ABSTRACT
A preamble ‘walks in front’ of a statute (Davis and Lemezina 2010: 261; Twomey 2011). The preamble of a statute is an admissible aid to the construction aimed at expressing the scope, object and purpose of the Act more comprehensively than the long title. It may recite the ground and cause of making the statute, the evils sought to be remedied or doubts which may be intended to be settled. It may not strictly be an instrument for controlling or restricting a statute’s provisions, but it certainly acts as a precept to gather legislative intention and help give prudent interpretation to achieve the Act’s objective.2 In Wacando v Commonwealth (1981) 148 CLR 1, the court observed:
It has been said that where the enacting part of a statute is clear and unambiguous it cannot be cut down by the preamble. But this does not mean that a court cannot obtain assistance from the preamble in ascertaining the meaning of an operative provision. The particular section must be seen in its context; the statute must be read as a whole and recourse to the preamble may throw light on the statutory purpose and object.
