All smoke but no fire? The Plain Packaging case
In the recent High Court of Australia decision of JT International v Commonwealth of Australia [2012] HCA 43 (‘The Plain Packaging Case’), the Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (Cth). The Act requires that tobacco packages be devoid of any trademarks, colours or finishings associated with individual tobacco companies. The plaintiff tobacco companies argued that, in not also providing compensation for the intended loss of revenue associated with these packaging requirements, the Act offended the ‘acquisition of property on just terms’ clause of the Commonwealth Constitution (s 51(xxxi)).