Career
A fervent and longtime believer in federalism and state"s rights, Pape argued the case himself as a "concerned lawyer". He argued that the $900 stimulus payments anticipated to be made to 7.4 million Australians beginning 6 April were not a valid extension of the Commonwealth"s taxation powers but a gift, and the Commonwealth has no constitutional power to spend consolidated revenue on gifts under section 81 and 83 of the Australian Constitution. Whilst Pape has disagreed with previous government stimulus packages, he then had no standing to take the Commonwealth to court.
The $900 tax rebate is the first that he would be eligible to receive and thus enabled him to take the matter to the high court.
While the High Court unanimously rejected the Commonwealth"s submission that it could rely on its use of s 81 of the Constitution to support the expenditure, it upheld the Commonwealth"s submission that it could do so by relying on the executive power (s.61 of the Constitution and the incidental power by a thin majority of 4:3. Pape believed that if he were successful, "the Government could still give the bonus just through.. giving a rebate and letting the money flow through the PAYG system."
Bryan died peacefully at his home in Armidale on Sunday evening, 27 April 2014.
His last public act was to officiate at the service that morning at Armidale Anglican cathedral. He died surrounded by the books he was currently reading, one of which was an aid to writing better English.
He had always encouraged his law students to aspire to writing simple, elegant straightforward prose.
He had fought hard to maintain academic standards, and was a critic of soft marking. He will be remembered as a man of integrity by those who knew and worked with him.