thousands of locally transmitted cases of the virus.
Their condition was "evolving favorably."
Some Cubans make regular trips to those and other countries to import
clothing and other goods for resale. Havana has also sent large
contingents of medical workers to treat the poor in Haiti and elsewhere,
though the Ministry said they undergo quarantine before returning.
Chikungunya, which has long been present in Africa and Asia, was first
detected in the Caribbean in December.
Deriving its name from an African word that loosely translates as
"contorted with pain," chikungunya is rarely fatal, but those who have
contracted the virus call it a miserable experience.
Its symptoms have been described as a combination of a terrible flu and
a sudden case of arthritis, with searing headaches, a high fever and
intense muscle and joint pain.
Cuba is in the early part of its summer monsoon season, when
mosquito-borne diseases typically spike.
As in other years, in recent weeks Cuban authorities have ramped up a
campaign to send brigades of workers door-to-door fumigating houses,
offices and government buildings nationwide.
"The Health System ratifies the need to intensify the vector-control
fight that is being carried out in the country, for which it is
essential that in every home and workplace the necessary actions are
guaranteed to eliminate possible (mosquito) breeding grounds," the
Ministry said in its statement.
It advised islanders traveling to other parts of the Caribbean to see a
doctor upon their return and to seek immediate medical care if they
experience symptoms typical of the virus.
According to a report by the Pan American Health Organization, there
have been about 166,000 suspected and 4,600 confirmed cases of
Chikungunya in the Caribbean as of mid-June.
Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter—Orsi
Source: Cuba: 6 Cases of Chikungunya Virus in Travelers - ABC News -
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text:
Fairy: daBomb Bath Fizzer
A buttercup bath fizzer with a surprise inside
Flit over to your nearest tub and drop this fanciful fizzer! Hold it in your hand as it dissolves, because there's a fun surprise inside! This could be a small toy, charm, figurine, key chain or other item that coordinates with the name of the bomb itself. Perfect for adults and kids alike. (Everyone loves surprises.)
Warning: Small parts. Not for children under 3.
Your bath bomb will arrive in our signature packaging, as shown.
Approximate weight: 7.0 oz (This bomb is 2.75 inches in diameter and is about the size of a tennis ball.)
Our packaging is made from recycled materials. Please keep that going.
INGREDIENTS: sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, PEG-8, fragrance (parfum), red 27 lake, sucrose
Common sense warnings: Small parts. Choking hazard. Not for children under 3. Not edible. May make your tub slippery. Keep out of eyes and mouth. In rare cases, skin irritation may occur. Always test this product on a small area of skin before initial use. Do not use if your skin is cracked, damaged or sunburned.
Created by a pair of teenage sisterpreneurs™. Handmade in the USA.


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Understanding XML Property Lists
The preferred way to store property lists on OS X and iOS is as an XML file called an XML property list or XML plist. These files have the advantages of being human-readable and in the standards-based XML format. The NSArray
and NSDictionary
classes both have methods for saving themselves as XML plists (for example, descriptionWithLocale:
and writeToFile:atomically:
), and also have methods to convert XML property lists back to objects in memory. CFPropertyList provides functions for converting property lists to and from their XML representation.
Core Foundation supports XML as the exclusive medium for the static representation of property lists on disk. Cocoa allows property lists to be stored on disk as XML property lists, in binary form, and as "old-style" property lists. The old-style property lists can only be read, not written; see Old-Style ASCII Property Lists for further information.
Generally, there is little need to create or edit XML property yourself, but if you do, use Xcode's built-in property list editor or the Property List Editor application (which is part of the tools package). You should not edit the XML data in a text editor unless you are very familiar with XML syntax and the format of property lists. Moreover, the elements in an XML property list could change in future releases, so keep that in mind.
Even if you don't edit XML property lists, it is useful to understand their structure for design and debugging purposes. Like every XML file, XML plists begin with standard header information, and contain one root object, wrapped with the <plist>
document type tag. The <plist>
object also contains exactly one object, denoted by one of the XML elements listed in Table 2-1.
Graphs of objects are created by nesting the XML elements listed in Table 2-1. When encoding dictionaries, the element <key>
is used for dictionary keys, and one of the other property list tags is used for the key's value. Here is an example of XML data generated from a property list:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
<!DOCTYPE plist SYSTEM "file://localhost/System/Library/DTDs/PropertyList.dtd"> |
<plist version="1.0"> |
<dict> |
<key>Author</key> |
<string>William Shakespeare</string> |
<key>Lines</key> |
<array> |
<string>It is a tale told by an idiot,</string> |
<string>Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.</string> |
</array> |
<key>Birthdate</key> |
<integer>1564</integer> |
</dict> |
</plist> |
Note that data bytes are base-64 encoded between the <data>
and </data>
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text:
Time: 8:00PM
Location: Milwaukee Theatre
Date(s) - 10/25/2013
12:00 am
Milwaukee Theatre
Categories No Categories
Rain – A Tribute to The Beatles
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text:
Constitution of Australia
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Australia |
Related topics |
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the government of the Commonwealth of Australia operates, including its relationship to the States of Australia. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, which is referred to as the "Constitution" in the remainder of this article. The Constitution was approved in a series of referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved draft was enacted as a section of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp),[1] an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) became law on 9 July 1900, and entered into force on 1 January 1901. Even though the Constitution was originally given legal force by an Act of the United Kingdom parliament, the Australia Act 1986 removed the power of the United Kingdom parliament to change the Constitution as in force in Australia, and the Constitution can now only be changed in accordance with the prescribed referendum procedures in Section 128.
Other pieces of legislation have constitutional significance for Australia. These are the Statute of Westminster, as adopted by the Commonwealth in the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and the Australia Act 1986, which was passed in equivalent forms by the United Kingdom Parliament and the Australian Federal Parliament (using legislative powers conferred by enabling acts passed by the Parliaments of every Australian state). The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act is often regarded as the point at which Australia became, de jure, an independent nation, while the Australia Act severed the last remaining constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom. Even though the same person, Queen Elizabeth II, is the monarch of both countries, she acts in a distinct capacity as monarch of each.[2]
Under Australia's common law system, the High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia have the authority to interpret constitutional provisions.[3] Their decisions determine the interpretation and application of the constitution.
| |
Long title | An act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia |
Citation | 1900 chapter 12: 63 and 64 Vict |
Territorial extent | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 9 July 1900 |
Commencement | 1 January 1901 |
Status: Amended |
The history of the Constitution of Australia began with moves towards federation in the 19th century, which culminated in the federation of the Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. However, the Constitution has continued to develop since then, with two laws having particularly significant impact on the constitutional status of the nation.
In the mid-19th century, a desire to facilitate co-operation on matters of mutual interest, especially intercolonial tariffs, led to proposals to unite the separate British colonies in Australia under a single federation. However, impetus mostly came from Britain and there was only lacklustre local support. The smaller colonies feared domination by the larger ones; Victoria and New South Wales disagreed over the ideology of protectionism; the then-recent American Civil War also hampered the case for federalism. These difficulties led to the failure of several attempts to bring about federation in the 1850s and 1860s.
By the 1880s, fear of the growing presence of the Germans and the French in the Pacific, coupled with a growing Australian identity, created the opportunity for establishing the first inter-colonial body, the Federal Council of Australasia, established in 1889. The Federal Council could legislate on certain subjects, but did not have a permanent secretariat, an executive, or independent source of revenue. The absence of New South Wales, the largest colony, also diminished its representative value.
Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, was instrumental in pushing for a series of conferences in the 1890s to discuss federalism – one in Melbourne in 1890, and another (the National Australasian Convention) in Sydney in 1891, attended by colonial leaders. By the 1891 conference, significant momentum had been built for the federalist cause, and discussion turned to the proper system of government for a federal state. Under the guidance of Sir Samuel Griffith, a draft constitution was drawn up. However, these meetings lacked popular support. Furthermore, the draft constitution sidestepped certain important issues, such as tariff policy. The draft of 1891 was submitted to colonial parliaments but lapsed in New South Wales, after which the other colonies were unwilling to proceed.
In 1895, the six premiers of the Australian colonies agreed to establish a new Convention by popular vote. The Convention met over the course of a year from 1897 to 1898. The meetings produced a new draft which contained substantially the same principles of government as the 1891 draft, but with added provisions for responsible government. To ensure popular support, the draft was presented to the electors of each colony. After one failed attempt, an amended draft was submitted to the electors of each colony except Western Australia. After ratification by the five colonies, the Bill was presented to the British Imperial Parliament with an Address requesting Queen Victoria to enact the Bill.
Before the Bill was passed, however, one final change was made by the imperial government, upon lobbying by the Chief Justices of the colonies, so that the right to appeal from the High Court to the Privy Council on constitutional matters concerning the limits of the powers of the Commonwealth or States could not be curtailed by parliament. Finally, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1900. Western Australia finally agreed to join the Commonwealth in time for it to be an original member of the Commonwealth of Australia, which was officially established on 1 January 1901.
In 1988, the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 from the Public Record Office in London was lent to Australia for the purposes of the Australian Bicentenary. The Australian government requested permission to keep the copy, the British parliament agreed by passing the Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 and the copy was given to the National Archives of Australia.
The Statute of Westminster and the Australia Acts
Although Federation is often regarded as the moment of "independence" of Australia from Britain, legally the Commonwealth was a creation of the British Parliament, through the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), which applied to Australia by paramount force. As a result, since Australia was still legally a colony, there was continued uncertainty as to the applicability of British Imperial laws to the Commonwealth. This was resolved by the Statute of Westminster 1931, adopted by the Commonwealth via the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942. The Statute of Westminster freed the Dominions, including the Commonwealth, from Imperial restrictions. Legally, this is often regarded as the moment of Australia's national independence.
However, due to specific exemptions in the Statute of Westminster, Imperial law continued to be paramount in Australian states. This was altered by the Australia Act 1986, which was passed in substantially the same form by the Commonwealth parliament and the British parliament, at the request of each state. In addition to ending the British Parliament's power to legislate over Australian states, the Australia Act also cut the last avenues of appeal from the Australian courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. As a symbol of the significance of this legislation, Queen Elizabeth II travelled to Australia to personally sign the proclamation of the law.
For the Constitution, the impact of these two laws is that the Constitution as in force in Australia is now separate from the text in the original Act. While the British Parliament can amend or repeal the Imperial Act, that would not affect Australia. Instead, the Constitution as in force in Australia can only be amended following the referendum mechanisms set out in the Constitution. Conversely, any amendment to the Constitution in Australia following the referendum mechanisms would not affect the text of the Imperial Act as in force in the United Kingdom.
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) contains a Preamble, and nine sections. The legislative, executive, and judicial powers are separately stated in the Constitution, in Chapters I, II and III respectively.[5] Sections 1 – 8 are covering clauses outlining the legal procedures for the establishment of the Commonwealth. Section 9, beginning with the words "The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows ...", contains the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution itself is divided into eight chapters, containing 128 sections.
Chapter I: The Parliament
Chapter I sets up the legislative branch of government, the Parliament of Australia, which consists of three constituent parts: The Sovereign (King or Queen), who is represented by the Governor-General of Australia; the House of Representatives; and the Senate. Section 1 provides that legislative power is vested in this Parliament, which has paramount power of governance.
Part II of this chapter deals with the Senate. Senators are to be "directly chosen by the people of the State", voting as a single electorate. Each Original State is to have the same number of senators. Currently, there are 12 senators for each State, and 2 each for the mainland territories, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Part III deals with the House of Representatives. As nearly as practicable, Section 24 requires the House to be composed of twice as many members as the Senate, each elected by a single electorate. This is the so-called 'Nexus', which is designed to prevent swamping of the senate's power in the case of a joint sitting (see Section 57 below). The number of electorates in a State is to be (roughly) proportional to its share of the national population.
Part IV ("Both Houses of the Parliament") deals with eligibility for voting and election to the parliament, parliamentary allowances, parliamentary rules and related matters.
Part V deals with the powers of the parliament. Section 51 deals with powers of the Commonwealth parliament and are called "specific powers". These contain "concurrent powers", in the sense that both the Commonwealth and States can legislate on these subjects, although federal law prevails in the case of inconsistency (Section 109). Of the thirty-nine elements of section 51, a few have become critical in determining the scope of Commonwealth government action, including the Trade and Commerce Power, the Corporations Power and the External Affairs Power. Section 52 deals with powers exclusively vested in the Commonwealth parliament. States cannot legislate on these subjects.
Chapter II: The Executive Government
Chapter II sets up the executive branch of government. Executive powers are exercised by the Governor-General, advised by the Federal Executive Council. Under this Chapter, the Governor-General is the commander in chief, and may appoint and dismiss the members of the Executive Council, ministers of state, and all officers of the executive government. These powers, along with the powers to dissolve (or refuse to dissolve) parliament (Section 5, Section 57), are termed "reserve powers", and their use is dictated by convention. Generally, the Governor-General acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister. One notable instance of the Governor-General acting outside the advice of the Prime Minister of the day, when Governor-General Sir John Kerr, acting on his own authority, dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
Reserve powers in all Westminster nations are only extremely rarely exercised outside of the understood conventions. However, in contrast with the constitutions of other Commonwealth realms such as Canada which formally grant extensive reserve powers to the Monarch, even the formal powers of the Queen of Australia are extremely limited, and most powers are only exercisable by the Governor-General.
Section 68 states that the command of Australia's naval and military forces is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative. This role, however, is only formal (such as the commissioning of officers) and ceremonial; actual control of the armed forces rests with the government.
Chapter III: The Judicature
Chapter III sets up the judicial branch of government; its provisions create the federal judicature and define the way it operates. Section 71 vests judicial power in a "Federal Supreme Court" to be called the High Court of Australia, and such other federal courts as Parliament creates, and in such other courts as Parliament invests with federal jurisdiction. Such courts are called "Chapter III Courts" and are the only courts that can exercise federal judicial power. Sections 73 and 75–78 outline the original and appellate jurisdiction of the High Court. Section 74 provides for the circumstances in which an appeal can be made to the Queen in Council. Section 79 allows Parliament to prescribe the number of judges able to exercise federal jurisdiction and section 80 guarantees trial by jury for indictable offences against the Commonwealth.
Chapter IV: Finance and Trade
Chapter IV deals with finance and trade in the federal system. Section 81 prescribes that all Commonwealth revenue shall form the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Parliament can make laws as to the appropriations of money (Section 53). Unlike most other powers of the parliament, laws made under the appropriations power are not ordinarily susceptible to effective legal challenge. Section 90 gives the Commonwealth exclusive power over duties of custom and excise.
Section 92 provides that "trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States shall be absolutely free". The precise meaning of this phrase is the subject of a considerable body of law. Some of the most recent case law has emphasised that Section 92 is preoccupied with the effect of law on interstate trade, not on the effect law has on individual traders.[6]
Section 96 gives the Commonwealth power to make grants to States "on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit". This power has been held to be unconstrained by any other provision, such as Section 99 which forbids giving preference to one State or part thereof over another State or part thereof. It is subject only to Section 116, freedom of religion, and possibly other such freedoms. This power, although evidently envisaged as a temporary measure ("during a period of ten years ... and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides"), has been used by the Commonwealth to encourage co-operation by the States to various extents over the years.
Section 101 sets up an Inter-State Commission, a body which is now defunct, but which was originally envisaged to have a significant role in the federal structure.
Chapter V: The States
Chapter V contains provisions dealing with the States and their role under the federal system. Sections 106–108 preserves the Constitution, powers of the Parliament, and the laws in force of each of the States.
Section 109 provides that, where a State law is inconsistent with a federal law, the federal law prevails (to the extent of the inconsistency).
Section 111 provides that a State can surrender any part of the State to the Commonwealth. This has occurred on several occasions, most notably the surrender by South Australia to the Commonwealth of the Northern Territory.
Section 114 forbids any State from raising a military force, and also forbids the State or the Commonwealth from taxing each other's property.
Section 116 establishes what is often called "freedom of religion", by forbidding the Commonwealth from making any law for the establishment of a religion, imposing any religious observance, or prohibiting the exercise of a religion, or religious discrimination for public office.
Chapter VI: New States
Chapter VI allows for the establishment or admission of new states. Section 122 allows the Parliament to provide for the representation in Parliament of any territory surrendered by the States, or placed by the Queen in the authority of the Commonwealth. Section 123 requires that changing the boundaries of a State requires the consent of the Parliament of that State and approval by referendum in that State.
No new states have been admitted to the Commonwealth since federation.
Chapter VII: Miscellaneous
Chapter VII contains three quite different provisions. Section 125 provides that the seat of government of the Commonwealth would be in Melbourne for the time being, but eventually in Commonwealth territory, to be created within New South Wales but no less than one hundred miles from Sydney. The national capital would thus be neither of the rival State capitals Sydney and Melbourne, but within a federal territory. In 1911 New South Wales ceded to the Commonwealth what is now the Australian Capital Territory and Canberra, built within it, was declared the national capital in 1913. Section 126 permits the Governor-General to appoint deputies. Section 127 provided that "aboriginal natives" were not to be included in any Commonwealth, State or other count of population. This excluded the Indigenous population from affecting the distribution between the States of seats in the House of Representatives (section 24). Section 127 was removed by referendum in 1967.[7]
Chapter VIII: Alteration of the Constitution
Chapter VIII specifies the procedures for amending the Constitution. Section 128 provides that constitutional amendments must be approved by a referendum. Amendment requires:
- approval of a referendum bill, containing the proposed amendment, by an absolute majority in each house of the federal parliament; and then
- approval of the bill in a referendum, by a majority of electors in each of a majority of the States (that is, in at least four of the six States), as well as a majority nationwide (that is, comprising voters in both States and Territories); the franchise in a referendum is to be the same as that in an election to the House of Representatives.
The Governor-General must put the bill to a referendum between two and six months after it has been passed by the parliament. If the bill is approved in the referendum, it receives the Royal Assent and becomes law, so that the wording of the Constitution is changed.
An exception to this process is if the bill is approved by only one house of the parliament—the other house rejecting it, failing to pass it or passing it with amendments to which the first house does not agree. (Ordinarily, the bill would have been introduced in the House of Representatives; the problem would be disagreement by the Senate.) Then, after three months, the first house may pass the bill again. If the other house still does not agree with the bill, then the Governor-General may put the bill to a referendum in the form in which it was passed by the first house, with any amendments to which the two houses may nevertheless have agreed.
Section 128 also provides that an amendment that would reduce the representation of a State in either house, or its minimum representation in the House of Representatives, or that would alter the boundaries of a State or make any similar change to the State, can be presented for Royal Assent only if it has been approved in that State.
A mechanism for the conduct of a referendum is provided by federal statute: Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 (Cth).[8] As with elections, voting is compulsory.
The Schedule sets out the wording of the oath and the affirmation of allegiance. The Governor-General and members of parliament are required to make a solemn undertaking of allegiance, by oath or affirmation as prescribed by the Constitution. In addition, when taking office, the Governor-General is required to take an oath of office, currently:
I, (name), do swear that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her heirs and successors according to law, in the office of Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the Commonwealth of Australia, without fear or favour, affection or ill will. So help me God!
The oath or affirmation of office made by a prime minister, ministers and parliamentary secretaries when entering office is in wording that is not prescribed in the Constitution but determined by the prime minister of the day, and administered to them by the Governor-General. While there is no legal requirement for this, it has been the practice from the inauguration of the Commonwealth in 1901.[9]
As mentioned above, amendment of the Constitution requires a referendum in which the proposed amendment is approved by a majority in each of a majority of the States, as well as nationally.
Forty-four proposals to amend the Constitution have been voted on at referendums, of which eight have been approved. The following is a list of amendments which have been approved.
- 1906 – Senate Elections – amended Section 13 to slightly alter the length and dates of Senators' terms of office.
- 1910 – State Debts – amended Section 105 to extend the power of the Commonwealth to take over pre-existing state debts to debts incurred by a state at any time.
- 1928 – State Debts – inserted Section 105A to ensure the constitutional validity of the Financial Agreement reached between the Commonwealth and State governments in 1927.
- 1946 – Social Services – inserted Section 51 (xxiiiA) to extend the power of the Commonwealth government over a range of social services.
- 1967 – Aborigines – amended Section 51 (xxvi) to extend the power of the Commonwealth government to legislate for people of any race to Aborigines; repealed Section 127 which stated that "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted."
- 1977
- Senate Casual Vacancies – part of the political fallout of the constitutional crisis of 1975; formalised the convention, broken in 1975, that when a casual vacancy arises in the Senate, the state parliament concerned, if it chooses to fill the vacancy, must choose the replacement from the same party as the departing Senator if that party still exists.
- Referendums – amended Section 128 to allow residents of the Territories to vote in referendums, and be counted towards the national total.
- Retirement of Judges – amended Section 72 to create a retirement age of 70 for judges in federal courts.
The role of conventions
Alongside the text of the Constitution, the Statute of Westminster and the Australia Acts, and letters patent issued by the Crown, conventions are an important aspect of the Constitution, which have evolved over the decades and define how various constitutional mechanisms operate in practice.
Conventions play a powerful role in the operation of the Australian constitution because of its set-up and operation as a Westminster system of responsible government. Some notable conventions include:
- While the constitution does not formally create the office of Prime Minister of Australia, such an office developed a de facto existence as head of the cabinet. The Prime Minister is seen as the head of government.
- While there are few constitutional restrictions on the power of the Governor-General, by convention the Governor-General acts on the advice of the Prime Minister.
However, because conventions are not textually based, their existence and practice are open to debate. Real or alleged violation of convention has often led to political controversy. The most extreme case was the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, in which the operation of conventions was seriously tested. The ensuing constitutional crisis was resolved dramatically when the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, appointing Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister pending the 1975 general election. A number of conventions were said to be broken during this episode. These include:
- The convention that, when the Senator from a particular State vacates his or her position during the term of office, the State government concerned would nominate a replacement from the same political party as the departing Senator. This convention was allegedly broken by first the Lewis government of New South Wales and then by the Bjelke-Petersen government of Queensland who both filled Labor vacancies with an independent and a Labor member opposed to the Whitlam government respectively.[10]
- Note: The convention was codified into the Constitution via the national referendum of 1977. The amendment requires the new Senator to be from the same party as the old one and would have prevented the appointment by Lewis, but not that by Bjelke-Petersen. However, the amendment states of the appointee that if "before taking his seat he ceases to be a member of that party...he shall be deemed not to have been so chosen or appointed". Bjelke-Petersen appointee Albert Patrick Field was expelled from the Labor Party before taking his seat and would therefore have been ineligible under the new constitutional amendment.[11]
- The convention that, when the Senate is controlled by a party which does not simultaneously control the House of Representatives, the Senate would not vote against money supply to the government. This convention was allegedly broken by the Senate controlled by the Liberal-Country party coalition in 1975.[10]
- The convention that a Prime Minister who cannot obtain supply must either request that the governor general call a general election, or resign. This convention was allegedly broken by Gough Whitlam in response to the Senate's unprecedented refusal.[12]
In line with the common law tradition in Australia, the law on the interpretation and application of the Constitution has developed largely through judgments by the High Court of Australia in various cases. In a number of seminal cases, the High Court has developed several doctrines which underlie the interpretation of the Australian Constitution. Some examples include:
- Separation of powers – The three separate chapters dealing with the three branches of government implies a separation of powers, similar to that of the United States, but unusual for a government within the Westminster system.[13] Thus, for example, the legislature cannot purport to predetermine the legal outcome, or to change the direction or outcome, of a court case.
- Division of powers – Powers of government are divided between the Commonwealth and the State governments, with certain powers being exclusive to the Commonwealth, others being concurrently exercised, and the remainder being held by the States.
- Intergovernmental immunities – Although the Engineers' Case[14] held that there was no general immunity between State and Commonwealth governments from each other's laws, the Commonwealth cannot enact taxation laws that discriminated between the States or parts of the States (Section 51(ii)), nor enact laws that discriminated against the States, or such as to prevent a State from continuing to exist and function as a state (Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth).[15]
The vast majority of constitutional cases before the High Court deal with characterisation: whether new laws fall within a permissible head of power granted to the Commonwealth government by the Constitution.
Protection of rights
The Australian Constitution does not include a Bill of Rights. Some delegates to the 1898 Constitutional Convention favoured a section similar to the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, but the majority felt that the traditional rights and freedoms of British subjects were sufficiently guaranteed by the Parliamentary system and independent judiciary which the Constitution would create. As a result, the Australian Constitution has often been criticised for its scant protection of rights and freedoms.
Some express rights were, however, included:
- Right to trial by jury – Section 80 creates a right to trial by jury for indictable offences against Commonwealth law. However, the Commonwealth is left free to make any offence, no matter how serious the punishment, triable otherwise than on indictment. As Justice Higgins said in R v Archdall (1928): "if there be an indictment, there must be a jury, but there is nothing to compel procedure by indictment".[16] In later cases, the High Court has split: some judges have attempted to find a right, on the basis that no constitutional provision may be understood in a way that renders it empty; others have thought that this would inject content, beyond the boundaries of judicial interpretation.[17] The Court has been flexible on the meaning of "jury": there will be a "jury", although not all members are male as would have been the Framers' understanding; but there will not a valid decision by a jury, if there is a majority verdict (even though that is permitted in some states). In practice, however, no major issue of abuse of this uncertainty has been raised.
- Right to just compensation – Section 51(xxxi) creates a right to compensation "on just terms" for "acquisition of property" by the Commonwealth from any state or person.[18] The "acquisition of property", itself, is not restricted, but the High Court has understood the expression broadly so as to give a broad entitlement to compensation.
- Right against discrimination on the basis of out-of-State residence – Section 117 prohibits disability or discrimination in one state against a resident of another state. This is interpreted widely: the restriction will be invalid if it treats an out-of-state resident more onerously than if they were resident within the state.[19] However, it does not prohibit states from imposing residential requirements where these are required by the State's autonomy and its responsibility to its people; a state may, for example, permit only residents to vote in state elections.
There are also some guaranteed freedoms, reasons why legislation that might otherwise be within power may nonetheless be invalid. These are not rights of individuals, but limitations upon legislative power. However, where legislation that would adversely affect an individual is found to be invalid for such a reason, the effect for the individual is similar to vindicating a right of that individual. There is one express "freedom".
- Freedom of religion – Section 116 creates a freedom of religion, by prohibiting the Commonwealth (but not the states) from making "any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion". This section is based on the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but is weaker in operation. As the states retain all powers they had as colonies before federation, except for those explicitly given to the Commonwealth, this section does not affect the states' powers to legislate on religion. Section 116 has never been successfully invoked. A deterrent to invoking it is, as the High Court has found, the uncertain meaning of "religion".
There is also one implied right that is agreed upon by a majority judgment of the High Court. An implied right is one that is not written explicitly into the wording of the Constitution, but that the High Court has found to be implied by reading two or more sections together. The implied right of freedom of political communication is discussed below.
In addition to individual rights explicitly written into the Constitution and found to be implied by sections within it there is a final category of rights known as 'structural protections'. Rather than being individual rights, these are broad protections for the community as a whole, taken from the systems and principles created by and underpinning the text and structure of the Constitution as a whole. One of the more well-known of these protections is the community right to a democratically-elected parliament, commonly thought of as a limited "right" to vote, which is discussed below.
The following are implied rights or freedoms:
- Implied freedom of political communication – In 1992 and 1994, the High Court found that the Constitution contained an "implied freedom of political communication", in a series of cases including Australian Capital Television[20] and Theophanous.[21] These were majority decisions, but the existence of the freedom was unanimously confirmed in Lange v ABC.[22] Rejecting wider suggestions in the earlier cases, Lange decided that the freedom can be found only in the "text and structure" of the Constitution and not by reference to any general legal or political principles, for example that of "democracy". In these terms, the freedom was found to be a necessary concomitant of the provision in Constitution sections 7 and 24 that the houses of the Commonwealth parliament shall be "chosen by the people"; the people must not be restricted from communicating with each other and with their representatives on all matters that may be relevant to that choice. The freedom was deemed to extend into the states and territories, on the basis that nationally there is a single sphere of political communication. The US First Amendment refers to "speech", which may be oral or written but is limited as to protection of non-verbal expression (such as burning a draft card). The High Court has avoided that limitation by preferring the broader term "communication".[23] Nonetheless, the freedom is not absolute: legislation that "burdens" the freedom of political communication will nevertheless be valid if it "proportionately" pursues some other legitimate purpose (such as public safety).
- Implied right to vote – In 2007, in Roach v Electoral Commissioner,[24] the High Court held that Constitution ss7 and 24, by providing that members of the House of Representatives and the Senate be "directly chosen by the people", created a limited right to vote. This entailed the guarantee of a universal franchise in principle, and limited the Federal Parliament's legislative power to modify that universal franchise. In the case, a legislative amendment to disqualify from voting all prisoners (as opposed to only those serving sentences of three years or more, as it was before the amendment) was struck down as contravening that right. The structural protection of a democratically elected parliament prevents the Commonwealth from taking away the right to vote from sections of the community without a substantial and legitimate reason, but it does not grant each and every individual a "right" to vote in elections. The issue of implied right to vote came up again in Rowe v Electoral Commissioner.[25]
Attempts in High Court cases to find further implied rights or freedoms have not been successful. Implication of a freedom of association and a freedom of assembly, independently or linked to that of political communication, has received occasional judicial support but not from a majority in any case.
Head of state
The term head of state does not appear in the Australian constitution. It is conventionally acknowledged to be the Queen, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as her "representatives".[26][27] However, since the governor-general is given important constitutional powers, the governor-general is often referred to as head of state in political and media discussion, such as by Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd.
Proposals for major changes
Amongst the amendments proposed to the Constitution over the years, two proposals for major change have been prominent in recent decades, and both were considered, and defeated, in the 1999 referendum.
While a pro forma preamble prefaces the Imperial Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, the Australian Constitution itself does not contain a preamble. There have been some calls for the insertion of such a section to express the spirit and aspirations embodied in the constitution. However, there has been fierce opposition, usually on the basis of the content of the preamble, as well as possible legal ramifications of this text. In 1999, a proposed preamble, principally authored by John Howard, the then Prime Minister, was defeated in a referendum held concurrently with the Republic referendum. The "Yes" vote (in favour of the insertion of the preamble) did not achieve a majority in any of the six states.
Republic proposals
At various times since Federation, debates have occurred over whether Australia should become a republic. On 6 November 1999, Australians rejected a proposal to remove the Queen and replace the Governor-General with a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.
Constitution Day is celebrated on 9 July,[28] the date the Constitution became law in 1900. The date is not a public holiday. Constitution Day was first held on 9 July 2000 to mark the centenary of the Constitution in the lead up to the Centenary of Federation, although commemorations were low key and were not widely held after 2001. Constitution Day was revived in 2007 and is jointly organised by the National Archives of Australia, which holds the original Constitution documents, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.[29]
See also
- Constitutional economics
- Constitutionalism
- Process model (Australia)
- Secessionism in Western Australia
- State constitution (Australia)
- ↑ In Australian law, legislation which was enacted by the British parliament and which has or had effect in Australia by paramount force (or was subsequently received into Australian law) is referred to as "imperial" law, denoted with the "(Imp)" abbreviation when citing legislation by its short title.
- ↑ R v Foreign Secretary; Ex parte Indian Association [1982] QB 892 at 928; approved by the High Court of Australia in Sue v Hill [1999] HCA 30; 199 CLR 462 at [57].
- ↑ The High Court's jurisdiction is under s.30, and the Federal Court's s.39B, of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth).
- ↑ While the Act was (when enacted) directed towards the then-colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia (including the Northern Territory), Queensland, and Tasmania, and (if it so chose) Western Australia and (if admitted) New Zealand and other colonies or territories, subsequent changes in the constitutional arrangements of Australia mean that the territorial extent of the British Act is now restricted to the UK: Legislation UK: Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, showing Geographical Extent.
- ↑ Spry, Max (1995–96). "The Executive Power of the commonwealth: its scope and limits". Research Paper 28 Last reviewed 19 July 2004 by the Parliamentary Library Web Manager. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
- ↑ Betfair Pty Ltd v Racing New South Wales [2012] HCA 12; 249 CLR 217.
- ↑ Korff, Jens (8 October 2014). "Australian 1967 Referendum". creativespirits.info. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ↑ "Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984". Federal Register of Legislation. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ↑ "Oaths and affirmations made by the executive and members of federal parliament since 1901". Parliamentary Library, Department of Parliamentary Services. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
- 1 2 Gough Whitlam. The Truth of the Matter. Penguin. 1979 (Reprint: Melbourne University Press. 2005.)
- ↑ "Reflections from the Seventies (transcript)". ABC TV Four Corners. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009.
- ↑ "Sir John Kerr's Statement of Reasons". 11 November 1975. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
- ↑ R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia [1956] HCA 10; HCA 10]; 94 CLR 254.
- ↑ Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd [1920] HCA 54; 28 CLR 129.
- ↑ Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth [1947] HCA 26; 74 CLR 31.
- ↑ R v Archdall & Roskruge; Ex parte Carrigan and Brown [1928] HCA 18; 41 CLR 128 at 139–140.
- ↑ Cheng v The Queen [2000] HCA 53; 203 CLR 248.
- ↑ Commonwealth of Australia Constitution s 51 .
- ↑ Street v Queensland Bar Association [1989] HCA 53; 168 CLR 461.
- ↑ Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth [1992] HCA 45; 177 CLR 106.
- ↑ Theophanous v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd [1994] HCA 46; 182 CLR 104.
- ↑ Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [1997] HCA 25; 189 CLR 520.
- ↑ Levy v Victoria [1997] HCA 31; 189 CLR 579; see also Coleman v Power [2004] HCA 39; 220 CLR 1.
- ↑ Roach v Electoral Commissioner [2007] HCA 43.
- ↑ Rowe v Electoral Commissioner [2010] HCA 46.
- ↑ Constitution, s 2; Australia Act 1986 (Cth and UK), s 7.
- ↑ "Who is the Australian Head of State?" (PDF). PRS, Dept. of the Parliamentary Library. 28 August 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2006.
- ↑ "Constitution Day". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
- ↑ "Constitution Day Celebrations". 9 July 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008.
- Gerangelos, George A., ed. (2013). Winterton's Australian Federal Constitutional Law (3 ed.). Pyrmont, NSW: Thomson Reuters. ISBN 978-0-45523-041-2.
- Parkinson, Patrick (2012). Tradition and Change in Australian Law (5 ed.). Sydney: Thomson Reuters. ISBN 978-0-45523-079-5.
- Williams, George; Brennan, Sean; Lynch, Andrew (2014). Blackshield and Williams Australian Constitutional Law and Theory (6 ed.). Annandale, NSW: Federation Press. ISBN 978-1-86287-918-8.
External links
Library resources about Constitution of Australia |
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- "Full text download". (525 KB) from ComLaw – The Constitution as in force on 1 June 2003 together with proclamation declaring the establishment of the Commonwealth, letters patent relating to the Office of Governor-General, Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, Australia Act 1986. ISBN 0-642-78285-7.
- Text of the Constitution of Australia as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) as a British statute; does not include amendments to the Constitution itself.
- Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900. Entry on the origins, development, structure and evolution of the Australian constitution at Documenting a Democracy.
- Full text (HTML) file of the Constitution. From the Parliament of Australia web site.
- Royal Commission of Assent signed by Queen Victoria which enacted the Constitution; see these web pages: National Archives of Australia and Documenting a Democracy.
- A First Reading Of The Australian Constitution – side-by-side commentary notes by John Kilcullen, Macquarie University, 2004
- Final Report of the Constitutional Commission Summary: 1988
- Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (The Constitution), as amended and annotated, Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting, Attorney-General's Department, Canberra, as at September 2013


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Italy's problems are daunting, reports the Financial Times.
Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic we hear good news about the U.S. economy every day: housing recovering, household deleveraging, etc. etc. The biggest threat to US prosperity, however, is distinctly Italian-style: the political dysfunction that brings us unnecessary fiscal crisis after unnecessary fiscal crisis. If, as Byron York, everybody agrees that the sequester is stupid and destructive … why are we doing it? Because it sure does seem that do it, we will.


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When anyone mentions famous clocks, they probably think of Big Ben. This is most likely because the Clock Tower of Big Ben in London is the most recognized clock in the world. The clock tower was constructed in the 1830s, and the monument still retains the title of the World's Largest 4-Faced Chiming Clock, even though it is no longer the largest clock in the world. You may not know it, but the United States has some landmark clocks, too.
The world's largest four-faced clock is located in Milwaukee, WI. In fact, the clock faces of the Allen-Bradley clock are around twice the diameter of Big Ben. No chimes have been added to this clock so that Big Ben can keep the title of largest chiming clock. Each hour hand on this magnificent clock is 15.8 feet long and weighs 490 pounds while the minute hands are 20 feet long and weigh 530 pounds each. In addition, the numerals on the clock faces are 4 feet high.
Another large landmark timepiece is the Colgate Clock. At 40′ in diameter, it's the largest single clock in North America. This clock is located at the Colgate-Palmolive plant which was the Indiana Reformatory for Men prior to being bought and renovated in 1923. Therefore, the Colgate Clock has been considered to be a major southern Indiana landmark for over seven decades.
The Loew's Jersey movie palace has another architectural clock that is renowned in American history. The builders of the facility wanted to attract attention to their building. They decided that since it's located in an area where thousands of shoppers and commuters were always rushing by that they could best attract attention by adding a clock designed by the famous clock maker, Seth Thomas. This gorgeous timepiece includes one of the few moving figure clocks that's you can see on the east coast. The figures depicted St. George slaying the dragon, an accomplishment which was repeated every quarter hour accompanied by bells.
You need to visit Seattle in order to tour its famous Clock Walk. Free standing clocks with cast iron pedestals began to be erected as an advertising medium in the 1860s and '70s. By the 1920s there were so many street clocks in Seattle that people began to refer to it as the « City of Clocks ». Although a number of the clocks have been removed in the past three decades, Seattle is still considered to have one of the most significant collections of street clocks in the country.
Buried in the small, central plains town of Spillville, IA, you will find the home of the Bily Brothers clocks. These two farmers whiled away the long winter hours starting back in 1913 by crafting some of the most unique floor clocks you can ever hope to see. Their first clock, produced in 1916, featured appearance of the 12 apostles every hour. The brothers were adamant about keeping their collection together. Even when Henry Ford offered a small fortune for one of their clocks, the Bily Brothers refused to sell. The entire collection was bequeathed to the small, nearby town of Spillville with the provision that the collection never be sold or separated.
If you really want to feel the scope of American clock making, you can visit the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol, CT. This museum houses over 1400 unique timepieces, most of which were made in the USA. The majority of the clocks are still running and chiming, so when the time comes around to 12 Noon, this is one of the louder sites you can visit.
As you can see, clock making is a favorite pastime of the American people as well as the British. By traveling throughout this great country of ours, you'll be able to find numerous lovely timepieces that have become part of our heritage.
Source de Paul Julian


text: Brigands' Folie is an acoustic duo based in Minnesota and playing together since 2005. It is our mission to educate the public about the lives and stories of 18th & 19th Century settlers, soldiers, and sailors through music of the period. Our ensemble features vocals, guitar, handcrafted bodhran, and mandolin, and is frequently accompanied by penny whistle and fiddle. We perform in period-appropriate attire at Living History Encampments, Rendezvous, Battlefield Reenactments, and other public events focusing primarily on the time period from the Seven Years War (1750s) through the War of 1812. We just released our second CD (Twain) in early December! Get your copy today by clicking the "Buy Our CD" button to the left.


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Contact Info
213 East Main Street
Front Royal, VA 22630
Front Royal, VA 22630
- Phone:
- 540-636-7787
- Activities:
- Shopping
The Middle Of Main Emporium & Auction Gallery Resides On The Middle Of Main Street In Historic Downtown Front Royal, Va. Over 35 Dealers Showcase The Finest In Antiques And Collectibles. Early American, Victorian, And Primitive Furniture As Well As Coins, Glassware, Linens, And Even Middle Eastern Rugs! The Daily Grind Restaurant Co-exists Within The Emporium Which Allows For A Wonderful Shopping Enviroment, Especially Around Lunch Time. The Auction Gallery Encompasses The Upper Level (over 9000 Sq. Ft., Heated & Air Conditioned, And Yes, There's A Freight Elevator!)Auctions Happen Approx. Once,sometimes Twice A Month. Only When They Can Have A Good One! Sales Of Antiques, Collectibles, Coins, Guns, Costume Jewlery And Household Goods Are Always The Standard. Call Ahead And We'll Even Reserve A Chair! Hope To See You There!
Activity Type:


text:
Bad news, burger lovers — and New Yorkers in general: Eater gets confirmation that Prime Burger, the old-school diner on 51st Street that is Americana incarnate, will shut its doors this Saturday. They first heard of the closing on Monday but didn't know which day would be the last. The restaurant may relocate, and can hopefully take its sixties-style charm with it. To vicariously appreciate the appeal of the current location, check out the video love letter from earlier this year, below.
Prime Burger to Close Saturday, May Relocate Soon [Eater NY]


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Washington Post Lifts Veil Further on CIA's Global Response Staff, Raymond Davis
Greg Miller and Julie Tate provide some fascinating reading in today's Washington Post, where they provide many new details on the CIA's Global Response Staff and reveal that its most famous (probably now former) member is Raymond Davis.
One thing that we learn is that members of the GRS typically are contractors and that they are paid a "lucrative" salary around $140,000, but with no benefits. I suppose an argument can be made that by hiring contractors, the CIA has an extra layer of deniability, but it still strikes me as completely heartless and stark that people with such important missions and at such high risk are treated in a way that nonprofit foundations have to exist to provide for school expenses for the surviving children when these operatives die while on duty.
What I want to concentrate on here, though, is the description of what GRS does and how that might give us new insight into the Raymond Davis incident. Here are Miller and Tate on what GRS does:
The GRS, as it is known, is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts.
CIA veterans said that GRS teams have become a critical component of conventional espionage, providing protection for case officers whose counterterrorism assignments carry a level of risk that rarely accompanied the cloak-and-dagger encounters of the Cold War.
Spywork used to require slipping solo through cities in Eastern Europe. Now, "clandestine human intelligence involves showing up in a Land Cruiser with some [former] Deltas or SEALs, picking up an asset and then dumping him back there when you are through," said a former CIA officer who worked closely with the security group overseas.
Bodyguard details have become so essential to espionage that the CIA has overhauled its training program at the Farm — its case officer academy in southern Virginia — to teach spies the basics of working with GRS teams.
I have always been troubled by the Raymond Davis incident, trying to understand why Davis would have been seen as a target worthy of attacking in the middle of a busy and highly populated urban site. But now I wonder whether Davis was by himself when the incident started. If he was providing security to a high value target, that would provide a much better explanation for why his vehicle was attacked. Also, recall that a Toyota Land Cruiser rushed to the scene from the Lahore consulate, killing a third Pakistani when it went the wrong way down a one-way street. The whole Davis incident would make more sense to me if this Land Cruiser picked up the high value target and, most likely, a second GRS protector and took them back to the Lahore consulate. Recall that as Marcy pointed out, John Kerry subsequently smuggled the Land Cruiser driver out of Pakistan. Did he also remove the high value target and the other GRS protector?
One final note. The article addresses recruitment for GRS, stating "The work is lucrative enough that recruiting is done largely by word of mouth". I had previously speculated that Davis was a CIA recruiter, but given the GRS duties we now know, the types of recruiting targets I described fit even better into GRS jobs.


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What is the Partial Annuity Withdrawal Program?
Since July 1, 2001, APERS members who work beyond the date they are eligible for an unreduced monthly benefit are eligible to take an advance payment of up to 60 months of their monthly annuity. This is called a Partial Annuity Withdrawal (PAW).
This provides an alternative for members who can't participate - or choose not to participate - in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP). PAW is elected at retirement.
When do I become eligible to participate in the PAW program?
You become eligible to participate in PAW when you have worked beyond the following eligibility requirements:
- Age 65
- Any age with 28 years
- Age 55 with 35 years of credited service
Can you explain how my PAW payment will be calculated?
When you sign up for PAW, you may receive, within 90 days of retirement, a payment for each full month you worked beyond your retirement eligibility date up to a maximum of 60 months.
Example - John Doe works 60 months beyond the date he was first eligible for an unreduced benefit. When John retires, he may choose from 1 to 60 months of PAW. John's lifetime monthly benefit is reduced based on his age and total PAW payment.
Remember, if you elect PAW your monthly annuity benefit will be reduced by an actuarial factor tied to your age. If your beginning benefit includes a "temporary" amount because you retire below age 62, that temporary benefit will still be removed when you reach age 62.
Will taxes be withheld from my payment?
On lump sum payments, APERS withholds 20% for federal taxes and 5% for state taxes. Lump sum payments under age 55 may be subject to early withdrawal penalties.
How will I receive payment?
Your PAW payment can be paid
- Directly to you as a lump sum.
- As a rollover distribution to a qualified retirement plan.
- As a partial lump sum with the remainder rolled over to a qualified retirement plan.
What's the earliest I can submit my retirement application and PAW Election Form?
You must apply for an unreduced retirement and PAW no more than 90 days, and no less than 30 days, before your retirement effective date.
How do I apply for PAW?
If you are eligible for PAW, you will be able to request that option when you apply for retirement benefits through the member's portal. If you are filing a paper retirement application, you will need to file the PAW Election and Distribution forms along with it.
Who do I contact to request forms or get more information on PAW?
Contact Member Services by phone or in writing to request a retirement application, PAW election and distribution forms, filing deadlines, or to get answers to other questions.
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System
124 W. Capitol Ave., Suite 400
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-682-7800 Local Phone
1-800-682-7377 Toll Free
Click below to return to the FAQ home page.


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GOKISPORT "CLASSIC" Rhythmic Gymnastic Hoops, 50cm - Juniors, Style: GS129
Color: White
Inside diameter: 50cm (19.7'')
CLASSIC Hoops are crafted from a unique patented fusing process which seamlessly welds our precision weighted tubing into the highest quality and best performing rhythmic gymnastics hoops in the world. The thermally fused joint surpasses the strength of the tubing itself and results in a hoop that is strong, responsive, and engineered to be just slightly under F.I.G.'s official minimum weight requirement to allow the application of decorative tapes without adding unnecessary weight. After wrapping with one layer of decorative tape, your GOKISPORT hoop will weigh between 305 to 340 grams and meet all F.I.G. size and weight requirements.
Style: GS129